Arms Race Flashcards
USA drops atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1945
USSR wanted to develop its own nuclear weapons, it succeeded in?
1949
The superpowers intended to use these new nuclear weapons?
No, during the Korean War, President Truman sacked General Mac Carthy for arguing in favor of using nuclear weapons to end the war
Nuclear deterrence
The fact of a country possessing nuclear weapons would prevent another country from threatening its interests
To maintains the upper hand (nuclear deterrence)
The superpowers continued to build up their stockpiles of ever more powerful nuclear weapons, in order to retaliate against any attacks
Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)
The existence of such nuclear weapons meant that war between the superpowers would end life on earth. However they continued to build up their arsenals of nuclear weapons
Military-Industrial Complex
Président Eisenhower was coming to the end of his term of office, he warned the Americans that too much power lay in the hand of this “Military-Industrial Complex”
Nuclear arms race was also matched by similar competition over?
Space and the race to the moon
The UK carries out nuclear tests in western Australia
1950
The USA successfully tests the first Hydrogene bomb, 2500 times more powerful than the atomic bomb
1952
The USSR successfully tests its own Hydrogene bomb
1953
The USA publishes its Doctrine of Massive Retaliation stating that any attack on the USA or its allies would be met with incredible destructive force
1955
In order to launch the satellite Sputnik 1, the USSR had developed a rocket. The same rocket was capable of carrying an atomic warhead for thousands of miles. This meant the USSR had created the first intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)
1957
The USA tests its own ICBM’s
1958
The USA deploys Polaris submarines capable of launching nuclear missiles close to the shore of the USSR
1959
The USSR detonate the Tsar Bomba, a nuclear bomb which produces the largest ever man-made explosion
1961
The Cuban missile Crisis - for 13 days the world stood on the edge of nuclear war
1962
The USSR develops a Anti Ballistics missile system to shoot down in bound US missiles
1968
The USA develops MIRV technology - allowing missile warheads to hit multiple targets from one missile
1968
The USSR Launches Sputnik 1
Sputnik 2 was launched later this year and carried a dog names Laila, first animal to go into orbit
1957
The USSR Launches Luna 1,first man made object to orbit the sun
The USA then sent Pioneer 4, prompting the USSR to launch Luna 2 at the moon
1959
The USA Launches Discovery XIV - the first satellite equipped with a spy camera
1960
