Arms race Flashcards
What happened in 1945?
In 1945 USA drops atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
What happened in 1949?
The USSR’s first successful atomic bomb test ends American nuclear monopoly
What happened in 1950?
The UK carries out nuclear tests in Western Australia
What happened in 1952
The USA successfully tests the first Hydrogen bomb, 2500 times more powerful than the atomic bomb
What happened in 1953
The USSR tests its own Hydrogen bomb.
What happened in 1955
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
1957
In order to launch the satellite Sputnik I, 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).
The USA tests its own ICBMs
1958
1959
The USA deploys Polaris submarines capable of launching nuclear missiles close to the shore of the USSR
The USSR detonates the Tsar Bomba, a nuclear bomb which produced the largest ever man-made explosion
1961
The Cuban Missile Crisis – for 13 days the world stood on the edge of nuclear war
1962
1968
The USSR develops an Anti-Ballistic Missile system to shoot down in-bound US missiles
The USA develops MIRV technology - allowing missile warheads to hit multiple targets from one missile
1968
The USSR launches Sputnik 1 - the world’s first telecommunications satellite. Sputnik 2 was launched later that year and carried a small dog named Laika – the first living animal to go into orbit.
1957
The USSR launches Luna 1 - the first man-made object to orbit the sun. The USA then sent Pioneer 4 to do a fly-past of the Moon, prompting the Soviets to launch Luna 2 at the moon.
1959
