Arms race Flashcards
1945
USA drops atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1949
The USSR’s first successful atomic bomb test ends American nuclear monopoly
1950
The UK carries out nuclear tests in Western Australia
1952
The USA successfully tests the first Hydrogen bomb, 2500 times more powerful than the atomic bomb
1953
The USSR tests its own Hydrogen bomb.
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).
1958
The USA tests its own ICBMs
1959
The USA deploys Polaris submarines capable of launching nuclear missiles close to the shore of the USSR
1961
The USSR detonates the Tsar Bomba, a nuclear bomb which produced the largest ever man-made explosion
1962
The Cuban Missile Crisis – for 13 days the world stood on the edge of nuclear war
1968
The USSR develops an Anti-Ballistic 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
1957
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.
1959
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.
1960
The USA launches Discovery XIV - the first satellite equipped with a spy camera.
1961
The USSR puts the first man, Yuri Gagarin, into space. The USA responds by launching its own Apollo missions, and Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space. President John F Kennedy challenges America to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
1969
The American astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, become the first men to walk on the moon.
atomic bomb
A powerful and destructive bomb that gets its power from the energy released when atoms are split.
USSR
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - collection of states, also known as the Soviet Union.
superpowers
Countries who have huge influence or strength, giving them significant global power.
nuclear deterrence
The Cold War theory that nations having nuclear weapons acts as a military strategy as the threat of them makes enemies less likely to attack and more likely to negotiate.
Mutually Assured Destruction
Situation that developed due to the nuclear arms race where both America and Russia knew if they started a war it would destroy the world.
Military-Industrial Complex
The relationship between a nation’s military and the powerful defence industry that supports it, which can be seen to influence wider government military policy.
