Cold War rivalries 1955-63 (10) Flashcards
When did the powers have hydrogen bombs?
Was 1500x stronger than the Hiroshima bomb
USA successfully tested a lithium-based hydrogen bomb in march 1954
USSR had the technology by September
By 1955 they had tested an airborne H-bomb which was 100 times more powerful than their first attempts
What was SAC?
Stategic Air Command
Created in 1948 and headed by General Curtis LeMay
Provided 24-hour readiness to respond to external nuclear threat
By 1957 it was an all jet, strategic bomber focused task force
What was the cause for Eisenhower to commission the Gaither Report?
USSR developed missile delivery systems for their warheads in 1957
Later in 1957 they tested the first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
October 1957 had launched Sputnik, first satellite
Eisenhower wanted to know the US-Soviet nuclear capability
Results of the Gaither Report?
Presented concept of missile gap
Predicted a 100 to 30 lead in ICBMs in favour of USSR
Washington Post suggested that the USA was become a second-class power
Eisenhower reaction to Gaither Report and evidence against it?
Would rather place his trust in U-2 spy plane images
Gather Report made its conclusions on inadequate evidence
Eisenhower had strengthened US nuclear power in 1957 when he made a deal to place IRBMs in Britain and a similar deal in December 1957 with NATO
USA was also developing a new range of ICBMs, Atlas and Titan models with Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Systems (IRBMs)
Meanwhile by 1959, USSR had only deployed 10 SS-6 ICBMs
New generation of nuclear missiles?
1959 brought about Polaris, Thor and Minutemen ICBM systems which could be launched from submarines
USSRs SS6 missiles were too large to be SLBM
Khrushchev ordered the creation of SS-7 missiles which were more mobile
USA and USSR arms figures?
Strategic bombers - 1960 - USA 550 USSR 175
SLMBs - 1962 - USA 145 - USSR 45
ICBMs - 1960 - USA 295 USSR 75 - 1964 USA 835 USSR 200
The Space Race
October 1957- Sputnik I - USSR
November 1957 - Dog, Laika, on Sputnik II - USSR
USA alarmed it was losing technological arms race and Sputnik II proved that the USSR could launch missile that would reach USA. A new era of nuclear missile strikes from space had occurred with no way of defending against it
Sputnik undermined the effectiveness of massive retaliation
September 1958, US approves $1 billion spending on technological development
Failure in 1957 with ‘flopnik’
1958 - NASA
April 1961 - Yuri Gagarin was first man in space
By 1962 however USA launched 62 space mission compared to USSR’s 15
1960 US Discoverer programme brought about new espionage opportunities rendering U2 missions obsolete
Causes of the Berlin Wall
Throughout 1950s West made significant investments into West Germany to turn it into a flagship of Western Capitalism
November 1958, Khrushchev issues a six-month ultimatum for Berlin to become a ‘free city’ or USSR would sign closed treaty with GDR perhaps limiting their access to West Berlin
Hallstein doctrine - West Germany would end diplomatic relations with any country which recognised the GDR
Any attempts at peace in Germany were halted with the U2 crisis in May 1960 (shot down over Sverdlovsk)
During first half of 1961 10,000 GDR citizens migrated to West, in 1953 it was 300,000 and in 1956, 150,000 - many were skilled workers
Impact of Berlin Wall?
13th August 1961, work began
June 1963 Kennedy makes his famous speech ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ - propaganda tool
GDRs immediate economic crisis solved
Degree of recognition of the GDR through the inaction of West
Was a guarantee of no further military action - peaceful resolution
