Cuban Missile Crisis Flashcards
Where and when were the first nuclear bombs dropped?
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 by the USA
What precautions were taken by the USA to prepare the public for a nuclear attack?
“Duck and cover” clip in schools
Reacts to protect civilians
Perhaps causes too much worry as the USA were ahead so the chance of attack was less, but if a nuclear bomb did hit, those precautions wouldn’t save you.
Who else had nuclear program’s by 1960?
Britain, France and China.
What was the missile gap?
The missile gap was the Cold War term used in the US for the perceived superiority of the number and power of the USSR’s missiles in comparison with its own.
How many intercontinental ballistic missiles did the USA and ussr supposedly have?
USA 450
USSR 76
How many mid range airborne ballistic missiles did the USA and ussr supposedly have?
USA 250
USSR 700
How many nuclear submarines did the USA and ussr supposedly have?
USA 32
USSR 12
How many long range bombers able to carry nuclear weapons did the USA and ussr supposedly have?
USA 2260
USSR 1600
What other special feature did the USA have?
B52 bombers capable of dropping nuclear weapons on the Soviet Union.
What was the USAs biggest concern in the arms race?
The ussr was building nuclear weapons very quickly and very large weapons
The tsar bomber was the most powerful bomb ever, detonated in 1961
What were the ussr’s biggest concerns?
1958- America put nuclear weapons on Britain
1961- Italy and Turkey received nuclear weapons
These were too close for comfort and could accurately hit Moscow.
What happened in 1957?
Russian scientists launched Sputnik 1 the first man made satellite. They were ahead in the space race, as they also launched a robotic spacecraft on the moon.
Who was winning the arms race and in what decades?
America 1940s and 1950s
