Nuclear Arms Race & the Space Race

Nuclear arms race (1945) The nuclear arms race was a competition for power by using nuclear warfare during the Cold War. Many feared where the Cold War was going, with the belief that the more nuclear weapons you had, the more powerful you were. Both, the United States and Russia played the major roles in the nuclear arms race by building up their stockpiles of nuclear weapons These two superpowers also had allies who became involved in the nuclear arms race.

The Beginning In August 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped on Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. One of these bombs was named “Fat Man” After this the Americans had predicted that the USSR would not have nuclear weapons until the mid 50s. The first Soviet bomb, named “Joe One”, was detonated in August of 1949 which shocked the entire world. This bomb was more or less a copy of the U.S.’ “Fat Man” Both governments spent massive amounts to increase the quality and quantity of their nuclear weapons. Joe One

Hydrogen Bomb The world changed when the U.S. exploded the H-bomb in 1952. This bomb was smaller than the Hiroshima atomic bomb but it was 2500 times more powerful. The Russians produced an H-bomb in 1953 and the world became an even more dangerous place. However it is possible that the power of these weapons and the fear that they created, may have actually stopped a nuclear war from occurring.

Strategic bombers The U.S. produced a bomber called the B52. This could fly 6000 miles and deliver a nuclear pay-load. This development required a lot of financial backing from the government which American could afford to do but Russia could not. Russia concentrated on producing bigger bombs which was a far more cost effective procedure. 

Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (icbms) ICBMs were the most important development in the 1950s. Missiles were potentially a more effective delivery system than strategic bombers which was the main delivery method at the beginning of the Cold War. The first missile, in 1957, was sent into space but this introduced the fear of missile attacks in the world. Because of this fear, America built the DEW line around the Arctic to detect incoming Soviet bombers during the Cold War, and provide early warning of a land based invasion.

Russian Missiles The Soviets proved they had missiles when they launched their first into space in 1957. At the end of the end of the 1950’s, Americans estimated that in a Russian missile attack, 20 million Americans would die and 22 million would be injured. During the 1960’s, the Russians spent their money by producing more missiles with not so great quality while America built fewer but better quality missiles. “The Atlas” could go 5000 miles at a speed of 16 000 mph

Space race (1957) The Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, the Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national security and were also symbolic of technological and ideological superiority. The Space Race contained inventive efforts to launch artificial satellites, sub-orbital and orbital human spaceflight around the Earth, and piloted voyages to the Moon. The Space Race began when both the Soviet Union and the United States gained advanced German rocket technology and personnel.

Sputnik 1 New technology was critical to the delivery of nuclear weapons with the ICBM boosters while still maintaining the appearance of being for science and exploration. In October 1957, the Soviet Union proved to the world that they had missiles able to reach any part of the world with the launch of the Sputnik satellite into space. The satellite was the first object launched into space by an ICBM The US launched its own satellite in October of 1959.

End of Space Race The Space Race concluded with the co-operative Apollo-Soyuz Test Project human spaceflight mission in July 1975. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project came to symbolize détente, a partial easing of strained relations between the USSR and the US.

The Nuclear arms race + the space race The achievement of Sputnik 1 caused a great scare in the U.S. If the Soviets could put a satellite into space, they could do the same thing with a nuclear warhead. Now, instead of having sufficient warning time for a nuclear attack by monitoring incoming airplanes, a missile could hit a target in less than an hour. An argument formed in the United States during the early 1960s included whether or not it was certain if their weapons would work if the need should occur. All of the individual components of nuclear missiles had been tested separately (warheads, navigation systems, rockets), but it had been impossible to test them all combined.

Defensive methods After the space race began, people were scared so the first attempts to defend against nuclear weapons were put in place. Both superpowers built large radar arrays to detect incoming bombers and missiles. Fighters were developed to use against ICBMs. Large underground bunkers were constructed to save the leaders, and citizens were told to build fallout shelters and taught how to react to a nuclear attack. These measurements were known as civil defense Fallout shelter

Mutually assured destruction (mad) During the 1960’s the theory of MAD was created. This meant that if Russia attacked the west, the west would make sure they would suitably retaliate so there would be no winners This was the only thing that kept both nations from attacking each other, and as the 60s ended, more efforts were made toward slowing or stopping the nuclear arms race. The two rivals installed a "hot line" to facilitate discussion in the event of another close call.

By 1961 there were enough bombs to destroy the world

Fear from the west NATO Warsaw Pact Troops 2.6 million 4 million Tanks In 1967, China exploded an H-bomb. China was a communist country. In the west, NATO felt out-numbered so they placed their faith in nuclear missiles. The chart shows why NATO would be scared. NATO Warsaw Pact Troops 2.6 million 4 million Tanks 13 000 42 500 Artillery 10 750 31 500

More missiles Great emphasis was put on new weapon systems. Mobile missile launchers were built. Missiles were housed underground in silos. In 1960 the first Polaris submarine was launched carrying 16 nuclear missiles. Each missile carried four warheads which were targeted on different cities so really, one submarine carried 64 nuclear warheads.

statistics BY 1981:  USA had 8 000 ICBM’s and Russia had 7 000 ICBM’s  USA had 4 000 planes capable of delivering a nuclear bomb and Russia had 5 000  USA defense spending = 178 billion dollars BY 1986:  USA defense spending = 367 billion dollars.  there were about 40 000 nuclear warheads throughout the world which is equivalent to 1 million Hiroshima bombs The British estimated that just one medium sized H-bomb on London would destroy anything living up to 30 miles away.  When confronted by these statistics, world leaders had to move to a position where they trusted each other more. Throughout the 1960's and 1970's detente had been used to ease bad relations between the superpowers.

sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_arms_race http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/nuclear_arms_race.htm http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_was_involved_in_Nuclear_Arms_Race_and_what_w ere_the_causes_of_it http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-arms-race.htm http://www.audifaz.com/coldwar/armsrace.htm http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/a/arms_race_gifts.asp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Race Chapter 8, Understandings of Ideologies