1. HOW DID THE RACE FOR ARMS AFFECT THE TENSIONS BETWEEN THE WEST AND THE SOVIET UNION? THE ARMS RACE

2. THE NUCLEAR BOMB The USA was the first country to develop and test nuclear weapons – 16 July 1945. Their second and third bombs were dropped three weeks later at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Only 4 years later did the Soviets manage to develop and test their own nuclear weapons – August 1949. By this time the Americans already had a stockpile of bombs as well as long range missiles to deliver them.

4. ATOM BOMBS AND HYDROGEN BOMBS Because of the constant competition between the USA and the USSR, there was constant advancement in the development of Nuclear bombs. The USA then developed the Hydrogen bomb to ‘stay ahead’. BUT in 1947 the USA also instituted its policy of Containment. This meant that the USA wanted to ensure that Communism does not spread. The new Hydrogen bomb was a means of warning to the USSR, China and North Korea. The Soviet Union believed that the USA not only wanted to contain communism but also destroy the Soviet Union.

5. Remember that the USA had several policies that tried to combat communism. 1. Truman Doctrine 2. Marshall Plan 3. NATO – in which air force bases were set up in NATO countries where the USSR could be more easily targeted 4. AND NOW The Hydrogen bomb and increased weapon stockpiles. The Soviet Union decided to up their game and developed the Tsar Bomba – The worlds biggest Nuclear bomb ever.

7. THE ARMS RACE Both the USA and the USSR now had hydrogen bombs. The race for Arms escalated until by 1987 there was about 50 000 nuclear weapons between the two. Both sides had enough nuclear capacity to eliminate the human race several times over. So why did the two sides make more weapons than they possibly ever needed?

8. EISENHOWER AND THE ‘NEW LOOK’ DETERRENCE Eisenhower’s policies of included a strong economy, low taxes and strong defences. It was hence cheaper to develop nuclear weapons that high explosive TNT weapons. The ‘new look’ defence policy entailed developing and stockpiling so many nuclear weapons that any threat by the USSR could be met with ‘massive retaliation’. He believed this would instil fear in the USSR and deter them from making a threat in the first place. Nuclear deterrence.

9. THE ‘MISSILE GAP’ 1957 – the USSR developed and tested the world first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile. The USA quickly followed suit. The USA estimated that by 1961 the USSR would have 10 times more missiles than the USA and hence a ‘Missile Gap’. During the next Presidential election, John F Kennedy criticised Eisenhower for not building enough missiles – he promised to close the ‘Missile Gap’ (this was popular with voters). When elected, Kennedy discovered that there actually was no missile gap but he didn’t want to go back on his promise.

10. THE WORLD WAS GOING M.A.D Kennedy saw flaws in Eisenhower’s policy of ‘massive retaliation’. The USA could never be sure that all Soviet Missiles would be destroyed in the event of an attack. There was therefore no advantage in having more missiles than the USSR. He decided he would settle for having roughly the same. Both sides would hence have the ability to destroy each other. Neither could defeat the other without itself being destroyed and so there would be a ‘balance of terror’ between them. This was known as MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction

11. FROM M.A.D TO N.U.T.S MAD was quickly taken over by two developments Both sides started to develop Anti Ballistic Missiles designed to intercept ICBMs before they reached their targets. Both sides realised that this made war more, rather than less, likely. Secondly, both sides started to develop missiles which could carry more than 1 warhead. Multiple Independently Targeted re-entry vehicle (MIRVs) Nuclear Utilisation Targeting Strategy (NUTS).

12. TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU AGREE WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS? Strongly agree Neutral Strongly disagree

13. HOW EFFECTIVE DO YOU THINK EISENHOWER'S POLICY OF DETERRENCE WAS? Very Effective Neutral Very Ineffective

14. “ DROPPING THE NUCLEAR BOMBS AT HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI HELPED END THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC.” TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU AGREE WITH THE DROPPING OF THE BOMB? Strongly agree Neutral Strongly disagree

15. “NEARLY 200 000 PEOPLE DIED FROM THE NUCLEAR WEAPONS USED AT HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI” TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU AGREE WITH THE DROPPING OF THE BOMB? Strongly agree Neutral Strongly disagree

16. HOMEWORK Please complete: Write a paragraph answering the following question. Considering the increased competition for Arms and nuclear weapons between the USA and the USSR, how do you think the Arms Race contributed to the tensions between the two sides?