Arms Race
This was a competition in the production of arms
- USA had nuclear technology at the end of the WW2 (Manhattan Project, 1945)
- Stalin wanted to catch up and used USSR resources to achieve this
- Russia made its first atomic bomb in 1949
- USA accused USSR of espionage (spying) – Ethel and Julius Rosenberg blamed in May 1951
and executed by electrocution in 1953
Weapons advanced from atomic bombs to hydrogen bombs
- Hydrogen bombs more powerful than atomic bombs
- Development of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM)
- USSR created the largest bomb in history – Tsar Bomba, 13 October 1961 (used as a political
showpiece – "my bomb is bigger than yours")
Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed 5 August 1963 by America, Soviets and Britain
- Banned nuclear testing underwater, in the atmosphere and in space (can still be tested
underground)
- So the superpowers began to stockpile arms to create a nuclear arsenal
- Both powers were wary of using nukes because they feared retaliation from the other
(known as “Mutually Assured Destruction”)
Superpowers feared that a wrong decision could end the world and the cost of the arms race was a
financial drain on both economies
- So USA and USSR held Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) to reduce the arms race and
limit the number of nuclear weapons in the arsenals
- Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev held SALT I between 1969 and 1972
- Nixon left office after Watergate Scandal and Gerald Ford (then Jimmy Carter) became US
president
- Carter and Brezhnev held SALT II talks between 1977 and 1979
This was a competition in the production of arms
- USA had nuclear technology at the end of the WW2 (Manhattan Project, 1945)
- Stalin wanted to catch up and used USSR resources to achieve this
- Russia made its first atomic bomb in 1949
- USA accused USSR of espionage (spying) – Ethel and Julius Rosenberg blamed in May 1951
and executed by electrocution in 1953
Weapons advanced from atomic bombs to hydrogen bombs
- Hydrogen bombs more powerful than atomic bombs
- Development of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM)
- USSR created the largest bomb in history – Tsar Bomba, 13 October 1961 (used as a political
showpiece – "my bomb is bigger than yours")
Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed 5 August 1963 by America, Soviets and Britain
- Banned nuclear testing underwater, in the atmosphere and in space (can still be tested
underground)
- So the superpowers began to stockpile arms to create a nuclear arsenal
- Both powers were wary of using nukes because they feared retaliation from the other
(known as “Mutually Assured Destruction”)
Superpowers feared that a wrong decision could end the world and the cost of the arms race was a
financial drain on both economies
- So USA and USSR held Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) to reduce the arms race and
limit the number of nuclear weapons in the arsenals
- Richard Nixon and Leonid Brezhnev held SALT I between 1969 and 1972
- Nixon left office after Watergate Scandal and Gerald Ford (then Jimmy Carter) became US
president
- Carter and Brezhnev held SALT II talks between 1977 and 1979
