The Nuclear Arms Race Featuring Mutual Assured Destruction

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The Nuclear Arms RaceFeaturing Mutual Assured
Destruction

• by Matt Ellis

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Key Players

• Harry S. Truman-President of the United States
• Joseph Stalin-Leader of the USSR

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A Power Struggle

• The nuclear arms race was just a power struggle
  between the U.S. and USSR, although behind that
  was an ideological conflict. The race began with
  the dropping of the A-Bomb on Hiroshima, and at
  that time the USSR did not have the bomb. The
  capitalists were winning.

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Continuing on

• However, in 1949, the USSR discovered the secret
  of the atomic bomb. From here, the race was
  neck-and-neck. In 52 the U.S. exploded the first
  H-Bomb and a year after that, the USSR followed
  suit. Over these past 3 years, the world had
  become a much more dangerous place.

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Development

• After that, the USSR and U.S. both put extreme
  efforts into their weapons stockpile, focusing on
  nuclear weaponry. The USA produced the B-52, a
  bomber plane which could fly 6,000 miles and
  could carry nuclear bombs. This took financial
  greatness, which the USSR did not have, so they
  focused on building bigger, instead of more,
  bombs. By 1961, there were enough bombs to
  destroy the world.

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Russia Gives U.S. a Scare

• In October of 1957, the Russian satellite Sputnik
  was launched. Americas fear of ICBMs, or
  Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles, led them to
  create the DEW, or the Defense and Early Warning
  System, built in the arctic. Although there was
  no evidence that the Russians were planning such
  an attack, the U.S. was very cautious.

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The Nuclear Race Was aTag-Team?

• In 1957, England successfully tested an H-Bomb,
  and in 1967 so did China. Although it seemed the
  Capitalists and Communists were even, NATO felt
  very outnumbered. At that point the Warsaw Pact,
  the alliance of the USSR and its European
  satellites, had doubled the amount of NATOs
  troops and more than tripled the amount of tanks
  and artillery.

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After America and Russia got started on this
nuclear weapons business, the Europeans could
see it would mean no good to them. They pushed to
disarm, but Eventually found it inevitable that
they would have to arm up themselves, or be
destroyed.
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China Joins The Fray

• This cartoon illustrates Chinas entrance into
  the nuclear world. It was a very important matter
  as it meant more respect from other countries who
  may have thought of them as inferior.

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Mutually Assured Destruction

• Also known as MAD, this theory was brought about
  by one countries fear of their enemy country.
  Simply put, if the USSR attacked the West, then
  the West would retaliate, and vice versa. In the
  end, both countries would be destroyed and there
  would be no winner. This gave some people a safe
  feeling, reasoning that no one would make a first
  attack for fear of being wiped out.

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Nuclear Warheads Become More Plentiful This
cartoon really has little to do with the Cold
War except to illustrate that more and more
Nations were placing a great importance on the
building of nuclear weapons. A nation was not
sophisticated until it had it, and once it had
it, was feared. Therefore, in todays world,
you must be feared to be respected.
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Timeline of Other Events of the Cold War

• 1945 A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Arms race
  begins, U.S. is ahead.
• 1949 NATO formed Russia explodes first tested
  A-Bomb China becomes communist
• 1950 Korean war started, used as competition
  between US and USSR
• 1952 USA explodes first H-Bomb
• 1953 Korean War ends USSR explodes first
  H-Bomb Stalin dies
• 1955 Warsaw Pact created
• 1957 Sputnik launched
• 1959 Cuba becomes Communist
• 1961 USA sent aid to Vietnam for the first time
  Berlin Wall built
• 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
• 1965 USA openly engaged in Vietnam War
• 1968 USSR invades Czechoslovakia
• 1986 Meeting in Iceland between Gorbachev (USSR)
  and Reagan (U.S.)
• 1987 INF Treaty Signed

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Works Cited Page

• http//www.historylearningsite.co.uk/nuclear_arms_
  race.htm
• http//www.historylearningsite.co.uk/cold20war2
  0chronology.htm (both) updated May 2002
• http//www.pwc.k12.nf.ca/coldwar/plain/armsrace.ht
  ml (no information available)
• Tokyo Physicians for Elimination of Nuclear
  Weapons http//www.ask.ne.jp/hankaku/english/np9
  y.html
• Maintained by Webmaster http//www.fas.org/nuke/co
  ntrol/inf/
• http//physica.gsnu.ac.kr/physedu/nuclear/images/h
  bomb.gif (Korean site, couldnt read information)
• Maintained and run by NIDS http//www.nato.int/
  Updated 2004