Development of the Cold War 2

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The Arms Race

The dropping of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, forced Japan to surrender in the war

Dropping the atomic bomb started a nuclear arms race between the two world superpowers (USA and USSR)

Nuclear weapons acted as a determinant of power status of the two rival power blocs

The potential of nuclear weapons gave the US and USSR dominant status overall other nations during the Cold War

US and USSR created a MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) world i.e. ‘If you drop a bomb on us, we will drop a bomb on you’

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Arms Race Develops

After World War Two, the Americans believed they had the edge on the USSR, in terms of arms development

German scientists had developed V1 and V2 rockets for the Nazis - and now worked for the US military

US and USSR obtained information of what they could from the German rocket programme

Both launched their own rocket programmes

USA had bases in Europe, for example Turkey, where they could launch a nuclear strike

USSR needed longer range rocket missiles

Rocket development had military implications for both sides for ‘arms race’

Both the USA and USSR worked to build Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) that could travel thousands of miles to deliver nuclear warheads

ICBM’s were developed under the Eisenhower presidency

1958 - the first ICBM was called Atlas, followed by Titan and Minuteman

These missiles could carry warheads for up to 1,600km

In 1961, the US Navy developed Polaris, which led to Poseidon (range of 20,000km and multiple warheads)

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The Space Race

Part One

Surveillance satellites were used to take photos from space

The US reaction to Sputnik (first satellite in space from the USSR 1957) was one of shock

The USSR had beaten the US in getting into space first - use for propaganda

In this time, USSR had developed missiles that could reach the USA

Johnson was frustrated with the USSR sending Sputnik into space, which resulted in Eisenhower engaging in the space race

1958 - Eisenhower set up the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - the aim of the organisation was to catch up and surpass the Soviet Union in space technology

1961 - Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space for USSR

Part Two

May 1961 - ​​​​​​​New US president, J.F. Kennedy, promises that the US would have a man on the moon before the end of the decade

‘This nation should commit itself to achieve the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon’ - J. F. Kennedy

1961 - first Mercury Project sent astronaut Alan Shepard (US) into space

Gemini project - 2-man flights, space walks

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Apollo Missions

The Apollo programme set out to test soft landings on the moon, photograph the surface, and photograph possible landing sites with a lunar orbiter. American technology overtook the USSR with this programme.

The first six Apollo missions were unmanned:

Launched in 1967, Apollo 7 was the first manned rocket (mission ended in tragedy when a fire broke out and three astronauts died)

Apollo 8 - orbited the moon and returned to Earth; the first manned orbit of the moon

Apollo 9 - practised docking the command module and the lunar module orbiting Earth

Apollo 10 - travelled to the moon to test the lunar module further

Apollo 11 - lands on the part of the moon known as the Sea of Tranquility on 20 July 1969

The US had outstripped the Soviet Union in the space race (victory for capitalism and democracy)

USSR launched Luna XV to try draw attention away from Apollo 11, but it crash landed on the moon