1.3a: The development of the Nuclear Arms Race

What did the USA do in July 1945?

successfully tested the atomic bomb

What did the USA do on the 6th and 9th of August 1945?

Exploded atom bombs over the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima

When did the USA explode atom bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

6th and 9th of August 1945

Which Japanese cities did the USA explode atom bombs over?

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

How many Japanese civilians did the atom bombs kill?

120,000

What had the Berlin Blockade shown?

Stalin’s willingness to take aggressive action

What did the different aims of the USA and the USSR lead to?

Increased suspicions and tensions

Give 2 causes of the the development of the Nuclear Arms Race.

America’s development of the atom bomb, increased tensions after 1945

When did the USSR successfully test their atom bomb?

22nd of August 1949

What did the USSR’s atom bomb lead to?

The rise of the nuclear arms race

What was the nuclear arms race?

The competition between the USA and USSR to have the most powerful nuclear weapons and technology

When did the USA test the hydrogen bomb?

1952

What was the hydrogen bomb?

A bomb 1000x more powerful than the atom bomb

When did the USSR test the hydrogen bomb?

1953

When did the USA develop ICBMs?

1957

What were ICBMs?

Missiles which could hit a target more than 4500km away

When did the USSR develop ICBMs?

1957, a few months after the USA

What were 4 consequences of the Nuclear Arms Race?

Nuclear destruction, mutually assured destruction, cost of the arms race, meetings between the USA and USSR

As a result of the Nuclear Arms Race, what did the USA and USSR both have the power to do?

Destroy the world a number of times over

What did nuclear weapons become, instead of weapons used in wars?

Deterrents

What did nuclear weapons discourage the USA and USSR from doing, and why?

Declaring war on each other because it would risk nuclear war and complete annihilation

What did the cost of the arms race encourage?

The USA and USSR improving relations with each other so that they could free up money to invest in their own economies

Who became leader of the USA in 1953?

Eisenhower

Who became leader of the USSR in 1953?

Krushchev

What agreement was made in 1955?

An agreement over Austria

What meeting took place in 1955?

A meeting in Geneva for the first time in 10 years