Arms race (aug 1, 1945 – nov 1, 1990)

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in 1945, USA was the only nuclear power in the world when it used atomic bombs on japan. Possession of this powerful weapon gave America an advantage over the soviet union.
-As tensions rose between USSR and US, the USSR tried harder to develop nuclear weapons-US determined to keep superiority
-throughout the cold war, US and USSR raced to develop the most powerful nuclear weapons they could (Arms Race)
-Neither side really wanted to use the weapons but they didn't want the opposite side to have an upper hand.
-This lead to an intense rivalry, where both sides were constantly trying to gain the upper hand in nuclear power.
-Came to point where both had enough nuclear weapons, that if one side decided to use them, then the other side could, resulting in destruction of both countries. This is known as Manually Assured Destruction (MAD)

Facts about Nuclear Weapons:
US used Atom Bomb in Japan in 2945
USSR succesfully made atom bomb in 2949
US made firsy hydrogen bomb in 1952 (500 times more powerful than Atom Bomb)
USSR made own Hydrogen Bomb in 1955
In 1957 USSR made its owm ICBM which could strike USA after being launched from USSR
US made on ICBM by 1959, America than increased its supply of missiles and gained advantage over USSR
In 1960 USA deployed submarines which carried Polaris missiles, were hard to detect and missiles could be fired from anywhere under the sea

The arms race was also fuelled by the fear and suspicion created by other events:
-Formation of NATO in 1949, this made the USSR feel military vulnerable
In 1950, communist China and the USSR signed a treaty of friendship, which made US fear communism was going to take over.

The Two powers established a military alliances:
Stalin's berlin blockade showed how unprepared the west would be if there was conflict with the USSR.
As a result, Western powers formed a miltary alliance.
In 1949 NATO was formed, all members of alliance agreed to respond together if any member was attacked.
This was a real threat to USSR.
When West Germany joined NATO in 1955 then USSR decided to act...
Weeks Later, USSR decided to form Warsaw pact. All the USSRs sphere of influence (except Yugoslavia) was a part of Warsaw pact, its main aim was to improve defence in eastern Europe.
There were now 2 power blocs in Europe, NATO and Warsaw Pact.

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