GCSE · History · AQA · Spec 8145

Arms race

Two neighbours who don't trust each other: one fits a stronger lock, so the other fits two. Neither feels safer, so both keep going. Now make the locks nuclear bombs.

History · Cause & effect

Move and counter-move, 1945–1958

Tap each move. On the left: what it was answering. On the right: what it set off next.

Causes ←

What led here

The American H-bomb had put the USA back in front

Event

Soviet H-bomb

1953

By August 1953, less than a year after the American test, the USSR has developed its own H-bomb.

→ Consequences

What followed

The USA's new lead lasts less than a year

The cost of keeping up

How fast did the bill grow?

In 1949 the USA spent $13.5 billion a year on arms. Slide to your guess: how much was it spending a year by 1953?

Your estimate

30 billion dollars

0 billion dollars60 billion dollars

Two alliances, one divided continent

NATOvsWarsaw Pact

Start with the first row. The dates settle which alliance came first.

Focus

Set up

NATO

1949

Warsaw Pact

May 1955, just over a week after West Germany joined NATO

The insight

NATO is six years older. The Warsaw Pact was a response to NATO, not the other way round.

Why it was set up

NATO

To stop further Soviet expansion, after the Berlin Crisis and the takeover of Czechoslovakia by Soviet-backed communists

Warsaw Pact

Because the USSR saw an armed, powerful West Germany as a threat on the border of Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe

Who belonged

NATO

The USA, Britain, France and other Western countries

Warsaw Pact

The USSR with Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania and East Germany (the German Democratic Republic): the Eastern Bloc

How it worked

NATO

Members promised to defend one another if any of them was attacked

Warsaw Pact

A military alliance under Soviet command, with an entirely Soviet leadership

What it meant for the Cold War

NATO

The western half of a divided Europe

Warsaw Pact

The eastern half of a divided Europe

The chance to slow down

?

Reason it through

Why did the Geneva Summit of 1955 fail to slow the arms race?

Link 1 of 4

First link · your turn

1953 brought new leaders on both sides. Who were they, and what did each believe?

2
Locked — reveal the link above first
3
Locked — reveal the link above first
4
Locked — reveal the link above first

The big idea

What were all those weapons for?

By the late 1950s the USA and the USSR each had a stockpile of nuclear weapons that could have destroyed the world many times over.

So what were all those weapons actually for? Pick the idea closest to what you think right now.
How sure are you?

Your turn

Put it in your own words

Explain how the arms race raised tension between the USA and the USSR. [4 marks]

0 words · your answer stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

WHAT YOU'VE LEARNED

A quick recap of today's lesson.

How two superpowers kept answering each other, until they held weapons built never to be used

What you need to know

  • An arms race is when countries compete to build up their military strength. In the Cold War the USA and the USSR competed for more powerful weapons and more effective ways of delivering them.
  • Every move was answered: the American atomic bomb (1945) by a Soviet one (1949); the American H-bomb (1952) by a Soviet one (1953); West Germany joining NATO (May 1955) by the Warsaw Pact; Sputnik (1957) by a burst of American spending and NASA (1958).
  • The arms race raised tension because each side suspected the other of aiming for a devastating first strike.
  • New leaders in 1953 hoped to cut spending, but the Geneva Summit of 1955 ended without agreement because of suspicion.
  • By the late 1950s weapons were built to stop the other side going to war at all. This is deterrence.

The big picture

From 1945 to the late 1950s the USA and the USSR raced to build more powerful weapons and better ways of delivering them. Each advance was answered by the other side, suspicion wrecked the 1955 attempt to slow things down, and the race ended in deterrence: weapons built to stop a war rather than win one.

Key points

1The Manhattan Project gave the USA the world's first atomic bomb by July 1945; bombs were used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 to force Japan's surrender.
2Having seen their power, the USSR invested heavily and had its own atomic bomb by 1949. Truman answered by increasing defence spending and ordering the H-bomb.
3The USA tested the first H-bomb in November 1952, over 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb; the USSR had its own by August 1953.
4Between 1949 and 1953 American arms spending rose from $13.5 billion to $49.6 billion a year and Soviet spending from $13.4 billion to $35.5 billion.
5NATO (1949) came first; the Warsaw Pact (May 1955) was the USSR's answer to West Germany joining NATO. By 1955 Europe was split into two rival alliances.
6Eisenhower and Khrushchev met at Geneva in July 1955 in a cooperative mood, but suspicion after the new alliances meant no agreement.
7ICBMs (first launched in 1957) and Sputnik 1 (4 October 1957) made the race more dangerous; the USA answered with 20% more missile spending (1957–59), more training for engineers and scientists, missile bases in Western Europe and NASA (1958).
8Deterrence: using the threat of force to prevent an enemy attacking.

Worked example

Problem

Explain why the USSR set up the Warsaw Pact in 1955.

⚠ Watch out

Getting the alliances the wrong way round. NATO came first, in 1949. The Warsaw Pact followed in 1955 as the USSR's answer to it.

🧠

Memory hook

Match it, then top it: bomb then bomb, H-bomb then H-bomb, NATO then Warsaw Pact, Sputnik then NASA. And at the end, a pile of weapons built never to be used.

✓

Check yourself

Close the lesson and try this from memory: put the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet H-bomb, NASA and the Soviet atomic bomb in order, then say in one line what each one was answering.

Flashcards

(15)
What is an arms race?
When countries compete to build up their military strength. In the Cold War: more powerful weapons, and more effective ways of delivering them.
Why did the arms race raise tension between the USA and the USSR?
Each side suspected the other of building enough weapons for a devastating first strike: one that would destroy its enemy and stop it firing back.
How did the USA get the world's first atomic bomb, and by when?
Through the success of the Manhattan Project, by July 1945.
Why did the USSR invest heavily in nuclear weapons, and when did it get an atomic bomb?
It had seen the power of the American bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. It had its own atomic bomb by 1949.
How did Truman respond to the Soviet atomic bomb?
He significantly increased American defence spending and ordered a more powerful weapon, the hydrogen bomb (H-bomb).
When did each side get the H-bomb, and how powerful was it?
USA: November 1952, over 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb. USSR: by August 1953, less than a year later.
Arms spending 1949 → 1953: USA and USSR?
USA: $13.5bn → $49.6bn a year. USSR: $13.4bn → $35.5bn a year. By 1953 the USA was spending more.
NATO: when, who and why?
1949. The USA, Britain, France and other Western countries, after the Berlin Crisis and the communist takeover of Czechoslovakia, to prevent further Soviet expansion. Members promised to defend one another.
Warsaw Pact: when, why and who?
May 1955, just over a week after West Germany joined NATO. Under Soviet command: the USSR, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania and East Germany (the Eastern Bloc).
Who led the superpowers from 1953, and what did each believe?
Eisenhower (US president from January 1953): anti-communist but worried about nuclear dangers and open to talks. Khrushchev (after Stalin died in March 1953): peaceful coexistence.
Why did the Geneva Summit (July 1955) fail?
The mood was cooperative, but it came two months after West Germany joined NATO and the Warsaw Pact was formed: too much suspicion to agree, so the race continued.
What is an ICBM, and when were the first ones launched?
An intercontinental ballistic missile: it can fire a nuclear warhead at targets on another continent. USA (Atlas): June 1957. USSR: August 1957.
What was Sputnik 1, and why did it worry the USA?
The world's first artificial satellite, launched by the USSR with a missile on 4 October 1957. It raised American fears of Soviet superiority in missile technology.
How did the USA respond to Sputnik?
Missile spending up 20% (1957–59), more training for engineers and scientists, missile bases in Western Europe (particularly West Germany) and NASA, founded in 1958.
What is deterrence?
Using the threat of force to prevent an enemy attacking. By the late 1950s weapons were built to stop the other side going to war at all, not to win wars.

Tap any card to flip it, or use Study as deck to go through them one at a time. In the full lesson these run as a spaced-repetition deck — you rate each card Hard, Good or Easy and the tricky ones keep coming back until they stick.

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