Cold War Arms Race
Drew Valerio
Prof. McNally
History 268
September 6, 2012
Introduction
The Cold war dated from 1947-1991. It was characterized by both political and military superiority between United States, which was backed by its NATO allies, and Soviet Union that led the communist side. The cold war was mainly started after the success of the alliance that was formed against Nazi Germany. This competition supremacy on nuclear warfare attracted other countries that also started making nuclear weapons due to the tension that existed in the world. Both sides directed huge sums of money to their military budgets with each side trying to outdo the other.
History of the cold war
The relation’s gap between United States and Soviet Union were widened by their philosophical differences in both economic and political ideologies. As a result, each country started suspecting the other as fears of attack by opposing sides rose to greater heights. These differences prevented them from coming to a mutual understanding, something of which could have reduced their rivalry. Some of the key policies that widened this rivalry were for example, the case of Cuban missile crisis. In addition, immediately after World War II the United States had monopolized the existing knowledge concerning the raw materials that were required to develop nuclear weapons. The United States thought that by owning nuclear weapons concessions as well as fear may be drawn from our counterparts but this was not the case. The Soviet Union started by trying to match nuclear weapons capabilities by working on the atomic bomb silently with a steady supply of uranium coming from Eastern Europe which provided hope to the Soviet Union. Although the project was so expensive for the country, they succeeded in making an atomic bomb. In 1949 the Soviet Union detonated their first nuclear bomb, an aspect that caught the world unaware (Phillips, 2010).
Arms race
The decision by United States to drop nuclear bombs on Japan in 1945
Prof. McNally
History 268
September 6, 2012
Introduction
The Cold war dated from 1947-1991. It was characterized by both political and military superiority between United States, which was backed by its NATO allies, and Soviet Union that led the communist side. The cold war was mainly started after the success of the alliance that was formed against Nazi Germany. This competition supremacy on nuclear warfare attracted other countries that also started making nuclear weapons due to the tension that existed in the world. Both sides directed huge sums of money to their military budgets with each side trying to outdo the other.
History of the cold war
The relation’s gap between United States and Soviet Union were widened by their philosophical differences in both economic and political ideologies. As a result, each country started suspecting the other as fears of attack by opposing sides rose to greater heights. These differences prevented them from coming to a mutual understanding, something of which could have reduced their rivalry. Some of the key policies that widened this rivalry were for example, the case of Cuban missile crisis. In addition, immediately after World War II the United States had monopolized the existing knowledge concerning the raw materials that were required to develop nuclear weapons. The United States thought that by owning nuclear weapons concessions as well as fear may be drawn from our counterparts but this was not the case. The Soviet Union started by trying to match nuclear weapons capabilities by working on the atomic bomb silently with a steady supply of uranium coming from Eastern Europe which provided hope to the Soviet Union. Although the project was so expensive for the country, they succeeded in making an atomic bomb. In 1949 the Soviet Union detonated their first nuclear bomb, an aspect that caught the world unaware (Phillips, 2010).
Arms race
The decision by United States to drop nuclear bombs on Japan in 1945
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