Intro Quiz: How did the arms race increase tensions?

Video: How did the arms race increase tensions?

﻿Hello, and welcome to this history lesson about why the arms race increased tension. My name is Ms. quick, and I'm really looking forward to continuing studying the Cold War with you today. For today's lesson, all you will need is a pen and something to write on. Don't forget to keep all of your notes together at the end of the lesson, with the rest of your Cold War notes from previous lessons. Please take a moment now to make sure that there's no distractions around you, and you have also turned off anything with notifications so that you can fully focus on our lesson. Also, do make sure that you are somewhere which is nice and quiet so you can fully concentrate on our lesson. Okay, so when you're ready, let's begin. Today, we are studying the second lesson that will help us answer our enquiry question of why did the Cold War intensify between 1950 and 1958? Remember, that intensify means to make stronger. So today, we are going to be considering how and why the arms race made divisions between the USA and the USSR even more pronounced. But before we begin, let's just check that you remember exactly what an arms race is. Which of the following options explains accurately what an arms race is? Is it option one? When countries try to prevent a war from happening. Option two? When countries compete against each other to make medical discoveries. Option three? When countries compete against each other to make more powerful weapons. Or option four? When countries try to demilitarise as quickly as possible. Pause the video now, choose the correct option, and resume when you are ready. Excellent, well done. Option three was correct because an arms race is when countries compete against each other to make more powerful weapons. It is a term that is used to refer to the competitive expansion of a country's military force, not about the removal of arms or attempts to disarm countries, as is incorrectly suggested by options one and four. So, in today's lesson, we are going to start by exploring how the arms race escalated in the 1950s. Note that escalate means to increase in intensity, amount, or size. So, we are going to be looking at how the arms race became bigger and more extreme in this period. After this, we will pause briefly just to check that we can put the key events of the arms race in order. This will make sure that this chronology is really clear in our heads before we move on to assess what the consequences of the arms race were. Finally, we will pause and draw together all of our learning to help us answer our lesson question of how did the arms race increase tensions. If at any point in the lesson you want to pause and go back over anything, then please feel free to. So that we understand how the arms race escalated in the 1950s, it is important that we recap what happened in the early years of the Cold War, when the arms race first began. In July 1945, the USA have successfully tested the atomic bomb and then used it in its attack on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945. At this point in time, the USA was the only country with nuclear weapons. And in launching this attack on Japan, they had shown just how powerful they were. This made Stalin feel threatened. He was determined to match the USA's nuclear power and exceed it. So, in 1949, Soviet scientists tested their own atom bomb successfully. The arms race had begun. At the same time, tensions were also building between the USA and the USSR due to their different aims and fears of the other. For example, Stalin's desire to create a sphere of influence, which would act as a buffer zone from the West, had increased suspicion between the USA and the USSR throughout the 1940s. The Berlin Blockade of 1948 to 1949 had also shown Stalin's willingness to take aggressive action. All of these events made both the USA and the USSR want to protect themselves even more, and therefore increased their desires to be superior in the nuclear arms race. Consequently, after 1949, and over the course of the 1950s, the arms race escalated and caused the Cold War to intensify. The USA and the USSR, driven by fear and the want to win military supremacy, began to urgently develop new and more powerful weapons. Each country was desperately trying to avoid a missile gap with their enemy. This meant that by 1957, both the USA and the USSR had tested weapons that had the power to hit a target more than 4,500 kilometres away. But how did the superpowers reach this point, and with what consequences? These are the questions that we're going to explore today. Before we go any further, let's just pause so that you can tell me exactly what had happened in the arms race by 1949. Two of these statements are true. Which ones are they? Pause the video now and resume when you are ready. Excellent. Well done. Statement A is true because the USA developed and used the atom bomb in 1945, whereas the USSR first developed the atom bomb in 1949. Statement D is also true because the developments of the atomic bombs in the 1940s increased tensions between the USA and the USSR. Their relationship was worse because they now each saw the other side as more threatening. Let's have a look at how the arms race started to escalate and accelerate, that's speed up, in the 1950s. So, how did the arms race escalate in the 1950s? After the USSR tested its first atomic bomb in 1949, the competition between the two superpowers began to increase. In 1952, the USA developed its first hydrogen bomb, known as the H-bomb. This was an extremely powerful weapon with the potential to cause incredible destruction. It was 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb. It was clear that the Americans wanted to keep their advantage over the USSR. However, the USSR was very quick to respond to the USA's testing of the H-bomb. Just one year later, in 1953, the USSR also had a hydrogen bomb, having tested it only a few months after the first American test. Weapons production did not stop there. In 1957, the USA developed intercontinental ballistic missiles, known as ICBMs. These have the power to fire a nuclear explosive at a target more than 4,500 kilometres away. This meant that the USA could now target, attack, and strike a location that was thousands of miles away with incredible and terrifying accuracy. The USSR recognised the destructive potential of this weapon, and so in August 1957, just two months after the USA launched its first ICBM, the USSR began testing its own intercontinental ballistic missiles. By 1961, the USA had developed 63 ICBMs, and the USSR had developed over 50. It was clear that through this rapid process of arms production in response to the developments of the other, the superpowers had each built up an incredible military force, so much so that by 1957, both the USA and the USSR were capable of destroying the world a number of times over. You may want to pause the video here and read back through this chain of events because you will need to recall that order in just a moment. Resume when you are ready. We have just looked at how the arms race escalated throughout the 1950s. To be able to explain this process accurately, it is really important that we remember the order in which different weapons were developed and which superpower developed them first. So, I would like you to pause the video here and place the following events in the correct chronological, that means time, order. Also, if you can, add the year when each event happened. Pause the video now, complete your task, and resume when you are ready. Brilliant, well done for listening so carefully. You're absolutely right that first, the USSR tested the atomic bomb, and this was in 1949, four years after the USA had tested and used its first atomic bomb. Then the USA tested the hydrogen bomb in 1952, which caused the USSR to react by also testing a hydrogen bomb in 1953. Finally, in 1957, the USA tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile, and the USSR soon made its own successful ICBM launch in the same year. So, it is very clear how the arms race escalated in this period. But what were the consequences of this? The arms race undoubtedly led to both the USA and the USSR increasing their power and their potential military capacity. It soon became clear that if direct confrontation between the USA and the USSR were to occur, highly destructive weapons could be fired from a great distance away, and the world could be destroyed a number of times over. Therefore, one big consequence of the arms race was the new potential for nuclear destruction that it has created. However, the extent to which the arms race escalated throughout the 1950s also led to a change in the way the USA and the USSR viewed the purpose of their nuclear weapons. Rather than accumulating weapons so that they could win wars, the USA and the USSR were now creating nuclear weapons as a deterrent, to try and prevent a war from breaking out. This was called mutually assured destruction, or MAD for short, and was the belief that having nuclear weapons would stop a rival from going to war as war would risk the outbreak of nuclear war and complete annihilation. In this sense, the increased development of nuclear weapons, which the arms race created, ironically discouraged the US and the USSR from declaring war on each other. Finally, by the mid 1950s, the cost of the arms race was starting to affect both American and Soviet decision-making. Both countries had new leaders in the form of Dwight Eisenhower for the USA and Nikita Khrushchev for the USSR. These leaders recognise the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and the significant cost of the arms race. Because of this, both countries began to see the benefits of improving relations with each other so that they could free up money to invest in their own economies, rather than in development of more weaponry. This contributed to a short period of peaceful coexistence between the USA and the USSR. However, it is important to recognise that this was very short-lived, and the arms race never fully halted. As we have already seen, by 1957, both the USA and the USSR were once again competing to develop even more destructive weapons, such as ICBMs. And in a clear rejection of his early caution, President Eisenhower increased the USA spending on missiles by 20% between 1957 and 1959. Therefore, while tensions between the superpowers did fluctuate during the 1950s, it is clear that overwhelmingly, the arms race did more to increase rather than decrease tensions. You may want to pause the video here, just so you can read back through that chain of consequences. Resume when you are ready. Brilliant. So, to show me that you understand, pause the video here and complete the following sentence by selecting the correct option. Although the arms race increased tensions, it made war less likely because... And then resume when you are finished. Excellent work, well done. That was tricky. Although the arms race increased tensions, it made war less likely because nuclear weapons acted as a deterrent. This was because the weapons that the USA and the USSR were developing were so powerful and each country now had so many of them, that neither side wanted to declare war because they knew the other would retaliate straightaway with equal force, and both countries would be wiped out. So, although tensions have certainly increased, active war was actually less likely. Okay. So, let us read through the comprehension questions really carefully. Question number one. What did the USA do in 1952, and how did the USSR respond? Question two. Why did the USA's development of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, ICBMs, in 1957 make tensions increase? Question three. Why did the arms race make war between the USA and the USSR less likely? Question four. Why did the new leaders of the USA and the USSR want to try and improve relations by the mid-1950s? And for our challenge question today, why did the arms race increase tensions between the USA and the USSR? For this question, think about the specific examples you could use of different events in the arms race, and how they increased tensions. Use the hints in pink to help you think of these examples. If you want to, you can use the sentence starters to help you structure your answer to this question. Please pause the video, read the slides on the resource worksheet and answer the comprehension questions. When you are finished, resume the video. Well done for working so hard on your comprehension questions. Let's now spend some time reviewing your answers. Remember, your answers do not need to look exactly the same as mine, but look for common language and give yourself a tick when you have written something similar. So, question number one. What did the USA do in 1952 and how did the USSR respond? An acceptable answer would be the USA developed the hydrogen bomb. The USSR responded by developing their own hydrogen bomb. A good answer would be in 1952, the USA developed its first hydrogen bomb, known as the H-bomb. This was an extremely powerful weapon with the potential to cause incredible destruction. It was 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb. The USSR responded quickly by developing and testing its own hydrogen bomb, in August 1953. In the good answer, more knowledge has been shown about what the hydrogen bomb was. Also, key dates have been added to show how quickly the USSR responded to the US development of the H-bomb, showing how this had truly become an arms race. Question two. Why did the USA's development of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles in 1957 make tensions increase? An acceptable answer would be the USA's development of ICBMs in 1957 made tensions increase because the USA could now attack a location that was thousands of miles away. A good answer would be the USA's development of ICBMs in 1957 made tensions increase because these weapons had the power to fire a nuclear explosive at a target more than 4,500 kilometres away. This meant that the USA could now attack a location that was thousands of miles away. The US development of ICBMs also made tensions increase because it encouraged the USSR to develop similar technology in August 1957. This meant that, by 1957, both the USA and the USSR were capable of destroying the world a number of times over. Again, in the good answer, more specific examples of how the development of ICBMs increased tension have been used and phrases such as this meant that show how one events led to another. Two examples have also been given in the good answer to show how the developments of ICBMs made tensions increase in more than one way. Question three. Why did the arms race make war between the USA and the USSR less likely? An acceptable answer would be the arms race made war less likely because the USA and the USSR did not want to risk complete annihilation. And a good answer might be the arms race made war between the USA and the USSR less likely because it had led to development of nuclear weapons. These became deterrents, rather than weapons used in wars, because both sides recognised that if one country were to launch a nuclear weapon, the other could respond immediately and both countries would be destroyed. This was called mutually assured destruction, and this belief discouraged the USA and the USSR from declaring war on each other so that each country could protect itself from destruction. It's great here that the acceptable answer has used the key word annihilation, but the good answer does go a bit further by explaining why nuclear weapons caused the USA and the USSR to have these fears, and in turn, why these fears meant that war became less likely. Question four. Why did the new leaders of the USA and the USSR want to try and improve relations by the mid-1950s? An acceptable answer would be they wanted to improve relations because the cost of the arms race was too high. A good answer might be that Dwight Eisenhower and Nikita Khrushchev, the new leaders of the USA and the USSR, wanted to try to improve relations by the mid-1950s because they recognised the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and the significant cost of the arms race. Because of this, both countries began to see the benefits of improving relations with each other, so that they could free up money to invest in their own economies rather than in the development of more weaponry. This led to a short period of peaceful coexistence between the USA and the USSR in the mid-1950s. Now here, the acceptable answer is perfectly correct, but the good answer goes further by explaining two reasons why the USA and the USSR wanted to improve relations, and also by explaining the consequences of the high costs of the arms race in clear, step-by-step detail, using phrases such as because of this and this meant that to connect the events together. Finally, our challenge question. Why did the arms race increase tensions between the USA and the USSR? Just to remind you that you may have worded your answer differently, so look in your answer for the common ideas and language that are highlighted in pink in the text. If you see any of these points, give yourself a tick or feel free to add them in. The phrases in blue are the sentence starters that you could have used to structure this answer. So, I'm going to give you some time now just to pause the video and to read through that answer and give yourself a tick on the language that you have used in your answer. So, well done for completing today's lesson. You've done some really fantastic learning today, particularly with some really, really challenging concepts. So, really well done. Don't forget to now put all of those notes together with your other notes from the Cold War, and also to do the exit quiz at the end of this lesson, just to show how much you have learned. I'm really looking forward to seeing you next time when we have a look at the space race and how that also increased tensions between the USA and the USSR. So, all left for me to say now is thank you, take care, and enjoy the rest of your learning today.

Worksheet: How did the arms race increase tensions?

Exit Quiz: How did the arms race increase tensions?

Completed: How did the arms race increase tensions?

In this lesson, you will learn about how the arms race escalated in the 1950s. You will explore how this happened and what the consequences of this were for superpower relations and the intensity of the Cold War.

History

Y11 History

Key Stage 4

Year 11

How did the arms race increase tensions?

The Cold War: Superpower relations from 1941- 1991

UNIT

Grand Alliance, 1941-1945: Why were they unlikely allies?

Why did tension develop at the wartime conferences?

Why did the atomic bombs damage US-Soviet relations?

Why did the 1946 telegrams increase the tension?

Did Churchill officially announce the beginning of the Cold War?

What were the consequences of Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe?

How far did early tension begin to show in the breakdown of the Grand Alliance?

Why did the Truman Doctrine increase the tension between the Superpowers?

How significant was the Soviet response to the Truman Doctrine?

What was the Berlin blockade?

What were the consequences of the Berlin blockade?

How significant were events in Asia for superpower relations?

Why did the space race make US-Soviet relations worse?

Why did the Hungarians challenge Communist control?

How significant was the Hungarian uprising?

Why did the Cold War intensify between 1950-1958?

Why was the Berlin Wall built?

What were the consequences of the building of the Berlin Wall?

Why did the Cuban Revolution change the relationship between the superpowers?

How was the Cuban Missile Crisis resolved and with what significance?

What were the causes and consequences of the Prague Spring?

What was detente and why did it happen?

Why did detente not last?

Why did Reagan's policies increase tension?

Explore the Enquiry

How did Gorbachev's 'new thinking' reduce tensions between the superpowers?

How did the Soviet Union's hold on Eastern Europe come to an end?

What did the fall of the Berlin Wall mean for the Cold War?

Why did the Cold War come to an end?

History

How did the arms race increase tensions?

Introductory Quiz

Video

Worksheet

Final Quiz

Lesson Complete