HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (AND THE ARMS RACE, AND THE ALLIANCE SYSTEM) ACTUALLY, YOU SHOULD JUST CALL THESE NOTES “THE ARMS RACE.” SORRY.

THE ALLIANCE SYSTEM

LABEL THESE COUNTRIES ON YOUR STUDY GUIDE (IF POSSIBLE) NATO  Belgium  Canada  Denmark  France  Iceland  Italy  Luxembourg  Netherlands  Norway  Portugal  UK  USA THE WARSAW PACT  Albania  Bulgaria  Czechoslovakia  East Germany  Hungary  Poland  Romania  USSR

NATO  Date: 1949  Mutual defense organization of western capitalist democracies  All members will respond to an attack on any member

THE WARSAW PACT  Date: 1955  Mutual defense organization of eastern communist dictatorships  Two major goals:  Provide defensive alliance for Eastern Bloc  Maintain USSR control over satellite states’ militaries

IN YOUR NOTEBOOK  How might the alliance system make the world safer?  How might the alliance system make the world less safe?

THE ARMS RACE

NUCLEAR WEAPONS  Highly explosive devices developed during WWII  US dropped first nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945  USSR tested first nuclear weapon on August 29, 1949

THE ARMS RACE  Date: roughly  Definition: competition between the US and the USSR to develop greater military capacity  Significance  Required huge military expenses  Made the world more dangerous… or did it?

SOME NEW WEAPONS

THERMONUCLEAR (HYDROGEN) BOMBS

INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILES (ICBMS)

TSAR BOMBA

NUCLEAR SUBMARINES

CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS

THE SPACE RACE

CIVIL DEFENSE  Civil defense shelters  Preparedness efforts  Education efforts – Bert the TurtleBert the Turtle

SO WHY AREN’T WE ALL DEAD?  Key concept of the Cold War: mutual assured destruction (MAD)  Principles of MAD:  Each side maintains enough offensive capacity to annihilate the other side  Huge arms stockpiles are a deterrent – they discourage offensive attacks