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Causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis – Arms race
- 1. The Cold War 1945-1989 The Arms Race Reasons for the Cuban Missile Crisis
- 2. The Arms Race In today’s class I am learning to: • Describe weapons developments during the Cold War • Analyse the extent to which these events helped cause the Cuban Missile Crisis
- 3. The Arms Race One of the key features of the Cold War was the arms race. The arms race was the process of continually developing new and more powerful weapons, with the USA and Soviet Union each competing to be the most powerful.
- 4. The Arms Race The USA first developed a working atomic bomb in 1945. They used two of these on Japan to end the Second World War. The USSR developed a working atomic bomb in 1949, using technology secrets stolen by spies in the USA
- 6. The Arms Race To counter the Soviet nuclear threat, in 1949 the USA set up NATO, a military alliance. There were US military bases (including nuclear sites) around Europe. The Soviets set up their own group in 1955, the Warsaw Pact.
- 7. The Arms Race The Soviet Union may not have believed that placing nuclear weapons in Cuba would cause outrage in America. They argued that as the USA had military bases in Europe that this was not a provocative act.
- 8. The Arms Race Khrushchev’s actions were perhaps not about matching American military power. The weapons were placed in Cuba to provide protection for a Communist government, which was under threat from a capitalist country.
- 9. The Arms Race In 1952, America produced a hydrogen bomb. The Ivy Mike explosion created a more powerful type of weapon. This was followed by the Castle Bravo blast in 1954. The Soviets developed their first hydrogen bomb in 1953.
- 10. The Arms Race By the time of the Cuban Crisis, the USA had a huge nuclear advantage when compared to the USSR. In 1962, the USA had around 25,500 nuclear weapons, compared to the Soviet Union’s 3300 (an 8:1 ratio).
- 11. The Arms Race Khrushchev claimed the USSR “were turning out missiles like sausages” but in fact they were well behind the USA. They did not have the ability to match American numbers, so may have hoped that Cuban bases would threaten the US.
- 12. The Arms Race However the Soviet Union did have the most powerful nuclear bomb. In October 1961, they detonated the Tsar Bomba (‘King of bombs’). This was the biggest nuclear bomb at the time, equivalent to all bombs exploded during World War Two.
- 13. The Arms Race
- 14. The Arms Race Although the USSR had ICBMs, they could not reach the US mainland (although could attack America’s allies in Western Europe). The USA however had placed nuclear weapons in Turkey and Italy, within distance to fire at the USSR.
- 15. The Arms Race Some of the nuclear weapons which were put in Cuba had a range of up to 3000 miles. This meant that Soviet missiles would be able to target major cities in the USA, including Washington DC, New York and Chicago.
- 16. The Arms Race
- 17. The Arms Race Putting nuclear weapons in Cuba gave the Soviets the ability to directly attack and destroy the USA, if a war began. Without the Cuban bases the Soviets would have been at a huge disadvantage in such a conflict.
- 18. The Arms Race Even without bombs in Cuba, the Soviets had the ability to destroy America’s NATO allies using nuclear bombs. The USSR also had more soldiers and tanks than NATO forces. This meant they did not really expect the USA to attack them.