The Arms Race

The Arms Race

Different Presidents, Different Responses

President Truman (Summary of Threat)

• US had nuclear weapons, Soviet Union did not at first, but by 1949 they did

• Soviet Union was trying to spread communism to newly liberated and vulnerable countries in the aftermath of WWII (Europe & Korea)

• Berlin Blockade

• China turned communist, Korean War began

Truman's Overall Strategy

• Economic aid

• If poverty was not an issue, there would be no reason to resort to following a political extremist (such as a communist leader)

• Marshall Plan and Truman Doctrine

Multiple Choice

World War II ended shortly after the US dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Four years later, the Soviet Union responded by successfully detonating an atomic bomb. How did these developments affect the policy of the United States?

• the US mobilized all of its armed forces

• the US drafted all young men into military service

• the US increased its efforts to construct nuclear weapons

• the US suspended diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union

Multiple Choice

How did the Marshall Plan aim to contain the spread of communism?

• it built up the western European armed forces

• it helped to rebuild an strengthen European economies

• it forced Americans to take loyalty oaths to avoid losing their jobs

• it created a military alliance among western European and Northern American nations

President Eisenhower (Summary of threat)

• Fell behind in the space race (Sputnik)

• Korean War continued

• Asia and the Middle East were now targets for the spread of communism

• Communism expanded into the Western Hemisphere (Cuba)

Eisenhower's Overall Strategy

• Brinkmanship (*think: the game of "chicken")

• Massive Retaliation

• Increased nuclear arsenal and pulled funds away from conventional forces

• Put money towards space exploration an technology development

• NASA and National Defense Education Act

• Used the CIA to carry out covert operations & undermine communist threats in Latin America & the Middle East

Multiple Choice

The Soviets launching Sputnik

• forced the US to launch a missile to shoot it down

• allowed the Soviets to advance communist ideas to Eastern Europe

• caused the US to build the Iron Curtain

• Proved that the US was no longer the sole leader in advancing technology

Multiple Choice

John Foster Dulles, President Eisenhower's Secretary of State, believed that the US could protect itself and its allies by increasing tensions to the edge of war. This policy is known as

• brinkmanship

• mutually assured destruction (MAD)

• Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars

• detente

President Kennedy (eventually Johnson) Summary of Threat

• still losing the space race

• Berlin Wall goes up (1961)

• Vietnam civil war is heating up

• Soviet Union takes advantage of a Communist Cuba

• Cuban Missile Crisis

Kennedy (& Johnson's) Strategy

• CIA covert operation in Cuba

• CIA-led forces led Cuban exiles in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro (communist)

• Flexible Response

• Can't just focus on nuclear weapon buildup

• Increased conventional, tactical and strategic forces

• Keeps diplomacy as an option

• Economic aid to Latin American countries vulnerable to political extremism

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is the closest the United States has ever come to nuclear war with another country?

• the Bay of Pigs Invasion

• the Korean War

• Vietnam civil war

• the Cuban Missile Crisis