New
New
Year 11
AQA

The nuclear arms race

I can assess the key events and significance of the nuclear arms race.

New
New
Year 11
AQA

The nuclear arms race

I can assess the key events and significance of the nuclear arms race.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The development of the atomic bomb triggered a nuclear arms race.
  2. The USA and USSR competed to develop larger and more powerful nuclear weapons.
  3. By 1961, both superpowers had the ability to destroy the world many times over.
  4. Mutually Assured Destruction suggested nuclear weapons deterred war.
  5. The nuclear arms race became increasingly focused on deterrence.

Keywords

  • Monopoly - when only one person or country has control over something

  • Arms race - the situation in which two or more countries try to have more and stronger weapons than each other

  • Armageddon - a catastrophic conflict, especially one seen as likely to destroy the world or the human race

  • Missile gap - the fear of US government officials that Soviet development and production of missile technology had overtaken the USA's

  • Deterrence - an action or system intended to prevent or discourage someone from doing something

Common misconception

Everybody agreed the possession of nuclear weapons made the world more dangerous.

Many people argued that as the US and USSR both possessed nuclear weapons this deterred them from going to war with one another - otherwise they woudl afce mutually assured destruction.

Encourage students to list or mind-map linking words and phrases that could be used as part of a narrative account. You may provide one (i.e. consequently) to help them begin. Instruct students to try use at least three or four of tehse in their accounts.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of upsetting content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. An race is a situation in which two or more countries try to have more and stronger weapons than each other.
Correct Answer: arms
Q2.
Who became US President in 1953?
Correct answer: Dwight D Eisenhower
George Kennan
Harry Truman
Q3.
When did the Korean War end?
1945
1949
Correct answer: 1953
1957
Q4.
Who promoted their belief in peaceful coexistence?
Dwight D Eisenhower
Harry Truman
Joseph Stalin
Correct answer: Nikita Khrushchev
Q5.
Which statement is most accurate?
An agreement on ending the arms race was made at the Geneva Summit.
An agreement on German reunification was made at the Geneva Summit.
Correct answer: No agreements were made at the Geneva Summit.
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Tehran Conference
2 - Yalta Conference
3 - Potsdam Conference
4 - Geneva Summit

6 Questions

Q1.
Which word refers to when only one person or country has control over something?
armageddon
arms race
deterrence
Correct answer: monopoly
Q2.
Write the missing number. The hydrogen bomb (H-bomb) was times more powerful than the atomic bomb (A-bomb).
Correct Answer: 1000, one thousand, One thousand, One Thousand
Q3.
Who was the second country to develop nuclear weapons?
Britain
China
France
USA
Correct answer: USSR
Q4.
What was the name of the theory which suggested that nuclear weapons made war between the superpowers unlikely?
Correct Answer: MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction, Mutually Assured Destruction
Q5.
What prompted US fears about a missile gap?
a Soviet backed coup in Czechoslovakia
a Soviet attack on West Berlin
Correct answer: the Soviet launch of Sputnik 1
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chornological order.
1 - US developed an atom bomb
2 - USSR developed an atom bomb
3 - US developed a hydrogen bomb
4 - USSR developed a hydrogen bomb
5 - USSR successfully tested an ICBM
6 - USA successfully tested an ICBM

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