MSE 193 10:1.doc

MS&E 193 The Cold War and US/USSR Arms Race 10/1/08 Nuclear War threatened the existence of civilization Surviving the Cold War Truman and Eisenhower both developed important national security strategies that helped out US Ending of WWII, Americans created the Marshall Plan, which sought to prevent nuclear war by helping friends and foes in Europe Stalin rejected Marshall Plan and engaged in aggressive expansionism and took advantage of the devastation Kennan (X Paper) Comunisim dedicated to destruction of capitalism- there can be no coexistence SU leaders of communist nations and agent of that destruction Destruction of capitalism is inevitable Truman/Eisenhower Strategy Containment Deterrence through NATO and nuclear weapons Demonstration of American Values Marshall Plan Patience! In 1947, JCS, Dept of Defense Tested by Soviets 6 times CW Challenges of USSR Berlin Blockade Korean War Berlin Wall Cuban Missile Crisis Nuclear arms race Space race Berlin Blockade Led to cut off supplies to Berlin Blockade was lifted and America managed to supply Berlin Korean War Stalin encouraged North Korean dictator to attack South Korea North Koreans crossed 38th parallel and captured Seoul Truman rushed in American troops MacArhtur led forces that defeated North Koreans Truman accelerated a bombing campaign that devastated North Korea, but did not end the war Berlin Wall Berliners realized that they could not enter West Germany due to the building of the wall and tried to escape Cuban Missile Crisis Krushchev?s decision to place nuclear missiles in Cuba was very dangerous SU was building the largest nuclear bomb (57 megatons) US Intelligence detected missile sites in Cuba 8-10 missile sites in Cuba JFK called for a strict quarantine on Cuba All ships headed towards Cuba would be searched and if dangerous sent back If SU launched on attack from Cuba on the Western Hemisphere, it would be considered an attack on the US (JFK) We came very close to a nuclear holocaust and there were unintended consequences Castro?s grip on Cuba tightened Kruschev forced out of leadership Breschnev intensifies nuclear arms race Intense competition between US and SU in the arms race Space Race SU realized ICBM was most important and was first to develop one One month later, launched Sputnik I Explorer I was US first launched satellite 12 April 1961, Yuri was first human in space SS6 were Russian rocket family SS9 would be fitted with 10 nuclear warheads 1960, JFK proposed he would close the missile gap He discovered when elected there was no missile gap, we had more ICBM and more advanced The Secret Empire (Phil Taubman) 1970-1980 Most Dangerous perio Convetional forces of SU 3x those of US 3K nuclear weapons on hair trigger laert Missile race ?window of vulnerability? China with a nuclear capability of unkown size US responds with ?Offset Strategy? Offset Strategy Exploited advanced information technology of US like stealth Stealth technology would be the best strategy F-17, fall of 1977 and in 1981 operational capability was achieved New family of Intelligence Sensors (smart sensors) New family of precision guided munitions (smart weapons) New designs to evade intelligence Sensors (stealth) End of Cold War Fear of the dissolution of SU would result in civil war Gorbechov understood he needed economic reforms Perestroika: open economy Glasnost: free speech NF Treaty, START Treaty (87) Reykjavik eliminate all missiles (86) The walls come down (89) Russian in Transition East European nations replaced Soviet leadership with their own Red Army left the occupied nations Gorby responded to criticisms by taking opposition into his government Annis Mirabilis Citizens in Moscow protested use of Red Army to attack Lithuanians SU In Chaos Protests all across the Baltic Baltic states wanted independence Yeltsin overthrows Gorby Resistance to coups 12/91, Russian republics dissolved