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The cold war and its affect on the space race Essay
How did the space race influence the cold war
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The Cold War was a war of betrayal, competition, morals, misunderstanding, and fear. Spies, nuclear bombs, blockades, and rockets are weaved into the events
From 1947-1991 the Cold War lasted between the United States and the Soviet Union. The two Administrations responsible for the victory over the Soviet Union in the Cold War are President Reagan and President Bush. President Reagan started his presidency in 1981, and after all his success while being president, he won re-election in 1985. Now, a key reason why the US remained successful with ending the Cold War after Reagan’s two terms was because in 1990 Reagan’s Vice President George H. W. Bush was elected President. This was a good turnout because Reagan and Bush shared a lot of the same ideas, so Bush was able to just pick up where Reagan left off.
From a meeting of President Eisenhower’s National Security Council, a conclusion was reached, “…we could not permit ourselves to be panicked by the Soviet Achievement [Sputnik]” (Document 3). The launch of the Sputnik only encouraged Americans to accomplish more scientific breakthroughs—before the Soviets. Before the release of the Sputnik, President Truman had dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Shortly after, the Soviets had detonated their first atomic bomb in the late 1940s. Since the U.S. and the Soviets had both achieved a level of destruction through the atomic bomb they became engaged in an “arms race.”
The 4 ½ decade long clash between the U.S. and Soviet Union was dubbed “The Cold War” by Bernard Baruch because of the cold relations between the two competitive nations. The tension between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. began primarily because of the polar opposite ideologies of each nation, the U.S. being Capitalist and The Soviet Union being Communist, causing a multitude of disagreements between the two. The disputes between the two countries began during WWII when the U.S. left their Soviet allies flapping in the wind, when they refused to open a second front, which resulted in the Soviets taking a beating. The U.S. later excluded The Soviets from the Atomic bomb project, since the U.S refused to work with their scientists. The U.S was also becoming
The United States wanted to increase their amount and strength of the atomic bomb, like the ones used in japan in WWII. While the americans were in the support of the development of the atomic bomb, the soviets also wanted to gain the power of the bombs and began creating their own atomic bombs. Both the United States and the Soviet Union were testing their own set of weapons of mass destruction, beginning the atomic age of the cold war. The United States wanted to be on top of the soviets, so in response to the creation of the soviet’s own atomic bomb, americans created the hydrogen bomb, which was way more powerful the the original atomic bomb. The soviets followed and also created their own hydrogen bomb soon after the creation of the hydrogen bomb made by the americans.
How did the space race affect the Cold War? The Space Race was an important component to the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the end of World War II in 1945 the United States and the Soviet Union were the most powerful countries in the world, which led to many political conflicts. Since these countries had different ideas it caused them to enter the Cold War in 1947 (Schlesinger, 1967).
Between the years of 1947 and 1991 the USSR and the United States remained in a long period of tension known as The Cold War. This war was a state of political and economical in proxy wars such as the space race and the arms race the lead to the weakening of American society and laws. Marking the end of the Cold War in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed due to their economic failure and their approach to the space race. As the Cold War intensified there was a significant increase in infrastructures and military, a shift in education, and there was an overall fear in society. Education in the United States began to focus on science instead of general education in an attempt to try and win the “space race” against the Soviet Union.
During World War II, the United States discovered that the energy of the atom could be used in a new form of bomb. However, the Germans also discovered this, meaning that it would be a race to actually complete the weapon. The U.S. knew it needed to act fast and so three facilities were created for the development of the weapon in Washington, New Mexico, and Tennessee. The plants in Tennessee were based in almost the middle of nowhere.
The space race of 1955-1975 impacted Florida, particularly with the establishment of NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island. This event brought a significant influx of people, jobs, and investment to the area, stimulating the local economy and leading to significant development and growth. One of the most significant effects of the space race was the creation of new jobs. With the establishment of NASA's Kennedy Space Center, thousands of people were employed as scientists, engineers, technicians, and support staff.
World War II began on September 1 of 1939 when Germany assaulted Poland. By 1941, the Germans were ahead in the race for the nuclear bomb. They had a substantial water plant, high- uranium mixes, skilled researchers and engineers, and the best concoction building industry on the planet. Indeed, even before its entrance into the war, the United States had turned out to be exceptionally worried with the atomic danger of the Axis powers.
The Space Race is considered the central characteristic of the Cold War. It had been called the “balance of terror” (Churchill) which later became more widely known as the Mutually Assured Destruction. The Mutually Assured Destruction is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which the use of nuclear weapons by two or more opposing sides; The Soviet Union and the United States, would cause the complete annihilation of both sides. As a consequence of this, the Cold War had to be played out in other ways. The space race made another form of periphery with scientists and technocrats, seizing the position of importance.
The escalating global conflict, tension, and the need for an end to the war caused the quick development of new military technology. One of these new technologies and advancements was the Manhattan Project, a top-secret research and development project launched by the United States in 1942 that aimed to create the first atomic weapons before the Nazis. Several technological advancements led to the creation of the atomic bomb, such as the discovery of nuclear fission, which is the splitting of an atom’s nucleus that creates a tremendous amount of energy.
The Space Race had a great impact on the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the end of World War II the United States and the Soviet Union became two of the most powerful and influential nations in the world. The amount of influence these two countries held led to many conflicts. Since these countries had different ideas it caused them to enter the Cold War in 1947 (Schlesinger, 1967). While the Cold War was going on, the Space Race became another aspect of this competition.
In 1939 a group of U.S scientists became concerned with nuclear weaponry research being conducted in Nazi Germany, in 1940 The U.S government began funding its own atomic weapons development program. Over the next several years the program’s scientists worked on producing the key materials for nuclear fission (uranium-239 and plutonium [Pu-239]). They were sent to Los Alamos, New Mexico, where a team worked to turn these materials into a workable atomic bomb. On July 16, 1945, The Manhattan Project held it’s first successful test of an atomic device at the Trinity test site at New Mexico, by this time The Allies had already defeated Germany in Europe. Japan vowed to fight to the end in the Pacific, despite clear indication (1944) that there was no chance of winning.
Well now they’ve decided to play with C4s and Defcon-2 style ballistic missiles. On July 16, 1945, the first atomic bomb was created in America, and tested at Alamogordo, New Mexico at a site called ‘Trinity’. There were two objectives that the bomb had; a quick end to World War II and US control of foreign policy. As President Truman authorized the Truman Doctrine to stop the spread of communism, Russia had obtained the original blueprints for the atomic bomb in secret. As the Soviet Union launched its first atomic bomb on the 29th of August, 1949, the supremacy the United States held in the foreign policy business came to an end, spurring on the Cold war.
