1. Nuclear Arms Race
1945-2002
By: Eric Loper
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2. The Contenders:
United States:
Atomic Bomb
Hydrogen Bomb
SDI
NMD & ABM Treaty
Soviet Union/Russia:
Atomic Bomb
Hydrogen Bomb
Sputnik
Great Britain:
Atomic Bomb
France:
Atomic Bomb
China:
Atomic Bomb
India and Pakistan:
Nuclear Tests
Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty:
S.O.R.T
Click on image for video of the largest
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3. United States: 1945
The first nuclear test was done in 1945
by the United States. The device was
an A-bomb, a technological
achievement made possible through
massive amounts of resources and the
Manhattan Project. In the same year
the U.S. would use this new
technology on the Japanese cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Shortly after
these bombings Japan had
surrendered and WWII ended.
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4. United States: 1952
The United States conducts the first
hydrogen bomb test in Bikini Atoll,
located in the Pacific ocean. The
hydrogen bomb was named Ivan. The
top right picture illustrates the
magnitude as you can see the battle
ships around the blast.
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5. United States: 1983
Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), was a
project that Ronald Reagan started to
defend against a possible nuclear
strike against the United States. The
project is referred to as “Star Wars”,
because the far fetched Idea at that
time in history seemed impossible.
The project was a defensive
militarization of space, which cost
billions of dollars in development. SDI
never was completed and the project
was aborted.
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6. United States: 2001
The United States under the George
W. Bush administration approved the
National Missile Defense system
(NMD) and withdraws itself from the
Antiballistic Missile Treaty (ABM). The
idea is to create protection against an
nuclear strike against the United
States. The U.S. came under heavy
criticism from Russia and China for
approving NMD and withdrawing from
ABM as both of those states feel this
could be a threat.
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7. Soviet Union: 1949
Four years after the first atomic
weapon was tested in the United
States, the Soviet Union had
developed and tested one of their
own. This would further intensify the
relations between the two super
powers, the United States and Soviet
Union.
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8. Soviet Union: 1954
The Soviet Union successfully tests its
first hydrogen bomb. This bomb
proved to the world that the Soviet
Union has the resources and
technology to build and further
develop its nuclear arsenal.
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9. Soviet Union: 1957
Soviet Union conducts the first
successful space satellite. The primary
focus of Sputnik was to gather
temperature readings, but to the rest
of the world and the United States,
Sputnik brought great fears that the
Soviet Union was surpassing everyone
in the arms race and in new
technology. This would also mean that
the Soviet Union now has the
capability to launch a nuclear weapon
across the continent. Intercontinental
Ballistic Missile or (ICBM).
Radio broadcasts were sent across the
United States of the noise Sputnik
made.
Click here to listen
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10. Great Britain: 1952
Great Britain conducts its first
successful A-bomb test on the Monte
Bello Islands.
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11. France: 1960 and 1968
Successful test of the atomic bomb in
1960 and successful test of the
hydrogen bomb in 1968.
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12. China: 1964
China launches a successful nuclear
test of the hydrogen bomb in 1964.
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13. India and Pakistan: 1998
India and Pakistan have been rivals for
decades and in 1998 both countries
tested nuclear weapons, creating more
uncertainty in the region.
The test missile on the left is India’s
and the test missile on the right is
Pakistan’s. The picture below is
Pakistan’s test. As you can see the
debris and smoke coming off the
mountain since the bomb was tested
underground. Atmospheric and
underwater testing had been banned
in 1963 under the Limited Test Ban
Treaty, which is why there is not a
“mushroom cloud”.
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14. Strategic Offensive
Reductions Treaty: 2002
S.O.R.T is a treaty between the United
States and Russia signed in 2002. The
treaties goals are to “establish a
genuine partnership based on the
principles of mutual security,
cooperation, trust, openness, and
predictability”.
Committed to implementing
significant reductions in strategic
offensive arms, both states by the year
2012 may not exceed more than 1700-
2200 nuclear weapons each.
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia is
pictured on the left and George W.
Bush president of the United States is
pictured on the right.
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15. Sources
http://www.behance.net/MartinMiller/frame/56260
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/05/19/us.russia.nuclear.talks
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB94/tb02.jpg
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.granitegrok.com
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.colorado.edu/StudentGroups/CUSEDS/Events/WSW/2007/sputnik
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.burpelsonafb.com/coldwarmedia/images
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40149000/jpg/_40149887_marshalls_bikini2
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