During the Cold War, the tension between the United States and Soviet Union heightened as both nations fought for the title of ultimate superpower. Attempting to exhibit superiority, the two countries challenged each other through satellite and spacecraft technological advancements. Satellites, at the time, were not a recent innovation; the United States government already used communication satellites for intelligence gathering and military operations (Rob Frieden 697). Yet, the USSR's launching of Sputnik and the Yuri Gagarin flight in 1957 and 1961 respectively, the Kennedy administration sought to develop an international satellite communication system that would "directly benefit people throughout the world and enhance national prestige"
Khrushchev’s time in power is especially known for being the period where the maximum level of tension was exerted between the two superpowers. Indeed, the two times world war III was the closest were the standoff at checkpoint Charlie in 1961 and the Cuban missile crisis in 1952, which were conducted during his service as head of the USSR. During the Checkpoint Charlie standoff, several American and Soviet tanks stood 75m away on each side of the border, aiming at each other, for 16 hours, until they, one by one, left the zone. Such tension was repeated during the Cuban Missile crisis, which was due to the implantation of Soviet medium-length ballistic nuclear-warhead missiles in Cuba, within Striking range of the US. They led to the instauration of the Moscow – Washington hotline, often called “red telephone”, which was intended to be used as fast and reliable means for the two powers to share crucial information or to negotiate in the case of an emergency, to manage to avoid the accidental start of a nuclear war.
During this time the Soviet Union was near the state of strategic parity with the U.S and was on the verge of moving forward with the U.S ICBM launchers. The U.S was
There was a real concern that the United States was falling behind in the nuclear arena and this led to gaps in what the Soviets had or did not have. These threats were known as the “Bomber Gap” or “Missile Gap.” To counter the uncertainty, Presidents Truman and Eisenhower both supported the creation of the U-2 and Corona/Discoverer satellite programs. On 24 November 1954, Eisenhower gave the go-ahead to build 20 U-2 aircraft.
Soon after the Cold War came to an end, the United States and the USSR both began military technological advancements. If the USSR could get missiles into space, they could set them off at anyone anywhere. In the interest of protecting America and possibly the rest of the world, the main objective for the Space Race was to protect us against missiles from the USSR military. These advancements led to a competition between the US and the USSR to see who would be the first to space. America and the USSR were two of the most powerful countries in the entire world at that point in time.
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 1950's was a time of great change in the United States with many types of events and changes happening from then to now. Also having many different inventions created or "upgraded" from the original like the automobile progressing still. They had more highways built for transportation during war in case of bombs going off, so now we use those today for driving, moving, and transportation. With many military events happening you had the Cold War going on with others as well. One of others going on was the Korean War starting in the 50's.
According to the JFK Presidential Library and Museum, the space race began In 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite which the United States saw as a challenge to see who could make the most technological advancements within the following decade (Space Program).Shortly after the race began, the Soviet Union sent Yuri Gagarin into space, and he became the first man to Orbit the earth, the United States saw this as a sign that they were falling behind their competition (Space Program).The space race aimed to determine a superior nation between the United States and the Soviet Union, in the beginning the Soviet Union was clearly in the lead so the people of the United States were even more united with the common goal of being a superior nation. According to the National Cold War Exhibition at the Royal
The era of the Cold War was a tumultuous time where conflict arose in many aspects of American culture and international wars waged to prevent the spread of Soviet influence over other nations. U.S. foreign policy would see much intervention, where nations were used to engage in proxy wars. The United States’ domestic politics would see much panic among congress and many senators, where the looming fears of Soviet influence and communist spies altered how politicians and lawmakers conducted themselves and how laws were passed. The influence the cold War held on American society would have many civil liberties violated and ignored, tensions would erupt consequently leading to protests which see the fabric of tear as demonstrations and
To start this off, let’s talk about containment and what it is. Well what it is is the policy to stop communism from spreading. This is what Eisenhower and Truman favored during the Cold War. So while Eisenhower and Truman favored the policy of containment, Kennedy favored flexible response. Kennedy also had his own economic aid which talked about poor countries not being able to get away from communism, and that the plague of communism keeps getting closer and closer to these poor and weak countries.
The Cold War fears of the American people shortly after the second world war was that the economic concept of Communism was going to spread across the recovering European states. I understand that you said the answer is not communism, but you need to think of it in the terms that America did back then: Truman and Eisenhower both employed the foreign policy strategy known as "containment". This meant that the U.S. would try to prevent Communism from spreading through Western Europe. The U.S. did this because the belief was that war is a result of poverty. Poverty in a country allows radicals to take power, which was the case with Stalin in the Soviet Union.
Unlike many wars fought in our history of the human race. The Cold War was different, tensions were at an all time high. The threat of nuclear force was great. This was a war fought without many direct skirmishes, it was more of a political battle varying over different ideologies and philosophy. The Americans who believed in a constitutional republic, opposed to the Soviet Union, who were a communist state.
he first chapter of The Cold War: A New History begins by comparing the United States to the U.S.S.R. and talking about the similarities between the two. It also talks about Communism and how Marx deemed it necessary in order to build up the economy. Lenin tried to implement Communism in Russia. They were not quite ready for that kind of system, so Stalin tried to modernize the economy. The U.S.S.R. had more casualties in World War II, but things were not necessarily looking great in America either.
The pressure for the United States to be better than the Soviet Union caused the education in the United States to be more focused towards math and science. Maddin says, “Sputnik woke the nation up, serving as a “focusing event” that put a spotlight on a national problem. In this case, he said, the problem was education.” The sputnik launched in 1957 and was the first artificial earth satellite. Marsha Thompson even says, “I believe because of sputnik we came as a country to realize that science, scientist, and engineers would make all the difference in our futures.
The two superpowers involved in this war was the US and the Soviet Union. There were several causes for the outbreak of the Korean War. One of the reason why the US went to war in Korea was to weaken communism. By supporting South Korea, the US was able to do this. The US joined the war also because they were in constant competition with the Soviet Union for world domination.
Shortly after the end of World War II, United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the two superpowers. These two former wartime allies found themselves locked in a struggle that came to be known as the Cold War. Since 1956, Eisenhower had authorized the use of the U-2, a high-flying spy plane, to conduct secret reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union. These flights were used to obtain information that would stop rumors of Soviet military superiority and give detailed footage of military establishments. Because the Soviets lacked aircraft and missiles to shoot down the U-2 spy planes, the US was not worried that they would be caught spying and even if they were somehow accused they could always deny its existence even when it was spotted