The Early Years
This was the year the U.S. first used atomic weapons, effectively starting the nuclear age.
What is 1945?
This was the name of the competition between the U.S. and USSR to develop increasingly powerful and numerous nuclear weapons.
What is the Arms Race?
These long-range missiles could travel from one continent to another "at the push of a button".
What are Intercontinental Ballistic Missles?
This acronym means that if one side launches a nuclear strike, both sides will be totally destroyed.
What is MAD / Mutually Assured Destruction?
This specific fact refers to the concept where two superpowers have enough weapons to destroy the world with the "push of a button".
What is Overkill?
This secret U.S. project developed the first atomic bombs.
What is The Manhattan Project?
This term describes pushing a situation to the edge of war to get the enemy to back down.
What is Brinkmanship?
This was the first man-made satellite launched into space, sparking fears of Soviet missile superiority.
What is Sputnik?
These "Duck and Cover" drills were taught to students to protect them from this effect of a nuclear blast.
What are Radiation/Fallout Drills?
These talks were designed to limit the number of nuclear launchers each side could have.
What are Strategic Arms Limitation Talks?
This Soviet leader's 1949 nuclear test ended the U.S. monopoly on the bomb.
Who is Joseph Stalin?
In 1962, the world faced this 13-day standoff over Soviet missiles in the Caribbean.
What was the Cuban Missle Crisis?
This 1950s conflict was the first major "Proxy War" where the U.S. and USSR supported opposing sides.
What is The Korean War?
This is the term for the general feeling of fear and stress citizens felt during the Cold War.
What is General Anxiety?
This 1963 treaty banned nuclear testing in the atmosphere, underwater, and in space.
What is the Limited Test Ban Treaty?
After 1949, this major Asian country turned Communist under Mao Zedong, heightening Western fears.
What is China?
This U.S. President faced off against Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Who is John F. Kennedy
The Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated, was built by this superpower.
What is the Soviet Union/USSR?
This theory suggested that if one country fell to Communism, its neighbors would too, like a row of falling blocks.
What is The Domino Theory?
This Soviet leader worked with Ronald Reagan in the 1980s to significantly reduce nuclear stockpiles.
Who is Mikhail Gorbachev?
Because the USSR developed the Atomic Bomb in 1949, the U.S. rushed to develop this much more powerful "Super Bomb."
What is the Hydrogen Bomb/H-Bomb?
To prevent a future "hot war" after the Missile Crisis, this direct communication line was installed between the White House and the Kremlin.
What is "The Hotline"?
This defense strategy involves keeping nuclear weapons on planes, subs, and in silos so you can always strike back.
What is The Nuclear Triad?
This movement, involving leaders like Sukarno and Nkrumah, tried to stay out of the arms race between the two superpowers.
What is Non-Aligned Movement?
Because both sides realized the cost of the arms race was bankrupting them, they entered this period of "thawing" or relaxed tensions in the 1970s.
What is Détente?