Arms Race:
The cold war was called so because no shots were ever actually fired by either side. However, throughout the war there was an arms race going on between the USSR and USA. One large aspect of it was the competition to see who could make not only the most powerful bomb, but also the most of them. Also both sides also raced to make the first working Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) so nuclear bombs could be lost from either sides home county and reach almost anywhere in the world. |
Why did it Begin?:The main driving force for the entire cold war was the battle between Communism and Capitalism. However Truman and Stalin specifically just did not like each other and were very competitive.
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Why did it Escalate?:The Marshall Plan was the first action that really escalated tensions between the USSR and USA. However, the Truman doctrine played a part as well and the production of nuclear weapons was the lead character in escalating tensions.
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How Nuclear Bombs Work:Nuclear bombs work by assembling a critical mass of fission fuel fast enough to start a chain reaction. One liberated neutron strikes a uranium nucleus. if that reaction occurs fast enough the bomb blows itself apart and creates the kind of fission weapon that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hydrogen bombs (aka fusion bombs) are much harder to make but are far more powerful.
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