The significance of the arms race

• 1. The Americans dropped its first atomic bombs on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and Nagasaki on 9 August 1945
• 2. The Soviets developed their own bomb in 1949
• 3. The Americans then developed a hydrogen bomb in 1952
• 5. In 1957, the USA developed an ICBM which could fire a missile more than 4,500 km
• 6. This cost both sides huge amounts of money, which was particularly difficult for the USSR
• 4. In 1953 the Soviets developed a hydrogen bomb
• 7. By the end of the arms race, both sides had enough weapons to destroy each other ( Mutually Assured Destruction - MAD ), weapons became less about winning wars and more about deterrence