Introduction the reason for the rise of the military industry. |
As the Cold War intensified the competition between Russia (USSR) and America spilled out into various different zones of interest from economics, foreign policy and in the areas of the military industrial such as technology. This was because each country wanted to use technological advances as a form of propaganda to glorify the competing ideologies i.e. Communism versus Capitalism. Throughout the entire Cold War this became the driving force for the competition of each country to have better military technology over the other.This contributed to the Space race and the development of technological military hardware that may never have been created in such a short space of time if it had not been for the Cold War and competing ideologies.
This increasingly high level of competition between the U.S and Soviet Union became the driving force for technological advancements during this period and far surpassed any other period in recorded human history. The arms race started when Truman realized the power of the Nuclear Bomb that was dropped in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Japan in August 1945, at the end the second world war. This gave Truman bargaining power over Stalin at the Potsdam Conference in 1945. It was Truman’s attitude that contributed to the start of the Cold War because he knew that America had the technological advancement of the Atomic Bomb over the Soviet,s who did not. This started the arms race and the Space race. |
How did the Arms Race get started.
From the moment Stalin realized the technological military disadvantage that Russia had behind America. He dramatically increased its military spending. Stalin in a reaction against America's creation of Nato a group of alliances with other European countries he created the Warsaw Pact in 1955. By 1949 the speed at which Russia developed technology can be seen in Soviet Government testing its first nuclear weapon called First Lightning in August 1949 sending a message to the Americans the other side of the “ iron curtain” that Soviet military industrial was more than capable of matching the American military industrial. This created the nuclear arms race between the two countries as well as creating a need for better equipment for the Russian army as military strength illustrated justification for the strength of Communist ideology over Western Capitalism. Nuclear weapons if held by both sides would act as a deterrent from the other side's military aggression.
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The inventions that were created because of the Cold War competition between Russia and America.Apart from nuclear weapons other Russian inventions were the AK-47 and the BM-P1 the world's first mass produced military vehicles. But for America the Cold War also contributed to the expensive and dangerous arms race, which caused it in the creation of massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons. The paranoia of America during the 1950s over communism led to its policy of containment leading to the creation of many overseas military bases and the deployment of U.S forces around the world costing taxpayers money and draining the resources, which could have been used to alleviate domestic issues. The types of inventions that the United States created was 1946 the Chipper teeth, 1947 the Supersonic aircraft and in 1954 the radar gun
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The effects of the rise of military industry as a result of the Cold War.The rise of the industrial military led to wars such as the Korean War and the disastrous Vietnam War, which badly damaged America's reputation at home and abroad. Another consequence of the rise of the Industrial Military was that it nearly led to a nuclear war with the Cuban missile crisis and the Space Race with America beating the Russians to landing a man on the moon, although Russia landed a un-manned space machine on the moon in 1952 with Luna 2 successfully landing and they also launched the first satellite called Sputnik in 1955 it was the Americans who landed a man first on the moon in 1969.
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Did you Know?
That During the Cold War, America used bears to test their ejector seats in supersonic jets.
That During the Cold War, America used bears to test their ejector seats in supersonic jets.
Sources:
Images:
Sputnik. N.d. Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
1920x1080 Weapons Ak-47. N.d. Ak-47 Wallpaper. Proudly Serving 51 Ak-47 Wallpapers. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
"25 Interesting Facts About Cold War." Kick Ass Facts. N.p., 3 July 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Books:
Roy, Arundhati. War Talk. Cambridge, MA: South End, 2003. Print.
Ross, Stewart. The Causes of the Cold War. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2002. Print.
Website:
"The Effects of the Cold War." Boundless. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
"Cold War." Regentsprep. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
"Cold War Influences on American Culture, Politics, and Economics."Shads Blog. N.p., 05 Dec. 2009. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
Images:
Sputnik. N.d. Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
1920x1080 Weapons Ak-47. N.d. Ak-47 Wallpaper. Proudly Serving 51 Ak-47 Wallpapers. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
"25 Interesting Facts About Cold War." Kick Ass Facts. N.p., 3 July 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.
Books:
Roy, Arundhati. War Talk. Cambridge, MA: South End, 2003. Print.
Ross, Stewart. The Causes of the Cold War. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2002. Print.
Website:
"The Effects of the Cold War." Boundless. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
"Cold War." Regentsprep. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
"Cold War Influences on American Culture, Politics, and Economics."Shads Blog. N.p., 05 Dec. 2009. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.