Activity 1 - What was the nuclear arms race?

  1. Think/Pair/Share - What was the nuclear arms race? Make notes on your own before sharing your ideas.
  2. Watch - Watch this video. What does it indicate about the nuclear arms race?
  3. Analyse - Now watch ex-US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in this documentary entitled ‘Fog of War’. What message is he making about nuclear weapons?
  4. Identify - Using this worksheet, match the concepts related to the nuclear arms race to their correct definitions.

Activity 2 - What was the impact?

  1. Analysis - Examine Sources A-C on this worksheet and then answer the following questions:
    1. What is the message of each of the sources with regard to the arms race between the superpowers?
    2. What conclusions can you draw about the characteristics of the arms race up to 1985? Give evidence from all three sources to support your answer.
  2. Read - Read and make notes from pages 201-207 of Rogers, K., & Thomas, J. (2015). Pearson Baccalaureate: History the Cold War on how the nuclear arms race developed. What were the key turning points of the arms race?
  3. Examine - As a class, examine each of the following quotes to work out what they mean and discuss in pairs how far you agree with each one:
    1. Nuclear weapons 'exchanged destruction for duration'. (John Lewis Gaddis)
    2. 'Mutually Assured Destruction is the foundation of deterrence' (McNamara)
  4. Explore - Using google image search or any other resource, locate one political cartoon from the Cold War about the nuclear arms race. Paste it onto a blank google doc and then annotate it, answering the following questions:
    1. Which political figures are shown in the cartoon?
    2. What event/issue is the cartoon referring to?
    3. Are there symbols or other items in the cartoon that have significance?
    4. Are there any labels or writing in the cartoon that help explain what is going on?
    5. Do you have any knowledge about the cartoonist, or the country from which he or she comes from?
    6. What was happening in the Cold War regarding the arms race, at the time the cartoon was drawn?
  5. Write - Using your annotations, write a paragraph explaining the message of your cartoon. 
  6. Discuss - What was the most important impact of the nuclear arms race on the Cold War? 

Activity 3 - What was the space race?

  1. Watch - Watch this short video about the space race. Make a note of the specific events that occurred. 
  2. Discuss - What conclusions can you draw about the significance of the space race for the Cold War?
  3. Examine - Arguably, the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 kickstarted the space race. In pairs, read the following source and answer these questions:
    1. What is the tone of this press release?
    2. What is the message that the US government is trying to give to the US public?
    3. How useful is this source for evidence of the US reaction to the launching of Sputnik?
  4. Research - Conduct some research into the key events of the space race. What factors allowed the Soviets to get ahead in this area? What factors allowed the Americans to take the lead by the end of the 1960s and get the first man to the moon? Why do you think that this area of Cold War conflict was followed with such interest by the populations in both East and West?
  5. Create - Make your own timeline of the nuclear arms race and space race. Research and include the following events on your timeline. Be sure to include a brief description of each event:
    1. The first atomic bombs
    2. First Soviet/Chinese atomic bombs
    3. First hydrogen bombs
    4. The Baruch Plan
    5. First ICBM
    6. Sputnik 1
    7. Invention of SLBMs
    8. Cuban Missile Crisis
    9. Test Ban Treaty
    10. Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty
    11. SALT 1 - ABM Treaty/Interim Agreement on Offensive Arms
    12. SALT 2
    13. START Talks
    14. Euromissiles Crisis
    15. Reagan’s SDI Project
    16. Chernobyl Incident
    17. INF Treaty
    18. START 1 Treaty

Further Reading

OBLIGATORY READING
  1. Rogers, K., & Thomas, J. (2015). Pearson Baccalaureate: History the Cold War, pp. 201-207
RECOMMENDED READING
  1. Mamaux, A. (2015). Oxford IBDP Programme - The Cold War, pp. 146-152
SUPPLEMENTAL READING
  1. Gaddis, J.L. (2006). The Cold War: Chapter 2 - Deathboats and Lifeboats, pp. 48-82
MRBUDDHISTORY.COM was created in 2012 in order to support the learning of students in History. The site is devoted to creating high-quality and accessible teaching and learning resources for history education and other humanities subjects.