During the arms race, countries with nuclear weapons, called superpowers, used several methods to stop each other from launching attacks. This arms race involved making and collecting more and more nuclear weapons.
The United States and the Soviet Union both built up huge numbers of nuclear warheads.
By 1960, the United States had over 18,000 nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union was quickly catching up by improving its own weapons.
One important idea was called Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD for short.
This means that if one superpower used nuclear weapons, both sides would be wiped out.
Because of this idea, neither side wanted to attack directly, keeping things more stable.
To make sure they could respond if attacked, countries worked on something called second-strike capability.
This means that even after a surprise attack, they could still launch their own weapons.
To do this, they needed secure communication and dependable delivery systems, like submarines carrying ballistic missiles and long-range missiles.
Superpowers also used talks and agreements to control the number of nuclear weapons.
Treaties like the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) helped limit the number of weapons and set up ways to check on each other.
All these strategies aimed to keep a shaky peace.
By making sure that no superpower would risk attacking another, they helped keep the world stable during the Cold War.
During the arms race, countries with nuclear weapons, called superpowers, used several methods to stop each other from launching attacks. This arms race involved making and collecting more and more nuclear weapons.
The United States and the Soviet Union both built up huge numbers of nuclear warheads.
By 1960, the United States had over 18,000 nuclear weapons. The Soviet Union was quickly catching up by improving its own weapons.
One important idea was called Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD for short.
This means that if one superpower used nuclear weapons, both sides would be wiped out.
Because of this idea, neither side wanted to attack directly, keeping things more stable.
To make sure they could respond if attacked, countries worked on something called second-strike capability.
This means that even after a surprise attack, they could still launch their own weapons.
To do this, they needed secure communication and dependable delivery systems, like submarines carrying ballistic missiles and long-range missiles.
Superpowers also used talks and agreements to control the number of nuclear weapons.
Treaties like the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) helped limit the number of weapons and set up ways to check on each other.
All these strategies aimed to keep a shaky peace.
By making sure that no superpower would risk attacking another, they helped keep the world stable during the Cold War.