Cold War (Booklet 10) - Détente:
Kennedy and the early beginnings of Détente:
Kennedy was a strong Cold War advocate, increasing U.S. involvement in Vietnam and
overseeing the largest peacetime military expansion in U.S. history. He replaced
Eisenhower’s New Look with flexible response, boosting conventional forces, special forces
(e.g., Green Berets), and nuclear weapons—ICBMs surged from 63 in 1961 to 424 in 1963.
However, this intensified the arms race as the USSR responded, arguably making the world
less secure.
Despite this, Kennedy also pursued diplomacy, meeting Khrushchev in Vienna in 1961,
though little progress was made. Both leaders feared nuclear war, influencing decisions in
Berlin and Cuba. Kennedy later advocated arms control, emphasizing the need to avoid
mutual destruction. His efforts led to key agreements between 1963-68 following the Cuban
Missile Crisis.
Key Terms:
● MAD: mutually assured destruction: If both sides have equal amounts of weapons
the other side won’t use weapons against us as they would also be destroyed.
● ICBM Intercontinental Ballistic Missile: was a long-range nuclear missile.
● SLBMS Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (e.g. Polaris missile).
● Anti-Ballistic Missile: This was a defensive system designed to protect areas
against missile-delivered nuclear weapons.
● Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle: a missile which could carry up to 12
nuclear warheads. First developed by the Americans. Example Minuteman missile.
Key Events:
● Trinity Test - July 16, 1945
● Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombed - August 6 & 9, 1945
● USSR gains the atom bomb (start of arms race) - August 29, 1949
● USA tests the H-bomb - November 1, 1952
● USSR gains the H-bomb - August 12, 1953
, ● Soviets test their first ICBMs - August 21, 1957
● Gaither Report - November 7, 1957
● Sputnik (space race starts) - October 4, 1957
● NASA established & USA launches first satellite (Explorer 1), Sputnik II launched -
1958
● Polaris (USA SLBMs) - July 20, 1960
● USSR deploys SLBMs & first manned orbit (Yuri Gagarin, Vostok 1) - April 12, 1961
● Tsar Bomba - October 30, 1961
● Cuban Missile Crisis - October 16-28, 1962
● China becomes a nuclear power - October 16, 1964
Changing attitudes to nuclear weapons:
Kennedy and the early beginnings of Détente:
Kennedy was a strong Cold War advocate, increasing U.S. involvement in Vietnam and
overseeing the largest peacetime military expansion in U.S. history. He replaced
Eisenhower’s New Look with flexible response, boosting conventional forces, special forces
(e.g., Green Berets), and nuclear weapons—ICBMs surged from 63 in 1961 to 424 in 1963.
However, this intensified the arms race as the USSR responded, arguably making the world
less secure.
Despite this, Kennedy also pursued diplomacy, meeting Khrushchev in Vienna in 1961,
though little progress was made. Both leaders feared nuclear war, influencing decisions in
Berlin and Cuba. Kennedy later advocated arms control, emphasizing the need to avoid
mutual destruction. His efforts led to key agreements between 1963-68 following the Cuban
Missile Crisis.
Key Terms:
● MAD: mutually assured destruction: If both sides have equal amounts of weapons
the other side won’t use weapons against us as they would also be destroyed.
● ICBM Intercontinental Ballistic Missile: was a long-range nuclear missile.
● SLBMS Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (e.g. Polaris missile).
● Anti-Ballistic Missile: This was a defensive system designed to protect areas
against missile-delivered nuclear weapons.
● Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicle: a missile which could carry up to 12
nuclear warheads. First developed by the Americans. Example Minuteman missile.
Key Events:
● Trinity Test - July 16, 1945
● Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombed - August 6 & 9, 1945
● USSR gains the atom bomb (start of arms race) - August 29, 1949
● USA tests the H-bomb - November 1, 1952
● USSR gains the H-bomb - August 12, 1953
, ● Soviets test their first ICBMs - August 21, 1957
● Gaither Report - November 7, 1957
● Sputnik (space race starts) - October 4, 1957
● NASA established & USA launches first satellite (Explorer 1), Sputnik II launched -
1958
● Polaris (USA SLBMs) - July 20, 1960
● USSR deploys SLBMs & first manned orbit (Yuri Gagarin, Vostok 1) - April 12, 1961
● Tsar Bomba - October 30, 1961
● Cuban Missile Crisis - October 16-28, 1962
● China becomes a nuclear power - October 16, 1964
Changing attitudes to nuclear weapons:
