Hello, my name is Mr. Williams, and I'm going to be your history teacher for today.

This lesson is part of a unit about the origins of the Cold War from 1941 to 1958.

I'm really looking forward to teaching you today, so let's get started.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how the arms race led to an increase in Cold War tension between the USA and the USSR.

There are five keywords that are essential to understanding today's lesson.

They are: arms race, when countries compete with each other to build up their military strength.

Superpower: a country that has great power and influence globally.

For example, the USA and the USSR during the Cold War period.

Summit: a meeting between leaders to discuss significant issues or make important decisions.

ICBM, which stands for intercontinental ballistic missile, missiles that could fire a nuclear warhead at targets in different continents.

And finally, deterrence: using the threat of force to prevent something from happening.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts.

In this first part, we're going to be learning about how by 1955, the world was divided into two competing military alliances, NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

In 1947, the Truman Doctrine committed the USA to a policy of containment and stated that the country would play a leading role in preventing the spread of communism around the world.

In 1949, in response to the Berlin crisis and the takeover of Czechoslovakia by Soviet-backed communists, the USA joined with Britain, France, and 12 other Western countries to create the North Atlantic Treaty organisation, or NATO.

The aim of NATO was to prevent the further expansion of the Soviet Union, and NATO members committed to defending one another if they were attacked.

Stalin viewed the establishment of NATO as an aggressive action that threatened the USSR.

In May 1955, West Germany was allowed to join NATO and to begin to build up its armed forces.

This decision alarmed Stalin, who believed that an armed and powerful Germany on the borders of Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe was a threat to the USSR.

He also thought NATO's decision broke agreements made at the end of World War II about Germany being kept in a weakened state so it can never again threaten its neighbours.

Let's do a quick check for understanding.

What I want you to do right now is write one or two sentences to explain why NATO was established in April 1949.

Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see a model response.

Okay, well done for your hard work on that task.

Your answer could have included the following.

NATO was established in April 1949 in response to the Berlin crisis and the Soviet takeover of Czechoslovakia.

The aim of NATO was to prevent the further expansion of the Soviet Union and to contain communism.

Well done if you wrote something like that.

Let's do another quick check.

Which country joined NATO in May 1955? Was it A, Canada; B, East Germany; C, France; or D, West Germany? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, very well done if you said that the correct answer is D, West Germany.

Okay, let's do another quick check of your understanding.

I want you to discuss this question with a partner.

Why was the USSR concerned that West Germany had been allowed to join NATO in May 1955? Pause the video now, talk to your partner, and press play when you're ready to go through a model answer.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope that conversation was useful.

You were asked to discuss with a partner why was the USSR concerned that West Germany had been allowed to join NATO in May 1955.

And your answer may include the following.

The USSR was concerned when West Germany was allowed to join NATO because it believed that an armed and powerful Germany on the borders of Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe will be a threat to them.

Well done if you covered those points in your discussion.

Just over a week after West Germany was allowed to join NATO, the USSR announced the establishment of an equivalent military alliance, the Warsaw Pact.

The alliance was under the command of the USSR, and the leadership was entirely Soviet.

In addition to the USSR, the members of the Warsaw Pact were Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, and the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany.

Together, these countries were known as the Eastern Bloc.

The establishment of two rival alliance systems, NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, significantly raised Cold War tensions and intensified the arms race that had begun with the US development of the atomic bomb in 1945.

Let's check your understanding.

The paragraph on the screen is incorrect.

I want you to identify and correct the mistakes.

Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to go through the corrected paragraph.

Okay, well done for your hard work on that task.

You were asked to identify and correct the mistakes, and your answer could include: the USSR responded to NATO's decision to allow West Germany to become a member by establishing the Warsaw Pact in 1955.

The alliance was under the command of the USSR, and the leadership were entirely Soviet.

Well done if you found and corrected all of those mistakes.

Let's do another quick check for understanding.

Which of these three countries were members of the Warsaw Pact? A, Czechoslovakia; B, East Germany; C, France; D, Poland.

Pause the video now, select the three you think are correct, and then press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said that the correct answer was Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Poland.

France was not a member of the Warsaw Pact; France was a member of NATO.

We are now ready to have a go at the first practise task of today's lesson.

I would like you to explain the importance of NATO for the development of the Cold War.

To answer this question, you should identify two ways it was important, and explain each one in a short paragraph.

You might find it helpful to think about these questions.

How did NATO help to unite the countries that joined and how did the USSR respond? Pause the video, have a go at this task, and press play when you're ready to see a model response.

Okay, fantastic effort on that first practise task.

You were asked to explain the importance of NATO for the development of the Cold War.

You were asked to write two paragraphs.

Your first paragraph might have looked something like this.

NATO was important for the development of the Cold War because it united the Western countries that joined against the USSR and against the spread of communism.

Following the Berlin crisis and the Soviet takeover of Czechoslovakia, NATO was established in April 1949 with the aim of preventing further Soviet expansion.

The members of NATO committed to defend one another if they were attacked, which meant that they were united together in the fight against containing communism.

Very well done if you got something like that for your first paragraph.

For your second paragraph, you might have written something like this.

NATO was also important for the development of the Cold War because it led to the USSR establishing the Warsaw Pact in 1955.

The USSR viewed the creation of NATO as an aggressive action that threatened both itself and its satellite states.

The USSR's concerns increased when West Germany was allowed to join NATO in 1955.

This led to the USSR establishing the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance of communist countries, also known as the Eastern Bloc.

As a consequence, Europe was divided into two competing alliances, and the arms race intensified.

Very well done for all of your hard work on that first practise task, and well done if your answer looks similar to the model answer that we've just gone through.

In this second part of our lesson, we're going to be learning about something called the arms race, which began between the USA and the USSR in 1945.

On the screen is a timeline showing some of the key events that we'll be learning about in this part of the lesson.

I'll allow you to have a read through it, and then you can come back to this timeline if you need to later on in the lesson.

The success of the Manhattan Project, which had allowed the USA to develop the world's first atomic bomb by July 1945, started an arms race between the USA and the USSR.

The arms race between the two nuclear armed superpowers was a key feature of the Cold War as each side competed to gain an advantage by developing more powerful weapons and more effective weapon delivery systems. It contributed significantly to escalating tensions between the USA and the USSR because each side suspected that the other aimed to develop enough weapons to make a devastating first strike that would totally destroy their enemy and prevent them from firing back.

Having witnessed the dreadful power of American atomic bombs when they were used against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 to force the surrender of Japan in World War II, the USSR invested heavily in nuclear weapons.

They had developed their own atomic bomb by 1949.

Truman's response was to significantly increase American defence spending and order an even more powerful weapon to be developed, the hydrogen bomb, or H bomb.

In November 1952, the USA successfully detonated the world's first H bomb.

Over 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb, the H bomb restored the American advantage, but by August 1953, less than a year later, the USSR had developed their own H bomb.

Both sides spent vast and increasing amounts of money on building up their military capabilities.

Between 1949 and 1953, American spending on arms increased from $13.

5 billion to $49.

6 billion per year, while Soviet spending increased from $13.

4 billion to $35.

5 billion.

Let's take a moment now to check your understanding.

I want you to discuss with a partner, how did Truman respond to news that the USSR had developed their first atomic bomb in 1949? Pause the video now, discuss this question with a partner, and press play when you're ready to see a model response.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope those discussions were useful.

In your discussion, you might have said something like this.

Truman ordered American military spending to be significantly increased so that USA could develop an even more powerful weapon, the hydrogen bomb, or H bomb.

Let's do another quick check for understanding.

The USA developed the first hydrogen bomb in November 1952, but when did the USSR develop their first hydrogen bomb? Was it A, August 1952; B, August 1953; or C, August 1954? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said B, August 1953.

Less than a year later, the USSR had developed their own hydrogen bomb, or H bomb.

Let's do another quick check for understanding.

Which two statements accurately describe spending on arms by the USA and the USSR between 1949 and 1953? A, the USA and the USSR decreased their spending on arms; B, the USA and the USSR increased their spending on arms; C, by 1953, the USA was spending more on arms than the USSR; or D, by 1953, the USSR was spending more on arms than the USA.

Pause the video now, select which two statements are accurate, and then press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said that the two accurate statements were B and C.

The USA and the USSR increased their spending on arms, and C, by 1953, the USA was spending more on arms than the USSR.

Well done if you got that correct.

From 1953, both the USA and the USSR had new leaders, and this led some to be hopeful that relations between the two superpowers could be improved.

In January 1953, Dwight Eisenhower took office as the new American president.

Eisenhower was strongly anti-communist, but he was also concerned about the dangers posed by nuclear weapons, and he was open to talks to improve US-Soviet relations.

Meanwhile, in March 1953, in the USSR, Stalin died, and after a power struggle, Nikita Khrushchev replaced him as leader.

Like Eisenhower, Khrushchev was concerned about the risk of nuclear conflict, and he believed in the idea of peaceful coexistence, which was the belief that the USA and the USSR could exist together peacefully.

Both leaders were also concerned about the huge sums of money being spent on nuclear weapons and hoped to reduce spending so that they could invest in other areas.

Hopes for more peaceful relations also increased following the end of the Korean War in 1953.

This conflict had led to tension between the USA and the USSR because the USA had supported South Korea against Soviet-backed North Korea.

Unfortunately, hopes for more peaceful relations were short-lived.

In July 1955, Eisenhower and Khrushchev met at the Geneva Summit to discuss how they could reduce their spending on nuclear weapons.

Although the atmosphere at the summit was cooperative, it took place just two months after NATO's decision to admit West Germany and the establishment of the Warsaw Pact.

As a result, there was still too much suspicion between the two superpowers to reach an agreement.

The arms race was set to continue.

Let's take a moment now to check your understanding.

What was the name of the summit at which Eisenhower and Khrushchev met to discuss reducing spending on nuclear weapons? Was it A, the Geneva Summit; B, the Moscow Summit; or C, the Washington Summit? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said A, it was the Geneva Summit.

We're now ready to move on to task B, our second practise task of today's lesson, and it's split into two parts.

In this first part, I want you to discuss the following question with a partner.

Why did some people hope that there would be an improvement in US-Soviet relations when Eisenhower and Khrushchev became the leaders of the USA and the USSR in 1953? I want you to try and think of at least three reasons, so pause the video now, discuss this question with a partner and press play when you're ready to see a model response.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope those discussions were useful.

You were asked to discuss why some people hoped that there would be an improvement in US-Soviet relations when Eisenhower and Khrushchev became the leaders of the USA and the USSR in 1953.

You were asked to think of at least three reasons, so you might have said: Eisenhower and Khrushchev were concerned about the possibility of nuclear conflict and wanted to improve US-Soviet relations.

You could also have said: Eisenhower and Khrushchev both wanted to reduce spending on nuclear weapons so that they could spend money on other areas.

And finally, you might have said: the USA and the USSR had supported different sides of the Korean War, but this had ended in 1953.

Well done if you covered those points in your discussion.

Let's move on to the second part of this practise task.

So again, it's discussion-based, and I want you with a partner to discuss the following question: why did Eisenhower and Khrushchev fail to agree at the Geneva Summit about reducing spending on nuclear weapons? Pause the video now, discuss the question with your partner, and press play when you're ready to see a model response.

Okay, welcome back.

I hope those discussions were useful.

In the second part of this practise task, you were asked to discuss why Eisenhower and Khrushchev failed to agree at the Geneva Summit about reducing spending on nuclear weapons, and your discussion may have included: after the USA had allowed West Germany to join NATO, the USSR had established the Warsaw Pact in response.

This divided Europe into two competing military alliances and increased tension.

As a result, when the Geneva Summit took place just two months later, there was still too much mutual suspicion between the USA and the USSR for Eisenhower and Khrushchev to reach an agreement about reducing spending on nuclear weapons.

Well done for all of your hard work on that second practise task.

Let's move on now to the final part of our lesson.

In this final part of our lesson, we're going to be exploring how the arms race intensified or escalated after the failure of the 1955 Geneva Summit.

Again, on the screen is a timeline that provides an overview of the key events we're going to be learning about in this final part of the lesson.

Take a moment to read through it now, and you can come back to it later if you need to.

The development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, marked a new and more dangerous phase of the arms race.

ICBMs were capable of firing a nuclear warhead at a target over 4,500 kilometres away, which meant that they could be fired from one continent to hit targets in another.

Although the USA launched their first ICBM, Atlas, in June 1957, the first Soviet ICBM followed shortly afterwards in August 1957.

Let's take a moment now to check your understanding.

What was the name of the first ICBM launched by the USA in June 1957? Was it A, Achilles; B, Apollo; C, Aries; or D, Atlas? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said that the correct answer was Atlas.

The name of the first ICBM launched by the USA, in June 1957, was Atlas.

Let's do another quick check of your understanding.

When did the USSR launch their first ICBM? Was it A, June 1957; B, August 1957; C, June 1958; or D, August 1958? Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, very well done if you said that the correct answer was B, it was August 1957.

On the 4th of October, 1957, the USSR shocked the world by using a missile to launch Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite.

The launch of Sputnik 1 raised concerns in the USA about Soviet technological superiority, particularly in the realm of missile technology.

Concerned that they were being overtaken by the USSR, the USA increased its spending on missiles by 20% between 1957 and 1959 and expanded its training programme for engineers and scientists.

Eisenhower also built missile bases in some West European countries, particularly in West Germany.

In 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, was founded partly in response to fears that the USA were falling behind in the arms race.

By the late 1950s, both the USA and the USSR had developed stockpiles of nuclear weapons that could have destroyed the world many times over.

This prompted a change in thinking about war.

Previously, weapons had been developed to win wars, but now they were being developed to stop the other side from going to war at all.

The idea that nuclear weapons can be used to stop an enemy from attacking was known as deterrence.

Let's do a quick check of your understanding.

How did Eisenhower respond to the news that the USSR had launched Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite? I want you to identify three to four actions he took.

Pause the video now, and press play when you're ready to see a model response.

Okay, well done for your hard work on that question.

You were asked to identify three to four ways that Eisenhower responded to the launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite.

Eisenhower responded as follows.

He increased American spending on missiles by 20%.

He expanded training programmes for engineers and scientists.

He ordered missile bases to be built in Western Europe.

And he established NASA in 1958.

Well done if you got any of those.

Let's check your understanding with this question.

I want you to explain to your partner what is meant by the term deterrence.

Pause the video now, discuss this with your partner, and press play when you're ready to see a model response.

Okay, well done.

I hope that discussion was useful, and in your discussion with your partner, hopefully you said something like this.

Deterrence is the idea that a country can develop a large amount of nuclear weapons to prevent other countries from attacking them.

Well done if you got that correct.

We are now ready to move on to the third and final practise task of today's lesson, and so to finish the lesson, I want you to write an account analysing the main developments in the US-Soviet arms race between 1945 and 1957.

You should aim to write about three key events, and you may wish to write about the following two plus one of your own.

So you could write about the success of the Manhattan Project and the development of ICBMs. Try to organise your answer in chronological order.

I want you to pause the video now, I want you to attempt this task, and then press play when you're ready to see a model response.

Okay, for this final task, you were asked to write an account analysing the main developments in the US-Soviet arms race between 1945 and 1957.

Fantastic effort on this task.

Let's have a look at a model answer now.

So for your first paragraph, you could have started like this.

The arms race began in July 1945 after the success of the Manhattan Project led to the USA developing the world's first atomic bomb.

After the USA used atomic bombs to force the surrender of Japan, the USSR invested heavily to develop their own atomic bomb and achieved this by 1949.

Both superpowers wanted to gain the advantage, so they significantly increased military spending in an attempt to develop newer, more powerful weapons.

For your second paragraph, you could have gone on to write: in the early 1950s, the USA and the USSR competed to develop the hydrogen bomb, or H bomb.

The H bomb was 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bombs that had been used at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the superpower rivals knew that the first of them to develop this new weapon would gain the advantage.

The USA developed the first H bomb in November 1952, shortly followed by the USSR in August 1953.

This led to an intensification of the arms race as the superpowers continued to compete to develop more powerful weapons.

For your final paragraph, you could have written: the attempt to develop even more powerful weapons led to the USA and the USSR both developing intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, by 1957.

The invention of ICBMs was a significant development in the arms race because it gave the superpowers the ability to fire nuclear weapons over 4,500 kilometres away.

It also led to the USSR developing Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, which they were able to send into space on the 4th of October, 1957.

This fueled American concerns that they were falling behind in the arms race and led to the establishment of NASA in 1958.

Fantastic work on that final task, and very well done if your answer looks similar to the model answer that we've just gone through.

Okay, we're at the end of our lesson now, so it's a good opportunity to stop and summarise the key learning points.

By 1955, Europe was divided into two rival military alliances: NATO, led by the USA, and the Warsaw Pact, led by the USSR.

The development of the atomic bomb by the USA in 1945 began an arms race with the USSR that escalated during the 1950s.

In 1953, Eisenhower replaced Truman as US president, and Khrushchev replaced Stalin as leader of the USSR, but this did not lead to a long-term improvement in US-Soviet relations.

By 1957, both superpowers had developed ICBMs, giving them the ability to hit targets in different continents with nuclear weapons.

The USA and the USSR built up huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons as a form of deterrence during the Cold War.

It's been a real pleasure to teach you today.

Fantastic effort.

Well done for all your hard work, and I look forward to teaching you again soon.