Section #1 NATO and the Warsaw Pact Western Europe and the United States were scared that the Soviet Union would start attacking other countries and spread communism. In an effort to prevent this a group of 12 countries including the United States, Canada and ten from Western Europe joined together in an alliance called NATO. If any of the 12 NATO countries was attacked, ALL of the NATO countries would get involved. (The map below shows the NATO countries) In response, the Soviet Union created an 8 country alliance of their own called the Warsaw Pact. The same rules applied. If any of the communist country that is part of the Warsaw Pact is attacked, then all of the Warsaw Pact countries would help out. (Warsaw Pact countries below.)
Section #2 Brinkmanship In 1945, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan to end World War II. The atomic bomb was a weapon no one had ever seen before and no other country had a weapon that could compete. Many argue that the primary reason that the United States dropped the atomic weapons on Japan was to intimidate or scare the Soviet Union and Stalin. The Soviet Union wanted to prove that they were just as powerful as the United States, so they began to build their own nuclear weapons. By 1949, the Soviet Union had developed their own atomic weapons and the arms race had begun. Both the United States and the Soviet Union competed to make more destructive weapons than the other country. This policy was called BRINKMANSHIP because with such powerful weapons that can be used at any time, both countries were always at the brink or edge of war even though they were NOT using any of the bombs. (The graphic below shows military spending in 1980.) GNP = Gross National Product. The TOTAL amount of money a country spends.
Section #3 The Space Race The Cold War sparked competition in multiple fields. Both the Soviet Union and the United States wanted to prove that they had the world s best science and education programs in the world. In 1957, the Soviets had developed technology that was able to send a satellite into space, called Sputnik. The Soviet Union had lots of firsts in space (check out the chart above left). The United States sent the first men to the moon in July of 1969.
Section #4 Health, Economic, Population and Education Data The United States and the Soviet Union competed in EVERY way. The chart below compares these two superpowers. Key to Understanding the Chart Below Time Zones = The total number of time zones their land covers. Per capita income = the average or mean income of an individual in the country. Life Expectancy = the average life span OR length of time a person is expected to live. Literacy Rates = % of people in the country who know how to read. Physicians = doctors Cost of One Yard of Fabric = the higher price is NOT a good thing. Gross National Product (GNP) = the total amount of tax revenue brought in more is better.
These two countries competed in everything. So obviously they would compete in the Olympics. They went out of their way to defeat each other. On the right is a graphic of the last 4 olympics. Notice how many medals were taken away from the Russians for using steroids to help win. Section #5 The Olympics