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New Forms of Conflict: Nuclear and Guerrilla War Versus Conventional War, 1945-75 » Arms Limitation and Reduction Talks

What you'll learn this session

Study time: 30 minutes

Edexcel spec: Paper 2 Section B, Breadth study B6, Key topic 3

Which countries joined the nuclear club between 1952 and 1974
What the Test Ban Treaty (1963) and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968) agreed
What SALT I (1972) limited, and what it left alone
How much these talks really achieved

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More countries, more danger

This lesson is part of the Paper 2 Section B breadth study on the changing nature of warfare, 1919-2011. By 1949 the USA and the USSR both had atom bombs. The two superpowers (the most powerful countries in the world) then raced to build more and bigger nuclear weapons. Other countries wanted the bomb too.

Key terms:

Nuclear proliferation: the spread of nuclear weapons to more and more countries.
Fallout: radioactive dust that falls from the sky after a nuclear explosion and can harm people far from the test site.
Arms limitation: agreeing to put a limit on how many weapons each side can have.
Inspection: checking that a country is keeping to an agreement.

Proliferation, 1952-74

💣 Britain, 1952

Britain tested its first atom bomb in October 1952, off the coast of Western Australia. It wanted to stay a great power and to have its own weapon, close to its American ally.

🏜️ France, 1960

France tested a bomb in the Sahara Desert in Algeria in February 1960. President de Gaulle wanted France to be independent and not rely only on the USA for protection.

🚩 China, 1964

China, a Communist country that had fallen out with the USSR, tested a bomb in October 1964. It wanted to be safe from the USA and to be taken seriously as a world power.

💡 India, 1974

India exploded a nuclear device in May 1974. India called it a "peaceful" test, but it showed that a country outside the main powers could build a bomb.

Each new nuclear state made the world feel less safe. More fingers near the button meant a greater chance of war, or of an accident. This pushed the superpowers to talk.

The Test Ban Treaty, 1963

In the 1950s both superpowers tested bombs in the open air. People feared the fallout, and protests grew. Then in October 1962 the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the USA and the USSR close to nuclear war. Afterwards both leaders wanted to calm things down. A telephone link, the "Hotline", was set up between Washington and Moscow in 1963.

In August 1963 the USA, the USSR and Britain signed the Test Ban Treaty in Moscow. It banned nuclear tests in the air, in space and under water.

What it achieved: it cut the amount of fallout, and it was the first agreement on nuclear weapons between the superpowers.
What it did not do: tests underground were still allowed, because it was hard to check them. Neither side had to get rid of a single weapon. France and China refused to sign, and both went on testing in the air.

The Non-Proliferation Treaty, 1968

The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was opened for signing in 1968 and came into force in 1970. It was a bargain between countries that had the bomb and countries that did not.

Countries with nuclear weapons promised not to help others get them.
Countries without them promised not to build or buy them. They accepted inspections, and were allowed to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
Countries with nuclear weapons promised to work towards getting rid of them in the end.

Many countries signed. But India never signed, and France and China stayed out until 1992. India's test in 1974 showed that the treaty could not stop a determined country. The nuclear powers also did not give up their own weapons.

SALT I, 1972

The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) began in 1969. In May 1972 President Nixon and the Soviet leader Brezhnev signed the first agreement in Moscow, in two parts.

The ABM Treaty. An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system shoots down incoming missiles. Each side agreed to have only two ABM sites, with 100 interceptors at each. If neither could defend itself, neither could hope to win a nuclear war, so this backed up the idea of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD): an attack would destroy both sides, so neither would dare.
The Interim Agreement. For five years, the number of land-based and submarine-launched missile launchers on each side was frozen at the level they already had.

SALT I was the first time the superpowers limited the weapons at the heart of the arms race. But it did not limit bombers. It also did not limit the number of warheads. By this time one missile could carry several warheads aimed at different targets, so each side could add warheads without adding launchers, and the totals kept rising.

How much did the talks achieve?

✅ Achievements

The first limits on nuclear tests and weapons. Less fallout. A habit of talking, which helped relations between the superpowers. A framework to stop more countries getting the bomb.

❌ Limits

No weapons were destroyed. Underground tests went on. Some countries stayed outside the treaties. Warhead numbers kept growing. In 1974 the superpowers were still holding thousands of weapons.

What changed: for the first time the arms race had rules. What stayed the same: the superpowers still built weapons, and MAD still kept the peace.

Common mistakes

Saying the Test Ban Treaty banned all nuclear tests. It left underground tests alone.
Thinking the NPT got rid of nuclear weapons. It tried to stop them spreading, and it did not remove the weapons that already existed.
Saying SALT I ended the arms race. It froze launchers for five years, and warheads still increased.
Mixing up the treaties: 1963 is tests, 1968 is spreading, 1972 is numbers.

Exam-style question

Explain TWO causes of the signing of the Test Ban Treaty in 1963. [8 marks]

Model answer

One cause was the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. The USA and the USSR had come close to nuclear war over Soviet missiles in Cuba, and both Kennedy and Khrushchev were shaken by how near they had come. This made them keen to reduce tension, so they were ready to agree on something that carried little risk, such as a ban on tests in the air, in space and under water. The Hotline set up in 1963 came from the same wish to avoid a mistake.

A second cause was public fear of fallout. Through the 1950s the superpowers tested bombs in the open air, and radioactive dust spread across the world. People in many countries protested, and leaders felt pressure to act. A ban on open-air tests answered those fears, while underground tests were still allowed so that neither side had to stop developing weapons. This is why the treaty was signed in August 1963.

What lifts it to the top level: two causes, each backed by precise facts and a clear explanation of how it led to the treaty.

Exam tip

One cause alone can score no more than half marks. Give two, and for each one write "this led to the treaty because...".

Recap

Britain (1952), France (1960), China (1964) and India (1974) joined the nuclear states.
The Test Ban Treaty (1963) banned tests in the air, space and under water, but not underground.
The NPT (1968) tried to stop nuclear weapons spreading, but some countries stayed outside it.
SALT I (1972) limited anti-ballistic missiles and froze missile launchers, but warheads kept rising.

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