Question

Write a paragraph explaining what event you feel was the height of the cold war and why.

Answer 1

I think that logically, an event that would be considered the height of the Cold War would be an event that started it. One event that stands out is the nuclear arms race. It started when the US used atomic bombs against Japan towards the end of WW2, and the US began the era of nuclear weapons. At this time, the US was the only nation that had nuclear weapons in its arsenal, and due to the distrust and tension between the Soviet Union and the US, the Soviet Union wanted to be able to match the US from a militaristic standpoint. This is where the race began, as the two nations tried to better each other due to mistrust. As time went on, each nation made more nuclear weapons until they reached the point where they could completely destroy each other. With this information known, the tensions between the nations grew, and eventually led to the Cold War.

Answer 2

For me the height of the Cold War was the first Nuclear Test by the Soviet Union on the 29th of August 1949.

This was also probably the start of the 'cold-war' itself.
Before the Soviet Union has tested a live Nuclear Weapon, the United States was flexing it's muscles all over the world based on it's economic and military might.

However, the Soviet Nukes proved that there was another player on the global scene with the same weapons as the United States.

Subsequently Soviet Union couldn't, and in effect did, challenge America's dominance in every corned of the world for the next 40 years.

For me, this precise moment was more important than the 'Cuban Crisis'