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SEGMENT SUMMARIES & DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Student Handout for Use While Viewing
(Select and print entire document [approximately 5 pages] or select segment of interest.)
SEGMENT 1 2 3 4 5 6
Photos link to enlargements.
Optional Viewing Guide: If you will be watching the entire episode, create a viewing guide following the example below. Choose a perspective -- either the United States, the Soviet Union or a third neutral country. As you watch each segment from this vantage, assign points to the West or the East for each event. At the end of each segment, determine whether East or West is ahead in the "race." Share your point totals with the other groups. According to the eyewitnesses in Sputnik, how were the "winners" determined? While viewing, consider what it meant to "win" and why the arms race escalated.

Event on Timeline West Points (scale 1-10) East Points (Scale 1-10) The Winner of Race (For Each Segment)
Soviet Explosion of Bomb (Segment 1)
+10 (No more American monopoly)
Klaus Fuchs is caught (Segment 1) +5 (Caught spy in Britain)




Segment One




On August 29, 1949, the Soviet Union explodes its first nuclear bomb. America's monopoly on nuclear weapons is over. The conviction of British citizen Klaus Fuchs for passing secrets to the Soviet Union alarms the Western world. The United States plans for the hydrogen bomb. By 1952, the H-bomb, code named "Operation Ivy", is ready.

  • How does the opening archive footage illustrate American fears of Soviet nuclear power? Why did the Soviet A-bomb take the United States by surprise?

  • According to Soviet scientists, engineers and the KGB, what role did Soviet espionage play in the development of the Soviet nuclear bomb?

  • What were the arguments within the United States for and against building the hydrogen bomb? Why do you think it was created?

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Segment Two




While America develops the H-bomb, a conventional war is being fought in Korea. Congress approves a $40 billion increase in the defense budget for conventional weapons. Japanese fishermen nearly 80 miles from an American nuclear test are exposed to radioactive fallout (the United States ultimately pays Japan $15.3 million). Several of the world's leading scientists speak out about their concerns.

  • Why did Truman choose conventional weapons in the Korean War? How did Eisenhower's strategy change from that of Truman? What did Eisenhower mean by "massive retaliation?"

  • According to eyewitness accounts, how did both superpowers assess the dangers of nuclear weapons?

  • What do students suppose was the reaction to the appeal by the scientific community on the dangers of nuclear weapons? What evidence from the video supports their answers?

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Segment Three




In 1955, the Soviet Union drops the world's first airborne H-bomb. Americans react with civil defense strategies such as "Duck and Cover" exercises and bomb shelters. In the summer of 1955, the major powers convene in Geneva. President Eisenhower proposes "Open Skies" to allow each side to observe and photograph what the other was doing. Khrushchev rejects this plan, stating that the United States is "simply trying to look into our bedrooms." At a Moscow air show in 1955, the Soviets display long range TU-95's, capable of delivering a nuclear bomb all the way to America. Eisenhower doubles the rate of B-52 bomber production.

  • What was the intent of the "Duck and Cover" civil defense campaign and the bomb shelters? Why would the U.S. government initiate such a campaign? Did it appear to be successful? How would people react to a bomb drill in New York today as compared with the 1950's? Why? Challenge: Research the effects of a nuclear bomb and then diagram your findings to illustrate the destruction caused at 100 miles, 50 miles and 10 miles from the explosion. Evaluate America's civil defense program. (Click here for background information and additional lessons on nuclear weapons.)

  • Compare the quotes of American Jean Asam and Soviet Galina Mishina. What conclusions can you draw from these two perspectives about the perceived threat of the other?

  • What was "Open Skies?" What were Eisenhower's stated intentions? According to Andrew Goodpaster, why did Khrushchev reject it? How does this exchange illustrate the growing tensions and suspicions on both sides?

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Segment Four

America continues to keep secret its U-2 reconnaissance plane. The CIA controls flights over the Soviet Union. On May 15, 1957, the Soviet Union tests the world's first Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launches the world's first man-made satellite, Sputnik.
  • What was the purpose of the new American U-2 reconnaissance planes? What does reconnaissance mean? Why were both sides eager to know how many missiles the other had?

  • How did Khrushchev come to the conclusion that the Soviet Union should focus on making "missiles like sausages?"

  • What was the effect of Sputnik on the international community, and on the United States in particular? How did Sputnik affect domestic political accountability in the United States? What implications did the launching of Sputnik have for the use of missiles and nuclear weapons?

  • Eyewitness Boris Chertok states that Khrushchev "realized that space victories could be of greater importance in politics than the threat of a club with a nuclear bomb on its end." What does Chertok imply? Do you agree? Why or why not? Based on this observation, what further implications can you cite?

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Segment Five




America pushes its own satellite project forward; the satellite Vanguard fails to launch and is a national humiliation for America. Congress passes the National Defense Education Act to encourage young people to pursue the fields of math, science and engineering. Pilot Gary Powers is shot down while on a reconnaissance mission in Soviet airspace. Two weeks later, Khrushchev storms out of the Paris Summit, furious that Eisenhower would not apologize. Summit talks between the two countries break down. Powers is put on trial in the Soviet Union and is sentenced to ten years in a Soviet prison.
  • How would you predict the Americans reacted to the Vanguard failure? How did the world media react? Why do you think that these events got so much international and media attention? Why were the successes and failures in the space and arms race so crucial to the competition between East and West?

  • How did U.S. fears of a missile gap affect American education?

  • How did domestic pressure in both countries affect their foreign policy and the continuation of the arms race? How does the discussion between Khrushchev and Eisenhower at Camp David shed light on the underlying desires of both countries with regard to the arms race?

  • How did incidents such as the U-2 spy plane increase tensions and come to dominate these underlying goals?

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Segment Six




At the secret Baykonur Cosmodrome, Soviet engineers test a new ICBM. As a control panel is being fitted, the engine ignites, killing 189 people. In America, Eisenhower approves an additional $12 billion for defense. Kennedy blames Eisenhower for the missile gap but soon determines that the missile gap favors the United States. Though behind in the missile race, the Soviets send cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into space to orbit the earth.
  • What conclusions can you draw from the accident at Baykonur Cosmodrome and the failure of the Vanguard?

  • List evidence of the impact the space race and arms race had on national pride in both the United States and the Soviet Union. How important were victories in these two areas during the Cold War?

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Sputnik || Essential Questions || Resources
Segment Summaries & Discussion Questions
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Episode Timeline || Episode Transcript