How does mutually assured destruction relate to the Cold War?
Mutually Assured Destruction, or mutually assured deterrence (MAD), is a military theory that was developed to deter the use of nuclear weapons. To many, mutually assured destruction helped prevent the Cold War from turning hot; to others, it is the most ludicrous theory humanity ever put into full-scale practice.
What did the term mutually assured destruction refer during the Cold War?
The term mutually assured destruction referred to Nuclear War during the Cold War.
When was mutually assured destruction used?
1962
In 1962, the concept of mutually assured destruction started to play a major part in the defence policy of the US. President Kennedy’s Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, set out in a speech to the American Bar Foundation a theory of flexible nuclear response. In essence it meant stockpiling a huge nuclear arsenal.
Who came up with mutually assured destruction?
Wilkie Collins
The concept of mutually assured destruction was first described by Wilkie Collins, a 19th century English author. In a letter written at the time of the Franco-Prussian war, over 70 years before the first atomic bomb dropped, Collins wrote: I am, like the rest of my countrymen, heartily on the German side in the War.
What caused mutual assured destruction?
Mutual assured destruction, or mutually assured destruction (MAD), is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of high-yield weapons of mass destruction by two opposing sides would cause the complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender.
What was Mutual Assured Destruction?
Mutual Assured Destruction. noun. a U.S. doctrine of reciprocal deterrence resting on the U.S. and Soviet Union each being able to inflict unacceptable damage on the other in retaliation for a nuclear attack.
What is mad Cold War?
MAD is an acronym for Mutually Assured Destruction which is a phrase from the Cold War for a stand off between two countries with nuclear weaponry.