Quick questions on The arms race and the nuclear threat explained: N(A)-Level History

After the United States used atomic bombs to end the Second World War, it was for a short time the only country with such weapons. But the Soviet Union soon developed its own, and from then on the two superpowers competed to build more and more powerful nuclear weapons. This competition is called the arms race. Each side feared falling behind the other, because being weaker might tempt the enemy to attack.

The arms race created a deep and constant fear across the world. People knew that a nuclear war could destroy whole cities in moments and might even threaten human survival. Governments built shelters and gave advice on what to do in case of attack, and many people lived with the worry that war could break out at any time. This fear was at its sharpest during crises such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the world came close to nuclear war.

Linked to the arms race was the space race, a competition to lead in space technology. When the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite into space, it shocked the United States, partly because the same rockets that launched satellites could also carry nuclear weapons. The two superpowers then competed to achieve "firsts" in space, including sending people into orbit and, for the United States, landing astronauts on the Moon. The space race was about national pride and showing off scientific and military strength, and it was closely tied to the rivalry over missiles and weapons.

The terrible danger of the arms race, made vivid by the Cuban Missile Crisis, eventually pushed the superpowers to try to control it. They held talks and made agreements to limit certain kinds of weapons and to slow the race, a process sometimes linked to a period of reduced tension. These early steps did not end the arms race, but they showed that both sides understood how dangerous it had become and wanted to reduce the risk of accidental or all-out nuclear war. The effort to control nuclear weapons would continue and grow as the Cold War went on.

Explain how the arms race affected relations and daily life, the fear, the caution, the steps toward control, not just the build-up.