Film Lesson- The Right Stuff

During the cold war, Russia and the United States had been competing over different tactical advantages in case another war broke out. These included the arms race, and when Russia launched the first satellite called sputnik in October 4,1957, the space race began. The United States feared that Russia can use the satellite to attack, and wanted to catch up with their technology. NASA was formed to help the United States reach space.

The film "The Right Stuff" showed the United States attempt to out-do the Russians during the space race. It began with the US finally breaking the sound barrier after many failed attempts, but keeping it a secret so the Russians would not know. The US wanted to send a man in space before the Russians would.They decided to find men who had "the right stuff" who where capable of surviving in space. Eventually they found 7 American men who where right for the job. But after many failed attempts of getting the rockets of the ground, they became worried and decided to send a monkey in space. The Russians saw this is a weakness and sent a man in space, angering the US even more. On July 20, 1969, the first man landed on the moon, and he was American, ending the space race.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

After WWII, the alliance between the USSR and Western Europe and America used to defeat Hitler was broken. Tensions between the two sides once again increased. American and Europe did not want the Soviet Union to gain more territory, and spread Communism. They feared that another war may break out. America and Western Europe formed an alliance just in case of war with the Soviet Union broke out. This alliance was called NATO. It stood for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. North America would also help rebuild Europe with the Marshall Plan. The NATO pact became more important as tension increased.
To counter the NATO alliance of its enemies, the Soviet Union created an alliance between itself and its satellite countries. This was the Warsaw pact. It was signed in Poland's capital Warsaw. The USSR had military in other allied countries and kept them running Socialist government. NATO said they would not support any country who signed the Warsaw Pact. With these two alliances, both sides where prepared for war, and tension between them continued to grow.