The Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT), formally known as the 1963 Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and Under Water, prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground. It is also abbreviated as the Limited Test Ban Treaty (LTBT) and Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (NTBT), though the latter may also refer to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which succeeded the PTBT for ratifying parties.
Brinkmanship or brinksmanship is the practice of trying to achieve an advantageous outcome by pushing dangerous events to the brink of active conflict. The maneuver of pushing a situation with the opponent to the brink succeeds by forcing the opponent to back down and make concessions rather than risk engaging in a conflict that would no longer be beneficial to either side. That might be achieved through diplomatic maneuvers, by creating the impression that one is willing to use extreme methods rather than concede. The tactic occurs in international politics, foreign policy, labor relations, contemporary military strategy, terrorism, and high-stakes litigation.
On 1 May 1960, a United States U-2 spy plane was shot down by the Soviet Air Defence Forces while conducting photographic aerial reconnaissance deep inside Soviet territory. Flown by American pilot Francis Gary Powers, the aircraft had taken off from Peshawar, Pakistan, and crashed near Sverdlovsk, after being hit by a surface-to-air missile. Powers parachuted to the ground and was captured.
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges through interpreters between U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Nikita Khrushchev, at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959.
The following events occurred in May 1960:
In the United States, during the Cold War, the missile gap was the perceived superiority of the number and power of the USSR's missiles in comparison with those of the U.S.. The gap in the ballistic missile arsenals did not exist except in exaggerated estimates, made by the Gaither Committee in 1957 and in United States Air Force (USAF) figures. Even the contradictory CIA figures for the USSR's weaponry, which showed a clear advantage for the US, were far above the actual count. Like the bomber gap of only a few years earlier, it was soon demonstrated that the gap was entirely fictional.
The following events occurred in September 1959:
The following events occurred in September 1960:
The following lists events that happened during 1959 in Germany.
The following lists events that happened during 1959 in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
February 1958 was the second month of that common year. It began on a Saturday and ended after 28 days on a Friday
January 1958 was the first month of that common year. It began on a Wednesday and ended after 31 days on a Friday
The following events occurred in December 1958:
March 1958 was the third month of that common year. It began on a Saturday and ended after 31 days on a Monday
April 1958 was the fourth month of that common year. It began on a Tuesday and ended after 30 days on a Wednesday
May 1958 was the fifth month of that common year. It began on a Thursday and ended after 31 days on a Saturday
The following events occurred in June 1958:
The following events occurred in August 1958:
The following events occurred in September 1958:
The following events occurred in November 1958:
