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In the early 1960s, U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev each expressed deep concern about the strength of their respective nations’ [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375713948/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0375713948&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=1838f88d469cecce7875aade795d48e7 nuclear arms forces]. This concern led them to complete the first arms control agreement of the Cold War, the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963.

====Concerns about Nuclear Tests Grew====

This treaty did not have much practical effect on the development and proliferation of nuclear weapons, but it established an important precedent for future arms control. Both superpowers entered the 1960s determined to build or maintain nuclear superiority. The Soviet Union had led the way in the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles after its launch of the first man-made satellite, Sputnik, in 1957. In just a few years, it had developed an arsenal of long and medium-range missiles that had raised alarm in Washington. President Kennedy had even campaigned for office on a claim that President Dwight Eisenhower had allowed the Soviet Union too far out-produce the United States in nuclear technology, creating a “missile gap.” However, soon after he took office, the Kennedy Administration determined that the balance of nuclear power remained in favor of the United States.

====Negotiations for a Test Ban began in 1958====

In 1961, Kennedy established an Arms Control and Disarmament Agency within the U.S. Department of State, and the new organization reopened talks with the Soviet Union. That year, however, neither side was ready to make major concessions. As long as it remained difficult to verify that the other side was not engaging in clandestine testing, there was little incentive to form an agreement.

====China nuclear program and the Cuban Missile Crisis convinced US, USSR, and Great Britain to restart talks====

====Conclusion====

The Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain in 1963, and it banned all nuclear tests in the atmosphere, in space, or underwater. Because it stopped the spread of radioactive nuclear material through atmospheric testing and set the precedent for a new wave of arms control agreements, the Treaty was hailed as a success. The Treaty was the first of several Cold War agreements on nuclear arms, including the Non-Proliferation Treaty that was signed in 1968 and the SALT I agreements of 1972. In 1974, the Threshold Test Ban Treaty returned to the question of nuclear testing by limiting underground testing of bombs with a yield greater than 150 kilotons.

* Republished from [https://history.state.gov/| Office of the Historian, United States Department of State]

* Article:[https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/limited-ban| The Limited Test Ban Treaty, 1963]

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