Category Archives: Week 4: Cold War Economy

In the Heefner article, it states that Dwight Eisenhower had a system of defense highways to provide efficient moving of large military supplies and personnel. Many of those defenses went into the western plains of South Dakota. What the military-industrial complex is like the relationship between a country’s military and suppliers. South Dakota was aContinue reading “Cold War Economy”

During the Cold War, the U.S pushed forth efforts of increasing defense and military buildup. One way of doing so was by creating the Minutemen Missiles in South Dakota. 150 Minuteman Missiles, containing a 1.2 megaton nuclear warhead in each missile. The ICBMs raised concern for the Soviets, a concern that they could not affordContinue reading “Military-industrial complex and the Economics of The Cold War”

The priority of national defense over all else shows us how the minutemen missiles were a part of the military-industrial complex. The ever-impending threat of all-out war meant the constant development of military technology to outgun each other, creating an arms race. Pursuing this development in the US was done through institutions and individuals whoseContinue reading “The Military Industrial Complex in South Dakota”

During the Cold War, Dwight Eisenhower developed the idea of a “military-industrial complex” where the government, some corporations, and the military work together to further military technological advancements by providing each other with different things such as money, jobs, and support. This became an issue since the idea of a “military-industrial complex” didn’t include orContinue reading “Forgotten History of the Cold War: SD Minutemen”

The Minutemen missile’s economic impact is immense, especially at the local level. Of course the cost of making the missiles is very high but It created jobs, and supported many paying jobs like Boeing.  Boeing was the one that assembled and tested the minutemen. Even though the article doesn’t mention how much they made IContinue reading “ECONOMY “

Heefner’s article on the Minutemen Silo Memorial and the lasting impact of Cold-War economics on the Great Plains area illuminates a part of domestic history often overlooked. While it’s even more surprising that other parts of the country also have missile silo museums, there’s something special about the one just off I-90 that seems differentContinue reading “Scars on the Landscape: South Dakota’s Unique History with Cold War Politics”

ABB During the Cold War, South Dakota’s western plains were selected to be the incubator for 150 Minuteman missiles, which were built to be three thousand times more powerful than “Little Boy,”the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It was chosen due to its strategic geography and the pre-existing Ellsworth Air Force Base, which made theContinue reading “South Dakota’s hidden role in the Cold War”

The installation of the Minutemen Silos in South Dakota was a smaller part of the larger Cold War economy. The economy at this time consisted of a large increase in government spending towards the military in order to increase its chances if nuclear war broke out between the U.S. and Russia. Another part of thisContinue reading “The Cold War Economy of South Dakota”

Heefner’s Missiles and Memories: Dismantling South Dakota’s Cold War demonstrates an intersection of the nation’s military and arms history, local identity and memory. The article analyses South Dakota’s role in America’s cold war nuclear strategy, although it has been heavily overlooked. She begins by providing a compelling examination of how the Great Plains harbored 150Continue reading “Did the Cold War Ever Leave The Great Plains?”

During his farewell address in January of 1961, President Eisenhower said the following regarding the “immense military establishment” and “large arms industry” that was beginning to characterize America: “We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; soContinue reading “South Dakota’s Minutemen Missiles and the Military-Industrial Complex”