12. Confrontation Between Superpowers Flashcards
explain events leading up to missile crisis?
- Castro comes to power= alarms to US
- Cuba had previously been an economic colony of the US since 1890’s and Castro’s radical economic/social policies threatened US interests eg. nationalising oil refineries
- relationship with Cuba began to deteriorate and USSR saw opportunity to get Cuba as an ally= strategically close to USA
what event showed US didn’t like Castro?
-Castro visited US in April 1959 but Eisenhower refused to see him
examples of USSR intervention in Cuba?
-Feb 1960 USSR gives $1mil to Castro to help with social programmes
examples of Cuban action towards USA?
- may 1959: US owned property in Cuba was seized as part of agrarian reform
- October 1960 Castro seized $1billion worth of US assets
examples of US action towards Cuba?
- April 1960: US owned oil companies in Cuba refused to refine oil shipped from the USSR
- US imposed economic sanctions on Cuba reducing imports of cuban sugar
explain the bay of pigs invasion?
- 1960 Eisenhower was convinced Cuba was turning into a soviet satellite state
- ordered CIA to overthrow Castro by anti-castro cubans
- plan inherited by Kennedy in Jan 1961
- 1500 cuban exiles trained by US
- exiles were defeated = humiliation for Kennedy administration
explain operation Mongoose?
- November, 1961
- kennedy tried again to overthrow Castro with covert operations to destabilise the regime
- US also began military manoeuvres= OPLAN 34+quickstart
- in response USSR decided to deploy nuclear missiles to Cuba, 1962
why did soviets deploy missiles to Cuba?
- ideologically= assist a fellow left wing communist state
- nuclear= Cuba’s proximity to US meant it was the ideal place to store missiles
- Economically= large scale conventional forces unnecessary, leaving financial resources to invested in economy
- militarily= soviets have military presence in America
what happened on 14th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)
-U2 spy plane photographs missile site in Cuba
what happened on 16th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)
- Kennedy told about nuclear missiles in Cuba
- ExComm council called to consider response
- decide there are too many missiles to destroy before retaliation, didn’t want to expose Europe to soviet attack, military response= last resort
what happened on 22th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)
-Televised address by Kennedy announcing naval quarantine on Cuba, preventing weapons being shipped to Cuba
what happened on 23th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)
-UN security council condemn soviet deployment of of weapons to Cuba
what happened on 24th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)
-first soviet ships to reach quarantine line and turn around
what happened on 26th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)
- K offers to remove the soviet military presence if US promises not to invade Cuba
- Castro scared of American attack and orders anti-aircraft planes to fire on reconnaissance planes
- K realised missiles hasn’t protected Cuba from US aggression and they would use force to overthrow Castro
what happened on 27th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)
- K gives second demand request
- US remove missiles from Turkey
- Kennedy publicly accepts terms of K’s first offer and secretly agrees to remove missiles from Turkey
- knew turkey removal it would be seen as too much of a concession by NATO so kept it secret
