12) Confrontation between the superpowers

Question 1

Fidel Castro

Answer 1

Jan 1959 takes power
Communist leader of Cuba
gained his power through

Question 2

USSR Support for Castro

Answer 2

feb 1960
Politburo offers economic and military aid and in April, the first shipment of USSR crude oil arrives
US companies refuse to refine it

Question 3

US reaction to Castro’s take over

Answer 3

not happy, saw the Caribbean as their ‘backyard’
launched the bay of pigs

Question 4

declining US-Cuban relations prior 1961

Answer 4

since US companies will not refine the oil, Castro nationalises them
in response, the US place economic sanctions on Cuba and reduce imports of Cuban sugar by 95%
in October 1960, Castro seizes $1 billion worth of US assets in Cuba
by 1961, the US decided it was time of Castro to be removed

Question 5

Bay of Bigs

Answer 5

-April 1961
-plan to enable some 1500 anti-castro Cuba exiles
-would carry out a military coup to remove him
-CIA inspired attack
-unmitigated disaster however and only proved to embarrass Kennedy in the first months of his presidency while boosting Castro’s reputation, he had successfully prevented US imperialism
-showed the USA’s stance of Kennedy (not positive)

Question 6

Operation Mongoose

Answer 6

-November 1961
-US covert operations with the aims to overthrow Castro through the destabilisation of his regime
-in March 1962 the US began to carry out military manouvers in the Caribbean (Operation Quick Kick)
-Soviet defence minister determined that Castro’s regime would not survive as US determined attack, this prompted Khrushchev to take a new approach, the deployment of Nuclear missiles on Cuba

Question 7

Why were missiles on Cuba so dangerous

Answer 7

-by 1962, only the US had long range missiles
-by placing missiles in Cuba (90 miles from Florida) the USSR could now strike the USA
-partially closed the missile gap

Question 8

how did the US discover the missiles

Answer 8

U-2 spy plane
October 1962

Question 9

causes of the Cuban Missile crisis

Answer 9

Castro’s victory
tensions with China- USSR wants to be leader
presence of USSR missiles in Cuba

Question 10

Events of Cuban missile crisis

Answer 10

Kennedy announces publicly and there is a naval block
USSR ships stop at blockade but still no resolution

Question 11

Resolution of the crisis

Answer 11

-both leaders are aware that nuclear war would result in mutually assured destructions (MAD)
-both are willing to negotiate but don’t know how to go about it, they do not know the other’s ideas/priorities
-in the end Khrushchev sends Kennedy a telegram essentially saying he will remove the missiles if the US agree to a non-invasion pact
-as the USSR remove missiles from Cuba, the US also remove their Jupiter missiles from Turkey

Question 12

Europe’s view on the Cuban missile crisis

Answer 12

European allies are becoming increasingly concerned that the US would sacrifice European lives in order to gain victory which causes friction