Bay Of Pigs And Cuba Flashcards
When was the Cuban revolution and who was it led by
In January 1959, a group of revolutionaries, led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, toppled the pro-American government of Cuba.
Why was Eisenhower at first concerned
President Eisenhower was concerned about the revolution as there were very close links between Cuba and the USA.
American businesses had invested heavily in Cuba and much of the land was owned by Americans;
Cuba’s oil refineries, electricity and phone networks and railways were also controlled by Americans and the USA was an important investor in Cuba’s main export, sugar.
What was Fidel Castros ideology
He was a nationalist and communist and did not want his country to be under American control
What did Castro do that broke relations
May 1959 Castro took over all land in Cuba owned by foreign nationalists
February 1960 trade and exports between Cuba and the Soviet Union began, the SU agrees to buy sugar cane and provide economic aid
Why was cubas trade to the soviet union concerning
The USA was concerned that a pro-soviet country was being establishes just 145 km from US main, in 1961 USA broke of al relations with Cuba.
What was the CIAs plan to stop this growing threat
Kennedy (who took over from Eisenhower in 1961) gave his support to a plan agreed by the CIA and Eisenhower that they would invade Cuba through Cuban exiles.
When was the invasion
On 17 April 1961 1400 exiles landed at the ‘Bay of Pigs’ in Cuba
How many Cuban soliders were waiting to fight (communists)
20,000
Why did it fail
- Volunteers had little military experience
- US couldn’t send their own forces or air strikes as it had to be a Cuban effort to get rid of Castro
- Castro’s government found out about the invasion plans. There were 20,000 soldiers ready
- The USA and the exile army wrongly assumed that most Cubans would support them. But many ordinary Cubans felt happy with Castro and did not rush to lend their support.
What was the significance kf the Bay of Pigs
The ‘Bay of Pigs’ was a humiliating and embarrassing failure for the United States. The USA had previously accused the Soviet Union of trying to build an empire in Eastern Europe. Now it looked like the Americans were acting in exactly the same way to restore American influence in an independent country by supporting an armed uprising against its government.
The Soviet Union was quick to point out that the people of Cuba were happy under the leadership of the pro-communist Castro and had shown little support for the Cuban exiles’ attempt to restore the pro-American and corrupt Batista regime. Khrushchev said this was a clear indication of the popularity of communism
What were the consequences of the Bay of Pigs
The ‘Bay of Pigs’ incident inevitably led to stronger relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union. After defeating the invasion, Castro declared himself to be a communist and asked Khrushchev to help him defend Cuba against any future attack from the USA. In September 1961, Khrushchev publicly announced that he would provide arms to Cuba. This would ultimately lead to the Cuban Missile Crisis
