cold war: 1961

Question 1

explain the Bay of the Pigs fiasco

Answer 1

-in response to the Cuban Revolution, JFK supported an invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro supporters
-invasion involved less that 1500 Cuban exiles
-government hopeful that invasions would lead to a popular uprising against Castro
-invasion failed miserably- political embarrassment for JFK and USA
-USA was forced to pay $53 million compensation to Cuba in return of the captured invaders

Question 2

explain the Vienna Summit (3-4 June 1961)

Answer 2

-Kennedy met Khrushchev for first time at a summit in Vienna
-met to try to repair relations after U2 Crisis (failed at Paris Peace Summit)
-major point of discussion: Berlin
-Kennedy committed to keeping West Berlin capitalist
-Khrushchev used the opportunity to overpower Kennedy in the discussions
-little was achieved, but summit set the tone for superpower relations in following years

Question 3

explain the situation with the building of the Berlin Wall

Answer 3

-13 August 1961: East German troops lined the border between East and West Berlin (no East Berliners were allowed to pass)
-concrete wall built around West Berlin
-Khrushchev initially didn’t want to build wall (would show acceptance that Berlin would never be reunited) but changed his mind
-built to prevent spies entering Soviet territory from West Berlin
-East lost many educated people to the West
-prevented East Berliners from seeing the better life in the West
-no protests took place (East German government got Soviet tanks ready in case of resistance)
-it split families: it was made illegal to cross border to visit relatives
-kept city divided for 30 years

Question 4

how did Kennedy react to the Berlin Wall?

Answer 4

-angry with Soviets
-it was decided that as long as West Berlin remained free, and travel between West Berlin and West Germany was still possible, no action would be taken
-USA sent official complaint to Moscow but nothing more
-(East Berlin wasn’t worth a war)