Cold War Flashcards
The Tehran Conference
> November - December 1943.
The USA + Britain agreed to open up a 2nd front by invading Nazi-occupied Europe.
The SU would declare war on Japan once Germany was defeated.
The boundaries of Poland would be moved westwards; Poland would gain territory from Germany + lose it to the SU.
Agreed that an inter
Why would the USA be worried about Cuba in 1961?
> Cuba’s friendship was important because it was very close to mainland America (Florida). 145km from US mainland and was part of American Sphere of Influence.
Communist since 1959.
Strong American influence in Cuba since the beginning of 20th Century.
USA had strong economic interests in the island. By 1950s, USA controlled most Cuban industry, railways + electricity production.
Cuba = popular holiday destination for many Americans.
By 1950s, Cuba was ruled by an oppressive dictator Fulgenico Batista, unpopular with most Cubans, but supported by the USA.
Bay of Pigs 1-3
- 1959 Cuba becomes Communist country under the leadership of Fidel Castro. US ally Batista is overthrown.
- American companies are kicked out of Cuba by the Communists. This leads to an American ban on trade with the island.
- When Kennedy becomes President in 1960 he inherits a CIA invasion plan to overthrow Castro. This will involve sending Cuban exiles back to Cuba to provoke anti-Communist uprisings.
Bay of Pigs 4-6
- Cuban exiles were trained by the CIA in Florida and Guatemala. The whole operation had a budget of $45m. The exiles called themselves La Brigada 2506, and by the time they had completed their training, they numbered about 1,500.
- On 15th April, US planes bombed part of the Cuban air force. The next day, 16th April, the planned second wave of bombings was called off. This allowed the remnants of Cuban air force to regroup and fight back.
- On 17th April, La Brigada landed at the Bay of Pigs and encountered forces of about 20,000 men from Castro’s army. The Cubans had been alerted by spies overhearing members of La Brigada discussing the invasion of Miami.
Bay of Pigs 7-9
- When the fighting ended on 19th April about 100 of La Brigada were dead and 1,100 were imprisoned.
- The Cubans offered to “sell” captured Brigadista back to America in exchange for $50 million in medicine and baby food. Kennedy reluctantly agreed.
- Kennedy was left embarrassed by the invasion failure as it had “blown up in his face”. This may have made him more likely to take a hard-line stance in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis and to sanction assassination attempts on Castro through operation Mongoose.
What were the consequences of the Bay of Pigs?
> After the Bay of Pigs fiasco, Castro expected a second invasion by the Americans, and so wanted to step up his defence.
Khrushchev was also annoyed with the Americans. He felt that the Soviet nuclear capability was inferior to the Americans. Also the USSR had been ring-fenced by American missiles, with new Jupiter missiles located in Turkey early 1962.
US missiles were capable of striking the whole of the USSR but Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe.
Khrushchev decided that the best way to put pressure on the USA and to help Cuba would be to station intermediate and medium range missiles on Cuba.
What did America do in response to missiles on Cuba?
> 14th October - U-2 Spy Plane took photographs of Cuba which showed that Soviet intermediate range missile bases were being constructed.
It was estimated that missiles would be operational by November.
The IRBM’s (Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles) could hit almost all US cities and therefore posed a serious threat to the country.
So, on October 22nd, Kennedy announced a naval blockade. “A strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba”. If Soviet vessels didn’t stop, US ships had orders to fire.
The naval blockade
> It stretched 3,300km around Cuba.
A fleet of Polaris Submarines were made ready for action.
1561 ICBM’s were made ready for combat.
Airforce bombers were in the air on patrol and hundreds and thousands of soldiers were placed on Red Alert.
22nd October Kennedy addressed the people of the USA about the blockade in a television broadcast.
Did the gamble play off?
> 24th October - 18 Soviet ships approaching Cuba turned around to avoid confrontation with the US blockade (quarantine).
Kennedy demanded the removal of all missiles; failure to do so would lead to the invasion of Cuba.
The Crisis Increases
> October 26th - A letter arrived from Khrushchev to Kennedy proposing that the USSR would remove its missiles if the Americans guaranteed it wouldn’t invade Cuba.
October 27th - Radio Moscow broadcast a harsher message stating the Soviet removal of missiles would be dependent on the USA removing their missiles from Turkey.
Also, a U-2 reconnaissance plane had been shot down over Cuba, and Soviet navy were drawing closer to the blockade line.
Ending the Confrontation
> Robert Kennedy suggested that the President ignore the second message and contact Anatoly Dobrynin (Soviet Ambassador) to tell him of the US’ agreement with Khrushchev’s first message.
The letter also included a warning that a continuation of the threat would be a “grave risk to the peace f the world” - the airstrike option was ready to go in 48 hours.
The next day, Radio Moscow broadcast a statement from Khrushchev saying that in exchange for American assurances on Cuba he had ordered the dismantling of the arms on Cuba.
Consequences of the crisis
> Increased rivalry.
The ‘hotline’.
Treaties.
Increased rivalry
> Kennedy seemed to have won the war of words and perception was that Kennedy backed down.
The deal over the missiles in Turkey wasn’t made public at the time.
Many leading politicians in the SU thought Khrushchev had been humiliated and wished to remove him.
Khrushchev was seen to have failed and this contributed to removal as leader in 1964.
The ‘Hotline’
> The superpowers had almost gone to war.
There was relief that the crisis was over and thre was preat reduction of tension.
to ensure the 2 leaders didn’t have to communicate by letter in the case of a crisis, a hotline was made, connecting Washington DC and the Kremlin in Moscow.
Treaties
> August 1963 - Limited Test Ban Treaty.
1968 - Outer-space treaty.
1968 - Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
1969 - Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, which became part of the policy of detente.
