Cold War Crises (Cuban Missile Crisis)

Question 1

What happened in 1959?

Answer 1

Castro seized power in Cuba and until then it had been under US influence. When he nationalised all businesses, the USA was furious and cut off all aid to Cuba

Question 2

What happened in 1960?

Answer 2

The Soviet Union agreed to buy 1m tonnes of Cuban sugar every year which tied the two countries together

Question 3

What happened in Dec. 1961?

Answer 3

Castro announced he was a communist

Question 4

Why was the USA alarmed?

Answer 4

That there was now a communist country 90 miles away

Question 5

Why did the Bay of Pigs invasion fail?

Answer 5

In April 1961 the CIA tried to overthrow Castro by staging an invasion of Cuba and 1400 Cuban exiles were landed at the Bay of Pigs with CIA support

Question 6

How did tension between the superpowers grow because of the nuclear arms race?

Answer 6

• For Khrushchev, the arms race was a way to show the benefits of Soviet Communism: Sputnik was in space in 1957
• In 1957 the Soviets tested the first ICBM

Question 7

Why did Khrushchev build Missile Bases on Cuba?

Answer 7

• USSR saw Castro as an important ally
• USSR was losing the Arms Race
• USA had missiles in Turkey targeting cities

Question 8

What options did Kennedy discuss after the U2 plane?

Answer 8

1. To launch a nuclear strike on the missile sites in Cuba
2. To launch a full-scale invasion of Cuba
3. To impose a naval blockade

Question 9

What would happen if Kennedy did not respond to the problem?

Answer 9

The USSR would start challenging American power elsewhere in the world

Question 10

When did the ‘Thirteen Days’ occur?

Answer 10

16th-28th October 1962

Question 11

What were the main events during the ‘The Thirteen Days’?

Answer 11

• Greatest threat of nuclear war
• JFK blockaded Cuba
• US and Soviet troops on highest alert

Question 12

What do the Hawks demand?

Answer 12

An aggressive approach

Question 13

What do the Doves recommend?

Answer 13

Diplomatic strategies

Question 14

What eventually happens in ‘The Thirteen Days’?

Answer 14

A secret deal is made - USSR to remove missile from Cuba if US do the same in Turkey

Question 15

What was the telephone ‘hot-line’?

Answer 15

A direct teleprinter between The White House and the Kremlin which made it easier for the two leaders to communicate in crisis

Question 16

What did the telephone ‘hot-line’ reinforce?

Answer 16

Peaceful co-existence

Question 17

What was the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty?

Answer 17

Signed in Aug. 1963 and banned all nuclear tests except underground ones for an indefinite period

Question 18

What did JFK say in the speech he made in June 1963?

Answer 18

• He suggested that the US and USSR should focus on their ‘common interests’
• The US also agreed to sell the USSR grain

Question 19

What did JFK’s speech mark?

Answer 19

Détente - a relaxation of tension between the superpowers

Question 20

How did the Soviets try to catch up with the US in the arms race?

Answer 20

By increasing their production of long-range missiles

Question 21

What did the crisis lead France to do in 1966?

Answer 21

Leave NATO and produce their own nuclear weapons

Question 22

What was MAD?

Answer 22

Mutually assured destruction - both sides had so many weapons that if nuclear war did start both would be destroyed

Question 23

How did the USA try to get rid of Castro?

Answer 23

• Exploding molluscs
• Exploding cigars
• Poisonous face cream

Question 24

What were the consequences of the Bay of Pigs invasion?

Answer 24

• Failure of invasion seriously embarrassed the young Kennedy administration
• Invasion made Castro wary of the US
• He was convinced that the Americans would try to take over the island again
• This fear pushed Castro even closer to the USSR

Question 25

When did the Bay of Pigs occur?

Answer 25

1961 - A year before the missiles crisis

Question 26

What was the Arms Race?

Answer 26

A race between the superpowers to build bigger and more destructive weapons

Question 27

What were the key features of the nuclear arms race that developed in the years 1945-53?

Answer 27

• The USA used a nuclear bomb in 1945, by 1949 the USSR had caught up
• By 1953 both countries had the more powerful H Bomb and large numbers of weapons were developed in the 50s and 60s

Question 28

What happened in August 1945?

Answer 28

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Question 29

What did both sides produce?

Answer 29

‘Statistics’ about their nuclear capacity, much of which was designed to frighten the other side

Question 30

What happened by 1961?

Answer 30

The Soviets had tested the biggest ever bomb (The Tsar Bomba) whilst the US had many missile bases close to the USSR