Cold War: Crisis 2: The Cuban Missile Crisis – 1962

Question 1

How did Fidel Castro’s Cuba cause Superpower tension?

Answer 1

Fidel Castro’s Cuba:

Fidel Castro, a socialist, had overthrown the American-backed leader Batista in 1959. Cuba was only 90 miles off coast of America – they didn’t want a socialist (or worse, a communist) country ‘in their backyard’. USA tried to ruin Cuba by refusing to buy their main export – sugar. Facing financial collapse, Castro did a deal with the USSR – they would buy Cuba’s sugar crop. Cuba nationalised American companies and sold off US-owned property

Question 2

How did the ‘bay of pigs’ crisis cause Superpower tension?

Answer 2

Bay of Pigs Crisis:

April 1961 – America sent in 1400 exiled Cuban rebels to overthrow Castro but they were easily defeated.
This was a humiliation for the USA, and just encouraged Castro to turn to the USSR for protection. USSR started shipping weapons and equipment to Cuba.

Question 3

How did Missile bases cause Superpower tension?

Answer 3

Missile bases:

14 October 1962 – American U-2 spy planes photographed Soviet missile sites on Cuba and Soviet ships on their way to Cuba with missiles on board.

Question 4

Events – What was The ‘Thirteen Days’?

Answer 4

• Kennedy ordered a naval blockade and threatened retaliation if any missile was fired.
• The world was on the brink of nuclear war.
• Kennedy promised to remove US missiles from Turkey in return for the bases on Cuba being dismantled and the missiles (which were still on their way to Cuba) taken back to the USSR.
• 28 October: Khrushchev removed the missiles and the crisis was over

Question 5

What were the consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Answer 5

Consequences:

• Khrushchev seemed to have failed – he had backed down in the face of American pressure.
• Kennedy became the hero of the Western world. The public did not know that Kennedy had secretly agreed to remove US missiles from Turkey.
• Telephone ‘hot line’ set up between Moscow and Washington so that the leaders could speak directly. This was to try and head off any future crises before they became serious.
• The two powers realised how close they had come to nuclear war. Arms talks began and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed in 1963.