Cuban 'Bay of Pigs' crisis Flashcards
What was the Cuban revolution?
In January 1959, a group of revolutionaries, led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, toppled the pro-American government of Cuba.
What do the Cubans do in May 1959?
Cuban government nationalises foreign-owned land.
What happened in Febuary 1960?
Castro signs agreement with Khrushchev.
Why was the Us concerned with the Cubans and Soviets joining?
They were concerned that a pro-Soviet regime was being established just 145 kilometres from US mainland.
What did USA decide to do against Cuba?
They decided to take action to try to bring Cuba into line.
What was the Bay of pigs?
USA sent Cuban exiles which would make the attack look like a Cuban counter revolution. So USA didn’t look involved.
What did the US do to intervene in Cuba?
They sent a group of Cuban exiles could be trained to launch an invasion an other throw Castro.
Why did they send Cuban exiles?
This would make the attack look like a Cuban counter-revolution, so the USA could claim not to have been involved.
When was the bay of pigs incident?
On 17 April 1961.
How many Cuban exiles landed at the ‘bay of pigs’ in Cuba.
Around 1400 Cuban exiles.
Why was the invasion of Cuba a complete failure?
1)The volunteers had little military experience.2)US couldn’t send US ground forces or air strikes to support the attack.3)Castro’s government found out about the invasion. There were 20,000 soldiers ready.4)USA wrongly assumed most Cubans would support them.
Effect of the ‘Bay of Pigs’ incident on international relations?
Humiliating failure for US. Led to stronger relations between Cuba and Soviet Union.
What did Castro declare?
He declared himself to be a communist and asked Khrushchev to help him defend Cuba against and futre US attack.
What happened in September 1961.
Khrushchev publicly announced that he would provide arms to Cuba.
