Cuban Missile Crisis Flashcards
When was the Cuban Missile Crisis?
1963
What were the origins of the Cuban Missile Crisis?
•Castro overthrown American leader Batista in 1959
•US tried to run Cuba by refusing to buy their main export sugar
•Facing financial collapse, Castro did deal with USSR to buy their sugar
•Cuba nationalised US companies and sold off US-owned property
•US refused to acknowledge Cuban gov due to communist connections
•Castro removed US influence and moved closer to USSR
When was the Bay of Pigs?
1961
What was the Bay of Pigs?
An organised attempt to overthrow Castro
What happened in the Bay of Pigs?
•CIA was convinced Cuban people would revolt against Castro but underestimated popularity
•1,400 Cuban exiles landed in Cuba but were met by 20,000 Cuban soldiers ready to defeat them
•Castro grew closer to USSR & in May 1962 agreed to station nuclear weapons in Cuba
•Castro declared himself a communist
What was the 13 day crisis in 1962?
•U-2 spy plane takes photos of missile sites being built in Cuba
•Kennedy was told
•Kennedy held talks with closest advisors
•Kennedy made broadcast to US informing them of threat and what he was going to do
•Khrushchev sent letter to Kennedy saying Soviet ships would force their way through
•Khrushchev said he’d use nuclear wraps in a war
•Kennedy asked Khrushchev to take out missiles
•Khrushchev said he’d withdraw missiles if US didn’t invade Cuba and removed missiles in Greece and Turkey
•US spy plane shit down over Cuba. US proposed deal with Soviet to remove missiles from Turkey if kept a secret
•Khrushchev accepted deal
What we’re the consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis?
•Superpowers almost went to war
•Hotline was set up between Moscow & Washington
•Khrushchev was seen to fail
•Kennedy became hero of Western world - ppl didn’t know about turkey missiles
•Key treaties were signed
•USA began selling grain to USSR
What and when were the 3 treaties signed?
•Limited Test Ban Treaty -1963 - agreed to stop testing nuclear weapons above ground and underwater
•Outer Space Treaty - 1967 - agreed not to use space for peaceful purposes & not to store nuclear weapons in orbit
•Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - 1968 - to stop spread of nuclear weapons
