cuban missile crisis Flashcards
jfk quote
‘it shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from cuba . . . as an attack by the soviet union . . . requiring a full retaliatory response upon the soviet union’
cuba
large island in caribbean, approx. 90 miles from miami florida
fulgencio batista
dictator of cuba when it was a US satellite state.
-americans based troops in cuba
-american companies controlled economy, owned most of wealth
-US mafia existed freely + had huge influence
cuban revolution 1959
overthrew batista, fidel castro rose to power
-initially not a communist uprising -> fidel castro disagreed with communism, however after bay of pigs introduced communist one party state
fidel castro relations with US
-asked US for loans to improve cuba’s economy, US refused
-introduced land reforms + nationalised major factories + mines
-seized US owned property
-US imposed trade embargo
USSR-cuba trade deal
in 1960s cuban economy facing crisis -> USSR signed agreement to trade cuban sugar for soviet oil/ machinery
bay of pigs invasion 1961
-when jfk became president (1961), america had broken off relations with cuba + CIA was training anti-castro exiles to invade/overthrow
-17 april 1961, 1,500 cuban exiles trained by CIA landed at the bay of pigs in cuba. carrying US weapons + delivered by US ships.
why did the bay of pigs fail
-expected cuban people to rise up and help overthrow communists
-underestimated strength of cuban army + castro’s popularity
-cubans didn’t support invasion: supported castro’s programmes for literacy, free healthcare, housing construction + land reforms
-castro knew about invasion beforehand
-lack of air support from US
aftermath of bay of pigs
within 72 hours, 114 attackers dead + survivors surrendered
-hundreds more executed by castro in following years
-captured soldiers ransomed for $53 mil worth of baby food and medicine
-kennedy looked like failure
cuban-soviet relations
-cuban economy struggling immensely, castro seeks help from soviets
-asks to join warsaw pact -> denied as it would mean USSR would have to come to cuba’s aid
-however, khruschev sees opportunity to challenge US -> agrees to give castro missiles
-secret operation -> once the missiles are there the US cannot object
-saw it as opportunity to get within striking distance of US
missile gap
-key part of kennedy’s campaign was blaming EH for the ‘missile gap’
-tsar bomba 1961
-in reality, US was far ahead of soviets
-US had missiles stationed withing striking distance of USSR
-i.e. jupiter missiles in turkey from 1959
credibility
cold war became less about arms buildup and more about build up of credibility
-MAD meant neither side would use a nuclear bomb, however they had to make the other side believe that they would use one, and were capable of using one
-fear of retaliation would make other side hesitate to launch first strike -> why khruschev wanted rockets in cuba -> capacity for direct retaliation
missiles detected
-as missiles brought into cuba rumours spread among population and into US
-US administration refuted rumours and believed only missiles in cuba were short range self defence missiles
-proven wrong in august 1962 when U2 spy plane sighted missile sites
-15 oct evidence showed sites were for nuclear missiles
-american defence systems unable to defend against attack from cuba
EXCOMM
executive committee of the national security council: set up to advise kennedy on the crisis incl. robert macnamara (sec. of defence)
operation mongoose
-covert op. that aimed to remove cuban govt from power after cuban revolution, assasinate castro + damage cuban economy
