KT5 - The Cuban Missile Crisis Flashcards
When did Eisenhower authorise to CIA to investigate ways of overthrowing Castro?
June 1960
Russia supplies Cuba with arms - By when did Cuba have the best-equipped army in Latin America?
July 1962
When did Kennedy break off diplomatic relations with Cuba?
January 1961
When did Krushchev sign a trade agreement with Castro and how much for?
- Summer of 1960
- $100,000,000 (million)
When was the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed?
1963
When did Castro overthrow Batista?
1959
What was MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction)?
The idea that the enemy would not dare attack first because it knew that if it did then the other side would strike back before its nuclear missiles had even landed and it too would be destroyed
What was the condition that Kennedy agreed to, to get Khrushchev to remove missiles from Cuba?
For the USA to remove missiles from Turkey
When did the USA discover that Nuclear Missiles were being put on Cuba?
14th of October 1962
How many Anti-Castro Exiles vs Cuban soldiers were there at the Bay of Pigs Invasion?
- 1,600 Exiles
vs - 20,000 Cuban Troops
Why did the relationship between the USA and Cuba get worse after Castro took power?
- Thousands of Cuban Exiles in the USA who had fled Castro’s rule formed powerful pressure groups demanding action against Castro
- Castro took over some American-owned businesses in Cuba and distributed their land to his Cuban peasant supporters
When was the Bay of Pigs invasion?
April 1961
What was the Bay of Pigs invasion?
- An attack launched by Cuban Exiles, secretly supported by the USA
- CIA trained 1400 exiles to military standard
- Painted US aircraft in Cuban Rebel colours to disguise it and shift focus away from the US.
- Kennedy did not want Castro to realise the US was behind this.
From when to when were the ‘13 Days of Crisis’?
16th October to 28th of October 1962
How did Khrushchev decide to arm Cuba?
To Defend Cuba
Castro had allied Cuba with the communist USSR. Khrushchev wanted to ensure Cuba could defend itself against a US invasion after the Bay of Pigs
To close to missile gap
Cuba was in ‘Uncle Sam’s Backyard’. If Khrushchev put nuclear missiles in Cuba, they would be in range for a ‘first strike’ against the USA. This would close the missile gap as the USA had nuclear missiles in Turkey on the Soviet border
To strengthen his position
Some in the Soviet Communist Party felt Khrushchev was not aggressive enough towards the USA. Placing missiles in Cuba as a deterrent would be a show of strength by a Soviet Leader
To Bargain
Khrushchev thought that Kennedy was weak after his failed Bay of Bigs invasion. He wanted to take advantage of this and force the USA to make concessions
