The Cuban Missile Crisis

Question 1

Why was there a crisis in Cuba

Answer 1

1. Castro took over Cuba, a communist government was formed in Cuba
2. The Soviet missiles could hit any American city and kill thousands of people
3. The missiles would be fully active by November 1962
4. Americans took spy photographs of the soviet missiles and had proof that they were on Cuba
   5.Kennedy was a new young President and Khrushchev gambled that Kennedy would be weak and indecisive. Kennedy had not taken action against the building of the Berlin Wall and Khrushchev assumed that he wouldn’t take any action against Soviet missiles in Cuba.
5. As Cuba had turned communist the Americans refused to buy their sugar. The Soviets bought it instead, this further solidified their alliance
6. Failure of the Bay of the pigs meant the communist stayed in power in Cuba
7. The Monroe Doctrine stated that any attempt by a European power to oppress
   or control any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act
   against the United States. When the soviets built a relationship with Cuba this was seen as a hostile act towards USA

Question 2

What were the events of the Cuban missile crisis

Answer 2

1. 1962- Americans took spy photographs of missile bases on Cuba. The Soviet Union was behind these bases. These were Intermediate Range Ballistic missiles which could carry nuclear warheads. These could reach any city in the US.
2. When President Kennedy was first told about the missile bases in Cuba, he called a meeting with 12 council members and discussed the various options to solve the crisis. His options were these: invade Cuba, bomb both Cuba and the Soviet Union, use an air strike to destroy the missile bases, blockade Cuba, or choose to do nothing.
3. It was decided that Cuba would be blockaded to prevent any Soviet ships from delivering the nuclear missiles to Cuba.
4. Kennedy sent a warning to Khrushchev, saying that if he didn’t remove the missiles from Cuba, then the USA would invade Cuba.
5. Khrushchev replied and said he would remove the missiles if the USA removed the blockade and its missile bases in Turkey.
6. Kennedy agreed to his demands, and the missiles were removed from Cuba. And the USAs missiles in Turkey were as well.

Question 3

What impact did the Cuban Missile Crisis have on international relations

Answer 3

1. A hotline was set up between the Kremlin and the Whitehouse so that any future problems could be worked out quickly and efficiently between the two leaders directly, instead of them having to communicate by letter
2. The overall result of the crisis was that the missile bases had been removed from Cuba and from Turkey
   3.France withdrew from NATO as she was not consultant about the crisis
3. The Chinese criticised the Soviets for backing down over Cuba
4. Kruschev was fired as leader of the Soviet Union
5. A nuclear war was avoided