The Cuban Missile Crisis

Question 1

What happened as soon as the USA’s invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs had failed?

Answer 1

Castro declared himself a communist and Cuba started trading with the USSR.

Question 2

What did he agree to the USSR putting in Cuba?

Answer 2

Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)

Question 3

What did the USA discover?

Answer 3

1. Cuba has secret nuclear launchpads.

2. There were Soviet ships sailing from the USSR to Cuba (supposedly containing more nuclear material)

Question 4

What did President Kennedy do?

Answer 4

Called a meeting with Excomm (his council) in order to discuss America’s response to the crisis.

Question 5

What did Kennedy decide to do?

Answer 5

Kennedy decide to blockade Cuba so that no USSR resources could get into the country.

Question 6

What happened at the blockade?

Answer 6

The Soviet ships decided to stop and turn around.

Question 7

What did the USSR do?

Answer 7

Khrushchev sent a telegram to the US stating that they would remove the missiles in return for America promising to not invade Cuba.

Question 8

What did the USSR do?

Answer 8

The day after, Khrushchev sent another telegram demanding that America remove their missiles from Turkey.

Question 9

How did the USA respond?

Answer 9

They tactically ignored it, but secretly made a deal to remove the missiles 6 months later.

Question 10

What was set up to avoid another nuclear crisis?

Answer 10

A direct line of communication between the President of America and the Premier of the USSR.

Question 11

What treaties were set up to try and slow down the Arms Race?

Answer 11

1. The Test Ban Treaty (1963)
2. The Outer Space Treaty (1967)
3. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968)