The Cuban Missile Crisis, And Revolution Flashcards
The origins of the crisis, 1959
❑ Two revolutionary leaders named Che Guevara and Fidel Castro took over Cuba in 1959.
❑ Despite being close to America, the leaders no longer wanted anything to do with America as they hated the power and influence the USA had over Cuba.
❑ Americans in Cuba lost the land they owned which was then given to the Cuban government.
❑ Consequently, America became worried about loosing important business links with Cuba. A number of Americans left Cuba as they were
worried about Castro.
Cuba became allies with the Soviet Union
❑ Any land owned by the Americans in Cuba, was taken away from them and taken under the control of the Cuban government.
❑ Fidel Castro had then started putting communists into his government. Castro then made an agreement with Khrushchev in the Soviet Union in 1960. The Soviets agreed to buy Cuban sugar in return for giving Cuba economic aid.
❑ There was a secret agreement between Cuba and the Soviet Union that meant Cuba would allow weapons from the Soviet Union to be based in Cuba.
America starts to worry about Cuba!
❑ A Communist government was now being created 145 miles away from the USA.
❑ Eisenhower banned all trade with Cuba in 1960 and then all political relationships with Cuba were ended in 1961. The relationship between the two countries worsened.
❑ America believed they needed to do something to stop the influence of the Soviet Union in Cuba.
The bay of pigs 1961
❑ Newly elected President Kennedy did not want Cuba being Communist due to how close it was to the USA.
❑ He agreed to a plan by the CIA to launch an invasion into Cuba to overthrow (remove) Castro from power.
❑ They planned to use ex-Cuban citizens to do this so it looked like a Cuban revolution not an attack by the USA. This way, the USA would say they were not involved.
WHAT HAPPENED?
❑ In April 1961, 1,400 ex-Cuban exiles invaded at a location known as ‘The Bay of Pigs’ in Cuba.
❑ They aimed to remove Fidel Castro and put a US friendly government back in charge.
The bay of pigs failure
The attempted revolution failed. The ex-Cuban soldiers had little military experience .
The USA were not able to use their own military in support as they needed it to look like a Cuban revolution.
Castro found out about the invasion plans and he had 20,000 Cuban soldiers waiting to fight off the 1,400 Cuban exiles.
Most ordinary Cuban people did not support the USA and so did not help with the invasion.
The Cuban missile crisis, 1962
❑ In 1962, American spy-planes took images of launch pads for medium range ballistic missiles. These types missiles were designed to carry nuclear weapons. These could clearly cause damage to the USA if they were fired from Cuba.
❑ The CIA also told Kennedy that a fleet of Soviet ships were sailing to Cuba and it was presumed (although not known) that they were carrying the nuclear missiles themselves.
❑ This was the crisis that Kennedy had to deal with. It was thought by the USA that the nuclear missiles could be ready in 2 weeks to be fired on the USA.
What was Kennedy reaction to the missiles in Cuba?
❑ Kennedy had to try and deal with what to do with the missiles in Cuba without causing a full blown nuclear war with the Soviet Union. This was a crisis for America and the rest of the world watched to see how Kennedy would deal with the issue.
His problems were:
1 = TIME: The missiles would be active in 2 weeks – he had little time to decide what to do.
2 = PUBLIC PRESSURE: The American public would be putting Kennedy under pressure to deal with Cuba.
3 = US ELECTIONS: There were elections in the USA coming up. He needed to deal with the missiles or loose votes.
4 = PUBLIC IMAGE: Kennedy needed to stay strong against Khrushchev. He did not want to seem weak.
The thirteen days in October 1962
❑ MEETING: On 16th October, Kennedy called a meeting to discuss what the USA should do. They met every day for 13 days. The world watched as it was believed a nuclear war could start any day.
❑ NO ATTACK: On 22nd October, Kennedy decided NOT to attack or invade Cuba. This was too risky.
❑ NAVAL BLOCKADE PLAN: He set up a naval blockade around Cuba, where no ships would be allowed to pass without permission.
❑ TV APPEARANCE: Kennedy also appeared on TV that evening to announce his plans. It was the first time the public were told of the missiles heading to Cuba.
❑ WORRY OF NUCLEAR WAR: Many of the American public believed the Soviets would ignore the naval blockade, America would have to attack and there would be a nuclear war.
❑ BOMBERS READY: Just in case of this outcome, Kennedy asked for 54 bombers with nuclear missiles in case war broke out. The world held its breath.
❑ SOVIET SHIPS RETREATED: On 24th October, the Soviet ships reached the blockade – AND TURNED AROUND!!! The Soviet Union had backed off and retreated. It seemed Kennedy’s plan had worked.
❑ TELEGRAM FROM KHRUSHCHEV: The Soviet Union agreed to remove the missile sites if the USA promised not to invade Cuba and remove their own missiles from Turkey.
What were the consequences of the Cuban missile crisis?
NO WAR: Direct war between both sides was avoided because of the navel blockade.
REDUCTION IN TENSION: War was so close that both sides were frightened into making more agreements which led to a reduction in the tension. KENNEDY’S POPULARITY: Kennedy became more popular in the USA –People believed he had avoided a nuclear war and defeated the Soviet Union. Both leaders were under pressure from their government and their people to react and start a war but neither leader did.
THE HOTLINE: A direct communication was set up between Moscow (Soviet Union) and Washington (USA) known as the ‘Hotline’. This way, both sides could talk before taking any action.
What agreements made after the Cuban missile crisis?
TEST BAN TREATY: In 1963, Test Ban Treaty was signed where both sides
promised to stop the testing of nuclear weapons in outer space, under water or in the atmosphere. This controlled the use of nuclear weapons further.
OUTER SPACE TREATY: 1967 Outer Space Treaty – Both sides agreed not to use space for military reasons such as putting nuclear weapons into space. NUCLEAR NON PROLIFERATION TREATY: 1968 Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty – Signed by both sides to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. Both sides were not allowed to share their nuclear technology with any other country.
FALL OF KHRUSHCHEV: The Soviet Union however believed that Khrushchev had been humiliated with the retreat of the Soviet ships. He was sacked from his leadership in 1964 as a result.
