Containment - Cuban Missile crisis

2026

Give examples of the USA creating an alliance to contain communism

SEATO in South East Asia

CENTO in Central Asia and Middle East

Give examples of the USA using the threat of nuclear weapons to contain communism

August 1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Give one reason why the USA disliked Castro’s government

Thousands of Cuban exiles who fled from Cuba to the USA formed powerful pressure groups that demanded action against Castro

How did the USA initially try to contain communism on Cuba?

In 1961 Kennedy put out a plan (initially Eisenhower’s) to send Cuban exiles to invade Cuba under CIA training as they did not want to invade directly. They supplied arms, equipment and transport for 1400 anti-Castro exiles.

In April 1961 the exiles landed at Bay of Pigs and the invasion was a failure. The CIA air strike failed to destroy all the Cuban planes, and those not killed were rounded up

Why did the bay of pigs mission fail?

The 1500 Cuban exiles were heavily outnumbered: they were met with 20,000 Cuban soldiers as they did not know the scale of the invasion.

The US was relying on the people of Cuba to revolt against Castro, but they did not organise anything beforehand

The US didn’t want to seem like they were directly involved, so they did not send military backup.

What was the consequence of the failure of the Bay of Pigs?

Castro agreed in May 1962 to allow Soviet missiles to be stationed in Cuba. In May 1962 the Soviet Union announced publicly it waws supplying Cuba with arms. By July 1962, Cuba had the best equipped army in Latin America.

By September, it had thousands of Soviet missiles, patrol boats, tanks, radar vans, missile transports, jet bombers and fighters and 5000 Soviet technicians to maintain the weapons.

Soviet troops in Cuba numbered to 42k

Explain how Krushchev placed missiles in Cuba to bargain with the US

If Krushchev had missiles in Cuba, he could agree to remove them in return for American concessions

Explain how Krushchev placed missiles in Cuba to test the US

In the strained atmosphere of the Cold War, the missiles were designed to see how strong the Americans really were.

Explain how Krushchev placed missiles in Cuba to trap the US?

Kruschev wanted to Americans to find them and be drawn into a nuclear war.

Explain how Krushchev placed missiles in Cuba to close the missile gap?

Kruschev was concerned about the missile gap between the USSR and USA (USA had missiles in Turkey, Persia, Italy), so with missiles on Cuba it was less likely that the USA would launch a ‘first strike’ against the USSR

Explain how Krushchev placed missiles in Cuba to defend Cuba?

Cuba was the only communist state in the Western Hemisphere, and it had become willingly communist rather than being a result of USSR invasion.

Cuba was in ‘Uncle Sam’s backyard’

This meant that Cuba was good propaganda for the USSR

Explain how Krushchev placed missiles in Cuba to strengthen his own position in the USSR

The superiority of the USA in nuclear missiles undermined Krushchev’s credibility inside the USSR. His critics pointed out that he was the one who had urged the USSR to rely on nuclear missiles. Using Cuba, he could show the the USSR was really a nuclear power.

Describe the events of the October crisis on the 16th of October

President Kennedy was informed of the missile build up.

The ExComm was formed: an advisory group to explore options to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba

Describe the events of the October crisis on the 20th of October

Kennedy decided to blockade Cuba

Describe the events of the October crisis on the 22nd of October

Kennedy announced the blockade, instructing the Soviet Union to withdraw its missiles.

Describe the events of the October crisis on the 23rd of October

Kennedy received a letter from Kruschev saying that Soviet ships would not observe the blockade. He did not admit the presence of missiles on Cuba.

Describe the events of the October crisis on the 24th of October

The blockade began. The first missile-carrying ships accompanied by a Soviet submarine approached the 500-mile blockade zone.

At 10:32am, the twenty Soviet ships closest to the zone stopped or turned around.

Describe the events of the October crisis on the 25th of October

Despite the Soviet ships turning around, aerial photography revealed that work on the missile bases in Cuba was proceeding rapidly

Describe the events of the October crisis on the 26th of October

Kennedy received a letter from Krushchev. He claimed that the missiles were purely defensive.

He offers to remove the missiles if USA guarantees not to invade Cuba

“If assurances were given that the USA would not participate in an attack on Cuba and the blockade was lifted, then the question of the removal or the destruction of the missile sites would be an entirely different question”

Describe the events of the October crisis on the morning of the 27th of October

Kennedy received a second letter from Kruschev. He said that he would remove the missiles from Cuba if the USA withdrew its missiles from Turkey.

An American U-2 plane was shot down over Cuba. The pilot was killed. Kennedy was advised to launch an immediate reprisal attack on Cuba

Describe the events of the October crisis on the evening of the 27th of October

Kennedy decided to delay an attack, ignoring the second letter but accepted the terms suggested by Kruschev. He said if the Soviet Union did not withdraw, an attack would follow.

Describe the events of the October crisis on the 28th of October

Kruschev replied to Kennedy and agreed to withdraw.

What was created after the Cuban missile crisis?

A permanent ‘hot line’ phone link was set up direct from the White House to the Kremlin.

In 1963 a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed, which did not stop the development of weapons but limited tests.

What were the outcomes of the CMC for the Cold war?

It helped thaw Cold war relations, showing how it ended nearly in nuclear war.

The Soviet arsenal (despite not being as good as the US) made the USA respect the USSR. For the rest of the war, the superpowers avoided direct confrontation.

What were the successes of the CMC for Kennedy?

His reputation improved in the US and throughout the West.

He resisted the hardliners in his own Government who wanted the US to invade Cuba to turn back communism. The crisis highlighted the weakness of their case and it was too high risk

What were the failures of the CMC for Kennedy?

Kennedy had to secretly agree to remove missiles from Turkey, which made NATO allies unhappy as they should’ve been consulted too. They felt that he had traded them during the crisis, but accepted that this was better than a nuclear war.

Kennedy also had to accept that Castro’s Cuba would remain a communist state in America’s backyard.

What were the successes of the CMC for Kruschev?

Krushchev highlighted his role as a responsible peacemaker, willing to make the first compromise.

Cuba was kept safe from American attack and it was an important ally and base to support communists in South America

He got the US to withdraw its nuclear missiles from Turkey, although he was unable to use it for propaganda purposes

The USA was criticised by its allies for being hypocritical

What were the failures of the CMC for Krushchev?

He had been forced to back down and remove missiles. Soviet military leaders were upset at the terms, and being forced to put missiles on the decks of the ships to let Americans count them felt humiliating.

The USSR still lagged behind the arms race.

Kruschev was forced from power by his enemies later on, which many thought the Cuban Missile Crisis had contributed to this.

What were the successes of the CMC for Castro?

Cuba stayed communist and highly armed, remaining an important base for communist operations in South America

Castro kept control of American companies and economic resources nationalised during the revolutoin

What were the failures of the CMC for Castro?

He was upset by Kruschev’s deal with America but had to accept it as he needed the support of the USSR