CIE IGCSE History - Cuban Missile Crisis

who was leader of Cuba until 1959?

Batista (dictator)

what event happened in 1959?

Cuban revolution

what happened in the Cuban Revolution?

• Batista was overthrown

• a new leader, Fidel Castro, was instated

• Communist dictator

what allyship did Castro declare?

• with the USSR - Khrushchev

• meant the USSR could give aid and money to Cuba

why did the USSR ally with Cuba?

• so they could ensure that Cuba stayed communist

• gave Cuba roughly $100 million in economic aid

why did the Cuban revolution worry the USA?

• Cuba was very close to the USA - 90 miles from Florida

• Communism approaching the USA

• Cuba allied with USSR - USA’s greatest enemy - nuclear arms

what did US-owned oil companies in Cuba do as a means of protest?

they refused to refine Cuban oil

how did the Cuban government react to the US oil protest?

• nationalised (took over) the oil companies

• also took over agricultural land and redistributed it to farmers

what did the USA do in terms of trade as a means of protest against communism in Cuba?

• set up a trade embargo

• act of economic aggression

• meant to undermine the Cuban government and collapse the revolution

what other things did the USA do in Cuba as an attempt to undermine communism?

• fire bombed many sugarcane plantations

• American businesses operating in Cuba refused to cooperate with Cuban businesses that used Soviet oil or materials

• US media broadcast lots of anti-Castro propaganda

• the CIA supported and gave funds to Cuban exiles

how did Castro respond to US aggression?

• did not respond

• assured Americans in Cuba that they were safe

• allowed the US to keep their navy base in Cuba

what did Kennedy do in January 1961?

broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba - removed ambassadors

what did the USA not want to do in Cuba?

• they did not want to get directly involved or look too agressive

• memories of Korean war - huge losses

what did US intelligence in Cuba determine?

• that citizens opposed Castro

• that, if given a trigger, would rally up against Castro

what did the CIA do with anti-Castro Cuban exiles?

• trained 1400 of them to fight

• supplied them with arms, equipment and transport

• supported with with the US air force

when and where did the Cuban exiles land in Cuba?

• Bay of Pigs

• April 1961

How did Castro’s government respond to the Cuban exiles landing at the Bay of Pigs?

• due to the breaking off of diplomatic relations Cuban intelligence suspected this

• Castro was stationed with 20,000 Cuban troops with tanks and modern weapons at the BoP

• the Cuban exiles were captured or killed within days

in what ways was the Bay of Pigs incident a failure for the USA?

• US intelligence had failed

• there was a lack of secrecy so the US government could not deny their involvement

• poor links between US gov. departments

• failure to organise resistance in Cuba

• lack of spanish speaking workers in the US gov

what impression does the Bay of Pigs incident give Khrushchev of Kennedy?

• decides he is weak and unprepared

• not as strong militarily as Eisenhower

• makes decisions that he would not have made otherwise

what did the USSR announce in 1962?

that they were sending arms to Cuba

what was Cuba in July 1962?

• the best equipped army in Latin America

• had:

• missiles

• patrol boats

• tanks

• missile erectors

• radar vans

• jet bombers and fighters

• 5000 Soviet technicians

what did the USSR tell the USA about the missiles?

that they had no intention to put nuclear bases/missiles on Cuba

however, what did the USSR decide to do?

• send nuclear weapons by sea to Cuba

• 40,000 soldiers for installation also

what did American U2 spy planes capture in October 1962?

• photographs of nuclear sites being built which confirmed intelligence

• 20 USSR ships en route to Cuba with missiles

• DIRECT threat to US national security

what committee was set up to deal with nuclear missiles being placed on Cuba?

ExComm - executive committee for national security

what were the four main choices ExComm had in relation to Cuba?

• air strikes

• invasion

• naval blockade

• diplomatic pressures

which options did ExComm choose?

• naval blockade

• diplomatic pressures

• this was following the advice of Dovish not Hawkish advisors

how did diplomatic pressures work in practice?

• sent an ambassador to the UN to show pictures of missile sites - counteracting secrecy of the USSR

how did the naval blockade work in practice?

• ship surrounded Cuba creating a 500 mile blockaded zone

• forced USSR ships to turn around, but the work in Cuba continued

when was the naval blockade?

22 October 1962 → 20 November 1962 - officially called a quarantine as to not look like an act of war

what exactly was the cuban missile crisis?

• the period of time where countries around the world thought nuclear war was imminent

when was the cuban missile crisis?

• start: 16 Oct 1962 - the first day of ExComm meeting; the day after U2 photos are taken

• end: 28 Oct 1962 - day after agreement reached by 2 powers

what was Khrushchev’s first response to the USA?

letter 1:

• said soviet missiles were defensive

• asked for the blockade to be lifted, and for the USA to promise not to attack Cuba

• said if these conditions were agreed he may agree to remove the missiles

what was Khrushchev’s second response to the CMC?

letter 2 - revises proposals and says that he will remove the missiles in Cuba if US missiles on Turkey and Italy are removed

what happens after the second letter is sent?

an American U2 plane is shot down and the pilot dies

what is Kennedy advised to do after the U2 is shot down?

respond with an attack on Cuba/invasionw

what does Kennedy decide to do?

accept the conditions in the first letter (but then removes the missiles from turkey???)

why did the USSR place missiles on Cuba?

• to bargain with the USA

• to test/trap the USA

• to close the missile gap

• to defend Cuba

• to strengthen Khrushchev’s position in the USSR

what were the outcomes of the CMC for the USA?

• reputation of Kennedy improved - he stood up to Khrushchev and looked strong

• he looked peaceful - willing to compromise, did not employ aggressive tactics when he clearly could have

• highlighted weaknesses of Hawkish tactics

• success and failure for containment - stopped it from spreading but at the same time failed to make Cuba non-communist

• made Kennedy look bad to Nato because of turkey missile removal

what were the outcomes of the CMC for the USSR?

• made Khrushchev appear as a peacemaker - made first offer and removed missiles from Cuba - especially as Turkey removal was not public

• victory for communism - Cuba still communist and becomes communist base for communism in SA

• safer - nuclear missiles removed from Turkey

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

• thawed tensions between the 2 superpowers

• reduced risk of Nuclear war

• showed both countries that they were a signifcant threat to each other so the nuclear arms race reduced in intensity

what were the outcomes of the cuban missile crisis for Cuba?

• Castro felt betrayed by the USSR

• remained communist and became base for operations in South America and the Angolan Civil war (1970)