Cuban Missile Crisis and Detente

John F. Kennedy (JFK)

• President of the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

• Worked to stop the spread of communism during the Cold War.

Nikita Khrushchev

• Leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

• Placed nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

• Failed U.S.-supported invasion of Cuba in 1961.

• Increased tensions between the U.S. and Cuba.

Cuban Missile Crisis

• Conflict between the U.S. and USSR over missiles in Cuba.

• Brought the world close to nuclear war.

Detente

• Period of reduced tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union.

• Focused on diplomacy and arms control.

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I)

• Agreement between the U.S. and USSR to limit nuclear weapons.

• Signed in 1972 during détente.

Helsinki Accords

• Agreement to improve relations between East and West.

• Included promises about human rights and cooperation.

Leonid Brezhnev

• Leader of the Soviet Union after Khrushchev.

• Supported détente with the United States.

Fidel Castro

• Communist leader of Cuba after 1959.

• Allied closely with the Soviet Union.

Richard Nixon

• U.S. president who improved relations with the USSR and China.

• Signed SALT I agreement.

Ostpolitik

• Policy of improving relations between West Germany and Eastern Europe.

• Introduced by West German Chancellor Willy Brandt.