Cuban Missile Crisis and Detente

JFK

U.S. president during the early Cold War who led the country through the Cuban Missile Crisis

Nikita Krushchev

Soviet leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis who placed nuclear missiles in Cuba

Bay of Pigs

Failed U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles attempting to overthrow Fidel Castro

Domino Theory

The belief that if one country became communist, nearby countries would follow

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 13-day confrontation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union over Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba; considered the closest the world came to nuclear war

Détente

a relaxing or easing of tensions

SALT I

Froze the levels of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and missile launchers for 5 years

Helsinki Accords

• Recognized Post-WWII borders

• Promoted trade and scientific exchange

• Cooperation in human rights and freedom of information and movement

Leonid Brezhnev

Soviet leader associated with détente and the expansion of Soviet influence during the Cold War

Fidel Castro

Communist ruler of Cuba who allied closely with the Soviet Union

Richard Nixon

U.S. president who promoted détente and signed SALT I with the Soviet Union

Ostpolitik

West Germany’s policy of improving relations with East Germany and Eastern Europe during the Cold War

• Willy Brandt

  • Leader of West German

  • Wanted better relationship with East Germany

SALT II

• Limits on MIRV’s (multiple-warhead tech) 

• Ban on mobile ICBMs

• Never ratified in US but both countries generally followed it