Cuban Missile Crisis and Detente

JFK

John F. Kennedy was U.S. president during the Cuban Missile Crisis and worked to stop the spread of communism.

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev was the Soviet leader during the Cold War who placed missiles in Cuba, leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Bay of Pigs

A failed 1961 invasion of Cuba by U.S.-trained Cuban exiles who tried to overthrow Fidel Castro.

Domino Theory

The belief that if one country became communist, nearby countries would also fall to communism like dominoes.

Cuban Missile Crisis

A 1962 conflict between the U.S. and Soviet Union after the Soviets placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. It nearly led to nuclear war.

Détente

A period of reduced tensions and improved relations between the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1970s.

SALT I

The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks agreement signed by the U.S. and Soviet Union to limit nuclear weapons.

Helsinki Accords

A 1975 agreement between many countries that encouraged cooperation and supported human rights during the Cold War.

Leonid Brezhnev

Leonid Brezhnev was the Soviet leader during much of the détente period.

Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro was the communist leader of Cuba who allied with the Soviet Union.

Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon was U.S. president who improved relations with the Soviet Union and China during détente.

Ostpolitik

A policy created by West Germany to improve relations with East Germany and Eastern Europe during the Cold War.