Cuban Missile Crisis and Detente

JFK

• U.S. president during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Nikita Khrushchev

Leader of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Failed U.S.-backed invasion of Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro.

Domino Theory

Idea that if one country became communist, nearby countries would follow.

Cuban Missile Crisis

1962 standoff over Soviet missiles placed in Cuba

Détente

Period of relaxed tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union.

Strategic Arms Limitation Talks

1972 agreement limiting certain nuclear weapons.

Helsinki Accords

Agreement to improve relations and respect human rights in Europe.

Leonid Brezhnev

Soviet leader during much of the détente period.

Fidel Castro

Communist ruler of Cuba allied with the Soviet Union.

Richard Nixon

U.S. president who promoted détente with the Soviet Union and China.

Ostpolitik

West Germany’s policy of improving relations with East Germany and Eastern Europe.