Section III - Cuban Missile Crisis and Detente

JFK

• U.S. president during the early Cold War in the 1960s

• led the U.S. during the Cuban Missile Crisis and increased efforts to stop communism

Nikita Khrushchev

• Soviet leader during the Cold War after Stalin

• involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis and promoted competition with the U.S. in space and weapons

Bay of Pigs

• failed U.S.-backed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba

• strengthened Castro’s power and increased tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union

Domino Theory

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

• used to justify U.S. involvement in Vietnam and other countries

Cuban Missile Crisis

• conflict over Soviet missiles placed in Cuba

• brought the world close to nuclear war but led to better communication between superpowers

Détente

• period of relaxed tensions between the U.S. and Soviet Union in the 1970s

• reduced the risk of war and encouraged arms control agreements

SALT I

• agreement between the U.S. and Soviet Union to limit nuclear weapons

• slowed the nuclear arms race during the Cold War

Helsinki Accords

• agreement between many nations about security and human rights

• improved relations between East and West and encouraged human rights movements

Leonid Brezhnev

• Soviet leader during much of the Cold War from 1964–1982

• expanded Soviet influence but also supported détente with the U.S

Fidel Castro

• communist ruler of Cuba after the Cuban Revolution

• allied Cuba with the Soviet Union and increased Cold War tensions with the U.S.

Richard Nixon

• U.S. president during the Vietnam War and détente period

• improved relations with China and the Soviet Union and signed SALT I

Ostpolitik

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

• reduced Cold War tensions in Europe and encouraged cooperation