Cuban Missile Crisis and the Soviet war in Afghanistan.docx

Cuban Missile Crisis and the Soviet war in Afghanistan

The Cuban Missile Crisis,1959-62

• The Caribbean Island of Cuba is 90 miles off the Florida coast. It nearly became the cause of open war between the USA and USSR in the 1960s

The cause of the crisis

• Before 1959, Cuba exported sugar to the USA, while American companies controlled most of the island’s industry.

• In 1959, Fidel Castro (1926-2016) overthrew the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

• Castro took control of American businesses in Cuba. As the USA stopped trading with Cuba, so Cuba and the USSR agreed to trade oil and sugar for machinery

• The USSR became Cuba’s main trading partner. In 1961, Castro announced he was a communist.

The Bay of Pigs

• In January 1961, The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) planned to invade Cuba with the help of anti-Castro Cuban exiles. Kennedy approved but it went wrong.

• Landing at the Bay of Pigs on Cuba, bad intelligence led the invaders to overestimate local support for them.

• This disaster made Kennedy look inexperienced and turned Castro into a hero.

Key events: USA and USSR actions

• Castro was concerned about the Bay of Pigs invasion and asked the USSR for help.

• In August 1962, the USSR began to establish nuclear missile bases in Cuba. The missiles would reach most US cities, just like American missiles in NATO member Turkey could reach cities in the USSR.

• By October 14th 1962, the USA had photographic proof of these missile bases. They also found Soviet ships were on their way to Cuba with supplies. Kennedy wanted to end this threat.

The USA’s options

ExComm, a committee of the National Security Council, advised Kennedy. It considered:

• Invading Cuba

• Blockading Cuba

• An air attack on the missile bases

• A nuclear attack on Cuba

• Allowing the missiles bases to be erected

On October 22nd, Kennedy decided on a naval blockade. He went on television to explain his decision.

Consequences of the crisis and its impact on relations

• Nuclear war was avoided. In secret, Kennedy began the dismantling of the US missiles in Turkey, Castro remained in power.

• Both sides learned to avoid confrontation in the future. Talks to reduce the number of nuclear weapons began

• The Partial Test Ban Treaty was signed in 1953

The Soviet War in Afghanistan,1979-89

• The early 1970s had seen a softening in relations (detente) between the superpowers

The reasons of US involvement

• Detente did not last. The USSR was nervous about Afghanistan, a neighbouring country in Asia. It had valuable gas fields, which the Soviets wanted to exploit.

• It was also a centre of Muslim unrest. Muslim extremists attacked the Afghan government, leading to an uprising in March 1979

The actions of the USSR

• On December 25th 1979, Soviet forces invaded

• By New Year they reached the capital, Kabul, and appointed a ‘puppet ruler’

• The invasion was condemned by the United Nations, the USA and China.

• Between 1981 and 1987, the American ‘Operation Cyclone’ supplied guns, missiles and money to Mujahideen - Afghan fighters who waged guerrilla warfare against the Soviet invaders. Many of the Mujahideen were Islamic extremists

• The USSR found itself in the same situation that the USA has faced in Vietnam. The Mujahideen attacked supply convoys, shot down helicopters and then hid in the mountains.

• The Soviets could not defeat the enemy. In 1988, the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991) realised the USSR was not going to win the war

• By 1989, he had withdrawn all Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

The short term consequences of the war and its impact on relations

The consequences of the war

• One million Afghans died and 3 million refugees went to Pakistan. Afghanistan ended up being ruled by violent warlords.

• The USSR went bankrupt and people began to speak out against the Soviet government. Fundamentalist groups like the Mujahideen led to international terrorism.

The impact on relations

The war resulted in:

• A new soviet communism

• US President Jimmy Carter (1977-81) withdrew from arms reduction talks, stopped trade with the USSR and boycotted the 1980 Olympics.

• More weapons: US nuclear missiles were placed in Europe from 1979 which resulted in protests by peace groups like the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND)

• The USSR boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.