the cuban missile crisis

• Cuba is located to the southeast of North America, just off the coast of Florida.
• During the Cold War, rich Americans usually holidayed in Cuba.
• The United States military had several warships stationed off Cuba.
• Cuba and the USA were allies, with America providing military and financial aid to Cuba.
• In 1958, Batista was defeated and replaced by Fidel Castro.
• Fidel Castro arrested or exiled many opponents, leading to many people fleeing to the United States.
• In June 1960, President Eisenhower gave the CIA and Cuban exiles permission and funding to try and overthrow Castro.
• Their attempts to damage Cuba's economy were made in the summer of 1960.
• Fidel Castro promised to protect Americans living in Cuba and keep the USA naval base.
• By the summer of 1960, Cuba signed an agreement with the USSR, leading to President Kennedy breaking off diplomatic relations with Cuba.
• In January 1961, the USSR announced that they were going to supply weapons to Cuba.
• In September 1962, an American spy photographed a new nuclear missile site in Cuba, leading to President Kennedy fearing a nuclear war.
• After four intense days, the Cuban Missile Crisis and World War Three were avoided because Kennedy and Khrushchev secretly agreed on a plan, where Khrushchev was to remove his missiles from Cuba and Kennedy was to remove the American nuclear missiles from Turkey.
• The relationship between the superpowers improved after the Cuban Missile Crisis.