The Cuban Missile Crisis

• before 1959 what was Cuba like

  it was a v pro-american autocratic gov led by pro-american dictatorship Batista. american companies invested hugely in Cuba's economy + controlled most of Cuba's sugar industry, owned huge areas of land, railways & electricity production. popular holiday destination
• was Batista popular


  unpopular- dictator. 1959- overthrown by socialist Fidel Castro who wanted greater independence from the US
• what actions did Castro take when he got into power in 1959

  nationalised all land and sugar production. began appointing communists to his gov- Krushchev has a potential ally! makes a deal with Castro to buy Cuban sugar & provide aid worth $100 mill to Cuba. also began sending military equipment there
• why was Cuba become a soviet satellite state such a threat to the US

  it was only 145 km away from the US- potential first strike capability???
• what did Eisenhower do next

  banned all american trade with cuba in 1960 and broke off all dpilomatic ties with cuba in 1961
• what did Kennedy do after becoming president jan 1961


  inherited Eisenhower's CIA invasion plan to overthrow Castro. began training Cuban exiles by the CIA. operation had a budget of $45m. exiles = La Brigada, 1,500 members. wanted the take-over to seem like a Cuban evolution- provoke anti-communist uprising
• what happened in the attack

  US planes bombed part of the Cuban air force but 2nd wave called off to reduce US involvement- remains of Cuban airforce fought back. La Brigada landed at the Bay of Pigs, encountered 20,000 soldiers from Castro's army- well-armed, highly-trained. Cubans did not rise up against Castro as he was actually quite popular!
• the consequences/ aftermath


  100 La Brigada dead, 1100 imprisoned. Castro showed wrecked aeroplanes & other evidence of Cuban victory to journalists worldwide. Kennedy reluctantly agreed to give $50m in medicine and baby food in exchange for captured La Brigada
• how did Kennedy get caught & how did he feel

  La Brigada had US equipment/weapons. embarassed. it had "blown up in his face"- more likely to take a hardline stance on Soviet involvement in Cuba
• Krushchev makes a promise but Kennedy suspects he is lying- what is the promise?

  he says he won't put missiles in Cuba
• Kennedy was right- Krushchev lied and put missiles in Cuba- why???

  NATO has missile bases in Turkey, the Berlin Wall crisis was a propaganda defeat for the Soviet Union and communism- need to regain their strength and pride, consequence of Bay of Pigs- deters US from invading Cuba (doesn't want Castro overthrown)
• why could Kennedy not accept Krushchev having missiles in Cuba

  possible 1st strike capability. could appear weak/cowardly. mid term elections due in November for senate- needs to appeal to public opinion- feel threatened by missiles in Cuba & want them out
• the beginning


  Kennedy orders a series of high altitude U2 spy plane flights over Cuba- receives photos of launch pads for MRBMs. Kennedy is informed that a fleet of Soviet ships is currently heading for Cuba. an Executive Committee is formed to advise Kennedy. debate for 3 days over how to react- Hawks want an air attack to destroy missile launch sites & to invade Cuba, Doves want to apply diplomatic pressure & make a deal with the USSR
• the middle pt 1- the US

  Ex Comm agrees to quarantine Cuba- US navy would stop all ships heading for Cuba and search them for weapons, those with military equipment would be turned away. blockade stretched 3,300 km around Cuba & fleet of submarines patrolled perimeter.
• technically this was a blockade but they named it quarantine as a blockade is an act of war- how did the US prepare for the worst case scenario


  US forces were put on DEFCON 3 and Kennedy went onto national TV to inform the american public of the situation. Kennedy prepared 54 bombers with nuclear warheads. US forces went to DEFCON 2. over 120,000 US troops assembled near the Florida coast.
• the middle pt 2- the Soviet Union


  soviet ships reached the blockade but Krushchev ordered them to stop.
• the end


  Krushchev sent a telegram to Kennedy offering to remove the missiles if the US promised not to invade Cuba. Cuban forces then shot down a U2 spy plane the day later. Krushchev sent another telegram repeating his offer but adding that US missiles should be removed from Turkey. Kennedy agreed & Krushchev announced that the USSR would remove its missiles from Cuba
• what did Krushchev not mention in his announcement and why?

  Kennedy's agreement to remove his missiles from Turkey as Kennedy had asked it to be kept a secret
• what do the US & the USSR reach during the crisis

  brinkmanship- pushing disagreements to the point where there is a risk of war
• K & K end up cooperating- tensions has been lessened- what 4 POSITIVE consequences of the crisis are there?

  1963- USA & USSR sign nuclear test ban treaty. permanent hotline established between the white house and the kremlin. 1968- USA & USSR (+ other nuclear powers) sign the outer space treaty. 1968- all nuclear powers sign nuclear non-proliferation treaty