Cuban missile crisis

• Cuban missile crisis 


  1962
• fidel Castro - nationalist who didn’t want countries economy to be under amercian control
• feb 1960


  castro makes an agreement with the soviet union. soviet buys Cuban sugar and provides economic aid. In return Cuba receives arms from ussr
• 1962


  missiles installed in Cuba 165km away from the American coast
• 14th October 1962


  Americans see missiles through a spy plane
• American response to missles

  • 21st oct - quarantine introduced, stopping all shops from reaching cuba
  • 22nd oct - DEFCON 3
• soviet response

  • Khrushchev was concerned that the usa would see missiles as an excuse to invade cuba
  • 23rd Oct- soviet ships approach Cuba carrying more missiles
  • DEFCON 2
• • 25th Oct 7:15am - Soviet ship enters quarantine zone, stopped but then allowed to pass
  • 26th Oct - soviet troops prepare to invade Cuba, Khrushchev sends telegram to Kennedy stating that he would remove missiles if Kennedy did not invade cuba
  • 27th Oct - soviet submarine detected off the coast of Cuba, us plane shot down over cuba
  • khrushchev sends Kennedy another telegram. Kennedy agrees to secretely move us missiles from turkey in exchange for soviet missiles leaving cuba.
  • kennedy announced blockade was lifted, crisis over
• consequences of Cuban missile crisis

  • cuba remaining ally of ussr, greatest success for ussr was the removal of missiles in turkey
  • after embarrassment from bay of pigs, Kennedy showed the world he could make difficult desicions and be a tough negotiator which silenced many of his critics
  • hotline created
  • limited test ban 1963 - no longer test weapons above ground.
  • Nuclear Non proliferation treaty
  • despite this they both still held stockpiles of nuclear weapons