Transcript The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis
13 Days on the Brink of Nuclear War
Power point compiled by Robert Martinez
Primary Content Source: History Alive!
Photographs and Images as cited.
http://www.russianlegacy.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=730
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In 1959, communist revolutionaries, led by
Fidel Castro, had ousted Cuban dictator
Batista. As a result, the United States
suddenly found that it had a communist
government, just 90 miles off the Florida
coast.
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Once in power, Castro established strong
ties with the Soviet Union. The USSR sent
advisers, weapons, and financial aid to
Cuba. The Cuban government took control
of U.S. refineries and farms on the island.
Fidel Castro with
Soviet leader
Khrushchev.
http://southchild.com/?p=563
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Reluctant to live under a communist
regime, many Cubans exiles fled to South
Florida.
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/baypigs-3.htm
 Shortly
after taking office, Kennedy
learned that the CIA had begun training
some of these Cuban exiles in Florida
and Guatemala as guerrilla fighters.
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The clandestine (secret) mission of these
exiles was to return to Cuba and lead a
popular uprising that would topple Castro
and his regime.
http://pub10.bravenet.com/forum/795583276/show/990909
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The CIA officials briefed Kennedy on the
invasion plan, and assured the new
president that the invasion would inspire
Cubans to rise up and rebel against
Castro.
http://www.jfklancer.com/jfk1bop.html
 Eager
to show he was a strong Cold
War president, Kennedy allowed the
plan to move forward.
On April 17,1961, a small army of Cuban
exiles sailed into the Bay of Pigs in southern
Cuba. The landing was a disaster. Their
ships ran aground on coral reefs.
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http://radio.weblogs.com/0103207/2004/04/17.html
 Once
the exiles reached the land,
Cuban troops quickly killed or captured
them. In addition, the expected
uprising never took place.
A little more than a year after the Bay of
Pigs, Kennedy again focused his attention
on Cuba. In October 1962, a U-2 spy plane
over Cuba discovered that the Soviet Union
was building missile-launching sites on the
island.
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http://www.sixtiescity.com/Events/Events60.shtm
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From these sites, missiles carrying nuclear
warheads could easily reach most major
cities in the United States.
http://www.jfklancer.com/jfk1bop.html
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Kennedy’s advisors agreed that the United
States must halt construction of the Soviet
missile sites. Failure to remove this threat
would endanger American cities.
http://www.thenagain.info/webchron/World/CubanMissile.html
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The advisers did not agree on how to deal
with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Some
advisers urged the president to bomb the
missile sites before they became
operational.
“Thor” Intermediate-range
ballistic missile.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sylvancatharsis/494020526/
 Others
suggested blockading Cuban
ports to prevent Soviet ships from
bringing missiles to the island.
The advisers called the blockade a
“quarantine,” because under international
law, establishing a naval blockade is an act
of war. Kennedy chose the quarantine plan.
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http://www.2neatmagazines.com/life/1962cover.html
On October 22, Kennedy announced to the
nation the discovery of the missile sites and his
decision to quarantine the island. He warned
that the United States would view any nuclear
missile launched from Cuba as an attack on the
United States by the Soviet Union.
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http://www.jfklancer.com/jfk1bop.html
Kennedy warned that the United States
Would view any nuclear missile launched
from Cuba as an attack on the United States
by the Soviet Union.
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Kennedy also demanded that the Soviets
remove all offensive weapons from Cuba.
For the next two days, Soviet ships
continued to move toward Cuba.
http://www.multied.com/sixties/Cuban.html
High Alert
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Fearing that the nation could be on the
brink of nuclear war, Kennedy put the
U.S. military on high alert.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sylvancatharsis/494020526/
Eyeball to Eyeball
On October 24, Khrushchev ordered Soviet
ships approaching Cuba to slow down or turn
around. With great relief, Secretary of State
Dean Rusk commented, “We’re eyeball to
eyeball, and I think the other fellow just
blinked.”
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http://www.jfklancer.com/jfk1bop.html
Khrushchev
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A few days later, Khrushchev sent a note to
Kennedy agreeing to remove Soviet missiles
from Cuba. In exchange, he demanded that
Kennedy end the Cuban blockade and
promise not to invade Cuba.
http://www.jfklancer.com/jfk1bop.html
The next day, Khrushchev sent a second note.
In it, he proposed removing the Cuban missiles
in exchange for the United States removing
missiles it had placed in Turkey, which bordered
the USSR. Kennedy had already decided to
remove the U.S. missiles from Turkey, because
they were outdated. However, he did not want
Khrushchev to think he was bowing to Soviet
pressure.
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http://www.jfklancer.com/jfk1bop.html
Kennedy’s advisers told the president to
pretend he did note receive the second note.
So, Kennedy accepted the first deal only.
Privately, he sent Robert Kennedy to the
Soviet embassy to agree to the second deal
as well.
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SM-78s removed
from Turkey.
http://www.active-duty.com/Jupiter%20Missile%20Turkey.htm
Crisis is Over
On October 28, Khrushchev agreed to
remove all Soviet missiles from Cuba.
About three months later, the United
States removed its missiles from Turkey.
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http://faculty.virginia.edu/setear/students/usoutlaw/cubapg.html
Massive Retaliation
The Cuban Missile Crisis led Kennedy to
rethink the doctrine of “massive retaliation”
adopted during the Eisenhower years.
Instead, Kennedy talked about the need for a
flexible response to local Cold War conflicts.
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Soviet Missile
Vietnam
When communists seemed on the verge of
taking over Vietnam, the president tested this
new approach. He sent money and military
advisors to Vietnam to build noncommunist
forces in that country. By the end of 1962, more
than 9,000 American military advisors were
helping to defend Vietnam from communism.
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http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/aar/page_vietnam.htm
Nuclear War
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The missile crisis left Kennedy and Khrushchev
frightened by how close they had come to
nuclear war. As a result, both men began
looking for ways to ease tensions between the
superpowers.
http://www.newprophecy.net/warroom.htm
Hotline
As a first step, the two leaders established a
hotline between them. This line of
communication would be kept open at all times
so they could contact each other instantly
during a crisis. The hotline still exists today and
has been tested once an hour since 1963.
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http://millionaireplayboy.com/toys/batphone.php
Test Ban Treaty
Later the same year, the superpowers, along
with Great Britain, signed a Test Ban Treaty.
This agreement banned nuclear testing in the
atmosphere, while allowing underground
nuclear weapons tests to continue. By signing,
the United States and Soviet Union showed that
they could cooperate on important issues.
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http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/floor2/treaty-room.htm
Share your thoughts !

Write an essay sharing your feelings of
the Cuban Missile Crisis, and how
close the two superpowers came to a
nuclear war.
http://www.johndclare.net/cold_war16.htm