Transcript The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962

The Cuban Missile
Crisis
October 1962
Read your book: pg 271 - 279
Background to the events in Cuba
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Cuba, small island, 160
km from coast of
Florida
US ally, US businesses &
US military base
(Guantanamo)
1959, Fidel Castro
overthrows Battista (USbacked dictator),
establishing Communist
government.
Why was Cuba so important to the
Americans?
US – Cuban relations in the 60s
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Castro takes over US
businesses
January 1961, US breaks
off diplomatic relations
April, 1961, Bay of Pigs
– 1,400 anti-Cuban
exiles attempted to
overthrow Castro
The US committed $100 million to overthrowing Castro, the CIA tried to
sabotage the economy, they even planned to send him an exploding cigar! Why
did they go to such lengths after April 1961?
Why was the USSR interested in
helping Cuba?
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Cuba was a new Communist state
Cuba was launch base for USSR inter-continental (ballistic)
missiles (ICMs or ICBMs)
Khrushchev wanted to test strength of new US president, JFK
Khrushchev wanted to force JFK into bargaining over US
missiles in Europe
Why does this cartoonist
think that Khrushchev was
interested in Cuba?
13 dangerous
days
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14 October 1962, US U2 spy plane takes photos of suspected
USSR missile sites on Cuba
US spy planes identify 20 Soviet ships bound for Cuba carrying
missiles… the most dangerous 13 days in History start (16 Oct,
1962 – 28th of October 1962)
What happened? (in short)
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In the summer of 1962, the Soviet Union dispatched a
fleet of commercial cargo ships filled with nuclear
missiles, launchers and anti-aircraft guns--all under false
manifests--across the Atlantic Ocean to Fidel Castro's
Cuba.
Forty thousand Soviet soldiers and technicians began
clandestinely erecting an extensive array of armed
missile sites, and aiming their nuclear-tipped medium
range ballistic missiles at the United States.
What happened? (in short)
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Nikita Khruschev and his key military advisors
thought that the missiles would remain
unnoticed until November, and then he planned
to suddenly reveal them to the United States as a
fait accompli. They were nearly successful.
But in mid-October, with the Soviet tankers still
enroute, American U-2 spy planes and CIA
photo analysts detected several Medium Range
Ballistic Missiles (MRBMs) on Cuban soil, their
sites still under construction.
What happened? (in short)
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In the weeks that followed, the US government
decided to do all they could to ensure the
removal of the missiles.
Never before in history has the world come
closer to a general nuclear war.
Homework this week: Read page 271 – 279.
See page 275 – 278 for a day by day account of
the crisis.
US Missiles in Turkey
USSR missiles in Cuba
Missile sites in Cuba in 60s
Movies: 13 days + The Fog of War
What was the outcome of the crisis?
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Cuba remained Communist & heavily armed (without
nuclear missiles)
Both leaders didn’t lose face and came away with
concessions
Helped renew the thaw (détente) – world saw the
futility of MAD
Permanent hotline between White House & Kremlin
set up
Supported theory of containment & co-existence
because alternatives unimaginable
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7YkJxQT_0Y
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Original footage of Kennedy TV announcement
MSN Messenger in History - The
Cuban Missile Crisis
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“What if JFK and Khrushchev had negotiated
via MSN Messenger? Thirteen Days becomes
Four Minutes. And also, there are more laughs.
www.thesomethingorothers.com”
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUzOktgBBrg