cuban missile crisis in depth Flashcards
origins
- nuclear arms race - each side developing bigger, deadlier, more flexible weapons, spending large sums of money
- spied on one another to steal tech secrets
- each side perfected nuclear bombs that could be launched from submarines/planes
- USA placed short-range nuclear weapons in Turkey
- both sides developed ICBMs, which could travel between continents in 30 mins
- by early 1960s: both sides had enough nuclear weapons to destroy the other side - USA more tan USSR, but didn’t really matter since they could both annihilate each other
- on each side, it was said it made them more secure: ‘nuclear deterrent’ - enemy wouldn’t attack first, because if it did, it would be striked back and destroyed. MAD!
How did they spy on each other
USA- hi-tech spying, U2 plane, flew so high it couldn’t be shot down but took detailed photos of the ground
USSR- spies
cuban revolution
- had long been allies - USA liked General Batista - corrupt, anti-communist and unpopular dictator
- much opposition to Castro
- 1959: Castro overthrows Batista
- relationships deteriorated
- June 1960: Eisenhower allows CIA to investigate overthrowing Castro
- CIA supported/funded Cuban exiles, disrupted its economy, damaging sugar plantations, American media criticized Castro
- Summer of 1960: Castro allies Cuba with USSR
- Khrushchev gave Cuba 100 million dollars in economic aid
- Castro began receiving arms from USSR, American spies knew this
bay of pigs
-** January 1961:** Kennedy broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba
- Castro thought US was preparing to invade Cuba
- Kennedy supplied arms, equipment and transport for 1400 anti-Castro exiles to invade Cuba + overthrow Castro (USA not invading directly)
- April 1961: exiles landed in Bay of Pigs, humiliated, 20 000 modern Cuban troops defeated them within days
impact of bay of pigs
- suggested to Cuba and USSR that despite anticommunism, USA was unwilling to get directly involved in Cuba
- Khrushchev scornful of Kennedy’s pathetic attempt - suggested to USSR that Kennedy was weak
- strengthened Castro’s position in Cuba
- Castro + Khrushchev suspicious of US policy
october crisis
- after bay of pigs, soviet arms flooded into cuba
- May 1962: USSR publicly announces it was supplying Cuba with arms
**- By July 1962: **Cuba best equipped army in Lat Am - Americans alarmed, ready to tolerate normal weapons, but big question was nuclear missiles
- September: Kennedy’s own Intelligence dpt. said it didn’t believe USSR would nuclear weapon send Cuba
- **11 Sept: **Kennedy warns USSR, he would prevent ‘by whatever means necessary’ Cuba becoming an offensive military base (nuclear)
- USSR assured USA it didn’t need and wasn’t going to
- Sunday, 14th Oct 1962: American spy plane discovers nuclear missile sites were being built by USSR in Cuba
16 Oct:Kennedy informed of missiles
20 Oct:Kennedy decides on blockade
22 Oct:kennedy announces blockade, calls on USSR to withdraw missiles
23 Oct:Kennedy receives letter from Khr. saying that Soviet ships would not observe the blockade, didnt admit presence on nuclear missiles in Cuba
24 Oct: blockade began, first missile carrying ships approached zone, then suddenly 20 USSR ships stopped/turned around
25 Oct: even though, work on missile bases in Cuba proceeding rapidly
26 Oct: Kennedy receives letter from Khr., claiming missiles on Cuba were purely defensive, but said if USA assured it wouldn’t attack Cuba and blockade lifted, question of removal/destruction of missile sites would be an enitrely differeny questions
27 Oct:Khr. sends another letter, revising proposals, saying that condition for removing missiles from Cuba was USA withdrawing missiles from Turkey
American U2 plane shot down, pilot killed, Kennedy advised to launch attack on Cuba
Kennedy decides to delay attack, decided to ignore Khr. letter, but accepted terms of 26/10 letter
28 Oct:Khr. says he will return weapons to USSR, crisis over
why soviet give nuclear missiles to cuba
- bargain with usa
- test USA
- trap USA
- close missile gap
- defend Cuba
- strengthen Khr. own position in USSR
outcomes of Cuban missile crisis for kennedy/usa
- improved reputation, stood up to Khr.
- Kennedy has resisted hardliners in hiw own gvt
- he did secretly agree to remove turkish missilies, NATO unhappy
- Kennedy to accept Castro’s Cuba would remain a communist state in his backyard
outcomes of Cuban missile crisis for khr/USSR
- khr seen publicly as responsible peacemaker
- achievement: Cuba safe from American attack, valuable ally and useful base
- Turkish missiles gone, however Khr promised to keep this secret so he couldn’t use it for propaganda
- USA criticised by some of its own allies
- Khr forced to back down and remove missiles
- USSR still behind in arms race
- many believe it led to him being forced out of power in 1964
outcomes of Cuban missile crisis for cold war/cuba
- thaw relations between US-USSR, MAD
- permanent hot line phone link between Kremlin and White House
- 1963: nuclear test ban treaty, limiting tests
- castro upset by Khr deal with US
- cuba still communist, highly armed
- castro kept control of USA companies and economic resource he’d nationalised
