The Cuban Missile Crisis

Question 1

What happened on the 14th October?

Answer 1

U2 spy planes took pictures of nuclear missile sites in Cuba

Question 2

What happened from the 16-20th October?

Answer 2

Kennedy formed an executive committee (excomm) to advise him. For the next 3 days excomm told him what to do

Question 3

Who were the two groups in excomm?

Answer 3

The Hawks and the doves

Question 4

What happened on the 21st October?

Answer 4

Excomms plan was that the USA navy was to quarantine Cuba

Question 5

What was meant by quarantining Cuba?

Answer 5

No ships were allowed in or out of Cuba.

Question 6

Why was quarantining Cuba a risky plan?

Answer 6

Stopping a soviet ship was an act of war

Question 7

Who did Kennedy tell about his fears of quarantining Cuba?

Answer 7

His brother Bobby

Question 8

What happened on 22nd October?

Answer 8

Kennedy went on TV to tell USA what was happening

Question 9

What were USA armed forces on on the 22nd of October?

Answer 9

Defcon 3 (defence condition 3)

Question 10

What did Khrushchev tell his advisors about USA on 22nd October? Why?

Answer 10

They can attack us and we shall respond. He was convinced USA would invade Cuba

Question 11

What happened on the 23rd of October?

Answer 11

Khrushchev condemned USA for blocking cuba

Question 12

What was Khrushchev secretly thinking after condemning USA on 23rd October?

Answer 12

Khrushchev was secretly relived USA didn’t invade Cuba

Question 13

What had Khrushchev made Castro do before 23rd October?

Answer 13

Khrushchev made Castro prepare for USA invasion

Question 14

What happened on the 24th October?

Answer 14

U Thant, Secretary General of United Nations called both sides to compromise

Question 15

What did Khrushchev do on 24th October?

Answer 15

Order soviet ships to stop heading for Cuba, but not to turn back

Question 16

Why did Kennedy do on 24th October?

Answer 16

Order defcon to reach 2 (worse than 3)

Question 17

When was the only time in the Cold War they went close to war?

Answer 17

24th October

Question 18

What happened on 26th October?

Answer 18

Over 120,000 USA troops assembled near Florida coast because a Cuban invasion seemed likely

Question 19

When did Kennedy receive a letter from Khrushchev?

Answer 19

26th October

Question 20

What did Kennedy tell excomm on 26th October?

Answer 20

He wanted a deal to end the crisis

Question 21

What did Khrushchev’s letter to Kennedy say?

Answer 21

Russia would remove missiles in Cuba if USA promised not to invade Cuba

Question 22

Why was the offer a good thing for both Kennedy and Khrushchev?

Answer 22

Neither of them looked bad because it was a compromise

Question 23

What happened on 27th October?

Answer 23

Cuban forces shot down a USA spy plane

Question 24

What did Khrushchev change about their deal on the 27th of October?

Answer 24

That USA must remove missiles from Turkey too

Question 25

What did Kennedy insist about the deal?

Answer 25

The part about USA removing missiles from Turkey would be kept secret

Question 26

Why did Kennedy want the removal of his missiles from Turkey to be a secret?

Answer 26

It made him look weaker because he compromised more

Question 27

What happened on the 28th October?

Answer 27

Khrushchev announced Russia would remove its missiles from Cuba to protect world peace

Question 28

When was the Cuban missile crisis?

Answer 28

14-28th October, 1962

Question 29

What did Kennedy achieve from the Cuban missile crisis? Name 5

Answer 29

* stopped Russia having missiles in Cuba * no one died * made Khrushchev back down, Kennedy looked strong, Khrushchev looked weak * missiles taken from Cuba but left in Turkey so Kennedy had the upper hand * he didn't gloat about Russia backing down, looks mature

Question 30

What did Khrushchev achieve from the Cuban missile crisis? Name 6

Answer 30

* he looked more moral, blaming his compromise and backing down on maintaining world peace * he got 2 things, not 1: USA not to invade Cuba, (theoretically) USA missiles out of Turkey * showed USA violence * make jfk look like a hypocrite * threatened USA more than ever * proved Russia was a superpower

Question 31

Name 2 positive outcomes of the Cuban missile crisis for Castro

Answer 31

* Cuba stayed communist and armed, remained an important base for communism supporters in South America * Castro kept control of the USA companies that he nationalised during the revolution (still a source of dispute today)

Question 32

Name a negative outcome for Castro

Answer 32

•he was very upset by the deal that Khrushchev made with USA but he had little choice as he needed support from Russia