12. Confrontation Between Superpowers

Question 1

explain events leading up to missile crisis?

Answer 1

• Castro comes to power= alarms to US
• Cuba had previously been an economic colony of the US since 1890’s and Castro’s radical economic/social policies threatened US interests eg. nationalising oil refineries
• relationship with Cuba began to deteriorate and USSR saw opportunity to get Cuba as an ally= strategically close to USA

Question 2

what event showed US didn’t like Castro?

Answer 2

-Castro visited US in April 1959 but Eisenhower refused to see him

Question 3

examples of USSR intervention in Cuba?

Answer 3

-Feb 1960 USSR gives $1mil to Castro to help with social programmes

Question 4

examples of Cuban action towards USA?

Answer 4

• may 1959: US owned property in Cuba was seized as part of agrarian reform
• October 1960 Castro seized $1billion worth of US assets

Question 5

examples of US action towards Cuba?

Answer 5

• April 1960: US owned oil companies in Cuba refused to refine oil shipped from the USSR
• US imposed economic sanctions on Cuba reducing imports of cuban sugar

Question 6

explain the bay of pigs invasion?

Answer 6

• 1960 Eisenhower was convinced Cuba was turning into a soviet satellite state
• ordered CIA to overthrow Castro by anti-castro cubans
• plan inherited by Kennedy in Jan 1961
• 1500 cuban exiles trained by US
• exiles were defeated = humiliation for Kennedy administration

Question 7

explain operation Mongoose?

Answer 7

• November, 1961
• kennedy tried again to overthrow Castro with covert operations to destabilise the regime
• US also began military manoeuvres= OPLAN 34+quickstart
• in response USSR decided to deploy nuclear missiles to Cuba, 1962

Question 8

why did soviets deploy missiles to Cuba?

Answer 8

• ideologically= assist a fellow left wing communist state
• nuclear= Cuba’s proximity to US meant it was the ideal place to store missiles
• Economically= large scale conventional forces unnecessary, leaving financial resources to invested in economy
• militarily= soviets have military presence in America

Question 9

what happened on 14th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)

Answer 9

-U2 spy plane photographs missile site in Cuba

Question 10

what happened on 16th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)

Answer 10

• Kennedy told about nuclear missiles in Cuba
• ExComm council called to consider response
• decide there are too many missiles to destroy before retaliation, didn’t want to expose Europe to soviet attack, military response= last resort

Question 11

what happened on 22th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)

Answer 11

-Televised address by Kennedy announcing naval quarantine on Cuba, preventing weapons being shipped to Cuba

Question 12

what happened on 23th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)

Answer 12

-UN security council condemn soviet deployment of of weapons to Cuba

Question 13

what happened on 24th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)

Answer 13

-first soviet ships to reach quarantine line and turn around

Question 14

what happened on 26th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)

Answer 14

• K offers to remove the soviet military presence if US promises not to invade Cuba
• Castro scared of American attack and orders anti-aircraft planes to fire on reconnaissance planes
• K realised missiles hasn’t protected Cuba from US aggression and they would use force to overthrow Castro

Question 15

what happened on 27th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)

Answer 15

• K gives second demand request
• US remove missiles from Turkey
• Kennedy publicly accepts terms of K’s first offer and secretly agrees to remove missiles from Turkey
• knew turkey removal it would be seen as too much of a concession by NATO so kept it secret

Question 16

what happened on 28th october 1962? (13 day missile crisis)

Answer 16

• K agrees to remove missiles from Cuba

- Castro angry and refused UN inspections of the missile sites

Question 17

explain the significance of the Crisis?

Answer 17

• 1963- creation of the ‘hot line’ connecting the Kremlin to the White House
• led to a growing awareness for the need to create some control over the nuclear arms race = 1963 Moscow treaty ban, proposed by Khrushchev placing certain restrictions on nuclear weapons
• missiles in Turkey were dismantled
• US commitment to containment and Truman Doc had failed