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Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis. Neha Kumar. Background. Castro overthrows Battista Early attempts at containment by US: failed Castro takes over US business US cuts off diplomatic ties Then tries Bay of Pigs. Events/Causes Leading Up to Crisis. Khrushchev thought Kennedy was soft on communism

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Cuban Missile Crisis

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  1. Cuban Missile Crisis Neha Kumar

  2. Background • Castro overthrows Battista • Early attempts at containment by US: failed • Castro takes over US business • US cuts off diplomatic ties • Then tries Bay of Pigs

  3. Events/Causes Leading Up to Crisis • Khrushchev thought Kennedy was soft on communism • Berlin Wall Crisis: didn’t do much • Bay of Pigs: failed miserably • US placing nuclear missiles in Turkey • Khrushchev wanted to arm Cuba • Scared of “missile gap” • Arming Cuba=violation of the Monroe Doctrine in JFK’s eyes

  4. Nuclear Missile Bases

  5. Why did USSR care about helping Cuba? • New communist state • Strategic location • Wanted to force JFK into bargaining with him

  6. Why did the US care about stopping Cuba? • Communist • Proximity to the US

  7. Events Unfold • US finds out • U2 plane flies over Cuba, taking pictures of missile bases • US freaks out, JFK forms the “Executive Committee of the National Security Council” (EXCOMM)

  8. EXCOMM Discussion: US Response • Considered options: • Do nothing: balance of power was HUGE factor • Diplomatic relations • Blockade • Air strike: act of war, may trigger Soviet invasion of Berlin • Military intervention: OPLAN 316 was considered, logistically impossible

  9. US Response (cont.) • McNamara agreed with naval blockade • Strong but limited military action that preserved the balance of power

  10. TIMELINE TIME • Oct 20: JFK blockades Cuba • Oct 22: Kennedy (publicly) calls Khrushchev to remove missiles • Oct 23: Khrushchev denies everything • Oct 24: Soviet ships stop/turn back • Oct 25: US spy pics show continued construction of missile sites • Oct 26: Khrushchev asks JFK to remove blockade and not invade Cuba • Oct 27: also asks JFK to remove missiles in Turkey

  11. TIMELINE TIME • Oct 27: U2 plane shot down, JFK ignores second condition but agrees to the first • Oct 28: Khrushchev dismantles missiles in Cuba

  12. Crisis Consequences • Missiles were finally removed • Washington-Moscow hotline • Purpose of MAD • Cuba remained heavily armed (no missiles!)/communist • Test Ban Treaty: limited, signed in Moscow • Small but significant step toward the control of nuclear weapons (Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed by Bill Clinton in 1996)

  13. Things to Think About • JFK’s options • Turkey missiles • “…You say that it worries you because it [Cuba] lies ninety miles across the sea…of the United Sates. However, Turkey lies next to us. You have stationed devastating rocket weapons in Turkey…” ~the lovely Khrushchev • Continuing arms race

  14. Sources • http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/Cuban-Missile-Crisis.aspx • http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/ • http://www.history.com/topics/cuban-missile-crisis • http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/ • http://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/cuban-missile-crisis

  15. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W50RNAbmy3M

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