Causes and Effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis ON THE BRINK Causes and Effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis Pg. 100-101 Atlas Pg. 223-228 DeMarco The Cuban Missile Crisis (Oct 14, 1962 - Oct 28, 1962) was considered to be the closest moment that the world had ever come to all-out nuclear war between the superpowers, the USA and the USSR.

OVERVIEW This lesson examines: Historical and immediate contexts of the Cuban Missile Crisis US and Soviet actions during the crisis Resolution and long-term consequences

The Monroe Doctrine In the early 1800’s, US President, James Monroe, claimed Central and South America as the American sphere of influence: “The American continents … are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers."

The Monroe Doctrine “...It is impossible that the allied [European] powers should extend their political system to any portion of [the Americas], without endangering our peace and happiness: nor can any one believe that our Southern Brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of their own accord.” How might the nations of Central and South America have viewed the Monroe Doctrine?

How might the Soviets have felt about this imbalance and what might they have attempted in order to correct it? The Nuclear Imbalance During the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviets had less nuclear missiles than the US and could not directly target the US while the Americans could “Thor” Class: IRBM Range: 2,000 miles Location: UK “Jupiter” Class: MRBM Range: 2,400 miles Location: Italy and Turkey

Change in Cuba Context Question: How did the US respond to the presence of communism on the Korean peninsula?

Change in Cuba In Jan, 1959, Fidel Castro’s revolution against President Batista created a communist state, which was only 150km away from the U.S. Castro nationalized U.S. sugar industries Cuba requested assistance from the USSR in 1960 JFK’s U.S. government broke ties with Cuba in Jan 1961

Change in Cuba The failure of American diplomacy led to other actions: In April 1961, US-trained rebels invaded the “Bay of Pigs” to overthrow Castro The invasion failed and most rebels were captured or killed The US isolated Cuba diplomatically and economically Cuba requested additional aid from the Soviet Union What led to a breakdown of relations between the US and Cuba? What kind of assistance might Castro have asked for after the Bay of Pigs incident?

Actions and Responses Oct 13, 1961: A U2 spy-plane identified potential Soviet missile facilities being established on Cuba

On Oct 22, 1961, President Kennedy announced to the American public that Soviet missiles were being deployed on Cuba He stated that if built, the missiles had the potential to reach as far north as “Hudson Bay, Canada”

Actions and Responses Launch airstrike on missile sites and invade Cuba Blockade Cuba by navy and prevent missile delivery Negotiate to remove missile sites from Cuba and Turkey Allow Soviet missiles to be installed in Cuba Result? Result? Result? Result? US starts war with the Soviet Union US forces the Soviets to start conflict American public sees US president as weak American public would remove US president

What did Kennedy do next? Asked Premier Khrushchev and the Soviets to remove the missiles from Cuba Readied US forces for an invasion Created a naval “quarantine” around Cuba If the blockade was broken by Soviet vessels, the US would then launch an invasion of Cuba If the USSR launched any missiles against the US, Kennedy promised “full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union” Despite military pressure for an airstrike and an invasion, Kennedy opted for a blockade to be possibly followed by an amphibious invasion. Kennedy did not want to risk war with the USSR but also would not allow the missiles to be installed in Cuba.

How did the Russians respond? USSR foreign minister, Gromyko, flew to Washington to meet with Kennedy Russian ships loaded with missiles continued towards Cuba

Khrushchev first offered that the missiles would be removed if Kennedy guaranteed Cuba would not be invaded Before Kennedy could respond, Khrushchev also demanded that the Jupiter missiles in Turkey be removed How could Kennedy avoid war while having the missiles removed?

Resolution Publicly, Kennedy agreed to stop the invasion for withdrawal of the missiles. Privately, Kennedy was willing to remove missiles in Turkey. Khrushchev ordered the withdrawal of ships before hearing the final offer. War was avoided and the crisis was over.

Resolution What was “brinkmanship” and what could have resulted by following this policy? How might the Soviet leadership have viewed Khrushchev’s actions? Who would emerge as the “winner” in this conflict and why?

Long-term Consequences The Soviet missiles were removed under UN supervision The US quietly removed the Jupiter missiles from Turkey The US and USSR established an emergency “hotline” between the White House in Washington and the Kremlin in Moscow for the two leaders to use in case of future emergencies

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty U.S., Soviet Union and Great Britain signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty one year after the Cuban Missile Crisis They agreed to not test nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, although underground tests could still take place JFK was assassinated in November 1963 and Khrushchev was replaced in 1964

SUMMARY QUESTIONS What major factors led the USSR to install missiles in Cuba? What responses were available to the US and why did they choose the one they did? What was the key turning point of the conflict? What did each side gain and/or lose?