The Bay of Pigs 1959: Fidel Castro (a communist and ally of the Soviet Union) came in to power in Cuba The U.S. did not trust Castro and planned to overthrow him Trained Cuban exiles to invade Cuba, hoped the people of Cuba would back the revolt

The Bay of Pigs The invasion failed and was a major embarrassment for Kennedy and the U.S. 1200 of the soldiers were captured by the Cuban forces Khrushchev (Soviet Union’ s Prime Minister) saw Kennedy as young, inexperienced and weak

The Bay of Pigs Castro was worried about another invasion and asked the USSR for help USSR began to build nuclear missiles in Cuba Caused the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis

The cuban missile crisis American spy planes flying over Cuba photographed nuclear missile sites put there by the Soviet Union

The cuban missile crisis The missiles in Cuba had the ability to reach a large part of the United States Kennedy had to make a decision….Invade? Do nothing? Threaten? He decides on a blockade- doesn’t let any Soviet ships into Cuba

The cuban missile crisis Quarantine/blockade is dangerous because it could be seen as an act of war Soviet ships turn back Kennedy gave a speech to the nation warning of the threat of a nuclear war between the U.S. and Soviet Union

The cuban missile crisis

The cuban missile crisis Kennedy was urged by many of his military advisors to use force (airstrike) against Cuba Kennedy chose diplomacy- negotiations between two countries- instead of force

The cuban missile crisis After Khrushchev threatened an attack because of the blockade and an American U-2 plane was shot down, the US and USSR were closer to nuclear war than ever before What stopped them??...MAD- Mutually Assured Destruction

The cuban missile crisis Eventually both sides come to an agreement Soviet Union removes missiles from Cuba U.S. agrees to never invade Cuba U.S. agrees to privately remove missiles in Turkey Soviet-U.S. hotline is created to allow leaders to quickly talk to each other on phone