The Cuban Missiles Crisis, 1962

Fill in all the gaps, then press "Check" to check your answers. When you have finished, PRINT off the exercise
and add it to your notes.

Check Hint
The Cuban Missile crisis was the crisis-point of the Cold War. It was the time when

the world came nearest to itself.

Causes
1. Superpower Tension
All the tensions that had grown up between Khrushchev’s ‘ ’

and Kennedy’s promise to be on Russia up to the Berlin Wall.

2. Fidel Castro’s Cuba

Fidel Castro was very threatening to the USA because Cuba was close to America.

In 1960, Castro made a trade with Russia (he got oil, machines and

money in return for sugar). This frightened the Americans, but when in 1960 they

stopped trading with Cuba, Castro all American-owned companies.

3. The Bay of Pigs

In April 1961 the funded and transported a (failed) invasion of Cuba by

anti-Castro Cuban exiles. In September 1961, Russia promised to send

to defend Cuba against America.

4. An American U2 spy-plane on 14 October took pictures of a

being built on Cuba. Kennedy’s advisers told him he had 10

days before Cuba could fire the missiles at targets in America.

Kennedy decided he had to act to stop what he called "this secret, reckless and
threat to world peace".

Events
14 Oct: U2 spy-plane takes of missile bases in Cuba - 10 days before

they are operational.

16 Oct: Kennedy set up a Committee of the to advise

him. It decided that the options were:

a. Nuclear ? No - it would cause a nuclear war.

b. attack? No - it would lead to a war with Russia.

c. Use the UN? No - too .

d. Do ? No - too dangerous.

e. Blockade? This would stop the missiles getting to the missile bases, but it was

not a direct act of war. This was what they decided to do.

22 Oct: Kennedy announced that he was mounting a naval .

23 Oct: Khrushchev accused America of piracy. Russian ships were heading

for Cuba.

24 Oct: An ship reached the naval blockadeand was allowed through. The

other Russian ships (carrying missiles) turned back. However, Russia was still

building the missile bases.

26 Oct: Khrushchev sent a to Kennedy, offering to dismantle the sites

if Kennedy would lift the blockade and agree not to invade Cuba.

27 Oct: Khrushchev sent another letter, demanding that Kennedy also dismantle

American missile bases in . On the same day, a U2 plane was

over Cuba. War was about to happen.

28 Oct: Kennedy wrote that would lift the blockade and agree not to

Cuba if Khrushchev would dismantle the missile bases. Secretly, in a

call, he said that theTurkish Missile Bases would be dismantled soon. Khrushchev

agreed.

20 Nov: Russian left Cuba, and Kennedy lifted the naval blockade.

Results
1. Khrushchev lost – China broke from Russia.
2. Kennedy gained prestige.

3. Both sides were more in future. The two leaders set up a telephone ‘

’.
4 In , they agreed a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Cuba was the start of the

end of the Cold War.

5. Cuba remained a dictatorship, but America left it alone.

Check Hint