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The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis. U.S. actions in Bay of Pigs and Berlin were interpreted by the Soviets as weakness and encouraged Soviets to become more aggressive with the U.S.

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The Cuban Missile Crisis

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  1. The Cuban Missile Crisis

  2. U.S. actions in Bay of Pigs and Berlin were interpreted by the Soviets as weakness and encouraged Soviets to become more aggressive with the U.S. • Calls for Cuban invasion by some in the U.S., coupled with the presence of U.S. nuclear missiles in Turkey (close to USSR!) led Khrushchev to secretly move Soviet missiles to Cuba • As Soviet aid to Cuba increased, Kennedy ordered U-2 flights over Cuba. These flights detected the SAMs in August of 1963

  3. The Soviets denied they were placing offensive missiles in Cuba, as SAMs were defensive • What’s the difference? • Spy plane photos in October showed solid evidence that the Soviets had lied

  4. Why were the Soviet missiles in Cuba unacceptable to the American people? How was this hypocritical? • Kennedy and his advisors decided to blockade Cuba, rather than to invade the island. Why? • Less an act of war, less provocative • Gives soviets a chance to avoid war by removing the missiles • Kennedy massed troops and planes for war to show that he was serious • Soviet ships carrying missile parts turned around rather than confront the U.S. naval forces

  5. Kennedy, through back channels negotiated with Khrushchev to pledge not to invade Cuba, if the Soviets would remove the missiles • Khrushchev later also demanded that Kennedy remove the U.S. missiles form Turkey • Kennedy ignored the demand • Soviets removed the missiles • Following this crisis, both U.S. and USSR took steps to lessen tensions between the countries • 1963 - a “hotline” is set up between Washington and Moscow to allow direct communication

  6. Later in 1963 the US and USSR, with England, signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to end atmospheric and underwater testing. • So how did we test bomb after that? • Kennedy set up the Peace Corps, consisting of young Americans going to foreign countries to work on civil and humanitarian projects • President Kennedy also set up the Alliance for Progress, to build schools, roads, etc. in Latin American countries. • This program did not succeed because the money was frequently used by dictators, and did not benefit the people

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