The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
- American's supported a corrupt regime under Fulgencio Batista until the Cuban revolution in 1959
- Fidel Castro took over
- Aligned with the soviets
- The Bay of Pigs (failed invasion of Cuba)
- 1962 Soviets began to put Nuclear weapons into Cuba (noticed by U-2 spy planes)
- The US had 3 options
- diplomatic solution (negotiated settlement)
- A conventional attack (air attack followed by invasion)
- A naval blockade
- Robert Kennedy, attorney general, convinced security council to go with blockade
- Ships turn around at the quarantine
- 2 letters sent from Krushchev to Kennedy
- Brinkmanship ensues (U.N. gets involved)
- Russians pull out of Cuba in exchange for a removal of missiles in Turkey at a later date
- Directly resulted in the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1962
Summary: Fidel Castro was the communist Cuban leader that was aligned with the Soviets. USA trained people to start a counter-revolution to get rid of communism but were annihilated. This was the closest that the world has ever come to Nuclear Warfare, it was also the first time thatMutually Assured Destruction had been discussed to determine an international arms agreement.
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Quote: The most terrifying moment in my life was October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I did not know all the facts - we have learned only recently how close we were to war - but I knew enough to make me tremble.
- Joseph Rotbalt |
Subjunctive question: Could the Cuban Missile Crisis have led to WWIII?
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