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The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
Cold War Arms Race:
• “You cannot
simultaneously prevent
and prepare for war." -Albert Einstein
• http://www.armageddon
letters.com/
Cold War Arms Race:
• "I know not with what
weapons World War III
will be fought, but World
War IV will be fought
with sticks and stones." - Albert Einstein
Location
History of “Nukes”
• From 1945-1949 USA
was the only nation to
have Nuclear Bombs.
The Arms Race Begins
• In 1949, the Soviets
developed the atomic
bomb.
History of “Nukes”
• In the 1950’s Britain,
France, and the USSR all
have nuclear weapons.
“Trinity and Beyond”
Chronology of First Five Nations With Nuclear Weapons
1945 July 16
U.S.  U.S. explodes the world's first atomic
1949 August 29
U.S.S.R. Soviet Union detonates its first
1952 October 3
UK  First British atomic bomb, ‘Hurricane’,
bomb, the ‘Trinity Test’, at Alamogordo, New Mexico.
atomic bomb, ‘Joe 1’, at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. It’s a copy of the
Fat Man bomb and had a yield of 21 kilotons.
was tested at Monte Bello Islands, Australia, with a yield of 25 kilotons.
1960 February 13
FRANCE  First French nuclear test occurs at
Reganne, Algeria, in the Sahara Desert. ‘Gerboise Bleue’ had a yield of
60-70 kilotons.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1964 October 16
CHINA  China explodes its first atomic bomb
at the Lop Nor test site on the northeastern edge of the Tarim Basin in the
XinJiang Province. It was an uranium 235 implosion fission device
named ‘596’and had a yield of 22 kilotons.
Nuclear Holocaust• World leaders realize the clash between the
superpowers could destroy mankind.
Crisis
• Today, it is known to Americans as “the
Cuban missile crisis,” to Soviets as “the
Caribbean crisis,” and to Cubans as “the
October crisis.” At no other time in history
has the world come so close to nuclear war.
Vienna, June 1961
Jackie was
truly
entertained by
K’s jokes and
asked K for a
space dog’s
puppy. She
got one soon
after returning
to Washington
The Vienna Summit
• 1. Easy agreement on neutralization of Laos
• 2. Fierce debate on the terms of peaceful coexistence –
right to revolution?
• 3. Germany, Berlin. Major Soviet worry about growing
West German potential and East German weakness
• K repeats his ultimatum to sign a peace treaty with GDR
and give it full control over E. Berlin
• JFK warns of consequences: NATO will act
• K says he’s ready for war
Players: Soviet Side
Andrei Gromyko,
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Fidel Castro
Premier of Cuba
Nikita Khrushchev
Soviet Premier
Anatoly Dobrynin
Ambassador to the U.S.
Raul Castro
Head of Military
Deputy Foreign Minister
Players: American Side
John Kennedy
U.S. President
Robert Kennedy
Attorney General
Robert McNamara
Secretary of Defense
Dean Rusk
Secretary of State
Causes
–Soviet Insecurity
•Missile capability NOT balanced.
–Cuban Invasion
•Bay-of-Pigs-1961, Operation Mongoose-1962.
•Castro nervous.
–Build-up
•April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita
Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing
intermediate-range missiles in Cuba to
provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S.
attack against the Soviet Union or Cuba.
•Operation “Anadyr “ Little support from
Mikoyan and other members of Politburo
How successful were early attempts at
‘containment’?
The US committed $100 million to
overthrowing Castro, the CIA tried to sabotage
the economy, they even planned to send him an
exploding cigar! Why did they go to such lengths
after April 1961?
• Castro takes over US
businesses
• January 1961, US breaks off
diplomatic relations
• April, 1961, Bay of Pigs – 1,400
anti-Cuban exiles attempted to
overthrow Castro
• Autumn 1962, Cuba has
received 1000s of USSR
missiles, jets, boats & personnel
Khrushchev admired Castro as a true, real-life revolutionary
Solidarity with revolutionaries across the world
Personality
•
•
•
•
Boorish (rude and impolite)
Interrupting speakers
Humiliated people
He once describe Mao (leader of Communist China)
as an “old Galosh” translated to “old boot” which
means Prostitute or immoral women
• He once took off his shoe during an UN General
assembly and banged it off the table repeatedly.
Why was the USSR interested in helping
Cuba?
• Cuba was a new Communist state
• Cuba provided a launch base for USSR inter-continental
missiles (ICMs)
• Khrushchev wanted to test strength of new US president,
JFK
• Khrushchev wanted to force JFK into bargaining over US
missile in Europe
Why does this cartoonist
think that Khrushchev was
interested in Cuba?
The arms race begins….
• Both countries began developing their weapons so as to be
able to ‘outgun’ their opponents. This meant:
• developing more powerful weapons
•Having more of one weapon than the other side
• WHY NUCLEAR WEAPONS?
• Cheaper than having a large army
• They were a deterrent. The idea was to have so many missiles
that they could not all be destroyed. If one side attacked then it
knew that the other could retaliate. This was known as MAD –
MUTUAL ASSURED DESTRUCTION.
•For some the Arms Race was a test of the strengths of
Capitalism v communism
Let’s See the Build UP
• Compare the escalation of events amongst
what was going on in 1961-1962
1961
•
January 3rd: US severs diplomatic ties with Cuba
January 20th: John F. Kennedy inaugurated as US president, after defeating
Richard Nixon in the November 1960 election.
April 12th: USSR launches the first man in space, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.
April 15th: CIA-backed invasion of Cuba via the Bay of Pigs is defeated.
June: The US begins installing nuclear-capable Jupiter missiles in Turkey,
increasing its capacity to launch against the USSR.
June 4th: Khrushchev issues another ultimatum on Berlin, giving the Allies six
months to withdraw from the city.
July 25th: John F. Kennedy calls for increases to the US military, in response to
Khrushchev’s ultimatum.
August 13th: East German troops close the border with West Berlin and begin
construction of the Berlin Wall.
October 27th: Beginning of a tense two-day stand-off between US and USSR
tanks at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.
October 31st: USSR detonates ‘Tsar Bomba’, at 50 megatons the most powerful
nuclear device ever tested.
1962
•
February 10th: Detained U2 pilot Gary Powers is returned
to the US, in exchange for a captured KGB agent.
October 15th: CIA reports that surveillance photographs
reveal the installation of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.
October 22nd: John F. Kennedy speaks on television,
announcing a naval blockade of Cuba to extract the missiles.
October 26th: US military sets DEFCON 2, prepares
ballistic missiles and stocks B-52 bombers with nuclear
weapons.
October 29th: Khrushchev announces the withdrawal of the
missiles, following backroom negotiations with the US.
Why was there a nuclear arms race?
USSR
76 IBMs
US
700 Medium range bombers
450 ICBMs (intercontinental
ballistic missile)
250 Medium range missiles
2,260 Bombers
16,000Tanks
32 Nuclear submarines
260 Conventional submarines
76 Battleships and carriers
1,600 bombers
38,000 Tanks
12 Nuclear submarines
495 Conventional submarines
0 Battleships and cruisers
“Missiles & Machines of War”
USN F-8 Crusader
SS-4 "Sandal" 1000 km
USAF RF-101
SS-5 "Skean" 2000 km
USAF U2
1960: The biggest nuclear bomb ever built: “Tsar-bomba”, “Big Ivan”, “Kooz’ka’s
Mother” (from old Russian proverb, much liked by Khrushchev: “We’ll show you
Kooz’ka’s mother!”
October 1961: The world’s biggest H-bomb tested at Novaya Zemlya Island, the
Arctic, explosive power – 57 mt
Gen. Curtis B. LeMay, Chief of the Strategic Air Command, advocated
all-out nuclear war to destroy Soviet Union and Red China
• Spring 1961
• JFK asks “If your plans for general [nuclear] war are
carried out as planned, how many people will be killed in
the Soviet Union and China?”
• Answer:
• 275 mln. instantly
• 325 mln. after 6 months
• Up to 600 mln. total for Europe and Asia*
• http://www.japanfocus.org/-Daniel-Ellsberg/3222
USSR sent
• two regiments of FKR-1 cruise missiles equipped with 16 launchers and
80 tactical nuclear warheads
• two antiaircraft divisions
• a fighter regiment equipped with MiG-21s
• four motorized rifle regiments, each with its own tank battalion a brigade
of twelve missile boats
• The total personnel figure for the operation was 50,874.
• The forces required an estimated 85 transports to deploy:
mostly freighters, but also some passenger liners
• six Il-28 bombers with a total of six 407H nuclear bombs at their
disposal three
• Luna battalions equipped with a total of twelve type 3N14 nuclear
warheads
Anadyr required :
43,000 troops to defend Cuba ( all disguised as
Cubans and taught some commands in Spanish)
164 nuclear weapons, of which (as was recently
revealed):
42 were already put on intermediate-range missiles,
ready to be launched at US targets
9 were on tactical missiles, ready to be used against
an invading US force
Khrushchev’s motives:
• Certainly not to wage war on the US.
• Rather:
– To restore Soviet image as a military superpower ready to
confront US
– To protect the Castro regime
– To obtain strike positions against US similar to those US had
against Russia
– Politburo ( Suslov, Mikoyan, Malenkovsky ) disagree (
apparatus bureaucracy is ticketed off as they are not
consulted but ordered )
– Frightening times vs Funny times
THE SPACE RACE
What was the space race?
• The space race was a race
between the United States and the
Soviet Union to explore outer
space.
• Many Americans felt that it would
be dangerous to lose this race.
• They realized that if the Soviets
could work or travel in space, they
could easily spy on or attack the
United States.
The serious side was….
• That a rocket that could launch a satellite could also
launch a nuclear warhead at a target.
• So space developments led to rapid advances in
nuclear weapons.
• By 1960 each side had the nuclear capability to
destroy the earth
• In 1961 Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet cosmonaut was the
first man to orbit the earth – the Soviets had the
lead. For Khrushchev it was a triumph for
communism
Warning Signs
• May, 1962: Khrushchev makes veiled references
to a plot (How would the U.S. feel having
missiles pointing at them, as they have missiles
pointed at us?)
• September: JFK and Congress issue warnings to
USSR that US will deal harshly with any threats
to national security
• October 14: U2 recon. flight over Cuba spots
sites installing nuclear missiles…Major Richard S.
Heyser
• October 15: Presence of missiles is confirmed
The Missiles: Locations
The Missiles: Locations
The Missiles: Aerial Photo 1
The Missiles: Aerial Photo 2
The Missiles: Aerial Photo 3
One of our U-2 flights over Cuba has revealed what
analysts believe to be nuclear missiles. Sir, the missiles
look to be from the Soviet Union.
“13 Days” Begin
•October 16: President Kennedy notified
•October 16-22: Secret deliberations on what
should be done
•October 22: Kennedy tells nation his plan
for blockade and quarantine
•October 23: OAS( organization of
American states) endorses naval quarantine
•October 24: Naval quarantine begins and
successfully changes course of many Soviet
ships
It’s time to discuss military options sir. The Soviets still
deny that there are nuclear missiles in Cuba.
Col. Georgi Bolshakov, Soviet military intelligence, under cover as a Soviet diplomat in
Washington, a “back channel” between the White House and the Kremlin – in 1961- 62,
Robert Kennedy met with him about 90 times. He met with JFK, too
Soviet denial and deception
• Bolshakov met regularly with Robert Kennedy, who believed him to be
an honest diplomat and a discreet communications channel to
Khrushchev.
• Robert Kennedy seemed to personally trust Bolshakov, and President
Kennedy came to rely on his information.
• Throughout the duration of Operation Anadyr, Bolshakov assured the
Kennedy brothers that Moscow had no aspirations of turning Cuba into
a forward strike base.
• Bolshakov only lost their trust when the president was shown
photographs, taken by a Lockheed U-2 surveillance aircraft, of Soviet
ballistic missiles on Cuban soil
• Kennedy was not the only president whom the Soviets attempted to
deceive.
• They also fed false information to the Communist Party of Cuba,
overstating the American threat to Cuba, to persuade Cuban leaders to
allow Soviet nuclear weapons to be deployed to the island.
• Cuban political leaders, especially Castro, and the Cuban intelligence
services received falsified reports from their Soviet counterparts on the
nature and extent of the American menace.
• Khrushchev so adamantly desired to change the strategic
nuclear balance between the two superpowers that he
attempted to deceive his Cuban proxies so that, in turn, they
would unquestioningly allow Soviet ballistic missiles and
nuclear warheads to be placed on Cuban soil.
• The KGB began sending doctored information to the
Cubans in 1961 and continued to do so through the Cuban
Missile Crisis. Soviet diplomatic warnings began soon
thereafter. Khrushchev himself emphasized the American
threat in conversations with Castro and Castro's deputies,
and personally proposed the deployment of Soviet missiles
to Cuba in the late spring of 1962. His proposal was soon
accepted
Anatoly Dobrynin, Soviet Ambassador to the US
Oct.22, 1962: JFK tells the nation about Soviet missiles in Cuba
When U.S. leaders discovered that the Soviets
were installing nuclear missiles in Cuba, they
were stunned.
No one was sure of Soviet leader Nikita
Khrushchev or Fidel Castro’s intentions.
• Would the nuclear missiles be used to
threaten Cuba’s Latin American neighbors, or
even intimidate the United States?
• Did the communist leaders believe that the
United States would not oppose their plan?
• In October 1962, Americans did not know
the answers to these questions
• Khrushchev’s motives aside, the White House
was shocked that the Soviets had ignored U.S.
warnings against putting missiles in Cuba.
•President Kennedy was especially indignant at
the secrecy surrounding the Soviet operation.
•Kennedy administration officials recognized
that members of Congress and the American
media would press for a strong U.S. response.
“13 Days” cont.
• October 25: One Soviet ship challenges naval
quarantine; Kennedy lets it pass
• October 25: At the UN, Adlai Stevenson directly
challenges the Soviet ambassador to admit to the
existence of missiles, when the ambassador refuses,
Stevenson wheels out pictures of the missile sites
• October 26: Soviets raise possibility for a deal: if
we withdraw missiles will America promise not to
invade Cuba?
“13 Days” -- closure
• October 27: Soviets demand that Americans also
withdraw missiles from Turkey;
– Major Rudolf Anderson’s plane shot
down…tensions high
– Kennedy tells Khrushchev that he will accept the
proposal of the 26th, Kennedy tells his brother to
tell the Soviet Ambassador that though the
Turkey missiles would not be part of the bargain,
they would be removed in time
• October 28: USSR agrees to withdraw missiles
Soviet Decisions & Motivations
1. Close the Missile Gap
• Currently far behind U.S. in terms of
number of missiles
• Verbal threats no longer effective with
overwhelming evidence of U.S. superiority
2. Protect Cuba
3. Reciprocity
• The U.S. has missiles pointing at us, let’s see how
they feel now
4. Inability to Use the Missiles
• If fired a missile, repercussions would be severe
Be Kruschev
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8hL
WDdvBm8
Why Khrushchev Settled
•Effectiveness of naval quarantine
•Conventional inferiority in the Caribbean
•No possible countermove
•Overwhelming world support for the U.S.
•Other possible reasons
– Got what he wanted?
•No U.S. invasion of Cuba
•U.S. missiles withdrawn from Turkey
Castro’s Role
•No real role in decision making
•Apparently out of touch with the situation
– Oct. 26: “Aggression imminent/imperialists
disregarding world opinion”—Clearly not the
case
– Khrushchev plays along to some extent but it
is clear he disagrees with him…
(“your suggestion would have started a
thermonuclear world war”)
Be Castro
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHVp
uhApSC0
The American Decision
• In September Kennedy had stated and
Congress had passed a resolution saying
that if the Soviet Union placed
offensive weapons in Cuba we would
not tolerate it.
–Could we then rely solely on diplomacy? Both Kennedy
brothers thought that John could be “impeached” if he didn’t
act in accordance with his prior warnings
•Determined in first 48 hours of crisis that the
removal of missiles was the primary objective
•Many options were considered
The American Decision: Considerations
(1) Air Strike
– On October 17th, President Kennedy considered that
there would be an air strike, at least against the missile
sites, and perhaps against wider targets
– Reservations from others: air strike may be using a
“sledgehammer” to kill a “fly
– Later that day Robert McNamara suggests policy in
between diplomacy and an air strike
(2) Blockade
– Advocated by McNamara and Robert Kennedy
– Critics feared it would allow Soviets time
– 10/19, Kennedy accepted plan
The American Decision: Considerations
(3) Do Nothing
– Ignore missiles in Cuba.
– U.S. had military bases in 127 different countries
including Cuba.
– U.S. had nuclear missiles in several countries close to
the Soviet Union.
– Therefore, only right that the Soviet Union should be
allowed to place missiles in Cuba.
(4) Negotiate
– U.S. should offer the Soviet Union a deal.
– USSR remove missiles in CubaU.S. withdraw her
nuclear missiles from Turkey and Italy.
The American Decision: Considerations
(5) Invasion
– Send U.S. troops to Cuba to overthrow Castro's
government.
– Missiles could then be put out of action and the
Soviet Union could no longer use Cuba as a
military base.
(6) Nuclear Weapons
– Use nuclear weapons against Cuba and/or the
Soviet Union.
• On October 20, President Kennedy decided on a
blockade of Cuba by the U.S. Navy to prevent
further shipments of military supplies to the island.
• The president decided to use the word “quarantine”
instead of the word “blockade” because
international law considered a blockade to be an act
of war.
• This option allowed the president to steer a middle
course among ExComm’s varied options.
• Kennedy’s Oct.22 statement:
– A quarantine on any ships bringing weapons to Cuba
– Full alert of US armed forces. It meant:
• 1436 strategic bombers
• 172 ICBMs
• 140,000 troops poised to invade Cuba
– In case the missiles are used, US will respond with an all-out
war
Blockade: Close-up
•250,000 Marines and ground troops
•1,000 planes
•250 naval vessels.
Be Kennedy
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJuKp
f_8IJ0
Castro was ready to sacrifice Cuba for the sake of destroying US imperialism
• K’s response:
– Full military alert
– Turn the ships back
– Offer to remove the missiles in exchange for JFK’s
pledge not to invade Cuba and to remove US missiles
from Turkey
• In private conversations, both sides were greatly
concerned about the influence of the military and the
hardliners on the other side
• The Man Who Saved the World:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/episodes/the-manwho-saved-the-world-watch-the-full-episode/905/
A Havana memorial: Soviet surface-to-air missile of the type
which downed a US U-2 reconnaissance plane over Cuba on
October 27, 1962; in front of it, an engine from the downed plane
A US Navy destroyer intercepting a Soviet freighter off Cuba
• A close call: incident with the Russian submarine
near Cuba:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc0eUtBAWyA&fe
ature=related
• The public impression:
• JFK won, and K was humiliated
• In reality, JFK did make important concessions:
– 1. A pledge not to invade Cuba (provided that the
missiles are withdrawn and Cuba does not export its
revolution to other L. A. countries)
– 2. Removal of US nuclear missiles from Turkey
Activity 1
• As teams, please respond to the following Cuban
Missile Crisis prompts, with clearly written,
detailed discussions.
• Premier Khrushchev’s Letter:
1. Discuss the underlying tone of Khrushchev’s
letter.
2. Describe the line of logic that Khrushchev used
in making his case.
3. Ultimately, what was the Soviet commitment
toward the crisis? Identify and discuss.
Consequences of Cuban Missile Crisis
Some of the direct consequences of the crisis
include the following:
(1)HOT LINE
The two sides established a direct communications
link that became known as the Hot Line. It was
hoped that this would help prevent dangerous
confrontations such as the Cuban Missile Crisis
arising again.
(2) U.S. REMOVES MISSILES
Three months after the Cuban Missile Crisis the
United States secretly removed all its nuclear missiles
from Turkey and Italy.
What was the outcome of the crisis?
• Cuba remained Communist & heavily armed
(without nuclear missiles)
• Both leaders didn’t lose face and came away with
concessions
• Helped renew the thaw – world saw the futility of
MAD
• Permanent hotline between White House &
Kremlin set up
• Supported theory of containment & co-existence
because alternatives unimaginable
• Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis
– Clashes over revolutions may end in nuclear Holocaust
– The two superpowers have important common interests
and should learn to cooperate despite their differences
– US and Russia should bind their arsenals with
agreements providing stability and predictability
• Nov.-Dec.1962, Kennedy in a private conversation in the
Oval Office:
• "There was created a myth in this country that did great
harm to the nation. It was created by, I would say,
emotionally guided but nonetheless patriotic individuals in
the Pentagon. There are still people of that kind in the
Pentagon. I wouldn’t give them any foundation for creating
another myth."
• The President initially responds by poking fun at himself,
evoking laughter from his military staff, stating, "As one of
those who put that myth around – a patriotic and
misguided man…“
• "If the purpose of our strategic buildup is to deter the
Russians, number one; number two, to attack them if it
looks like they are about to attack us or be able to lessen
the impact they would have on us in an attack…if our point
really then is to deter them…we have an awful lot of
megatonnage to put on the Soviets sufficient to deter them
from ever using nuclear weapons. Otherwise what good
are they? You can’t use them as a first weapon yourself,
they are only good for deterring…I don’t see quite why
we’re building as many as we’re building."
• http://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK+Library+and+Museum/News+and+Press/
New+Tapes+JFK+Questioned+Value+of+Nuclear+Build+Up.htm
L to R: Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, US Secretary of State Dean
Rusk, Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet Ambassador to Washington Anatoly
Dobrynin: Moscow, June 1963, after the signing of the Test Ban Treaty
• Khrushchev was deposed on Oct.14, 1964 at a
meeting of the Soviet Party leadership
• The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the motives
K became a depressed pensioner. Richard Nixon wanted to see him
during his brief visit to Moscow in 1967, but K was at his cottage
K. died on Sept. 11, 1971. He is buried at the
Novodevichye Cemetery in Moscow
Consequences
“If we cannot now end our differences, at least
we can help make the world safe for diversity. For,
in the final analysis, our most basic common link
is the fact that we all inhabit this planet. We all
breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s
future. And we are all mortal.... Confident and
unafraid, we labor on—not toward a strategy of
annihilation, but toward a strategy of peace.”
•—President John F. Kennedy, American University
Speech, 1963
Consequences of Cuban Missile Crisis
(3) TEST BAN TREATY
A Test Ban Treaty was signed between the two countries
in August 1963. The treaty prohibited the testing of
nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.
(4)PRISONERS RELEASED
The 1,113 prisoners captured during the Bay of Pigs
invasion were exchanged by Castro for $50 million in
food, drugs, medicine and cash.
(5) USSR RESOLVE
The Soviet Union became determined to have a nuclear
capability that was equal to the United States. This was
achieved by 1972.
Consequences of Cuban Missile Crisis
(6) STRAIN ON SOVIET ALLIES
China accused the Soviet Union of being a 'paper-tiger' and
claimed to be the true leader of the Communist
movement. The split between the Soviet Union and China
became wider.
(7) U.S. RESOLVE
The United States became convinced that the Soviet
Union would not go to war over another communist
country. It has been argued that this encouraged the
United States to help attempts to overthrow socialist and
communist governments in Vietnam, Nicaragua and
Grenada.
• Having come so close to the horror of a
nuclear war, leaders on both sides recognized
the need to embark on a new path to prevent
nuclear confrontation in the future.
• The ideological conflict would continue, but
while they remained in power Khrushchev
and Kennedy worked to diminish the
tensions between the two nations.
“It horrifies me to think what would have
happened in the event of an invasion of Cuba!... It
would have been an absolute disaster for the
world.... No one should believe that a U.S. force
could have been attacked by tactical nuclear
warheads without responding with nuclear
warheads. And where would it have ended? In
utter disaster.”
•—Kennedy’s Secretary of Defense Robert S.
McNamara
Activity 1
As teams, please respond to the following Cuban Missile
Crisis prompts, with clearly written, detailed discussions.
President Kennedy’s Address:
1. Discuss the evidence of Cuba’s capabilities and
President Kennedy’s general/specific concerns.
2. Describe the essential element(s) re. each of
Kennedy’s Seven-Points.
3. What are the critical messages the president
directed toward Cubans and Americans at the close
of his address?
Activity 2
• As teams, please respond to the following Cuban
Missile Crisis prompts, with clearly written,
detailed discussions.
• Premier Khrushchev’s Letter:
1. Discuss the underlying tone of Khrushchev’s
letter.
2. Describe the line of logic that Khrushchev used
in making his case.
3. Ultimately, what was the Soviet commitment
toward the crisis? Identify and discuss.
Activity 3
As teams, please respond to the following Cuban
Missile Crisis prompts, with clearly written, detailed
discussions.
1. Were Castro and Khrushchev justified in placing nuclear
missiles in Cuba? Defend.
2. Were the actions taken by Kennedy and the U.S.
appropriate? Defend.
3. HYPOTHETICAL: If Venezuela (which, under
President Chavez, has been outspoken in its/his
criticism of the U.S.) began receiving nuclear warheads
and missile shipments (capable of reaching U.S. soil),
what would you recommend as an effective response?
Defend.
Congratulations Mr. President, Khrushchev is
removing the missiles from Cuba. We made the right
choices.
CONTENT/SOURCES: Text, handouts, PPT Notes
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Soviet Losses in WWII
Yalta
Potsdam Declaration
Truman Doctrine
Marshall Plan
Berlin Blockade/Airlift
NATO
Korean War
McCarthy Era
Bay-of-Pigs
UNIT REVIEW
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKvBo
BaaN1A