Tensions Over Cuba Flashcards
All 14 cards in this deck
How did the Cuban Revolution change Cuba's relations with the USA and the USSR?
The USA stopped imports of Cuban sugar after Castro took over US businesses, and broke off diplomatic relations in January 1961; Castro turned to the USSR, which sent economic aid, military equipment and technical advisors.
What was the Bay of Pigs incident (April 1961)?
A failed invasion of Cuba by US-backed Cuban exiles trying to overthrow Castro. Its failure humiliated the USA and pushed Cuba and the USSR closer together.
What did an American spy plane discover over Cuba in October 1962, and how did Kennedy respond?
Photographs showed Soviet nuclear missile sites being built. Kennedy set up ExComm for advice and ordered a naval blockade of Cuba to stop the missiles arriving.
How did the Cuban Missile Crisis end after thirteen days?
Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba in return for a US promise not to invade Cuba, and a secret US commitment to withdraw its missiles from Turkey.
What was the 'hotline' set up after the Cuban Missile Crisis?
A direct communication link between the White House and the Kremlin, so the two leaders could communicate immediately in a crisis.
What did the Limited Test Ban Treaty (1963) do?
It banned the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, in space and under water; underground testing was still allowed.
Give one reason why Khrushchev decided to place nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962.
Any one of: to answer the US missiles based in Turkey, close to the USSR; to protect Cuba from another US invasion after the Bay of Pigs; missiles in Cuba could hit most of the USA with very little warning.
How did the Cuban Missile Crisis affect the reputations of Kennedy and Khrushchev?
Kennedy's reputation rose because he seemed to have faced down the USSR. Khrushchev looked weak, because the US promise to remove its missiles from Turkey was kept secret, and he was forced from power in 1964.
Whose government did Castro overthrow in the Cuban Revolution, and when?
Batista's, in January 1959 — a corrupt, US-backed dictator.
What happened on 'Black Saturday', 27 October 1962?
A US U-2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba and its pilot killed; Kennedy chose not to retaliate, avoiding war.
What were the two letters Khrushchev sent Kennedy on 26–27 October 1962?
The first offered to remove the missiles if the USA promised not to invade Cuba; the second also demanded the removal of US missiles from Turkey. Kennedy publicly replied only to the first.
True or false? Castro took part in the talks that ended the Cuban Missile Crisis.
False. Khrushchev and Kennedy settled it directly, and Castro was furious at being left out.
When did Castro publicly declare himself a communist?
In December 1961, months after the Bay of Pigs, confirming US fears about Cuba.
What was the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?
A treaty signed in 1968 (in force 1970) in which the superpowers agreed not to pass nuclear weapons or the technology to make them to countries without them.