Zusammenfassung der Ressource
What were the Cause and Consequences of
The Cuban Missile Crisis October 1962
- Causes
- The Problems over Berlin and Germany 1958-1961
- Khrushchev hoped that by placing missiles on Cuba, he would draw the
USA's attention away from Berlin and open a window of opportunity for
the Soviet union to act.
- The West (USA, GB etc.) failed to recognise the existence
of the DDR or East Germany as an independent political
entity.
- The Paris Summit, May 1960
- Khrushchev was fully comimtted to peaceful coexistence and at Paris 1960 he aimed at finding a solution
to the problems over Berlin and Germany and the Prohibition of Nuclear weapons. The summit collapsed
with news that an American U-2 spy plane was shot down on a mission over the Soviet union
- The collapse of the Paris Summit demonstrates a clear building up of tensions
between the 2 superpowers which led to the CMC in 1962.
- The Berlin Wall, August 1961
- The Wall stopped the mass exodus
of skilled workers from east to west
Berlin, It is a symbol of the Cold War.
It was a propaganda disaster for
Khrushchev, and the Soviet
administration
- The Bomb and the Nuclear arms race, 1949-1962
- The development of one nuclear technological
advance by one country would push the other side
to develop better technology:in essence the Arms
race.
- By 1962, USA had a much more advanced nuclear
capability that the USSR
- Nuclear weapons were used as a deterrent to prevent attack
from the other side, becasu of the Fear of MAD (Mutually
Assured Destruction)
- The USA and 'Massive Retaliation'
- Massive retaliation was formulated in the
National Security Council document
NSC-162/2 , produced in 1953
- The Sputnik, 1957
- The USA feared that the USSR's missile
capability was more advanced than that of
the USA, The USA increased the military spending budget to improve their capability
- US missiles in Turkey, May 1962
- Part of a NATO missile deployment programme, to supplement
NATO's defensive nuclear umbrella- Khrushchev put missiles
on Cuba to remove the missiles in Turkey
- The Bay of Pigs Invasion, April, 1961
- 1500 Anti-Castro rebels supported by the US , invaded the Bay of Pigs in Cuba, aimed to
remove Castro, failed and Humiliated Kennedy and the American administration
- Operation Mongoose, November 1961
- This was aimed at the destabilisation of the Castro regime via
covert operations- This affirmed Khrushchevs suspicion that
the USA would use force to remove a communist country.
- Consequences
- The 'Hot Line', 1963
- A direct line of
communication
between the White
House and the
Kremlin, aimed at a
quick solution and a
way to avoid further
crisis'
- The Partial Test Ban Treaty,
October 1963
- This banned the testing of Nuclear weapons in this atmosphere, in outer
space and underwater
- An important step towards detente
- Detente
- Literally means a relaxation of tensions. IN
terms of international relations it came to
describe the idea of easing relations between
states.
- Events of Cuban Missile Crisis
- 1959- Batista Regime overthrown and replaced by a new castro led
regime
- 1960- Period of deteriorating Cuban-Us relation
- 1961:April- Us supported Bay of Pigs invasion by Anti-Castro rebels.|
November:Kennedy authorised Operation Mongoose
- The Bay of Pigs invasion plan was inherited by JFK, The
plan supported 1500 anti-Castro rebel exiles, to land on
Cuba and remove Castro,
- 1962- March: USA launched Operation Quick Kick and military manoeuvres in Carribean
- 1962- May: Khrushchev decides to deploy nuclear missiles on Cuba
- 1962- August: Us intelligence observes 'activity' on Cuba
- 1962- September: SAM sites discovered on Cuba
- 1962- October: 'The 13 days War'
- 14 Oct.: American U-2 spy plane discovers Soviet missile sites on Cuba
- 16 Oct: ExComm has its first meeting
- 22 Oct: Kennedy announces the 'Quarantine' of Cuba
- 25 Oct: Soviet Ships begin to withdraw en-route to Cuba
- 27 Oct: US U-2 spy plane shot down over Cuba
- 29 Oct:Khrushchev decides to withdraw missiles from Cuba
- November: Withdrawal of Missiles is complete and the immediate crisis ends