1. Chapter 28, Section 3 Aim: Crisis Over Cuba

2. By the 1960s, the U.S. and Soviet Union had emerged as superpowers (nations with enough military, political, and economic strength to influence events worldwide. The rivalry between the superpowers led to clashes in many places, especially Cuba. In 1959, Fidel Castro led a communist revolution in Cuba. His government took over private companies, including many owned by American businesses. Thousands of Cubans would flee to the U.S.

3. Bay of Pigs Invasion The Soviet Union began supplying Cuba with large amounts of aid. The growing ties between Cuba and the Soviet Union worried American officials. Cuba lies 90 miles south of the U.S.

4. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy approved a plan for Cuban exiles to overthrow Castro. Exiles: people who have been forced to leave their own country. A force of 1,200 Cuban exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. The invasion was badly planned. Castro’s forces quickly rounded up and jailed the invaders. The invasion strengthened Castro’s power and embarrassed the U.S.

5. Cuban Missile Crisis After the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Soviet Union gave Cuba more weapons. In 1962, Pres. Kennedy learned that the Soviets were secretly building missile bases in Cuba. If the bases were complete, atomic missiles could reach the U.S. in minutes.

6. Pres. Kennedy announced that American warships would stop any Soviet ship carrying missiles. Soviet Union ships decided to turn back and not head toward Cuba. Kennedy’s strong stand led the Soviets to compromise. The Soviet union agreed to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba and in return, the U.S. promised not to invade the island. In all the years of the Cold War, the world never came closer to a full-scale nuclear war than they did due to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

7. Intervening in Latin America Alliance for Progress: Pres. Kennedy created the aid program and urged Latin American countries to make reforms to improve the lives of their people. Peace Corps: American volunteers worked in developing countries as teachers, engineers, and technical advisers. Organization of American States (OAS): U.S. promoted economic progress in the Americans by investing in transportation and industry.

8. The Space and Arms Race By the 1950s, the Soviet Union and the U.S. developed large stocks of nuclear bombs and missiles. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik (world’s first satellite) into space. The U.S. and Soviet Union started to race to see who could put larger satellites into space.

9. The U.S. set up the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). By 1970, the two superpowers had piles of large enough missiles to destroy each other many times.