1. The Bay of Pigs - 1961! Starter:
President J F Kennedy did not want to invade Cuba directly and then risk a war with Russia. Instead he collected 1,400 Cuban exiles in the USA and gave them weapons, money, equipment and transport to land in Cuba and overthrow Castro.
The plan was a total failure. The invasion was known about and the exiled Cubans were met by 20,000 Cuban troops with tanks and modern weapons and were captures or killed in only a couple of days.
What effect do you think this had on American pride?
What effect do you think this had on the USSRs’ view of the USA?
The American President was humiliated and faced critics in his own country (among his generals) and in the USSR for their weak methods. The USSR now believed that the USA were unwilling to get involved with another direct conflict over Communism in Cuba. However, the underhand methods used made Castro and Khrushchev very suspicious. MORE PRIDE! MORE SUSPICION! MORE ASSUMPTIONS!

2. Part 2: Why did Khrushchev put nuclear arms in Cuba and how should the USA respond?
L/O: To make decisions on how Kennedy should react to nuclear weapons in Cuba.
May 1962: The USSR (as a reaction to the Bay of Pigs) stated that it would put arms into Cuba to protect it from US invasion.
By July 1962: Best equipped army in South America!
11th September 1962: Kennedy said that he would never accept Cuba becoming an ‘offensive military base’ (nuclear weapons being put in Cuba!)

3. The October Crisis 1962
Photos of nuclear bases
Map of range of missiles in Cuba
October 1962: an America U2 plane flew over Cuba and took photos of nuclear missile sites! The most developed of these sites would be ready to fire on the US in 7 days! These nuclear missiles could wipe out ¾ of the USA in 20 minutes! Think back to what you know about Turkey! (alliances?) Why might Khrushchev have considered it fair to put nuclear arms in Cuba?

4. Your task: What was Kennedy to do?
In pairs: Maria / Manon Mikel / Gabriel
Look through Kennedy’s options on page 105
Put them in order from BEST idea to WORST idea
Write an explanation of why you have chosen your TOP TWO ideas and why you have discounted the other THREE. (especially your least favourite one)
Present your points of view to congress and the president (your class and Ms Rios)
(The president will decide who has the most compelling argument!)

5. Homework: What happened next? (Full sentences you can revise from!)
Tasks:
Read through page taking notes if you wish / time line etc.
Read through source 19 checking you understand the vocabulary.
3) Answer the following questions:
What is a blockade? (Use source 19)
How did Khrushchev react to the blockade?
Do you think it was a success initially? (24th October?)
Why can 26th October be seen as a break through in East/West relations
What did Khrushchev want in return for removing weapons from Cuba?
Look at source 20 and explain what is the message of the source backing up your answer with details from the source.
How close do you think the world came to a nuclear war? Use the evidence on these two pages to back up your answer with specific dates.