1. Key Q 1: How did USA react to Cuban Revolution?
Key Q 2: Why did Khrushchev put missiles in Cuba?
Key Q 3: Why did Kennedy react as he did?
Key Q4: Who won the Cuban missile crisis?
When did the Cuban revolution happen? 1959
What did a missile gap have to do with the USSR putting missiles in Cuba? The US had missiles in Western Europe in close striking distance of the USSR but the USSR had none as close as that to the USA. They also had less long-range missiles than the USA. Bases in Cuba would only need to be medium range missiles to be able to hit most of the USA.
What were hawks and doves? Hawks were people who urged the president to take action using armed forces. Doves were people who advised the president to take peaceful solutions.
What did the US gain? Kennedy improved reputation for standing up to Khrushchev successfully. Missiles removed from Cuba. BUT missles removed from Turkey and communist Cuba was there to stay, right on US doorstep.
Which two reasons could you give for why US relations with Cuba worsened considerably after the revolution? Firstly, there were lots of Cubans who had fled to the USA and formed pressure groups demanding action. Secondly, Castro seized a lot of American owned business that were in Cuba. For example he took farm land owned by American businesses and gave it out to Cuban peasant farmers, which gave him huge popularity.
What did Kennedy decide to do that fell short of war? A naval blockade of Cuba.
What did USSR gain? Khrushchev was able to portray himself to the world as a peacemaker. USSR managed to keep Cuba safe by getting US to give assurances that there would be no invasion of Cuba. US did withdraw missiles from Turkey (but that had to be kept a secret, so Khrushchev couldn’t use it for propaganda). BUT Khrushchev had been forced to back down. Military was especially annoyed. Khrushchev was overthrown in 1964, many historians think Cuban missile crisis had something to do with this.
What did Khrushchev’s credibility in the USSR have to do with it? The US superiority in nuclear missiles undermined him in the USSR and made him more vulnerable to being overthrown. Khrushchev needed to appear strong and this was a good chance to do that, especially as he thought Kennedy was weak after Bay of Pigs.
Why did Kennedy not just invade or use air strikes against the missile sites being built in Cuba? Soviet soldiers were in Cuba, it could have triggered nuclear war.
Give three ways in which the US themselves caused relations with Cuba to worsen. Firstly, the CIA gave money to Cuban exiles. Secondly, US companies working in Cuba refused to work with any Cuban businesses that used oil or other materials from the USSR. Thirdly, the US media broadcast a constant stream of anti-Castro propaganda.
Why did Kennedy not just ask the UN to intervene or do nothing? He had missiles in Turkey and Italy after all. That would make him look weak and after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, he could not afford to look weak again.
What did propaganda have to do with it? Cuba was different to Eastern European states; it had chosen communism itself, rather than having it forced upon it like Eastern European countries. It made communism look good. Bay of Pigs had made the USA look like the bad guys (the side acting morally reprehensibly for A* students). Cuba had gone communist right on the doorstep of the USA and this was a great victory for communists, they couldn’t let it slip away. Cuba could also be a useful base for supporting communist activities in South America.
What did Cuba gain? Kept control of US companies in Cuba. Cuba became a base for communist activities in south America. BUT Castro annoyed that Khrushchev had made a deal with USA to remove the missiles.
What deal did Khrushchev offer to Kennedy? That he would withdraw the missiles if the US made assurances that it would not invade Cuba and would remove the blockade.
What had Castro done by 1960? Allied with Khrushchev and accepted $100 million in economic aid from USSR.
How did the US react in 1961? Broke of diplomatic ties with Cuba, then supplied arms, equipment and transport for 1,400 Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and try to overthrow Castro, 20,000 loyal Cuban troops stopped them. A US disaster.
What did Khrushchev add to his original demands in another letter? That the US withdraws missiles from Turkey.
How did the world gain from the Cuban missile crisis? The US and USSR established a ‘hot line’ between Moscow and Washington so the leaders of the two superpowers could speak on the phone rather than through slower letter writing. Also, this event when the world came so close to annihilation seemed to make the US and USSR see that brinkmanship was too dangerous, The USA and USSR would not come so close to armed conflict ever again during the Cold War.
What did US do to try deter USSR from using Cuba as a base? Did a a practice of an invasion of Cuba using 40,000 marines to try to intimidate them. It didn’t work.
What impact did the Bay of Pigs have? USSR thought Kennedy weak. Also suggested US wouldn’t take direct action over Cuba (they’d got exiles to do it instead).