1. The Cuban Missile Crisis: The World on the Brink 1962

2. America and Cuba: How Awkward!
Cuba, small island, 90 miles from Florida
Spanish American war had been fought to keep Spain’s influence out of America’s “sphere of influence”
1959: Fidel Castro overthrows Battista, a dictator, establishing Communist government.

3. America and Cuba: How Awkward!
Castro nationalizes businesses, against U.S. interests
April 1961: Bay of Pigs Invasion
1,400 anti-Cuban exiles attempted to overthrow Castro; but the CIA botched the mission
JFK took the blame
JFK: “Victory has a thousand fathers, defeat is an orphan.”
US gov’t continued to try to overthrow Castro but never succeeded

4. Cuban Missile Crisis: USSR and Cuba?
Cuba was a Communist state in American’s sphere of influence
Cuba provides a launch site for Soviet ICBM’s
Khrushchev wanted to force JFK, who he may have been testing, into bargaining over US missiles in Europe

5. Cuban Missile Crisis: To the Brink…
14 October 1962: US U2 spy plane takes photos of suspected USSR missile sites on Cuba
Sites were nearing completion, experts believed they could be ready in 7 days
Soviet ships are detected, bound for Cuba carrying missiles and supplies

7. Cuban Missile Crisis: The Escalation Ladder
Kennedy’s Options?
Do Nothing
Consult the United Nations
Strategic Air strike
Full Invasion of Cuba
Other?
Which would you choose? Why?

8. Kennedy’s Options Pros Cons
Do Nothing
Consult the United Nations
Strategic Air strike
Full Invasion of Cuba
Other?

9. Cuban Missile Crisis: To the Brink…
20 October: Kennedy is advised that an invasion is the ONLY way to guarantee America’s safety by destroying the silos before they are operational…

10. Cuban Missile Crisis: To the Brink…
…but he decides on a blockade around Cuba (quarantine). He gets the support of South American nations to do this.
22 October: Kennedy publicly calls on Khrushchev to remove weapons
Watch JFK’s speech.

11. Cuban Missile Crisis: To the Brink…
23 October: Khrushchev refuses to acknowledge blockade or presence of Soviet missiles on Cuba
The American Military moves to DEFCON 2. The highest alert ever.
24 October: first Soviet ships approach the quarantine zone
What happens if we fire on the Soviet ships to enforce the blockade? What will they do?

12. Cuban Missile Crisis: To the Brink…
October 26: USSR offers to withdraw the Cuban missiles in return for a U.S. guarantee not to invade Cuba.
October 27: USSR called for the withdrawal of U.S. missiles from Turkey (in addition to the demands of the 26th.)
October 27: when a U-2 was shot down over Cuba and another U-2 flight over Russia was almost intercepted.
Kennedy responded by publicly accepting the first deal and then sent Robert F. Kennedy to the Soviet embassy to privately accept the second deal. The fifteen Jupiter missiles in Turkey would be removed six months later.
October 28: Khrushchev announced that he had ordered the removal of the Soviet missiles in Cuba
Satisfied that the Soviets had removed the missiles, President Kennedy ordered an end to the quarantine of Cuba.

13. What was the outcome of the crisis?
Cuba remained Communist & heavily armed (without nuclear missiles)
Neither leader lost face or looked weak, both came away with concessions
M.A.D. had been a successful deterrent
Permanent hotline between White House & Kremlin established
Supported theory of containment & co-existence… because alternatives unimaginable
13 Days- U2 and Options
13 Days- Eyeball to Eyeball

14. Cuban Missile Crisis: To the Brink…
Russia was a rational actor. So why risk nuclear war?
“See the whole board...”
Complete this analogy:
Cuba is to America as
__________ is to the Russia?
(2 possible answers)

15. Cuban Missile Crisis: To the Brink…
Read/Watch the possible Russian motivations for placing missiles in Cuba for HW. What were Krushchev’s possible goals?