CUBAN MISSILE CRISES 1962
BACKGROUND
- Cuba was a US dependency
- Had corrupt governments
- In 1953 - Balista took control as a dictator
- Castro (Fidel) after a failed attempt - used a guerrilla attack partnering with
Geuvara to overthrow Batista
- Siezed power 1959
- Castro began reforms to change Cuba
- Literacy campaign, land redistribution to peasants, improve education and
healthcare
- Although these sound like communist acts, told US Cuba is not. Even after
censoring press
- Sanctions (eg oil) from US is what led to
- Supplies (oil and sugar) now coming from USSR
- END RESULT: Cuba switches to USSR dependancy, they provide arms, oil
sugar ect.
- So US declared Cuban to be communist, and began plans to overthrow
Castro
, BAY OF PIGS INVASION (C.A.R.T.I.N.G. T.H.E.A.K.I.N.S. K.A.B.E.D.)
- CIA recruited and trained 1400 Cuban exiles for an invasion - to be launched
from Nicaragua
- Aircrafts and ships were supplied to them
- Revolution wanted
- The US pretended to have no involvement - didn’t want to look like
aggressor. Yet USSR, Cuba and other countries soon became aware of plan
and US involvement
- Invasion launched April 1961
- No Cuban people raised up to support as hoped - defeated in 4 days
- Gave people hope that US imperialism could be defeated
- This made Castro fear a full US invasion
- He asked USSR for military and economic assistance
- End of 1961 - declared communist
- Arms supplied to Cuba, but Castro felt Cuba would be safer if it also had
USSR / Soviet troops
- Khrushchev obliged
- In 1962 - USSR worried that US had larger and longer range nuclear weapons
than them
- Nuclear weapons belonging to US stationed in Europe and Turkey - USSR’s
border
- Soviet’s weapons however had to be delivered to America by bombers
- Khrushchev wanted to put missiles in Cuba to o set the gap
- Although Castro worried about Cuba becoming a target for US
- But he agreed
- Essential that US did not ind out until after missiles were installed (else they
could destroy them)
- Deployed 36 medium range and intermediate range missiles in Cuba. Also
increased military. 50 000 soviet troops sent in and given a further aircraft
f ff
BACKGROUND
- Cuba was a US dependency
- Had corrupt governments
- In 1953 - Balista took control as a dictator
- Castro (Fidel) after a failed attempt - used a guerrilla attack partnering with
Geuvara to overthrow Batista
- Siezed power 1959
- Castro began reforms to change Cuba
- Literacy campaign, land redistribution to peasants, improve education and
healthcare
- Although these sound like communist acts, told US Cuba is not. Even after
censoring press
- Sanctions (eg oil) from US is what led to
- Supplies (oil and sugar) now coming from USSR
- END RESULT: Cuba switches to USSR dependancy, they provide arms, oil
sugar ect.
- So US declared Cuban to be communist, and began plans to overthrow
Castro
, BAY OF PIGS INVASION (C.A.R.T.I.N.G. T.H.E.A.K.I.N.S. K.A.B.E.D.)
- CIA recruited and trained 1400 Cuban exiles for an invasion - to be launched
from Nicaragua
- Aircrafts and ships were supplied to them
- Revolution wanted
- The US pretended to have no involvement - didn’t want to look like
aggressor. Yet USSR, Cuba and other countries soon became aware of plan
and US involvement
- Invasion launched April 1961
- No Cuban people raised up to support as hoped - defeated in 4 days
- Gave people hope that US imperialism could be defeated
- This made Castro fear a full US invasion
- He asked USSR for military and economic assistance
- End of 1961 - declared communist
- Arms supplied to Cuba, but Castro felt Cuba would be safer if it also had
USSR / Soviet troops
- Khrushchev obliged
- In 1962 - USSR worried that US had larger and longer range nuclear weapons
than them
- Nuclear weapons belonging to US stationed in Europe and Turkey - USSR’s
border
- Soviet’s weapons however had to be delivered to America by bombers
- Khrushchev wanted to put missiles in Cuba to o set the gap
- Although Castro worried about Cuba becoming a target for US
- But he agreed
- Essential that US did not ind out until after missiles were installed (else they
could destroy them)
- Deployed 36 medium range and intermediate range missiles in Cuba. Also
increased military. 50 000 soviet troops sent in and given a further aircraft
f ff
