Cuban Missile Crisis

Attachments:

• Cuba and its Importance

1. Causes
   1. Your U2 spy planes have captured photographic evidence that Russian nuclear missiles are being placed on Cuba. Your advisers say that the sites could be ready to launch missiles in just seven days. Your spy planes have also reported that 20 Soviet ships are currently on their way to Cuba carrying missiles.
      1. Khrushchev sends you a letter stating that Soviet ships will break through the blockade. He also issues a statement saying that the USSR is prepared to use nuclear weapons if the USA declares war on them.
         1. Khrushchev sends you a letter saying that he will withdraw the missiles from Cuba if you promise that the USA will never invade Cuba. The next day you receive a second letter from Khrushchev. This one says that he will remove the missiles from Cuba if you remove the American missiles from Turkey. On the same day an American spy plane is shot down over Cuba.
2. Who "Won"?
   1. There are many different opinions but this is mine so please understand that!
   2. USSR
      1. They got rid of the Missiles in Cuba for the only loss of some public image. It is wise to point out that the USSR did not need to worry about this as much because of how it is run. Public image was not so much an issue because any public uprising was just crushed with force.
   3. I would therefore say that in the public image the USA won as they were shown to beat the USSR and to force it to back down. However practically the USSR won as for relatively low cost they got rid of the Turkish missiles.
   4. USA
      1. It was made to look powerful as it forced the USSR to back down. This was the main thing for the USA was to conserve public image as Kenedy had lost lots of support after the Bay of Pigs. However, it lost the threat of missiles in Turkey.
3. What happened?
   1. The dotted line represents what the response from Kennedy was to try and stop Nuclear war and keep the USA looking powerful
   2. Kennedy’s advisors can be split into two groups. The ‘hawks’ and the ‘doves’. The ‘hawks’ believed that a nuclear war was inevitable and wanted Kennedy to go to war. The doves wanted him to do whatever he could to avoid war. Kennedy went for a compromise. He decided to set up a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent further missiles from reaching the island.
      1. Kennedy stood his ground. He sent a letter telling Khrushchev that if he did not turn his ships round and remove the missiles from Cuba then the USA would declare war.
         1. In public Kennedy said that he would not invade Cuba. In secret, his brother Robert told Khrushchev that the missiles in Turkey would be removed. Khrushchev ordered his ships to turn around and return to the USSR. He ordered for the dismantling of the missile sites on Cuba.
4. Please read the attached file or find it in my area on Cuba and its importance before this one so that it makes the most sense