The Cuban Missile Crisis

Objective: What were the causes and consequences?

Background• Cuba is an island 90 miles from

Florida coast.• Fidel Castro overthrows dictator Batista in 1959.• End of US domination in business on island.• 1960 – Castro requests aid from USA.• USA rejects request.• USA reduces the amount of sugar USA buys from Cuba

by 95% - could ruin Cuba’s main industry.• Castro turns to USSR for help – they send aid and agree

to buy sugar.• Castro nationalises US businesses and property in Cuba.

American reaction to Castro’s Communism

• US unofficial policy is to assassinate Castro.• Methods: CIA try to poison him, plant an

exploding cigar, flood a TV studio with LSD making Castro appear mad. All fail.

• BAY OF PIGS ~ USA trains and arms 1400 Cuban exiles and sends them to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. Castro is expecting a full US invasion and so exiles are either killed or taken prisoner.

USA U2 flies over Cuba and takes photos of suspected nuclear weapons site.

Kennedy’s Options

Full US invasion of Cuba Blockade of Cuba

Surgical strike onMissile bases Do nothing

Draw a further box under each box showing an advantage and disadvantage of each option. What would you advice him to do and why?

Kennedy decided to blockade CubaOn 22 October, Kennedy announced a “strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba”. If Soviet vessels did not stop, US ships had orders to fire.

• USA used 180 ships to blockade Cuba.

• 156 ICBMs put on combat readiness.

• Troops moved to south of country.

• War seems imminent.