Cuban Missile Crisis

Submitted By quanita1
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The Cuban Missile Crisis: Introductory Research
*SUMMATIVE (SS2) open-note quiz over this information tomorrow!

DIRECTIONS
Define each of the following terms/people using short, fragmented notes and phrases. If you quote a source word-for-word, be sure to put the phrase in quotation marks. Include a short citation of the sources you use, even if you’re just copying-and-pasting a Wikipedia site.

Terms/People to Research
Fidel Castro- Communist, Prime Minister of Cuba. Led unsuccessful rising against Baptista. Sentenced to jail. began a guerrilla war against the government. In December 1958, Castro launched a full-scale attack and Batista was forced to flee. February 1959, Castro was prime minister and announced introduction of a Marxist-Leninist program adapted to local requirements. Thousands of Cubans went into exile, mostly to the U.S. Castro then secretly allowed Soviets to build sites for nuclear missiles in Cuba, leading to Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, when the US and Soviet Union came close to war. Despite his dictatorial style of government and ruthless suppression of opposition, Castro remained popular in Cuba. Many Cubans benefited from free education and healthcare programs he introduced. Cuba received considerable economic support from Soviet Union. 1970s and 1980s Castro emerged as one of the leaders of the non-aligned nations, despite his obvious ties to Soviet Union. However, the end of Soviet aid in 1991 led to a continued economic crisis in Cuba. Some foreign investment was allowed, especially in tourism, and the money sent home by exiled Cubans became crucial. Bay of pigs to overthrow Castro.
Nikita Kruschev- Soviet leader by prevailing in series of Moscow power struggles after Josef Stalin's death. Khrushchev denounced Stalin and called for greater cooperation between Communism and capitalism. Khrushchev's initial conciliatory stance towards the non-Communist world suggested a possible thawing in the Cold War, but when, in 1960, Soviet shot down an American U2 spy plane within Soviet airspace, Khrushchev took a hard line against U.S. He sought to intimidate young American President John F. Kennedy, but his tense confrontation with Kennedy in 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis ended in defeat with withdrawal of Soviet weapons. Khrushchev, weakened by Missile Crisis, fell from power in 1964 when a conspiracy of rival party leaders pushed him into forced retirement. John F. Kennedy- U2 secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by Soviet Union on island of Cuba. President Kennedy did not want Soviet Union/ Cuba to know he discovered the missiles. Kennedy decided to place a naval blockade, or a ring of ships, around Cuba. He did this to "quarantine," prevent Soviets from bringing in more military supplies. He demanded removal of missiles there and destruction of the sites. The leaders of both powers recognized devastating possibility of nuclear war and publicly agreed to deal, which Soviets would dismantle the weapon sites in exchange for pledge from U.S. not to invade Cuba. In a separate deal, which remained secret for more than twenty-five years, the United States also agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from Turkey. Although the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba, they escalated the building of their military arsenal; the missile crisis was over, the arms race was not.
He invoked a "missile gap" claiming under Eisenhower US had fallen behind the USSR in terms of having fewer missiles which were less sophisticated. He was running against Eisenhower's VP - Richard Nixon this was an explicit criticism of Nixon. In reality there was no missile gap. As President he supported the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba that ended as a disaster and later participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis that demonstrated the US was prepared to be strong against the Soviet threat to install missiles in Cuba. Additionally there was US support for the South Vietnamese