IB History Cold War Crises - Cuban Missile Crisis Notes

Key Questions

1. What were the origins of the Cuban Missile Crisis, including the Bay of Pigs?
2. How did the Thirteen Days of the crisis unfold and how close did the world come to nuclear war?
3. How was the crisis resolved through negotiation and what were the terms?
4. What was the long-term significance of the crisis for superpower relations?

Origins - The Bay of Pigs (1961)

1. In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew the US-backed dictator Batista and established a communist government in Cuba, just 90 miles from Florida.
2. Castro nationalised American businesses and formed close ties with the Soviet Union, alarming the USA.
3. In April 1961, the CIA-backed Bay of Pigs invasion attempted to overthrow Castro using Cuban exiles - it was a humiliating failure.
4. The failed invasion pushed Castro closer to Khrushchev and convinced him that Cuba needed Soviet military protection against future US attacks.
5. The Bay of Pigs humiliated Kennedy and emboldened Khrushchev, who believed the young president could be pressured.

Soviet Missile Deployment

1. In the summer of 1962, the USSR secretly began shipping nuclear missiles and military equipment to Cuba.
2. Khrushchev's motives included defending Cuba from invasion, closing the "missile gap" (the US had far more nuclear weapons), and bargaining over Berlin.
3. The USA already had Jupiter missiles in Turkey aimed at the USSR - from the Soviet perspective, missiles in Cuba would balance the threat.
4. Soviet missiles in Cuba could reach most major US cities within minutes, dramatically changing the strategic balance.

U-2 Discovery and the Thirteen Days

1. On 14 October 1962, a US U-2 spy plane photographed Soviet missile sites under construction in Cuba.
2. Kennedy assembled a group of advisers known as ExComm (Executive Committee of the National Security Council) to debate the US response.
3. ExComm debated several options: air strikes on the missile sites, a full invasion of Cuba, diplomatic pressure, or a naval blockade.
4. Hawks like the Joint Chiefs of Staff pushed for air strikes and invasion, while doves like Robert McNamara advocated the blockade.
5. On 22 October, Kennedy announced the discovery publicly and declared a naval "quarantine" around Cuba (avoiding the word "blockade" as it was an act of war).