The Cuban Missile Crisis

1. Kennedy described Wednesday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 27 as the darkest days of the crisis. Use the information on page 350 to explain why.

This could be because these were the two days that the most amount of danger was shown to Kennedy.

2. Do you think that nuclear war was ever a possibility in this crisis?

It could have been a possibility because they each had missiles however we don't know whether they would have used them on each other.

3. Is Source 26 a Soviet or an American cartoon? Explain your answer by referring to the details in the cartoon.

I believe that source 26 is an American cartoon because the Khrushchev is the one sweating and Kennedy is the one with the button that he is able to press at anytime.

4. Using Source 27 list any evidence you can find for and against each of the explanations.

Why did the Soviet Union place nuclear missiles on Cuba?
To bargain with the USA- Khrushchev wanted the missiles as a bargaining counter. If he had missiles on Cuba, he could agree to remove them in return for some American concessions.

To test the USA- In the strained atmosphere of Cold War politics the missiles/were designed to see how strong the Americans really were - whether they would back off or face up. The Soviet Union wanted to test out Kennedy.

To trap the USA- The missiles were a trap. Khrushchev wanted the Americans to find them and be drawn into a nuclear war. He did not even try to hide them.

To get the upper hand in the arms race- Khrushchev was so concerned about the missile gap between the USSR and the USA that he would seize any opportunity he could to close it. With missiles on Cuba it was less likely that the USA would ever launch a 'first strike' against the USSR.

To defend Cuba- The missiles were genuinely meant to defend Cuba.

5. Choose the explanation(s) that you think best fit what you have found out about the crisis. Explain your choice.

I believe that they are all true except they are just using the betterment of Cuba and their protection as a way to make it seem better. I believe that Khrushchev
was trying to test the USA to see if they would use them and if Kennedy would be willing to risk that. Also I believe that Khrushchev had planted nuclear missiles on Cuba to trap the USA and that is why he didn't hide them. Another reason I believe Khrushchev put nuclear missiles on Cuba was to get an upper hand on America and use it as bargaining because if they could have the upper hand on America like having missiles closer they could bargain with America and ask for them to not have missiles in Turkey if they weren't going to have them in Cuba.

The U.S. Attempts to Contain Cuba

1. Why was Cuba so important to the United States?

Because America had owned most of its businesses on the island and they had a huge naval base there.

2. Why do you think the Americans chose to equip Cuban exiles rather than invading themselves?

Because teh US was no longer prepared to tolerate a Soviet satellite in the heart of its own 'sphere of influence'.

3. Why did the invasion fail?

Because Castro captured or killed all of the American troops within days when JFK was no willing to send many troops over.

4. Compare Source 17 on page 345 (in the Arms Race.pdf reading) with Source 24 on page 348. Describe how the Soviet Union missiles on Cuba changed the Cold War balance of power.

The balance of power during the Cold War was very much swayed judging by the two sources because in Source 17 we can see and read about how it took the long range missiles about half an hour to get to the USSR from America and it took only about a few mins with the shorter range missiles. This shows how it was changed because since the USSR had control over the missiles in Cuba they could set them to go off very quickly and they could have the upper hand since it would only take about a few minutes for the missiles to reach America. However it would still take America about a half an hour to get their missiles into the USSR.