Title: Cuban Missile Crisis

• Keywords:

• Fidel Castro

• JFK (John F Kennedy)

• U2 Spy plane

• Khrushchev

• Naval Blockade

The Cuban Missile Crisis

• Cuba is 160km off the coast of A_______.

• In 1959 Cuba’s brutal dictator Batista was overthrown by a revolution. He was replaced by Fidel C_______.

• He wanted to turn Cuba into a C____________ country.

• America stopped trading with Cuba and refused to buy their ________ – this was a big blow to Cuba’s economy.

• _______ stepped in and agreed to buy Cuba’s sugar.

• J____ F K________y (JFK) was worried about having a communist state in his “back-yard”

• USA planned to invade Cuba at the Bay of ______

• The Americans invasion failed and it was very embarassing

• The US heard rumours that the Russians were placing missiles in Cuba. So Kennedy sent ____ spy planes to investigate. They got photos which proved that the rumours were true.

• Kennedy ordered a n_____ b________ of Cuba; meaning that all ships heading towards Cuba would be stopped and searched.

• At the same time he was having secret talks with the Soviets.

• This was a risk as there was no guarantee that the Russians would obey the blockade.

• Tensions grew in October when 12 Soviet ships were travelling to Cuba.

• On Oct. 28th as the Soviets ships were only _____ minutes from the blockade line, Khrushchev ordered the ships to turn back.

• This was a major victory for _________ and war was averted.

The effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis

• The crisis only lasted a few days but it had major effects the world over.

• Both sides realised how close they had come to nuclear war.

• To ease tension a telephone hot line was set up between Russia and the US for future quick communication.

• Both sides agreed to a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty agreeing to carry out nuclear tests underground not in the atmosphere.