Hon-AA Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis

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The Cuban Missile Crisis

Source: Britannica School

The Cuban missile crisis was an event that occurred in October 1962. The crisis happened during the period known as the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union placed missiles on the island of Cuba, the two major countries came to the brink of nuclear war.

In 1959 communists, led by Fidel Castro, had taken control of Cuba. In 1960 the Soviet Union promised to support the communists and to defend Cuba with Soviet weapons. As part of this agreement, the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev installed nuclear missiles on Cuba. Those missiles could hit much of the eastern United States within minutes if launched from Cuba.

The Cuban Missile Crisis (continued)

After carefully considering the alternatives of an immediate U.S. invasion of Cuba (or air strikes of the missile sites), a blockade of the island, or further diplomatic maneuvers, U.S. President John F. Kennedy decided to place a naval “quarantine,” or blockade, on Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments of missiles.

From October 22 until October 28, U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev exchanged messages about the event. They both made promises to ensure nuclear war could be avoided. Khrushchev agreed to removed the missiles, and Kennedy agreed that the United States would never invade Cuba. Kennedy also promised to withdraw the missiles the United States had stationed in Turkey in previous years. Both powers began fulfilling their promises, and the crisis was over by late November 1962.

Multiple Choice

What year did the Cuban Missile Crisis occur?

• 1945

• 1962

• 1989

Multiple Choice

Who was the leader of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

• Fidel Castro

• Che Guevara

• Lionel Messi

Multiple Choice

Who was the President of the United States during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

• Franklin D. Roosevelt

• Harry F. Truman

• John F. Kennedy

Multiple Choice

Who was the Soviet premier during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

• Joseph Stalin

• Nikita Khrushchev

• Mikhail Gorbachev

Multiple Choice

What action did President Kennedy take against Cuba during the crisis?

• Placed a naval quarantine, or blockade, to prevent further shipments of missiles.

• Bombed the island of Cuba.

• Started a nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

Multiple Choice

In return for the Soviets withdrawing their missiles from Cuba, the U.S. agreed to:

• Withdraw missiles from Turkey

• Hand over West Berlin

• Make Russian the national language of the U.S.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The next few questions will refer to this map.

Multiple Choice

Look at the map (click to enlarge). What does the large red dashed circle represent?

• A nice place to vacation

• Range of Soviet missiles in Cuba

• The U.S. quarantine zone

Multiple Choice

Look at the map (click to enlarge).What does the smaller pink shaded circle represent?

• A nice place to vacation

• Range of Soviet missiles in Cuba

• The U.S. quarantine zone

Open Ended

Look at the map (click to enlarge). List two major U.S. cities that would have been in range of the Soviet missiles in Cuba.

The Cuban Missile Crisis marked the closest point that the world had ever come to global nuclear war.

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