CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
Collected and compiled by; Kiran Thomas
Ø In April 1961, the leaders of
the USSR were worried that the USA would
invade communist-ruled Cuba which was an ally of Soviet Union and overthrow
Fidel Castro.
Ø Nikita Khrushchev , the leader of
the Soviet Union, decided to convert Cuba into a Soviet base.
Ø In 1962, he placed nuclear missiles in Cuba
just 90 miles away from US shores.
Ø The installation of these
weapons put the US bases or cities,
under threat from close range.
Ø Only three weeks after In April 1961,
the Americans became aware of it.
Ø The US President, John F. Kennedy determined to remove the missiles and nuclear weapons
from Cuba.
Ø Kennedy
made it clear the U.S. was prepared to use military force if necessary to
neutralize this perceived threat to national security.
Ø So he ordered US warships to intercept any Soviet ships heading to Cuba as a way of warning to the USSR.
Ø A clash seemed imminent which was
known as the ‘’Cuban Missile Crisis’’ OR the
‘’October Crisis’’ .
Ø The
Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis or the Caribbean Crisis.
Ø It was
a 13-day (October 16–28, 1962) confrontation between the United States
and the Soviet Union.
Ø The disaster was avoided when the U.S. agreed
to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s
offer to remove the Cuban missiles in exchange for the U.S. promising
not to invade Cuba.
Ø Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove U.S.
missiles from Turkey.
Ø Both sides decided to avoid war. The Soviet
ships slowed down and turned back.
Ø The
diplomatic significance of Cuban Missile Crisis was the establishment of a hotline
between Moscow and Washington DC better known as “Red Line”
Ø The
major impact of the Cuban Missile Crisis was to lower the tensions between the
United States and the Soviet Union.
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