Transcript The Cold War – Part II

The Cold War – Bay of Pigs
and Cuban Missile Crisis
Flexible Response
Kennedy’s new foreign policy replaced the
policy of Massive Retaliation:
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More spending on conventional forces
Giving economic aid to developing countries
Continuing with CIA covert work
Enlarging the nuclear arsenal
Continuing negotiations with the Soviet Union
Kennedy said “We intend to have a wider
choice than humiliation or all-out nuclear war”
Latin American Relations
Not good!
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The U.S. had extended aid to Europe, but not
Latin America
The U.S. continued to intervene in Latin
American affairs (i.e. – CIA led coup in
Guatemala)
The U.S. supported bloody dictators who
claimed to be fighting communism
The Bay of Pigs
Invasion
In April 1961, an invasion force of Cuban
exiles trained in the U.S. by the CIA
invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs
Castro had agents in the CIA and knew of
the invasion plans
His troops were waiting for them and
captured 1,100 men
Why Did the Bay of Pigs Invasion
Fail?
Kennedy’s was an inexperienced president and
let his military advisors give him bad advice
It had counted on a popular uprising against
Castro
There was a shortage of ammunition and lack
of air cover
Kennedy would not sanction more U.S. air
support for the invasion force if he was to
distance himself from the plot
Aftermath of the Bay of Pigs
Invasion
After negotiations, Castro finally agreed to the
repatriation of the prisoners in exchange for $53
million in food and medicine. The prisoners
were returned from December 1962 to July
1965
Castro declared himself to be communist and
drew closer to the USSR. Both countries made
a trade and defense alliance with each other
Castro feared an invasion by the U.S.
Berlin Ultimatum #2 (1961)
Vienna Summit of 1961, Khrushchev
wanted to exploit Kennedy’s
inexperience by bullying him into
giving up Berlin
Kennedy had also just been
humiliated in the Bay of Pigs
invasion
Kennedy responded to the demand
by an increase in military spending
and a civil defense program
designed to build more fallout
shelters
The Berlin Wall (1961)
Many East Germans worked in West Berlin and
saw the freedoms and wealth of the West
The best trained and educated citizens could
earn much better money in the West (“Brain
Drain”)
By 1961, 3 million had fled to the west to Berlin,
as many as 1,800 per day. This was an
embarrassment to Russia, who proclaimed the
superiority of the communist system
The Berlin Wall (1961)
As a result, the Berlin
Wall was constructed in
1961
It represented physically
the deep divisions of
Eastern and Western
Europe
It prevented free access
between the East and
West sections of the city
The Berlin Wall (1961)
Why the Wall?
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The Russians claimed that the Americans
used West Berlin for spying and sabotage.
The wall would keep East Germany safe
Comparisons between the lifestyles of the
East and West would cease due to lack of
contact
The wall would stop the flow of East German
citizens to West Germany
The Berlin Wall (1961)
Consequences of the wall:
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Berlin was split into two
Hundreds of East Berliners died trying to
cross it (about 300 total)
America complained, but did not try to
take it down for risk of a war
Tension grew as both sides started
nuclear testing
The West became more anti-communist
Operation Mongoose
In November 1961, Kennedy asked
his brother, Attorney General Robert
Kennedy, to oversee Operation
Mongoose
This was a program of economic
warfare, sabotage, and terrorism
designed to topple Castro
Cuban Missile Crisis
Since the U.S. had ringed the USSR with
hostile alliances and nuclear missiles aimed at
the country, the Khrushchev decided to install
medium-range nuclear missiles in Cuba
This was done because:
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It would counter U.S. nuclear missiles
They believed it could win a nuclear war
Double the number of targets that Soviet missiles
were capable of hitting
Cuban Missile Crisis
In July 1962, the U.S. government became
aware that missiles were being imported and
set up in Cuba
U-2 spy planes photographed the missile sites
By October 16th, President Kennedy opted for a
naval quarantine (blockade) to prevent Soviet
ships bearing missiles from reaching Cuba
Cuban Missile Crisis
The USSR denounced the blockade
From October 22nd-24th, Soviet ships
were on course for Cuba
The U.S. put its nuclear forces on red
alert and assembled an invasion force
in Florida
Cuban Missile Crisis
On October 24th, the Soviet ships slowed down
and then changed course away from Cuba
Khrushchev sent Kennedy a message offering
to withdraw the missiles in Cuba in exchange
for:
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A U.S. pledge never to invade the island
U.S. withdrawal of nuclear missiles in Turkey
Cuban Missile Crisis
Dean Rusk, Secretary of State
commented about the crisis, “We’re
eyeball to eyeball and I think the other
fellow just blinked”
Cuban Missile Crisis
Kennedy agreed to both provisions by
October 28th
During the following weeks, both
superpowers began fulfilling their
promises
Results of the Cuban
Missile Crisis
It was the closest to nuclear war that
any two countries have ever come
The Soviet missiles were removed
from Cuba
The U.S. had to tolerate a Communist
country in the Caribbean
U.S. missiles were removed from
Turkey
Results of the Cuban Missile Crisis
It led to a decrease in tension in the Cold
War (détente)
Relations were stained between
Khrushchev and Castro
Khrushchev was discredited
Khrushchev and his successors began the
largest peacetime arms race in history so
as not to be in a position of humiliation
again
Results of the Cuban Missile
Crisis
Democrats fared well in the Congressional
elections of 1962
Kennedy pushed for a nuclear test-ban
treaty (one was signed in late 1963)
Installation in August 1963 of a MoscowWashington “hot line” for easy
communication in case of crisis (teletype
machine, not telephone)
Kennedy advocated to not think of the
Soviet Union as a devil-ridden country
Mutually Assured Destruction
(MAD)
Defense Secretary Robert
McNamara came up with this policy
The idea was to build up your
nuclear arsenal to make the
counter-strike so frightening that
neither side would use their
weapons
The belief was that if no one –
Soviet or American – could survive
a nuclear war, then there would not
be one