Lesson 7.06 - Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missile Crisis

  

OBJECTIVE
Trace the origins and geopolitical consequences (domestic) of the Cold War and containment policy, as  exemplified by the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

GUIDING QUESTIONS
1.      What was the Bay of Pigs invasion?

2.      What factors led to the Soviet Unions efforts to install nuclear warheads on the Island of Cuba?

3.      How did the United States learn of the Soviet’s efforts to establish nuclear weapons in Cuba?

4.      How did this crisis nearly unfold into nuclear war and what concessions were made by both sides to avoid nuclear war?
 

 Khrushchev and Castro


 
Missile Map
 
DISCUSSION
At no point during the Cold War did the Superpowers come closer to war than during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  When Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba, only 90 miles off the coast of Florida, the United States was suspicious of his promises to establish a democratic government.  The year was 1959 and The Cold War was in full swing.  Public opinion at home was fiercely anticommunist.  Unfortunately American businessmen had an interest in a stable Cuban economy.

American sugar companies controlled 75% of the cropland in Cuba.  As Castro-American relations began to crumble the Soviet Union stepped in and provided assistance to Cuba.Castro increasingly began to rely on heavy-handed, dictatorial practices to suppress those in his country who disagreed with his new communist government. American’s worst fears were realized…a Soviet controlled communist country less than 100 miles from America. The United States was also secretly working with Cuban exiles to plan an overthrow of Castro’s government. After an embarrassing attack at the Bay of Pigs Soviet Premiere Nikita Khrushchev pledged to help defend Cuba from future attacks by the U.S. The Soviet Union also saw this as an opportunity to even the score in the arms race. In 1962, the Soviet had fewer than fifty bombers and missiles that could hit the United States. We had more than five hundred. The missile was real, and it was NOT in favor of the Soviets. The prospect of placing missiles in Cuba represented a cost-effective means to counteract the threat of American attack primarily against Cuba…but more importantly against the Soviet Union.

 

Assignment 7.06 - Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missile Crisis
  1. Start by reading a brief overview of the crisis at the following web-site (you can also try to listen to the RealAudio version of this information at the site but it is a little unreliable):
  2. Rent the move Thirteen Days.  View the video at your leisure (pop some popcorn, grab a soda).  Keep in mind that this is Hollywood and very often history takes a backseat to entertainment.  The movie does do a good job of showing the tension that the crisis presented.
  3. Visit the following web-site for a critical review of the movie: http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/
  4. In a Word document write a one page, single-spaced, 12-point font report on the Cuban Missile Crisis.  This should be a summary of all the resources you reviewed above.
  5. Go to the Assignment Area, click on “View/Complete Assignment 7.06 – Bay of Pigs/Cuban Missile Crisis”.  Attach your report here and click “Submit”.

 

 Thirteen Days

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

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