The Cuban Missile Crisis

1. Kennedy described Wednesday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 27 as the darkest days of the crisis. Use the information on page 350 to explain why.
October 24 was a very dark day of the crisis because the blockade began and the soviet unionsubmarines approach the 500 mile blockade zone. The soviet ships which are closest to the sone stop or turn around. October 27 was a very dark day because removing the missles from cuba is that the usa withdrew its missles from turkey.The president advised to launch an immediate reprisal attack on cuva. But kennedy decides to delay an attack.


2. Do you think that nuclear war was ever a possibility in this crisis?
yes i do because iron ass was part of the crisis on the american side. His strategy was to bomb instead of invade and that would have caused problems if the soviets decided to bomb the united states.


3. Is Source 26 a Soviet or an American cartoon? Explain your answer by referring to the details in the cartoon.
Source 26 is a american cartoon because president kennedy and the soviets are having a arm wrestling contest and it is up to president kennedy who will drop the bomb. I know it is presidentkennedy who makes the decision because he is the one with the control and he is the one who will decide to press the button. No bombs will be dropped unless president kennedy says is it okay to do so.


4. Using Source 27 list any evidence you can find for and against each of the explanations.
Why did the Soviet Union place nuclear missiles on Cuba?

To bargain with the USA- Khrushchev wanted the missiles as a bargaining counter. If he had missiles on cuva, he could agree to remove them in return for some american concessions.


To test the USA-In the strained atmosphere of cold war politcs the missiles were designed to see how strong the american really were-whether they would back off or face up. The soviet union wanted to test out kennedy.


To trap the USA-The missiles were a tray, Khrushchev wanted the americans to find them and be drawn into a nucklear war. He did not even try to hide them.


To get the upper hand in the arms race-Khrushchev was so concerned about the missile gap between the URRS and the USA that would seize any opportunity he could to close it. With missiles on Cuba it was less likeely that the usa would ever launch a first strike against the ussr.


To defend Cuba-The missiles were genuinely meant to defend cuba.


5. Choose the explanation(s) that you think best fit what you have found out about the crisis. Explain your choice
I think "To test the USA" is a good explanation about what i tihnk best fits what i have found out about the crisis because the missiles were planted in cuba to see how much the united states would do. It was a test to see how strong the usa was and if they would fight the soviet union or if they would back off. The soviet union wanted to test out kennedy and to see how or what the united states would do about the missiles.