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.

the u.s. attempts to contain cuba

1. Why was Cuba so important to the United States?
Cuba was so important to the united states because Cuba, being a large island, had also been a American ally. Americans owned most of the businesses on the island and they had a huge naval bas also. The island now belonged to Castro and the soviet union. Castro now took over all the American businesses which caused the united states alto of money.

2. Why do you think the Americans chose to equip Cuban exiles rather than invading themselves?I think that the Americans chose to equip Cuban exiles rather than invading themselves because they thought that the Cuban exiles would know their land more than the Americans. because America knew that if they were to make a direct attack with their men against Castro, the Cubans may attack them, also they might include the soviet union. Having Cuban exiles invade they were in a way of hiding and it put them behind the scenes.

3. Why did the invasion fail?
the invasion failed because the Americans had trained 1400 Cuban exiles, while the soviet union had 200 soldiers fighting for them. Cuban exiles didn't have much air support from the u.s either, so the invasion failed or might have failed because of this.


4. Compare Source 17 on page 345 (in the Arms Race.pdf reading) with Source 24 on page 348. Describe how the Soviet Union missiles on Cuba changed the Cold War balance of power
Source 17 on page 345 is conveying that the united states had more of a advantage then the soviet union because they had mussels that could hit them in seconds. It was showing that the united states had more power over the soviet union in the cold war. But source 24 on page 348 tells a different story. Its saying that the soviet union started depositing missiles. The power had changed from u.s having alot to now soviets having alot The soviet unions can now easily hit almost any city in the u.s in less then 20 minutes. Now the united states had a disadvantage because the soviet Union could bomb any city in the united sates and it now would take more time for the united states to fire back.