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Cold War:  The Cuba Crisis Of 1962
The UN brokered an agreement between the USA and the USSR on the 28th of October 1962.

Cold War:  The Cuba Crisis Of 1962

Discover why the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 brought the world close to nuclear war and how leaders in Washington and Moscow stepped back from disaster.

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Fascinating Fact:

Kennedy ordered a naval blockade, or “quarantine”, around Cuba. American ships aimed to stop Soviet vessels bringing more missiles or equipment.

In GCSE History, this topic examines how the Cuban Missile Crisis became a key turning point in the Cold War. Students explore its causes, main events, and how it finally ended.

  • Cuban Missile Crisis: A major Cold War confrontation in 1962 when the USA discovered Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba.
  • Naval blockade: A line of warships used to stop other ships reaching a coastline, without immediately starting a full war.
  • Brinkmanship: A policy of pushing a dangerous situation to the edge of conflict to gain advantages in negotiation.
What caused the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962?

The Cuban Missile Crisis was caused by the Soviet decision to place nuclear missiles in Cuba, partly to protect Cuba and partly to balance US missiles in Europe and Turkey.

How close did the Cuban Missile Crisis come to nuclear war?

The crisis brought the superpowers extremely close to nuclear war, as both sides prepared their forces. However, careful diplomacy and last minute compromise prevented direct military conflict.

How can I revise the Cuban Missile Crisis for GCSE History?

To revise this topic, learn the causes, key events, and outcomes, make a clear timeline, and practise exam style questions that compare different interpretations of the crisis.

1 .
Secretly the US agreed to withdraw its missiles from Turkey, a NATO member which shared a common border with the Soviet Union. The Russians had long complained that their action in Cuba was simply redressing a balance that had long been out of kilter. What kind of missiles had been deployed in Turkey?
Patriot
Cruise
Jupiter
Minuteman
A total of 100 Jupiter missiles were built between 1956-1961
2 .
Kennedy's advisors were divided in their advice as to what action the US should take. Which air force general urged air attacks on Cuba followed by the toppling of the Castro regime?
Westmoreland
MacArthur
Curtis le May
Colin Powell
Kennedy's options ranged from doing nothing in response to the Soviet militarisation, to launching a full-scale assault on the island of Cuba
3 .
Kennedy decided to surround Cuba with US warships to ensure that no further weaponry entered the island. What name did he give to this policy?
Embargo
Siege
Quarantine
Blockade
Kennedy believed that this policy was a useful compromise between ignoring the Soviet threat and over-reacting to it in an aggressive way
4 .
Which British Conservative prime minister was in regular touch by telephone throughout the crisis with Kennedy, and supported the US stance throughout?
Churchill
Eden
Douglas-Home
MacMillan
The USA received consistent support during the Cuba Crisis from its allies in NATO and other defence pacts. The British government was especially supportive, an example - perhaps - of the "Special Relationship" between the two English-Speaking nations
5 .
The Cuba Crisis also ushered in a nuclear test ban treaty (1963), and a further treaty in 1968 which encouraged countries that were tempted to acquire nuclear weapons to refrain from doing so. What was this latter agreement called?
The Nuclear Disarmament Agreement
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Nuclear Ban Treaty
The International Atomic Weapons Disarmament Agreement
The Cuba Crisis had brought the world to the edge of the nuclear abyss. Statesmen now sought deals that would prevent this ever happening again
6 .
The US representative at the United Nations presented the incriminating aerial photographs to the Assembly, and asked for the Soviet delegate's reaction. Who was this US diplomat?
Dean Rusk
Hubert Humphrey
Adlai Stevenson
Robert McNamara
The photographs gained by the US spy 'plane embarrassed the Soviet Union, which delayed making a response to the US allegations
7 .
In 1961 the US supported an invasion attempt of the island of Cuba by anti-Castro forces based in Florida. The invasion failed ignominiously, but Castro - fearing further attacks - asked the Soviet Union for weapons that would deter more US-backed assaults. What was the name of the ill-fated invasion attempt in 1961?
The Bay of Pigs
Guantanamo Bay
The Gulf of Batabano
Gulf of Ana Maria
The 1961 attack by US-backed forces gave the Soviet Union the opportunity to introduce into the Caribbean theatre both defensive and offensive missiles, capable of altering the nuclear arms balance in the Cold War
8 .
The Cuban Crisis led to the setting up of a direct telephone link between the White House and the Kremlin, which made it easier in the future for crises to be defused. What name was given to this 'phone line?
The Hotline
The Scrambler 'phone
Speedlink
Summit Call
This 'phone line has been in regular use since 1963. Previously communication was difficult: traditionally contact between one country and another was carried out via ambassadors and foreign ministries, which could be a lengthy process
9 .
The United Nations brokered an agreement on the 28th of October 1962. Who was the Secretary-General who achieved this?
Dag Hammarskjold
U Thant
Kurt Waldheim
Trygve Lie
Secretaries-General of the UN were normally chosen from neutral powers, so that they could receive support from both sides in the Cold War. Several of them came from Third World countries. Thant himself came from Burma
10 .
What type of reconnaissance aircraft did the USA use to photograph suspected missile sites on the Cuban mainland?
B52
Dakota
U2
Hercules
Reconnaissance photographs from these flights showed that the Russians were setting up offensive missile sites in the Cuban countryside
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - The Cold War and Vietnam

Author:  Edward Towne

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