Cuban Missile Crisis: Activities
Cuba and the United States
Look at the page on Cuba.
(1) Study sources A1 to A6. What do these sources tell you about the following in Cuba: (a) poverty; (b) corruption; (c) relationship with the United States.
Fidel Castro
Look at the page on Fidel Castro.
(2) Study sources A1 to A7. Select passages from the sources above that reveal the qualities needed to he a leader.
(3) Castro has been accused of being a dictator. Is there any evidence in the sources above that he might develop into a dictator?
(4) When on trial in 1953 Castro said this to judges trying him: "Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me!" What did he mean by this?
Bay of Pigs
Look at the page on the Bay of Pigs.
(5) What evidence is there in these sources that the Bay of Pigs invasion was not the first method considered for removing Fidel Castro?
(6) Fidel Castro told his ministers not to use the word "socialist" to describe Cuba as in the past the United States had always attempted to overthrow socialist governments. The speech on April 14 (source A6) was the first time Castro had used the term "socialist" to describe the Cuban revolution. Why do you think he did this?
(7) Study sources A6, A7 and A8. What do these sources tell us about how Castro used the Bay of Pigs to consolidate his power in Cuba? How do these sources help to explain the comments made in source A9?
Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy
Look at the page on Nikita Khrushchev.
(8) What do sources A7 to A11 tell us about Nikita Khrushchev? Why would historians want to look at other sources before making a judgement about him?
(9) What reasons does Khrushchev provide for preferring Kennedy to Nixon? How might Nixon have reacted to source A8?
(10) Compare Reston and Sorensen's assessment of the Vienna meeting. Which version does Elie Abel tend to accept? For what reasons would an historian accept some sources as being correct but reject others? Give as many reasons as you can.
Cuban Missile Crisis
Look at the page on the Cuban Missile Crisis.
(11) Look at source A1. Does this prove that the Soviet Union had missiles in Cuba?
(12) In his book '13 Days' Robert Kennedy describes his reaction to being shown the photograph: "What I saw appeared to be no more than a clearing of a field for a farm or the basement of a house." Why then did he believe the CIA when they told him they were Soviet missile sites?
(15) Make a list of the different reasons put forward for the missiles being placed in Cuba. After each reason write the number of the source from which the information came.
(16) Study the list of reasons and divide it into those being in the interests of the Castro's government and those in the interests of the Khrushchev's government.
(17) Which two sources contradict each other? Which one do you believe? Give reasons for your decision.
Cuban Missile Crisis Simulation
President Kennedy's first reaction to the information about the missiles in Cuba was to call a meeting to discuss what should be done. Fourteen men attended the meeting and included military leaders, experts on Latin America, representatives of the CIA, cabinet ministers and personal friends whose advice Kennedy valued. This group became known as the Executive Committee of the National Security Council. Over the next few days they were to meet several times. During their discussions they considered several different strategies for dealing with the crisis. They included the following:
(1) Do nothing. The United States should ignore the missiles in Cuba. The United States had military bases in 127 different countries including Cuba. The United States also had nuclear missiles in several countries close to the Soviet Union. It was therefore only right that the Soviet Union should be allowed to place missiles in Cuba.
(2) Negotiate. The United States should offer the Soviet Union a deal. In return for the Soviet Union dismantling her missiles in Cuba, the United States would withdraw her nuclear missiles from Turkey and Italy.
(3) Invasion. Send United States troops to Cuba to overthrow Castro's government. The missiles could then be put out of action and the Soviet Union could no longer use Cuba as a military base.
(4) Blockade of Cuba. Use the United States Navy to stop military equipment reaching Cuba from the Soviet Union.
(5) Bomb Missile Bases. Carry out conventional air-strikes against missiles and other military targets in Cuba.
(6) Nuclear Weapons. Use nuclear weapons against Cuba and/or the Soviet Union.
When discussing these strategies. President Kennedy and his advisers had to take into consideration how the Soviet Union and Cuba would react to decisions made by the United States. Several members of this committee later wrote about what happened in these meetings. Here is a selection of comments made by the committee when they were discussing the possible consequences of the actions being proposed.
They'll knock out our missile bases in Turkey, Italy or Britain... under our NATO Treaty, we'd be obligated to knock out a base inside the Soviet Union.
Castro might announce that he would execute two Bay of Pigs prisoners for each day it continued.
It would be the start of a nuclear war.
Cuban and Soviet troops would attack the United States base at Guantanamo Bay.
The Latin Americans would produce more figures like Fidel Castro.
It could mean the end of the world.
It will take too much time and the Soviets would be able to finish building the sites.
The next House of Representatives is likely to have a Republican majority.
The Soviet Union would blockade Berlin.
We would kill a lot of Russians. Khrushchev would have to take action.
The Russians would move into West Berlin.
The Cuban communists would take to the hills and fight a guerrilla campaign.
Thousands and thousands of civilians would be killed. Some of the nuclear weapons may be used before we could destroy them.
No country would ever trust us again.
(18) Copy the chart below into your books. Fill in the rest of the chart. In 'Other possible consequences' you will need to consider issues such as the number of people who may be killed, how successful your action is likely to be, future relationships with other countries and how the decision will influence the elections that are about to take place in the United States.
| Strategy |
Reaction of the Soviet Union/Cuba |
Other possible consequences. |
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(19) Study your chart and then decide what you would have done if you had been President Kennedy. You may pick one strategy or a combination of strategies. Pair up with another person. Tell them which strategy you have decided upon. Find out from their chart how they would have reacted to your decision. Would your strategy have been successful?
(20) Get into small groups. Make a group decision on which strategy you should adopt.
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