The two letters you will read for this final activity were exchanged between president kennedy and chairman khrushchev towards the end of the crisis. Cuban documents on the cuban missile crisis wilson center. True test of a leader how well does he perform in a crisis cuban missile 2. From the bay of pigs to the cuban missile crisis uci history project. In contemporary times, literary and cinematic interpretations of the cuban missile crisis have still excluded a. Select the photograph above to view an indepth report on the cuban missile crisis. It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from cuba agains t any nation in the western hemisphere as an attack by the soviet union on the united states, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the soviet union. The memorandum indicates it was prepared for discussion on october 17.
The years preceding the cuban missile crisis are particularly relevant to the crisis itself, for several events directly influenced key decisionmaking processes during the crisis. The crime of the bystander in the holocaust a civilization is not destroyed by wicked people. Because of the actions of soviet premier nikita khrushchev and u. Explore the inside story of the 1962 cuban missile crisis two years in the making, cuban missile crisis. Forty years ago, a standoff between the worlds two superpowers over soviet nuclear missile bases on the island of cuba threatened to plunge the world into a. Read both letters and then compare the points of view of both men. The cuban missile crisis of october 1962 has been considered the closest the u. Now available for download, the global cuban missile crisis at 50. Cuban missile crisis soviet union, cuba and the united states. On october 18, kennedy met with soviet minister of foreign affairs, andrei gromyko, who claimed the weapons were for defensive purposes only. The cuban missile crisis database of k12 resources. For this reason, many observers have said that during the cuban missile crisis the world came closer to the brink of nuclear war than at any other time.
What others are saying the berlin wall, cuban missile crisis, 1962 history 12 1962 cuban missile crisis close to a nuclear war people fleeing to west brain drain khrushchev wants kennedy to pull out of berlin kennedy increase strength khrushchev puts wall between west and east said they put up a wall to. Forty years ago, a standoff between the worlds two superpowers over soviet nuclear missile bases on the island of cuba threatened to plunge the world into a nuclear war. Cuban missile crisis in 1960s may raise a serious political question in retrospect i. Fidel castro and the communist party take over in 1959 bay of pigs invasion1961 now back to. Memorandum for discussion washington, october 17, 1962. Resurrection day is a novel written by brendan dubois in 1999.
The cuban missile crisis may have been a game of brinksmanship between the kremlin and the white house but it terrified ordinary people. The cuban missile crisis occurred in 1962 when the soviet union began to install nuclear missiles in cuba. Key issues nuclear weapons history cold war cuban missile crisis. Public programsforum transcriptson the brink the cuban missile crisis. Unpublished documents produced by the european union. Cia documents on the cuban missile crisis, 1962 declassified version, 1992, by united states central intelligence agency, ed. Cuban missile crisis closer to nuclear war than previously believed.
When the cuban missile crisis reached a boiling point. In accordance with section 504 of the rehabilitation act. Eisenhowers reluctant adventurism to use a favorite marxist word plunged us into the most dangerous period of the cold war. Sep 14, 2012 as we come up towards the 50th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis, there are several new books coming out commemorating the crisis, adding new information and interpretation, and taking fresh looks at what history remembers as the most dangerous crisis of the nuclear age. Weather, was not placed on alert as it should have been by those who were responsible of doing so, had the crisis been a real one. Oct 29, 2002 the cuban missile crisis may have been a game of brinksmanship between the kremlin and the white house but it terrified ordinary people. Cuban missile crisis and aftermath city university of. This is a two column report, a retelling of the subject events. Map used during the secret meetings on the cuban missile crisis shows the full range of the soviet ballistic missiles deployed in cuba source. Learning from the missile crisis history smithsonian. Lessons drawn from the cuban missile crisis, or interpretations of it, continue to. The cuban missile crisis began for the united states on the morning of october 16, when president kennedy was informed of the discovery of missile sites in cuba by u2 surveillance aircraft.
Kennedys newly released papers remind us why this was the most dangerous moment in recorded history. Subject guides cuban missile crisis libraries western illinois. Why we should still study the cuban missile crisis united states. The authors report on the cuban missile crisis is much better written and includes some analysis. Army, and intelligence gathering in occupied japan, in researching. Kennedy, nuclear devastation of the globe was avoided. Cuban missile crisis world history free pdf download. Due to the age and poor quality of some of the pdf images, a screen reader may not be able to process the images into word documents.
The cuban missile crisis and coexistence new york, 1963, part i. Second, without a better grasp of dias history, the intelligence community is left with an incomplete. The collection in this volume includes many of cias most important documents on the cuban missile crisis. Double, perhaps even quadruple that number of soviet, eastern european, and chinese citizens perished, and no one had any reliable data on how many western europeans, africans, asians, australians, and others were killed by the radioactive fallout as it. Contrary to popular belief, the cuban missile crisis did not end with the agreement between the us and soviet union in october, 1962. The pentagon, opposed to any film that might undermine public enthusiasm for nuclear weapons, refused to cooperate. The cuban missile crisis in the international system for the analyst of international politics, the cuban missile crisis was a marvelously useful. Afterward students can discuss how the events in the film compared to what they have learned in this lesson. Second, he would deliver an ultimatum that the existing missiles be. Cwihp marks the 50th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis by releasing cwihp bulletin 1718, with over 500 newly declassified and translated documents from international sources. It is an alternate history where the cuban missile crisis escalated to a fullscale war, the soviet union is devastated, and the united states has been reduced to a thirdrate power, relying on the united kingdom for aid. These documents are from the foreign relations of the united states series, which i have recommended to many of you for your papers. If the cuban missile crisis was the most dangerous passage of the cold war, the most dangerous moment of the cuban missile crisis was the evening of saturday, 27 october 1962, when the resolution of the crisiswar or peace appeared to hang in the balance. The cuban missile crisis ended on october 28, 1962.
Taylor characterised the cuban missile crisis as the two most important weeks in human history. Many sites are destroyed before they can launch a second missile. Second, the size and character of the soviet deployment went. Web links in that section are clickable in this papers pdf at. The cuban missile crisisknown as the october crisis or the missile scare in cuba and the caribbean crisis in the former ussrwas a day confrontation in october 1962 between the soviet union and cuba on one side and the united states on the other side. A few mig17s scramble from cuban airfields, but are shot down in rapid succession by the f4 phantoms that maintain a constant presence over cuban airfields. During the cuban missile crisis nuclear weapons in cuba were aimed at the us, and at the same time nuclear weapons in the us were aimed at cuba. As we come up towards the 50th anniversary of the cuban missile crisis, there are several new books coming out commemorating the crisis, adding new information and interpretation, and taking fresh looks at what history remembers as the most dangerous crisis of the nuclear age. Kennedy convened an informal group of cabinet officials and top civilian and military advisors the ex comm to consider and plan an appropriate response. Indeed, on the fever chart of these fortyfive years. Central intelligence agency, dcimccone files, job 80b01285a, meetings with the president.
Part of the excellent bbc learning zone series that supports the modern world gcse syllabus. Kennedy, was a confrontation between the two giant atomic nations, the us and the ussr, which brought the world to the abyss of nuclear destruction. Three men go to war reveals how three human beings grappled with the most dangerous. Cuban missile crisis the closest the world ever came to a nuclear war 1962 the players. Nikita khrushchev, the cuban missile crisis, and the aftermath jason roeschley the cuban missile crisis of october 1962 was one of the most significant events of the twentieth century. What happened was that a certain cloud came into russia and the machine thought it was a missile. Great britain, dispatch, confidential, british ambassador in cuba to foreign office, the cuban crisis chapters i and ii, november 10, 1962 with minutes. What if watergate were still just an upscale address. We were in our third year, none of us 15 yet, and we were walking in the valley of the. An example of this can be noted with the collaborative efforts executed by cuba and the soviet union during the 1962 missile crisis.
Media caption how the second missile crisis unfolded. Through the exercises in this lesson, the students become fa. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read on the brink of nuclear war. Nikita khrushchev, the cuban missile crisis, and the aftermath.
The authors narrative regarding the holocaust is a simple report of a portion of the fact that reads more like a book report. Far from ignoring the second khrushchev letter, president kennedy ordered. What if the crisis had spiraled into world war iii. Taylor may have overstated, but he reminded us that this was the closest we have come to extinguishing human civilisation. Cia special national intelligence estimate, major consequences of certain u. In united states historiography, the importance of cuba in the cuban missile crisis has been marginalized by the threat of soviet made military hardware in the western hemisphere. With the push of a button on either side, a nuclear. The cuban missile crisis belfer center for science and. Teachers who have additional time to devote to this subject might want to show their students the 2000 hollywood film thirteen days, which is a dramatization of the cuban missile crisis. Although the idea to bring missiles into cuba originated in the. But the cuban missile crisis did not replicate on the beach, and so thoughts about a cuban missile war passed unobtrusively into history. From the bay of pigs to the cuban missile crisis, reyects the. The cuban missile war was the most devastating war in world history.
Learning from the missile crisis history smithsonian magazine. In contemporary times, literary and cinematic interpretations of the cuban missile crisis have still excluded a cuban perspective in their material. Please read the selected documents below, from the internal deliberations of the administration during the crisis. These historical documents are pdf images of formerly classified carbon paper and reports that have been declassified. Not wanting to expose what he already knew and to avoid panicking the american public,kennedy did not reveal that he was already aware of the missile buildup.
For others, the most vivid images may be from the film thirteen days, starring kevin. Oct, 2012 media caption how the second missile crisis unfolded. Cuban missile crisis timeline world history project. Second holocaust had it not been for the downing of the u2, the cuban missile crisis of october 1962 might never have come about. Those years reveal an extremely pervasive and robust cold war atmosphere, hence, the rationale why the missile crisis needs. The united states refused to allow this and, after thirteen tense days and many secret negotiations, the soviet union agreed to remove the missiles. It won the sidewise award for alternate history that year. While participants and historians of the crisis never tire of recalling its details and its dangers, the majority of the generation that lived. Cuban missile crisis soviet union, cuba and the united states ebook written by scott s.
The cuban missile crisis in the international system for the analyst of international politics, the cuban missile crisis was a marvelously useful event. Dod, transcripts, secret, notes taken from transcripts of meetings of the joint chiefs of staff, octobernovember 1962. The estimated number of north american deaths was upwards of 200 million. New books on the cuban missile crisis the fourteenth day. Navy shadows the second soviet fclass submarine to surface, after repeated rounds of signaling depth charges on 27 october. This lesson should come towards the end of a unit on the holocaust, once students have already developed an understanding of the events of the holocaust as well as its contributing factors. What if president kennedy had not been assassinated in 1963. This site offers scanned documents, some handwritten, concerning nsas. Teachers guide dear teacher, this brief guide to the cuban missile crisis can be used in three ways. During the late 70s and early 80s a russian soldier was given word that the united states had launched a missile on russia. Putnams sons in 2003, isbn 0399150919, and this book as well as its two predecessors, what if. The cuban missile crisis was one of the major climaxes of the cold war, bringing the world the closest it has ever been to a nuclear war. This very interesting article, in adobe pdf format will open in a new window. For others, the most vivid images may be from the film thirteen days, starring kevin costner.