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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 35 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Cuban Missile Crisis
Dean Rusk. Remember, Dean Acheson was Secretary of State during Truman's administration and was only called in as an advisor. Lyndon Johnson was Kennedy's Vice President, and Robert F. Kennedy was the President's brother and Attorney General.
Fidel Castro . Castro has been the leader of Cuba since his overthrow of Batista in 1959.
| Two Soviet ships that were first intercepted by American ships during the quarantine were the Komiles and what other ship? | The Cuban Missile Crisis
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Gagarin. Yuri Gagarin was the name of the cosmonaut (who had nothing to do with the Cuban Missile Crisis.)
| President Kennedy demanded a unanimous vote from which organization before ordering the blockade effective? | The Cuban Missile Crisis
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Organization of American States.
Dobrynin and Gromyko. Gromyko gave the President a false answer by telling him that the Soviet interest in Cuba's military was only for '...the purpose of contributing to the defense capabilities of Cuba.'
| Upon the recommendation of Robert S. McNamara, Secretary of Defense, what action did Kennedy decide would be best to take? | The Cuban Missile Crisis
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Inspection of incoming cargo ships. After much debate with his advisors, President Kennedy decided that the quarantine and inspection of incoming ships would be the best solution to avoid an immediate nuclear exchange between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
Dean Acheson . Dean Acheson was Secretary of State under Harry S Truman.
U2. You may remember Gary Powers who was shot down while flying over the USSR. At the time, the US thought no Soviet SAM could fly that high. This incident had a lasting negative impact on US-Soviet relations.
A direct phone line from the White House to the Kremlin. One of the biggest problems during the CMC was the inability for the two powers to communicate. This created confusion and misinterpretation between the two countries. The phone made sure that any misunderstanding would be addressed.
Trying to subvert the Bolshevik revolution. Khrushchev stressed this constantly, mainly to get support from the public, since the Bolshevik revolution was considered sacred in the USSR, much like the Declaration of Independence in the US.
A US trade embargo for more than 45 years. The US is still punishing Cuba for Castro's indiscretions. With a trade embargo, Cuba's economy has been suffering, but amazingly, Castro remained in power till 2008. There has been talk of lifting the embargo, but seems it is unlikely. There is still a lot of resentment towards Castro for accepting the Soviet missiles. This resentment is totally appropriate, considering Castro's actions were irresponsible and created a dangerous situation.
Promised not to invade Cuba and took down some of its missiles in Turkey. Tactically, it was a loss for the US. Since the USSR didn't suffer any tactical loss, in the end the Soviets stood where they originally were, and the US gave up 2 things. But the Turkey deal was kept secret. And publicly, it destroyed the USSR. So in the end, it was an even situation. Please note that the Turkey missiles were already scheduled for removal, but Kennedy used it as a bargaining chip. It wasn't technically part of the deal, but it put the US in a favorable position to offer Turkey in exchange for Cuba.
The UN. The US delegate to the UN (Stevenson) embarrassed the Soviets in front of every member nation. The Soviets denied putting missiles on Cuba, up until Stevenson pulled the evidence from his briefcase. It was quite a show.
The Nixon-Castro-Khrushchev meeting. Oddly enough, the US can be blamed just as much as the Soviets and the Cubans. During the Eisenhower administration, Nixon was the Vice President. When Castro first came to power, he wanted to meet with US officials, and wanted to ally himself with the West. Castro met with Nixon, and it did not go well. Nixon despised Castro for his socialist tendencies. Nixon essentially told Castro he was not interested in any kind of alliance with him. Castro then ran to the Soviets, who welcomed him with open arms. With Cuba being 90 miles off the coast of Florida, it was a strategic goldmine for the USSR. If Nixon had been a little more aware of the fact that the Cold War was fought through the Third World, he might have realized that the US needed Cuba, because if we rejected them, they would just run to the Soviets for military and economic aid.
A naval blockade of Cuba. Probably the best option, he could not have sat by and done nothing, nor could he be overly aggressive. This was just the right move to "tighten the rope", and to call the Soviet's bluff. Tactically, it was useless, since Soviet ships could have gone around the blockade. But strategically, it showed the Soviets that the US would not back down.
| What scenario did the top brass of the military try to 'sell' to Kennedy to remove the missiles from Cuba? | The Cuban Missile Crisis
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Air strikes followed by invasion. Good thing Kennedy was tough enough not to get pushed around by the military. If the US had attacked Cuba, we might not be sitting here at our computers now.
Kennedy and Khrushchev. Considered by many to be the greatest leaders of both countries.
| What did both countries (United States and the Soviet Union) agree to do to solve this conflict? | Cuban Missile Crisis
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Demanding the removal of U.S. missiles in Turkey in exchange for Soviet missiles in Cuba. On October 27, Khrushchev proposed removing Soviet missiles and personnel if the U.S. would guarantee not to invade Cuba. On that same day, a U-2 spy plane was shot down, and Kennedy received another proposal from Khrushchev demanding the removal of U.S. missiles in Turkey in exchange for Soviet missiles in Cuba.
Bay of Pigs Invasion. During this era, the Bay of Pigs Invasion by CIA-backed Cuban exiles in 1961 caused the Soviets to place missiles on the Cuban territory. Cuba was a strong ally to the Soviet Union, and was against the covert operation(s) the United States had done to oust the Cuban Premier, Fidel Castro.
Turkey. The U.S. missiles in Turkey threatened the Soviet Union, which made the Soviet Union set up missiles in Cuba. This was because both countires wanted to set up missiles that were closer to each other so that it would strike the country within a few minutes if there was to be a nuclear strike.
| Who was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union at the time of the Cuban missile crisis? | Cuban Missile Crisis
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Nikita Khrushchev. Nikita Khrushchev was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and in effect head of the Soviet administation during this missile crisis. He served from 1953-1964. He was in charge of launching plans to place missiles on the Cuban territory.
| Immediately before the Cuban missile crisis, what was the internationally agreed limit to territorial waters in the Americas? | Cuban Missile Crisis
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12 Miles. During this era, the United States would not allow any naval vessel reach within 12 nautical miles of the North and South American coastline which includes the islands as well. Within those 12 miles, vessels flying the flag of another nation are under the jurisdiction of that other nation, with the exception of a wide list of situations which are considered of overriding importance (bearing weapons of mass destruction; carrying contraband cargo; broadcasting on unlicensed frequencies; engaging in criminal acts that may affect those on shore, etc.). It also related to the majority other countries in the Americas.
| When Kennedy became aware that the Soviet Union was about to station missiles on Cuban territory, what did he order the U.S. Navy to do? | Cuban Missile Crisis
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Set up a naval 'quarantine' (partial blockade) around Cuba. Kennedy became aware in October of 1962, and ordered the U.S. Navy to set up a partical naval blockade around Cuba to prevent the delivery of nuclear weapons to the country. Kennedy announced to the world that he was setting the blockade up until the missiles from Cuba were removed. A full-scale nuclear war between the two superpowers would have been a possible outcome if Soviet ships had challenged the U.S. naval blockade.
| What reconnaissance did the United States use to discover the missile sites on the Cuban territory? | Cuban Missile Crisis
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Spy plane. In October 1962, a United States U-2 reconnaissance spy plane that was flown by Richard Heyser discovered that the Soviets were building underground sites in Cuba for the potential launch of offensive missiles against the United States.
| In which year did the United States become aware of Soviet plans to station missiles in Cuba? | Cuban Missile Crisis
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1962. The United States of America became aware of this in 1962 and the fact that the Soviet Union was taking active steps to place missiles in Cuba - a clear threat to the United States. John F. Kennedy was the US president at the time.
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