Average History Trivia: The Cuban Missile Crisis | 10 Questions

Answer: Kennedy and Khrushchev

Ultimately, both kept their cool in this crisis.

Answer: 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.

Answer: 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.

Answer: The Nixon-Castro-Khrushchev meeting

Oddly enough, the USA 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 in January 1959, he wanted to meet with US officials, and wanted to ally himself with the West. Castro met with Nixon in April 1959, 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 met the Soviets at the UN in September 1960. 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 USA needed Cuba, because if they rejected Cuba, they would just run to the Soviets for military and economic aid.

The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted for 34 days during October-November 1962 - the Soviets installed nuclear missiles in Cuba. The Soviets withdrew their missiles on the understanding that the USA would not invade Cuba and would remove their missiles from Turkey.

Answer: 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.

Answer: 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.

Answer: 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.

Answer: 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.

Answer: 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.

Answer: 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.