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Cuba in the Cold War By: Alex Noland
By Alex Noland 4-9-14 SS2 -
Castro Returns to Cuba
Castro returns to Cuba with a group of 80 followers, returned to Cuba in an invasion that they hoped would lead to a swift victory. -
Batista flees
On january 1st, 1959, Batista fled Cuba, and Castro took control of the nation. -
CIA Trains for Attack
Beginning in March 1960, the CIA trained people who opposed Castro for the assault. The entire operation was to be highly secret, but the secret was poorly kept. Stories about it appeared in Cuban newspapers. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
On April 17, 1961, the CIA-backed force of 1,400 Cuban refugees landed at the swampy Bay of Pigs on Cuba’s southern coast. A Cuban force of 20,000 easily overwhelmed the invaders, capturing about 1,100 men and imprisoning them. -
Cuba and Soviet Make Trades
In 1962, intelligence reports noted a dramatic increase in the cooperation between Cuba and the Soviet Union. Shipments of cargo from the Soviet Union to Cuba increased dramatically through the year, from an average of 14 per month to 28 per month in August and then to 46 per month in September. The CIA suspected these shipments included weapons. -
U-2
In September, U-2 photographs from flyovers revealed improvements at certain missile-launching sites. U.S. knowledge of Soviet technology led to the alarming conclusion that these sites had been modified to have the ability to launch intermediate-range missiles—missiles that could carry nuclear weapons and that could reach the southeast United States. To the CIA, these were signs that the Soviet Union planned to use Cuba as a base for attacks—even nuclear attacks—against the United States. -
100% sure of Missiles
By October 15, 1962, the administration knew with certainty that Cuba had the missiles and the launching capacity to attack the United States. However, it was unknown if or when an attack might occur. Kennedy and his advisers considered several possible responses such as diplomacy, covert sabotage, a blockade, limited air strikes, or a full-scale invasion. AKA (Cuban Missle Crisis) -
JFK Announces to Public
On October 22, President Kennedy issued a formal demand to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev that the missiles be removed from Cuba. Kennedy gave a televised speech announcing that the United States had indisputable evidence of offensive missiles in Cuba. -
Resolution
The tense situation continued for a week. Kennedy and Khrushchev exchanged several messages. Each stood his ground, unwilling to back down but unwilling to start a war. Finally, on October 28, a settlement was reached. Khrushchev agreed to stop sending missiles to Cuba and to return the missiles already in Cuba to the Soviet Union. In addition, he agreed to dismantle the launching sites. In return, Kennedy promised that the United States would not invade Cuba and also secretly agreed to remove U