The cuban missile crisis of october 1962 has been considered the closest the u. 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. Great britain, dispatch, confidential, british ambassador in cuba to foreign office, the cuban crisis chapters i and ii, november 10, 1962 with minutes. 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. In contemporary times, literary and cinematic interpretations of the cuban missile crisis have still excluded a. Oct, 2012 media caption how the second missile crisis unfolded. Subject guides cuban missile crisis libraries western illinois. The cuban missile crisis belfer center for science and. Kennedys newly released papers remind us why this was the most dangerous moment in recorded history.
Cuban missile crisis closer to nuclear war than previously believed. Navy shadows the second soviet fclass submarine to surface, after repeated rounds of signaling depth charges on 27 october. 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. 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. Kennedy convened an informal group of cabinet officials and top civilian and military advisors the ex comm to consider and plan an appropriate response. The cuban missile crisis occurred in 1962 when the soviet union began to install nuclear missiles in cuba. Many sites are destroyed before they can launch a second missile. 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. The cuban missile crisis and coexistence new york, 1963, part i. 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. In accordance with section 504 of the rehabilitation act. Second, he would deliver an ultimatum that the existing missiles be.
Cuban missile crisis and aftermath city university of. But the cuban missile crisis did not replicate on the beach, and so thoughts about a cuban missile war passed unobtrusively into history. 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. The cuban missile war was the most devastating war in world history. The memorandum indicates it was prepared for discussion on october 17. 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. Cuban documents on the cuban missile crisis wilson center. In contemporary times, literary and cinematic interpretations of the cuban missile crisis have still excluded a cuban perspective in their material. The united states refused to allow this and, after thirteen tense days and many secret negotiations, the soviet union agreed to remove the missiles. Media caption how the second missile crisis unfolded.
Taylor characterised the cuban missile crisis as the two most important weeks in human history. 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. With the push of a button on either side, a nuclear. 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.
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. This is a two column report, a retelling of the subject events. Far from ignoring the second khrushchev letter, president kennedy ordered. Afterward students can discuss how the events in the film compared to what they have learned in this lesson. Lessons drawn from the cuban missile crisis, or interpretations of it, continue to.
The two letters you will read for this final activity were exchanged between president kennedy and chairman khrushchev towards the end of the crisis. 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. The crime of the bystander in the holocaust a civilization is not destroyed by wicked people. What if watergate were still just an upscale address. From the bay of pigs to the cuban missile crisis, reyects the. Map used during the secret meetings on the cuban missile crisis shows the full range of the soviet ballistic missiles deployed in cuba source. Through the exercises in this lesson, the students become fa. On october 18, kennedy met with soviet minister of foreign affairs, andrei gromyko, who claimed the weapons were for defensive purposes only.
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. 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. 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. Central intelligence agency, dcimccone files, job 80b01285a, meetings with the president. The cuban missile crisis database of k12 resources. Taylor may have overstated, but he reminded us that this was the closest we have come to extinguishing human civilisation. True test of a leader how well does he perform in a crisis cuban missile 2. Key issues nuclear weapons history cold war cuban missile crisis. What happened was that a certain cloud came into russia and the machine thought it was a missile. The authors narrative regarding the holocaust is a simple report of a portion of the fact that reads more like a book report. Eisenhowers reluctant adventurism to use a favorite marxist word plunged us into the most dangerous period of the cold war.
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. 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. What if president kennedy had not been assassinated in 1963. Now available for download, the global cuban missile crisis at 50. 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. The cuban missile crisis ended on october 28, 1962. Dod, transcripts, secret, notes taken from transcripts of meetings of the joint chiefs of staff, octobernovember 1962. Learning from the missile crisis history smithsonian. Cia special national intelligence estimate, major consequences of certain u. The cuban missile crisis in the international system for the analyst of international politics, the cuban missile crisis was a marvelously useful event. The collection in this volume includes many of cias most important documents on the cuban missile crisis. Cuban missile crisis in 1960s may raise a serious political question in retrospect i. 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.
When the cuban missile crisis reached a boiling point. Kennedy, nuclear devastation of the globe was avoided. The cuban missile crisis in the international system for the analyst of international politics, the cuban missile crisis was a marvelously useful. The pentagon, opposed to any film that might undermine public enthusiasm for nuclear weapons, refused to cooperate. Resurrection day is a novel written by brendan dubois in 1999. Nikita khrushchev, the cuban missile crisis, and the aftermath. Because of the actions of soviet premier nikita khrushchev and u. 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. 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. This very interesting article, in adobe pdf format will open in a new window. Second, the size and character of the soviet deployment went. Why we should still study the cuban missile crisis united states.
Learning from the missile crisis history smithsonian magazine. 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. The cuban missile crisis may have been a game of brinksmanship between the kremlin and the white house but it terrified ordinary people. New books on the cuban missile crisis the fourteenth day. Select the photograph above to view an indepth report on the cuban missile crisis. The authors report on the cuban missile crisis is much better written and includes some analysis. Second, without a better grasp of dias history, the intelligence community is left with an incomplete. Indeed, on the fever chart of these fortyfive years. Contrary to popular belief, the cuban missile crisis did not end with the agreement between the us and soviet union in october, 1962. Those years reveal an extremely pervasive and robust cold war atmosphere, hence, the rationale why the missile crisis needs. Three men go to war reveals how three human beings grappled with the most dangerous. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read on the brink of nuclear war. Public programsforum transcriptson the brink the cuban missile crisis.
Putnams sons in 2003, isbn 0399150919, and this book as well as its two predecessors, what if. Army, and intelligence gathering in occupied japan, in researching. Part of the excellent bbc learning zone series that supports the modern world gcse syllabus. Read both letters and then compare the points of view of both men. Memorandum for discussion washington, october 17, 1962. 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. An example of this can be noted with the collaborative efforts executed by cuba and the soviet union during the 1962 missile crisis. What if the crisis had spiraled into world war iii.
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. 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. For others, the most vivid images may be from the film thirteen days, starring kevin. Second holocaust had it not been for the downing of the u2, the cuban missile crisis of october 1962 might never have come about. 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. Fidel castro and the communist party take over in 1959 bay of pigs invasion1961 now back to. Although the idea to bring missiles into cuba originated in the. Please read the selected documents below, from the internal deliberations of the administration during the crisis. Unpublished documents produced by the european union. 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. Cuban missile crisis timeline world history project. Cuban missile crisis world history free pdf download. From the bay of pigs to the cuban missile crisis uci history project. Cia documents on the cuban missile crisis, 1962 declassified version, 1992, by united states central intelligence agency, ed.
Cuban missile crisis soviet union, cuba and the united states ebook written by scott s. These historical documents are pdf images of formerly classified carbon paper and reports that have been declassified. The estimated number of north american deaths was upwards of 200 million. 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. Cuban missile crisis soviet union, cuba and the united states. Explore the inside story of the 1962 cuban missile crisis two years in the making, cuban missile crisis. For others, the most vivid images may be from the film thirteen days, starring kevin costner. We were in our third year, none of us 15 yet, and we were walking in the valley of the.