Libertyville High School
 Nov. 1958:
Khrushchev
demanded western
powers leave West Berlin
 Khrushchev repeated
same demand in June,
1961
• Kennedy increased size of
military to 1.1 million
• Authorized draft
 Thousands
of East
Berliners fled to West
during crisis
 August
13, 1961: Border
between E. Germany and
W. Berlin closed
 On same day, border
between E, W Berlin
closed
 JFK ordered 150,000
troops to W. Berlin
 Standoff w/ East German
troops continued through
summer of 1962
 Castro
seized power in
Cuba, 1959
 Prior to invasion, US
“owned” Cuba
• Pro US government
• US owned 4/5 of island
utilities
• ½ of sugar production
• Nearly all mining
• Mob dominated casinos
 Overthrowing
Castro
became focus for CIA
 March, 1960:
Ike ordered
invasion of Cuba
• CIA would train Cuban
immigrants / exiles
• US would support invasion
with bombers, supplies
 Cuba
gov’t knew
invasion was coming
(loose lips, KGB info)
 Invasion
itself a fiasco
• 1300 ground troops
supported by air sorties by
WWII era airplanes
• Three days of fighting left
about 90 exiles dead; most
surrendered, out of ammo
• At UN, Cuban diplomats
accused US of invasion
• Adlai Stevenson: “under
no circumstances” would
US troops participate in
combat in Cuba
• About 100 Cuban
exiles were executed;
rest were exchanged
in Dec. 1962 for $53
million in food,
medicine ($ raised
privately)
 Castro
declared self a Marxist,
accelerated nationalization of industries
 Castro
driven firmly into arms of USSR
(US saw as violation of what doctrine?)
 Soviets
used invasion as pretext to send
in military “advisors”, nuclear weapons
 Severe
embarrassment for JFK
 Feb. 1962:
JFK est.
economic embargo of
Cuba
 Castro was convinced
of imminent US
invasion
 Khrushchev decided to
secretly place med.
range nukes in Cuba
 Crisis
at peak from
October 8-28, 1962
• 10-14: U2 photos showed
proof of buildup
• JFK, 10-22-62: “It shall be
the policy of this nation to
regard any nuclear missile
launched from Cuba
against any nation in the
Western Hemisphere as an
attack on the United States,
requiring a full retaliatory
response upon the Soviet
Union.”

US est. strict quarantine on
Cuba
• Blockade of all supplies =
declaration of war
• Quarantine against weapons
NOT a dec. of war

Intense negotiations
between JFK, Khrushchev
• Khrushchev: US “pirate
action”
• Trade nukes in Turkey for
nukes in Cuba?
• US: no – just get’em out of
Cuba

Defcon 2, nukes loaded for
attack against USSR
 Resolution
• Khrushchev publicly
agreed to remove missiles
• JFK agreed to publicly
state that US would never
invade Cuba
• Castro would publicly
promise never to accept
nukes in Cuba
• JFK secretly removed
nukes from Turkey
 To
world, it looked like
Khrushchev “blinked”
Non-aligned nations
 Non-alignment
policy of
small countries
• Policy: peaceful coexistence
with the 1st, 2nd world nations
was preferable & possible
• Played US, USSR off against
each other for cash, rewards
 Creation
of Org. of African
States (1963)
• African states banded
together vs. 1st World

Invasion of Dominican
Republic (1965)
• 22,000 marines sent in
• LBJ: Invasion to prevent
OPEC Nations
communist takeover
• LBJ exaggerated threat, to
press; start of “Credibility
gap”

Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries
(OPEC) formed 1960
• Resentment strong amongst
oil producing 3rd World
countries who were being
exploited by West corps
 Khrushchev
overthrown in
1964
• “Losing” Cuban missile
crisis
• Economic difficulties
• Perceived loss of power
within Politburo
 Replaced
by Leonid
Brezhnev
• Conservative party leader
• Chinese-Soviet relations
deteriorate to warfare in
1969, over border
 De
Gaulle protested
strong US role in org.
 Developed French indep.
army, from 1958 on
• In event of war, intended to
strike separate peace
• 1959 – w/d Med fleet from
NATO command
• 1959 – banned stationing of
nukes on French soil
• 1966 – removed Fr. from
NATO commands
 1968:
new Czech
president, Dubcek, came
to power
• Loosened restrictions on
media, speech, travel
• Soviets objected
 August, 1968:
Thousands
of Soviet troops and tanks
moved in
 Crackdown, occupation
continued until 1990
 “Triad” of
strategy
nuclear
• Land based missiles
 Rockets for space program
 Large launch facility vulnerable
to attack
 Missile silos first built in mid
1960s
 Multiple Independently
Targetable Re-entry Vehicles
(MIRV) were game changers
• Bomber fleet
 B-52s continued to be updated
• Submarine fleet
 Ballistic missile subs first
deployed in 1959
 Mutual
Assured
Destruction
• First strike nation would
still be wiped out by
second strike capability of
other country
• Each nation a rational
actor, intent on self
preservation
• Doctrine depends upon
credibility of the threat of
second strike = continual
investment, updating
nukes
MAD Game Tree