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The Cuban Revolution
task 1: Read the Encyclopedia Britannica Article on the Cuban Revolution, which can be
found in the Cuban Missile Crisis folder on Itslearning, and use it to explain how this
Revolution set the stage for further confrontation with the USA (Missile Crisis) and
Cubas willingness to cooperate with the USSR.
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Batista: cuban dictator supported by the United States ➔ he treated
populations badly (Kennedy in hindsight agreed that batista was a bad person
and should ont have been supported by the US)
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1959 revolution against Batista by Fidel Castro (left/communist) ➔ nationalist
revolutionary movement against batista ➔ took a lot of private land/property
(communist revolution)
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Castro is communist/ building communist regime at US border ➔ US wants to
get rid of him
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US wants to get rid of Castro but not make it seem like they are invading
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take exile cubans to be part of CIA/US backed force to overthrow Castro
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However Castro was popular amongst cubans (not exile)
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Not make it official US revolution but a cuban-powered counter invasion
Bay of Pigs Invasion
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Invade at bay of pigs (cuban exiles/CSI/US military)
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Invasion did not go well (bad preparation, etc.)
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Most were captures (over 1000 out of 1400) by Castro ➔ Castro offers to
give men back in exchange for money/aid/etc.
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Some were killed
Negative consequences on US
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Castro strengthened (US embarrassed themselves)
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Castro is now openly communist
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After invasion Castro aligned himself closely with the Soviet Union ➔
wasn't afraid of the US anymore/ didn't want to be likable by them
anymore since their best shot was a total failure
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Castro was afraid of future US invasion ➔ Cuban Missile crisis
task 2: Follow the Link “Kennedy and Cuba” and review the information presented
there (Sources 1-4). Then write a one-page essay that explains The US president’s
attitude towards and his actions against Cuba. Please don’t forget to consider Kennedy’s
political situation in the USA. The basic question is: “ What did Kennedy do and why?”
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Kennedy and Cuba - What did Kennedy do and why?
The Cuban Missile Crisis marks the most dangerous Cold War confrontation between the
United States and the Soviet Union and possibly the closest threshold of reaching nuclear
war. The crisis extended over two extremely tense weeks in October of the year 1962. Before
the US president John F. Kennedy and the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev came to a
peaceful agreement to put an end to the short-lived, yet extreme crisis, a series of events
marked by escalation, as well as de-escalation lead to the final outcome. The following will
explain the US president’s attitude towards Cuba, as well as his resulting actions.
To understand the situation that the US, and with that, Kennedy, were at that time, it is
important to briefly look at Cuba, after the Cuban Revolution, as well as the impact of the
Bay of Pigs Invasion. After the Cuban Revolution in 1959, that managed to overthrow
Batista, a Cuban dictator, Cuba started to lean more left under their new leader, Fidel Castro.
In response to Castro overtaking private land and property, middle to higher class Cubans
migrated to the US as they were most concerned about the new measures taken by Castro.
Due to Castro's left and communist position, the US felt as if they had to evict the new
regime. Considering US containment policy in the Cold War, as well as Cuba's location, at
the US border, Kennedy aimed to eliminate any sort of communist influence and in foresight,
avoid the USSR gaining power. Yet, with respect to Castros (and the Soviets) power the US
utilised the Cuban-exile situation, to make an invasion seem not US-driven, but rather as a
Cuban counter-revolution. With the help of the US army and the CIA, the army of exiles
finally invades Cuba at the bay of pigs, after a series of decoy and air attacks in attempt to
confuse Castro. However, the invasion did not go as planned and, with most men captured
and few killed, is considered a failure. This had various negative consequences on the United
States and Kennedy himself who blamed the CIA for the failed invasion. With the US
appearing as weak, Castro’s regime, that is now openly communist, ultimately gained
strength and after the invasion, felt more comfortable to align closer with the Soviets.
Overall, the Bay of Pigs Invasion was not only an embarrassment for the US, leaving the
country in a weak spot but also partially led to the Cuban Missile crisis as Castro’s motivation
was the fear of another US invasion.
After the U2 spy planes spotted the missiles placed in Cuba for the first time on the 14th of
October 1962, the situation started to tense and left Kennedy in a rough spot. Although the
US did, at the time, have medium-ranged missiles in Turkey and Italy that could easily reach
centres of the USSR, having offensive, first-strike capable missiles right at the border was not
something Kennedy could accept. With big pressure on Kennedy, he holds a meeting on the
16th with advisors to figure out how to handle the situation. Talking to the Soviets was not an
option for Kennedy as he felt it would not have any effect, especially with the weak spot he
was in after the failed invasion. On top of that, Khrushchev has previously made remarks on
Kennedy being too young or naive. But the US wanted to look strong and recover their pride,
which brought them to more aggressive countermeasures. The options included an economic
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blockade that would have been considered an act of war, air attacks on missile soil, and lastly,
the most extreme manoeuvre, to invade Cuba. The last option would go hand in hand with the
US general Cold War interest of not having a communist regime so close to its own borders.
Despite advisors opting for the most extreme option as they evaluated it the best approach for
the US to be taken seriously by the Soviets and the unlikeliness of the Soviets putting up a
fight so far away from their own borders, Kennedy opted for an alternative. Taking into
account the previously failed invasion, as well as a possible Soviet retaliation in Europe and
on top of all, the fact that any type of USSR and US confrontation could easily escalate in
nuclear war, Kennedy decided on a limited blockade, or what he called, a ‘quarantine’. But
before that he, for the first time, communicates with the USSR, specifically the Soviet
Minister of Foreign Affairs who insists that the missiles are defensive. This confirms
Kennedy’s prediction, that communicating with the USSR won’t lead to the desired goal primarily, to get rid of the missiles stationed in Cuba. Due to the uncertainty of the whole
situation, the US goes on high alert mobilizing army, air force and navy in order to be
prepared for any sort of confrontation. After forming the Executive Committee, an official
group advising the president in this capacity, Kennedy gives a speech revealing further action
on US side. The plan of a limited blockade means to filter cargo going into Cuba i.e. ships
suspected to hold armaments. The reason for this decision was that an all-round blockade
would be an act of war and inhuman towards the Cuban population that would have to suffer
starvation. The USSR’s reaction was to consider the limited ’blockade’ an act of aggression
and announce that ships will be instructed to ignore it. In response, Kennedy tries to justify
the requirement for such measures as he undoubtedly considered Cuban missiles offensive.
This led to Khruchev sending a proposal to the US explaining that missiles are stationed in
defence to protect Castro, their ally, from a possible invasion and have no intention of
attacking. The proposal states that if there are assurances from US side, not to participate in
attacking Cuba and restrain others from doing so (referring to the exiles) he would begin
demobilisation as there wouldn’t be a threat any longer. A second public broadcast from
Khrushchev led to confusion: Khrushev publicly stated that the SU would undo the situation
in Cuba only if the US removes missiles from Italy and Turkey. Since Kennedy wanted to
avoid this at all cost, to not furtherly weaken US pride, he pretended not to have heard about
the second request and replies to Khrushchev's cable, agreeing to the first option and secretly
implying to remove US missiles, to not appear as weak in the public eye. At that point in time
the US missiles in Turkey and Italy were not of that much relevance to Kennedy as they were
obsolete and polaris missiles deployable by submarines were already on its way. Eventually it
came to a public agreement on the 28th. Both superpowers agreed on the 1st option proposed
by Khrushev. Only privately did the US agree to remove its missiles in Italy and Turkey since
they didn’t want the outcome to be seen as if the USSR was able to extract something out of
the US by their aggressive action, although in reality, they did. Nonetheless the US did not
want to admit that because of the chance this agreement offered, to restore some of their
strength and pride after the Bay of Pig Invasion which was especially important because of
the upcoming elections.
Generally speaking, Kennedy’s attitude and actions were influenced by two goals: The
removal of missiles in Cuba without triggering a nuclear war and the restoration of American
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pride. His change in attitude is visible after the failure of the Bay of Pig Invasion that caused
a lot of uncertainty. Despite more or less dangerous actions by Kennedy, marked by a
continuous indecisiveness, that contributed to the crisis itself, it was him, his attitude and
actions that helped defuse tensions and negotiate a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
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