1843354
Cuban Missile Crisis
- General Batista Rule
- Close to America, so
they need to keep Cuba
as an ally because Soviet
weapons based could
attack quickly
- A lot of Americans
owned businesses
in Cuba
- Cuba was
just 160km
(95mi) from
cuba
- General
Batista
opposed
communism
- In 1898 the
Americans had
helped the
Cubans win
independence
from Spain.
From that time
the USA had
played a major
part in Cuban
affairs
- Close to America, so
they need to keep Cuba
as an ally because Soviet
weapons based could
attack quickly
- The Cuban Revolution and The Bay of Pigs Invasion
- Castro took over some
American owned businesses in
Cuba, particularly the
agricultural businesses, he
took their land and distributed
it to his supporters among
Cuba's peasant farmer
population.
- There were thousands of
Cuban exiles in the USA
who had fled from Castro's
rule. They formed powerful
pressure groups.
- Rather than a direct invasion,
President Kennedy supplied
arms; equipment and transport
for 1,400 anti-Castro exiles to
invade Cuba and overthrow him.
In April 1961, the exiles landed at
the bay of pigs. They were met by
20,000 Cuban troops armed with
tanks and modern weapons. The
invasion failed disastrously,
Castro captured or killed them all
within days.
- The half-hearted invasion suggested to Cuba
and the Soviet Union that, despite its
opposition to Socialism in Cuba, the USA was
unwilling to get directly involved in Cuba.
- Castro knew in
advance that an
invasion was likely.
Even US papers had
said an invasion would
happen that week!
Castro had assembled
a well equipped army
of 20,000 men ready to
meet the invaders
- The Americans tried to parachute extra
supplies to the invasion force when things
started to go badly. These were dropped into
a swamp and over an army base loyal to Fidel
Castro!
- Almost all of the 1,400 members of the invasion
force were killed or captured. Only 24 were
rescued. Cuba lost just 176 men in the fighting
- The USA were worried about direct
US intervention in Cuba so scaled
down the initial attack and only
used 6 bombers and cancelled
cancelled air support to the exiles as
they landed. The 6 bombers only
destroyed 3 Cuban planes.
- The Bay of Pig Invasion was surrounded by a coral reef. This had
shown up on Spy plane photographs but the Americans had thought
it was seaweed! It took hours for the invaders to get to Cuba and
some of the invaders were attacked before they reached the island
- Castro took over some
American owned businesses in
Cuba, particularly the
agricultural businesses, he
took their land and distributed
it to his supporters among
Cuba's peasant farmer
population.
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