The Cuban Missile Crisis

In your Cold War file folder in your Google Docs account, read pages 350 to 351 of Cuban Missile Crisis.

1. Kennedy described Wednesday, Oct. 24 and Saturday, Oct. 27 as the darkest days of the crisis. Use the information on page 350 to explain why.

Kennedy tries to use a blockade on Cuba, but then the Soviet ships got really close to the blockade zone and just turned around, on October 24. Then Kennedy has a problem with Khrushchev because he gets a letter saying that he should withdraw the missiles from Turkey, then an American pilot was killed and people were telling Kennedy that he should attack but Kennedy put the attack on hold and ended up lifting the blockade.

2. Do you think that nuclear war was ever a possibility in this crisis?

Yes?

3. Is Source 26 a Soviet or an American cartoon? Explain your answer by referring to the details in the cartoon.

I think that Source 26 is an American cartoon because it shows Khrushchev sweating while arm wrestling but Kennedy isn't. Also Khrushchev's finger looks like it's closer to the button that controls the missiles and I think it represents that he is losing to Kennedy and has nothing else to do so that's his only option.

4. Using Source 27 list any evidence you can find for and against each of the explanations.

Why did the Soviet Union place nuclear missiles on Cuba?

To bargain with the USA

For: He could agree to remove them in return for some American concessions.

To test the USA

For: Wanted to test out Kennedy.

To trap the USA

For: The missiles were a trap.
Against: Wanted the Americans to be drawn into a nuclear war.

To get the upper hand in the arms race

For: With missiles on Cuba it was less likely that the USA would ever launch a 'first strike' against the USSR.

To defend Cuba

Against: Missiles were meant to defend Cuba.

5. Choose the explanation(s) that you think best fit what you have found out about the crisis. Explain your choice.

I think that Khrushchev put the missiles on Cuba to get the upper hand in the arms race as well as test Kennedy. The Soviet Union and the U.S. were in this huge competition to be one step ahead of the other so Khrushchev could have set the missiles up on Cuba just to be ahead or caught up to Kennedy. He also could have been testing Kennedy hoping that Kennedy would back down so that he could make Kennedy seem weak.

The U.S. Attempts to Contain Cuba

read pages 347 to 349 of Cuban Missile Crisis.


1. Why was Cuba so important to the United States?
Americans owned most of the businesses on the island and they had a huge naval base there.

2. Why do you think the Americans chose to equip Cuban exiles rather than invading themselves?
I don't think that they wanted to lose any of their own men and maybe they even knew that they couldn't take Castro.

3. Why did the invasion fail?
The invasion failed because Castro had wayy more men than what Kennedy had sent over and they had they had tanks as well as modern weapons.

4. Compare Source 17 on page 345 (in the Arms Race.pdf reading) with Source 24 on page 348. Describe how the Soviet Union missiles on Cuba changed the Cold War balance of power.
It seems like the U.S. have the power because now the Soviet Union is carrying the missiles over to them?

The American Dream in the 1950s

Read Chapter 27, section 2. (pages 847-855)
For each term or name, write a concise sentence or two explaining its significance.

1. Baby Boom: The largest generation in the nation's history. In 1957, an American baby was born every seven seconds. Contributing to the size of the baby-boom generation were many factors, including: reunion of husbands and wives after the war, decreasing marriage age, desirability of large families, confidence in continued economic prosperity, and advances in medicine.

2. Dr. Jonas Salk: Developed a vaccine for the crippling disease poliomyelitis-polio.

3. Interstate Highway System: The Interstate Highway Act authorized the building of a nationwide highway network-41,000 miles of expressways. Encouraged the development of new suburbs farther from the cities and also made high-speed, long-haul trucking possible, which contributed to a decline in the use of railroads.

4. Franchise: A strategy for business expansion where a company offers similar products or services in many locations.

5. In a paragraph, describe in detail how Americans spent their leisure time in the 1950s

In the 1950s, Americans started doing more activities and spending more money on things. People would go out more and participate in or attend sports. For example, they would participate in activities such as, fishing, bowling, hunting, and more and they would attend some games of basketball, baseball, and football. Americans in the 1950s would spend their money on labor-saving devices, like, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, and power lawn mowers.

The Arms Race

1. Read Source 12. What methods do you think Dulles had in mind to 'liberate captive peoples' without a war?
Using/creating different organizations to get rid of communists such as HUAC or friendly neighbors.

2. Look at Source 13. Would you agree that the Communist world was encircled? Explain your answer.
Yes I would agree that the Communist world was encircled because Dulles set up anti-communist organizations all around them, like SEATO and CENTO.

3. Carefully examine the verticle timeline on page 343. Then look back at Source 12. Do you think the development of nuclear weapons was what Dulles might have had in mind?
Dulles could have been thinking about dropping a nuclear weapon or something because this was when the Soviet Union was getting better with their technology and they beat the US to the H-Bomb as well as launching the first satellite.

4. Look at Source 16. What is the Soviet cartoon saying about the U-2 plane?
Since both sides were curious about what the other was doing, the US decided to take spying to a new level by making the U-2, which is why the U-2 looks like a telescope.

5. Read the Factfile on page 344. Explain why the USSR was so angry about the US spy flights.
The flights violated Soviet air space and they couldn't shoot them down or anything. When they finally did, Eisenhower wouldn't apologize about the flights nor promise to never fly over them again.

6. How would the USA justify this violation of Soviet territory?

7. If the USSR had had U-2 planes, do you think it would have used them? Why?
I think that the USSR would have used U-2 planes if they had them because the Soviet Union and US are always competing with one another and if they had these planes then they could probably be one step ahead of the US.

8. Look at Source 17. Why do you think the USA had missiles based in Europe?
It was easier to hit the USSR when they needed to.

9. Define the term 'nuclear deterrent' in not more than 20 words.

Eisenhower & The Cold War

Read Chapter 26, section 4, Two Nations Live on Edge, (pages 828-833).

How did the United States react to the following 7 events, and why?

The United States is always competing with the Soviet Union. For example, the Sputnik and H-Bomb. As soon as the U.S. heard about Sputnik being launched, they immediately had to figure out how to make a satellite for themselves. But this failed the first time they made one. The U.S. made the H-bomb first, but weren't expecting Soviet Union to finish theirs not too long after. The United States were competing because they didn't want the Soviets to be ahead of them in technology or anything really.

1. The Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb in 1949.

2. In 1951, the Iranian prime minister placed the oil industry in Iran under the Iranian government’s control.

3. The Guatemalan head of government gave American-owned land in Guatemala to peasants.

4. In 1956, Britain, France, and Israel invaded Egypt and occupied the Suez Canal.

5. Soviet tanks invaded Hungary and fired on protesters in 1956.

6. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik.

7. In 1960, the Soviet Union brought down an American U-2 piloted by Francis Gary Powers.

The Red Scare (1950s).

Read Chapter 26, section 3 in your textbook. (pages 822-827) and answer the following questions. For each term or name, write a concise sentence or two explaining its significance.


1. HUAC: Most famous agency that investigated possible Communist influence, both inside and outside the U.S. government


2. Blacklist: A list of people whom they condemned for having a Communist background. People who were blacklisted had their careers ruined because they could no longer work.


3. Alger Hiss: Was accused of spying for the Soviet Union and sent him to jail for lying about passing the documents. Richard Nixon gained fame for pursuing the charges against Hiss and was elected president within 4 years. Hiss claimed that he was innocent, but in the 1990s, Soviet cables released by the National Security Agency seemed to prove Hiss's guilt.


4. Ethel and Julius Rosenberg: Minor activists in the American Communist Party. They were asked if they were communists, but they denied the charges and pleaded the fifth. They were later found guilty of espionage and sentanced to death. Judge Irving Kaufman declared their crime as "worse than murder."

5. Joseph McCarthy: January 1950, he realized that he was going to need a winning issue in order to be reelected in 1952, so he charged that Communists were taking over the government.

6. McCarthyism: Has referred to the unfair tactic of accusing people of disloyalty without providing evidence.


7. In a paragraph, describe the motivations and actions of Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s. What prompted his actions? What did he do? What happened as a result of his actions?

Joseph McCarthy seems like he was really desperate to just get reelected. He pretty much made up a story about Communists because he knew that it would get the publics' attention and kind of get them on his side so he could get reelected. I guess the best way to get their attention would be the problem that was going on during the time, Communists. McCarthy would accuse people without any evidence at all and a few times he would claim that he had the names 57, 81, and 205 Communists in the State Department. No one really tried to stop McCarthy because they believed that they would win the presidential election. But six senators, led by Senator Margaret Chase Smith, spoke up about Joseph McCarthy. In 1954, McCarthy made accusations against the U.S. Army and I think that he took it too far, which is why it cost him public support. It also could have cost him support because this was a nationally televised Senate investigation instead of just alone in the Senate. Three years later McCarthy died from alcoholism.

Dropping the Atomic Bomb

1. What factors have affected viewpoints on Truman's decision?

The Allied ships had to kill or capture every one of the 100,000 Japanese soldiers defending Okinawa-none of them would surrender. Allied ships have also been badly damaged by Japanese kamikaze suicide bombers. The Allies were a little stuck and needed to do something that would scare the Japanese off. Truman had a few decisions, to drop the bomb or not and if he should warn the Japanese. Some people agree with Truman's decision because many people had a vengeance against the Japanese. Also when Hirohito surrendered after the bombing of Nagasaki, it proved that it was the right decision. Others didn't agree with Truman's decision because they thought that the bomb served no military purpose and was because, as an anti-communists, Truman wanted to scare the Soviet Union.


2. Do you think he made the right decision? Give your reasons.

I think that Truman made the right decision on Japan. They just let Truman in on the plans as soon as he became president, and it seems as though he had to do something quick about Japan, so i guess dropping an atomic bomb on them is a pretty quick problem solver. The bomb was also a good way to scare Japan, and/or others, away from wanting to fight in war. For example, Japanese military were determined to fight till the finish, but after Truman bombed Nagasaki, Hirohito's will prevailed and Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945.