Cuban Missile Crisis
two military steps the United States took in response to the missiles in Cuba
1) John F. Kennedy decided to take extra precautions to the situation and read the guns of august in order to gain a sense of not pushing the soviets and the cubans too harshly in order to obtain information about the missiles 2) Kennedy also wanted to set up a blockade around cuba if the cubans proved to be hostile towards the US.
What did Kennedy mean by saying that the United States "made every effort ... to give our adversary room to move"?
After reading the guns of august, JFK stated that after using all their known tactics (excluding the launch of nuclear missiles) the US was going to begin to become more persuasive toward the soviets and cuba by being less hostile and more talkative and reasonable.
How did Castro react to Khrushchev's decision to remove the missiles?
Castro was not upset about the removal of the missiles. He stated that Khrushchev actually pressured him into accepting the missiles into cuba.
In what ways did Castro's view of the conclusion of the crisis differ from the views of Kennedy and Khrushchev?
Castro, realizing that Khrushchev and Kennedy did not confirm with Castro that the missiles were going to be removed from Cuba upsetted him. After the blockade was lifted, Castro considered assaulting the US with any remaining missiles that were left in Cuba, but there was nothing to launch because of the removal of the missiles.
What option did Kennedy take on October 20, 1962 with regards to the crisis and why?
Kennedy had decided to confront cuba and the soviets about the missiles that were discovered in their territory
Why did Kennedy respond only to the first letter he received from Khrushchev?
Kennedy was not in favor of Khrushchev's off-putting behavior that seemed present in his second letter, and felt as if it would only be necessary to respond to the first letter in order to address concerns of what the US was mainly focussing on: the missiles that were discovered.
How did the OAS and Latin American governments respond to the Soviet actions in Cuba?
Much like the reactions in the US government, OAS and Latin american governments responded negatively, seeing the missiles as a sure threat to the US.
How did Khrushchev's two letters to Kennedy differ?
The First letter that Khrushchev sent to Kennedy stated that Khrushchev cared greatly for his people and their safety. In the second letter, Khrushchev states that he is aware that Kennedy also cares about the people of the US and their safety as well, but also states that cuba, russia and every other continent feels the same about their people as well, and tells kennedy that all he's focusing on is the missiles that were discovered in cuban territory.
How did the end of the crisis affect relations between the United States and the Soviet Union?
The US and the Soviets ended the crisis with a mutual agreement, still with both nations retaining tensions between each other.
How great was the danger of the use of nuclear weapons during the crisis?
The danger of attempting to use nuclear weapons during the crisis was a last resort. If the US had launched any nuclear missiles of any kind, the domino effect would come into play, and the US would have been looked down upon and a subject to target with nuclear missiles in future wars.