International Relations Since 1945
Causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis
A chronological overview of the events leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Cuban Missile Crisis – revision podcast
In 1962 the world came closer than it had come before to a ‘hot war’ in the nuclear age. Cuba, a small island about 90 miles from the coast of Florida in the USA, was the focus of the world’s attention for 13 nerve-wracking days in October.
This podcast begins with an overview of Cuba’s revolution led by socialist rebel Fidel Castro against the right-wing Batista and explains how the USA’s subsequent trade embargo led Cuba to begin a relationship with the USSR. The episode then goes on to describe the failed Bay of Pigs invasion a year before a U2 spy plane revealed that the USSR was helping Cuba to develop bases for nuclear missiles.
The second part of the podcast presents the different options offered to President Kennedy, and how his decision to mount a naval blockade against any more Russian ships coming to Cuba led to both sides settling the dispute via a series of telgrams.
The episode concludes with a consideration of whether either side ‘won’ the crisis. Evidence is presented on both sides of the argument.
The end of the Cuban Missile Crisis
At 9:00 am on the 28th October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis ended when Soviet Premier Khrushchev agreed to remove Russian nuclear missiles from the island of Cuba.
Overview of JFK’s ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ speech, 26th June 1963
On the 26th June 1963 American President John F. Kennedy declared US support for West Berlin with the phrase, “Ich bin ein Berliner” – I am a Berliner – 22 months after the Soviet-supported DDR, more commonly known as East Germany, built the Berlin Wall.
The self-immolation of Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức
Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burned himself to death at a busy crossroads in Saigon.
American involvement in Vietnam
This revision podcast addresses the Vietnam War in the context of the Cold War, and is broadly split into three sections: reasons for the war and America’s involvement, the way the war was fought, and reasons for American withdrawal.
The first section looks at why the war began, and why the USA got involved. This is done by presenting an overview of 5 key causes: containment, the Domino Theory, the division of Vietnam after the Treaty of Geneva, US support for the South Vietnamese government against the Viet Cong, and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. I then provide an example of how to structure an essay essay to explain why the USA got involved.
The second part of the podcast addresses the way the war was fought. It assesses how the guerrilla tactics of the Viet Cong were developed as a response to the vastly superior American firepower, and ways in which the USA similarly responded to this new style of warfare. American tactics described in the podcast include the Strategic Hamlets Programme, Operation Rolling Thunder, the use of Agent Orange, and Search and Destroy missions.
The episode concludes with an overview of the various factors that led to the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam, concluding with a short comment on the lasting effect of the Vietnam War on American attitudes to the Cold War.
Causes and effects of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
On the 7th August 1964, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed by the United States Congress.
Cause and consequence: Captain Bảy Lốp executed by General Loan
On the 1st February 1968, American photojournalist Eddie Adams took a photograph of South Vietnamese National Police Chief General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executing Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém in Saigon.
