Tag Archives: Cuba
Why the USA cut diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961
On the 3rd January 1961, the United States of America severed its diplomatic relationship with Cuba and closed the American embassy in Havana.
The Bay of Pigs invasion: an overview
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was launched by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506.
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.
