Question | Answer |
When was the ICBM introduced? What does ICBM stand for? | The first ICBM was introduced by the Soviet Union in 1957. ICBM stands for intercontinental ballistic missile. |
Who became president after Eisenhower? When? How did he win the election? | John F Kennedy was the next president, elected in 1960. He won the election by promising to close the missily gap though there was none. But he did not want to go back on his promise so he continued making more and by 1963 the USA had over 550 ICBM's |
Why did JFK drop Eisenhowers policy of deterrence? What was his new policy? | JFK dropped Eisenhowers policy of deterrence because he saw a defect. Even with a mass retaliation it couldnt be certain to destroy each Soviet missile. He introduced a new policy MAD - mutually assured destruction which would create a balance of terror. |
What was an ABM? What was a MIRV, what could it do? | An ABM is an anti-ballistic missile. It could intercept ICBMs before they reached their targets.A MIRV was a multiple independently targeted re-entry vehicle, they were single missiles that could hit several targets. |
With all the new missiles, both sides thought they had a chance of winning without getting damaged. What was this called? | NUTS - Nuclear utilisaition targeting strategy. |
Why did Khrushchev put nuclear missiles in Cuba? | In 1962, Khrushchev put missiles in Cuba because he was desperate to create a nuclear balance and the USA already had missiles in Turkey and it was the cheapest way. He chose Cuba because Cuba's leader Fidel Castro was disliked by the USA. |
Why did USA dislike Castro which made Cuba and Soviet natural 'friends'? | Because Fidel Castro took over american owned companies and made trade agreements with the Soviet. He also claimed that Cuba was communist. USA tried to overthrow Castro by invading Chochina's Bay (Bay of Pigs) in April 1961. They failed. |
What day did a U2 spy plane take photographs? | On the 14th of October 1962 |
What group was created when JFK found out? On what day did he announce his actions, how did he do this and what were his actions? | EX-COMM - executive commitee of the national security council. On the 22nd of Octover JFK went on television to tell America that he was going to commence a blockade around Cuba. |
When and what was the first message Khrushchev sent? The second? | The first message Khrushchev sent was private on the 26th of Octover. It was that if he publicly announced never to invade Cuba he would remove the missiles. The second message was public, he had to remove the missiles from Turkey as well. |
What did JFK do in response to these messages? And then what happened? | At the first message he did nothing but at the second to keep his reputation he promised never to invade Cuba publicly but he also removed the missiles from Turkey in secrecy. Later on in 1963, Khrushchev and JFK signed a test ban treaty |