-
Fidel Castro assumes power after the Cuban Revolution
The Cuban revolution took place from 1953 to 1959. The revolution was headed by Castro and his 26th of July Movement which was a revolutionary organization. This movement was created by Castro to topple Fulgencio Batista's junta. On January 1st, 1959, Castro, the communist revolutionary, took control of Cuba as Batista fled the country. -
The Bay of Pigs Invasion
A group of 1,500 Cuban exiles who were trained and supported by the CIA attempted to invade Cuba through the Bay of Pigs. They wanted to overthrow Castro and his revolution. This was another attempt by America to stop the spread of Communism. The exiles failed horribly because they were badly outnumbered and they surrendered after less than 24 hours. -
Khrushchev and Kennedy Hold Summit in Vienna
The Vienna Summit was a meeting between John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev. This meeting was shortly after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and the goal of this meeting was to have the two superpowers discuss the issues between them. Kennedy was unprepared and Khrushchev destroyed him in the conversation. Also, Khrushchev mentioned the possibility of war if the U.S. provoked the Soviet Union. The meeting did not accomplish much and it increased the tension between the countries. -
Yuri Gagarin in space
Yuri Gagarin was a Soviet Cosmonaut. He was the first human to fly into space and he was inside the Soviet Vostok Union Spacecraft. His accomplishments made him a cultural hero in the Soviet Union. Because Gagarin had been sent into space, this was seen as a large threat in the technological race between the U.S. and the USSR. The U.S. was trying to keep up after Gagarin and Sputnik. -
Berlin Wall
The communist government of the German Democratic Republic began to build a wall out of barbed wire and concrete to separate East and West Berlin. The eastern side of Germany belonged to the Soviet union and the Western side to the allies. The purpose of the wall was to block Western Fascists from coming into Eastern Germany and affecting the socialist state. Additionally, the wall was meant to keep East Germany citizens inside instead of them fleeing to West Germany. -
A U-2 flying over western Cuba discovers missile sites.
As the U.S. received multiple reports that the Soviets had installed medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs), A U-2 spy plane was sent over Cuba to search for any of the MRBMs on the country. The photographic evidence collected by the plane was looked at and it discovered that there were six large missiles that were clear to have nuclear capability. -
Kennedy decides on a quarantine of Cuba
Since there was no way to ensure that an air strike would destroy all Soviet Missiles in Cuba, President Kennedy established a quarantine on Cuba. This prevented any shipments of offensive equipment from reaching Cuba. Kennedy did not want the Soviets or Cuba to find out that the U.S. knew about the missiles in Cuba since they were unsure how the USSR would react. Another U-2 plane then found that more offensive weaponry was being built on Cuba's northern shore. -
Military Forces go to DEFCON 2, the closest America has ever been to nuclear war.
Many Soviet ships were sailing to Cuba that were going to be met with the U.S. quarantine. These Soviet ships were suspicious and it was believed that these ships were carrying nuclear weapons. This caused the U.S. to go into DEFCON 2, one stage away from nuclear war. The USSR decided the quarantine of Cuba an act of aggression and planned to advance on the U.S. forces blockading Cuba. The U.S. suggested that if they removed their missiles in Turkey, the USSR would remove their missiles in Cuba. -
An American U-2 is shot down over Cuba
A U-2 spy plane, controlled by Rudolf Anderson, had flown into Cuba but unwittingly flew in to Soviet airspace. The plane came on the Soviets radar who tracked him and Lieutenant General Grechko had the plane destroyed, killing Anderson. Kennedy sends his brother to meet with Dobrynin to talk and the Soviets promise to remove their missiles in Cuba if America removes theirs in Turkey and do not invade Cuba, ending the crisis. Kennedy writes Khrushchev saying that he will make a statement. -
Khrushchev's statement
After Kennedy sent the letter to Khrushchev explaining that he would make a statement that the U.S. will not invade Cuba and the U.S. will remove its missiles from Turkey, Khrushchev would make his announcement over the radio. Khrushchev explained that the Soviet Union had accepted the proposal and confirmed that the Soviets would be removing their missiles from Cuba.
