US newspapers reporting on the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
US IMPOSES ARMS BLOCKADE ON CUBA ON FINDING MISSILE SITES
KENNEDY READY FOR SOVIET SHOWDOWN, SHIPS MUST STOP
JFK’S ORDERS:
‘Search, and If Necessary, Sink Any Arms Ship’
An agreement was reached Khrushchev offered to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba if the United States removed its missiles from Turkey (close to the Soviet Union). Kennedy refused to commit the United States and seemed to be planning an invasion of Cuba. Then Khrushchev offered to dismantle and remove all missiles from Cuba if America promised not to invade Cuba. Kennedy accepted the offer, the Soviet ships were ordered to turn back and the crisis was over.
Why was the Cuban Missile Crisis important? ●❰ The Crisis brought the world very close to a nuclear war. As a result, both America and the Soviet Union agreed that the superpowers must never again risk a direct nuclear war.
●❰ A Washington-Moscow telephone ‘hotline’ was set up so that the leaders could talk directly to each other to overcome any future problems.
●❰ The two superpowers, and many other countries, signed a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty that stopped above-ground nuclear tests.
●❰ The Cuban Communist government, led by Castro, survived and continued to rule. Cuba and the USA continued to look on each other as enemies (until 2014).
