Kennedy and the Cold War

1
Kennedy and the Cold War

• Terms to know
• John F. Kennedy Berlin Wall
• Hot line Flexible response
• Limited Test Ban Treaty Fidel Castro

2
Lesson Objectives

• 1. The students will be able to identify the
  factors that contributed to Kennedys election in
  1960 with 80 accuracy.
• 2. The students will be able to describe the new
  military policy of the Kennedy administration
  with 80 accuracy.
• 3. The students will be able to summarize the
  crisis that developed over Cuba with 80
  accuracy.
• 4. The students will be able to explain the Cold
  War symbolism of Berlin in the early 1960s with
  80 accuracy.

3
Crisis Over Cuba

• Fidel Castro openly declared himself a communist
  and welcomed aid from the Soviet Union.

4
Fidel Castro

• Gained power with the promise of democracy.
• Seized three American and British refineries,
  which made relations between Cuba and the United
  States worse.
• Broke up commercial farms into communes that
  would be worked by formerly landless peasants.
• Many Cubans saw Castro as a tyrant and went into
  exile, mostly in the United States.

5
Invasion

• March of 1960, President Eisenhower gave the CIA
  permission to secretly train Cuban exiles for an
  invasion of Cuba.
• The CIA and exiles hoped that the invasion would
  trigger a mass uprising and overthrow Castro.
• Kennedy learned of the plan only nine days after
  his election.
• He had doubts but approved it.

6
Bay of Pigs

• April 17, 1961, some 1,300 to 1,500 Cuban exiles
  supported the U.S. military and landed on the
  islands southern coast at Bahia de Cochinos, the
  Bay of Pigs.
• Nothing went as planned.
• Air strike failed to knock out the Cuban air
  force
• A small advance group sent to distract Castros
  forces never reached shore.
• Many exiles were killed, others imprisoned

7
Berlin Wall

• One goal that had guided Kennedy through the
  Cuban missile crisis was that of proving to
  Khrushchev his determination to contain
  communism.
• Kennedy was continually thinking over their
  recent confrontation over Berlin, which had led
  to the construction of the Berlin Wall.
• This link provides brief view of the
  construction of the Berlin Wall
  http//www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/histo
  ry/guide20/video/his005itn0830.ram