Preview

The Bay of Pigs

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
618 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs was one of the main events that made the cold war. One of the causes of the Bay of Pigs incident was the USSR spreading communism to Cuba which then caused the Americans to bring in the policy of containment. Another cause of the Bay of Pigs was the revolutionary changes that occurred in Cuba when Fidel Castro came into power. An important consequence of the Bay of Pigs incident was the Cuban missile crisis. Another important consequence was when U.S.A and the USSR agreed on the molink test ban treaty.
The United States declared the policy of containment in 1946. They used this policy to try stop and stall the spread of communism. Economic and military measures were necessary to prevent the spread of communism to Cuba and other countries. When Cuba turned communist after Fidel Castro overthrew Batista, he made allies with Khrushchev the leader of the USSR. Khrushchev saw Castro as a valuable ally and they became very close as Cuba was 70 miles from the southern tip of the U.S.A. They then became very close as Khrushchev said “any enemy of my enemy is my friend. So the USSR supplied weapons and economic aid to Cuba. Eventually Cuba became the centre of the Cold War’s most serious crisis.
After the revolution Castro came into power. He then expelled the US mafia from Havana. He also made changes in the economy. Shortly after the revolution, Castro was popular with the USA. The USA saw him as someone who would bring democracy back to Cuba. However, it all changed within a year. Castro ended freedom of the press. Political opponents were imprisoned by military courts. Castro also began making anti-American speeches. He called on other countries in central and South America to overthrow their governments. By 1960 Castro was seen as a threat to the USA and its influence in Central and South America. America was at risk of possible Nuclear War or even the pressure of turning communist. These events then lead to the Bay of Pigs invasion.
A consequence

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Many decisions are not as simple as black and white. President John F. Kennedy and all of American were uneasy about having communists in their own backyard. News spread of Cuba building nuclear missile sites, and photos were taken of Soviet-built anti aircraft missile sites in Cuba. These missiles could strike at so little warning that it could destroy half the American Bomber force before it even got off the ground. America did not like communists because they aligned themselves with the Soviet Union who were building a hydrogen bomb just 90 miles away.…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    6.05 Honors

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages

    When Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, relations between the U.S. and Cuba rapidly transferred into bitter arguments, political grandstanding and the occasional international crisis. By 1960, Castro's government had captured private land, nationalized hundreds of private companies, and taxed American products so greatly that U.S. exports were halved in just two years. The Eisenhower Administration responded by imposing trade restrictions on everything except food and medical supplies. Castro extended trade with the Soviet Union instead. The U.S. responded by cutting all diplomatic ties. President Kennedy issued the permanent embargo on Feb. 7, 1962 and within a few years the country became its former self. The early 1960s were marked by s top-secret U.S. attempts to collapse the Cuban government. The Bay of Pigs was the CIA's attempt to overthrow Castro by training Cuban exiles for a ground attack. The worst moment in the countries' relationship came on October 15, 1962 when U.S. spy planes found evidence that the Soviet Union was building missile bases in Cuba. President Kennedy learned of the threat the next day, and for the next 12 days the U.S. and Russia were stuck in the Cuban Missile Crisis. It ended only when Nikita Khrushchev accepted Kennedy's secret offer to remove U.S. missiles in Turkey in exchange for the de-arming of Cuba. The Soviet missiles were gone within six months, but it would take a long time for America to forgive Cuba.…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cold War Dbq

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages

    After the US supported Bay of Pigs mission attempted and failed to invade and change the political regime in Cuba, the Soviet Union began secretly shipping troops, missiles, and nuclear warheads to their new political allies. In the months that would follow US spy planes would begin to collect evidence of nuclear missile sites being swiftly set up Cuba. As depicted in Document D the United States responded to this threat by setting up a quarantine around Cuba right as the nuclear missiles became operational. In response to the quarantine the Soviet Union began to remove their missiles from Cuba while the United States began doing the same in Turkey. Through the success of the the quarantine and the United States hushed agreement with the Soviet Union about missile removal in Cuba and Turkey the US was able to contain communism in…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John F. Kennedy's foreign policy contributed immensely to the conflicts with the Soviet Union in Cuba. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a result of Kennedy's implementation of a foreign policy that wasn’t effective with resolving problems between the opposing nations in the middle of the Cold War (Bay of Pigs happened in 1961). The Cold War represents a time of distress for the United States, as the population faced a growing threat of communism. The president realized that his tactics were inoperative while carrying out the invasion - the invasion that had been fabricated by the former president, Eisenhower. The invasion would go on to increase tensions between the two powers, rather than resolve them. The Bay of Pigs invasion supports the belief…

    • 3633 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After Castro had established a communist Cuba, he wouldn’t stop there. Castro, the leader of Cuba, would then aid other revolutionary countries in hopes to spread communism. The Cold War was all about the stopping and spreading of communism. The Cuban Revolution started to increase pressure under the leading capitalist country, the United States.…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The time period between the years 1945 and 1975 were filled with panic and concern as the Cold War was coming commencing. In a desperate attempt to halt the spread of communism, the United States administered a containment policy to rebel against communism in the Soviet Union. During 1945, Americans had a great fear of communism and caused distress and concern to many people. Soon enough, other countries such as Europe and Asia became involved in the discontinuation of communism and fight with the United States to keep communism under control. With the containment policy put into place by the United States, communism was effectively obsolete during the Cold War from the years of 1945 to 1975.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There were several motivations for United States policy in Latin America during the 1950’s and the 1960’s. Some of these motivations included the applying of the policy of containment in Latin American to stop the spread of communism. Another motivation was to stop the growing alliance between Cuba and the Soviet Union. All of these motivations were set in place to avoid the development of a second Cuba in Latin America. It was urgent for the United States to act since now there was Soviet Union presence in Latin America offering to be an ally.…

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Paper

    • 2223 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Like his predecessors, Kennedy viewed the entire world through the lens of the Cold War. This outlook shaped his dealings with Fidel Castro, who had led a revolution that in 1959 ousted Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Until Castro took power, Cuba was an economic dependency of the United States. When his government began nationalizing American landholding and other investments and signed an agreement to sell sugar to the Soviet Union, the Eisenhower administration suspended trade with the island. The CIA began training anti-Castro exiles for an invasion of Cuba. Kennedy allowed the CIA to launch its invasion at a site known as the Bay of Pigs.…

    • 2223 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    From 1900 to 1950, American had a lot of economic influence in Cuba. America had imperialized Cuba, owning most of the businesses and land, and took advantage of the Cubans; they worked long hours for little pay. At this time, it was the dictator Fulgencio Batista who was in power and he supported United States involvement. This was odd because American policies would normally go against alliances with dictators; however since Batista was not communist America remained at peace with him. Because America had imperialized in Cuba, the Cubans had a steep fall to the bottom of their own social hierarchy. In 1953, a man names Fidel Castro tried to overthrow Batista but failed and was imprisoned. Castro was a communist who was deeply inspired by Karl Marx and his book The Communist Manifesto. “When we speak of the struggle, the people mean the vast unredeemed masses, to whom all make promises and who all deceive; we men the people who yearn for a better, more dignified and more just nation (Castro Cuban Revolution Doc 1).” In this quote, Castro explains where all of the man power for his revolution will come from; those who want to be seen as equal. When Castro was released in 1956, he spent three years walking along the country side of…

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Containment was a policy used by the Americans used stop the spread of Communism and communist expansion through military, political and economic means. Specifically in the Cold War era, the U.S. implemented this policy through the Truman Doctrine and the founding of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Another factor of the containment policy was the Soviet Union’s rejection of the Marhsall plan.…

    • 671 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Kennedy Doctrine

    • 1159 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Bay of Pigs was the first situation John F. Kennedy had to deal with as president. The Bay of Pigs was an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) trained a force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba all with the support and…

    • 1159 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Cold War set the opening for the development of the extraordinary relationship between Cuba and the Soviet Union. A contest between capitalism led by the United States and socialism led by the Soviet Union brought about a separation between Cuba and the United States and opened a new relationship and friendship between the Soviet Union and Cuba.…

    • 1153 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the Cold War, America's basic policy was that of "containment" of the Soviet Union. The policy of containment was based upon several principles. First, the Soviet Union wanted to spread socialism to all areas of the world. However, it was felt that the leadership of the Soviet Union felt no particular rush to accomplish their goal. "The Kremlin is under no ideological compulsion to accomplish its purposes in a hurry. Like the Church, it is dealing in ideological concepts which are of a long-term validity, and it can afford to be patient. (Hook and Spanier, 42)." In other words, the Soviet leadership believed that, since their ideas were the correct ones, they would eventually prevail, and thus, no direct confrontation would be necessary. The second idea behind the containment policy was that there existed 5 major industrial centers within the world, namely the United States, Great Britain, West Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union. Since four of these five were capitalist nations, and allies, containment meant "confining the Soviet Union to that single one (Hook and Spanier, 42)". Simply, the basic policy of the United States during the Cold War was not to defeat the Soviet Union through force, but to simply prevent it from expanding.…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Containment during the Cold War refers to the United States’ methodology of dealing with Communism. Proposed by George Kennan, this policy (along with the Truman Doctrine) would be the driving force behind many of the United States’ decisions throughout the Cold War. The idea involved stopping the spread of Communism and influence of the Soviet Union by keeping it within the borders it already lies. Kennan believed that the system of Communism was a deadly force as it spreads, similar to a parasite. However, if it is contained in one area, it will not be able to survive on its own. This was really an analogy to say that the Soviet Union had many economic and political weaknesses which could be exploited. Putting the policy into action required the United States to finally become fully invested in European affairs and protecting democracy. The step that defined this position was creating NATO, a mutual defense alliance with 12 other nations. Clear examples of enforcing the policy of containment would be the US’ putting down the Communist rebellions in Greece and stopping Stalin from taking control of Turkey. Truman made sure that he was not going to…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Almost every nation in the world has experienced a revolution. A revolution can be simply defined as "a change." When a country undergoes a revolution, its ideals that it once believed in are being modified. Sometimes revolutionaries act intellectually, yet others may respond physically through destruction. Some may be peaceful, some short lasting, and some pointless. Historians do argue on identifying whether a revolution has occurred. Revolutions usually follow a rupture in the nation's events, are directed by a hero, have an ideology and belief system, and use symbols or tools to get its points across to the people. Cuba and its leader today, Fidel Castro, have their own roots in a revolution that took place only some forty years ago. The causes of the Revolution itself laid behind the military dictatorship of General Batista.<br><br>The overthrow of the June 1952 elections by Batista indirectly led to the Cuban Revolution. With this event the weakness behind Cuba's politics was revealed to the people. Their economy also fluctuated between high and low profits. Because Cuba, after the destruction of land in Europe in WWII, had the most sugar production in the world, small farm owners prospered. Yet because sugar was the only major crop they produced, Cubans suffered when economies in other nations prospered. This in turn resulted in unemployment in the cities. With these circumstances, Cubans showed more oppression to their government and soon began to be rebellious. However, Batista jailed, exiled, executed, and used terror and threats of violence against all the challenges he faced. The people became even more unhappy, until finally a rupture occurred. While earning a doctorate of law in Havana, Fidel Castro began to participate in student protests against Batistan polices. Castro housed weapons and prepared his supporters in the university campus in Havana. He organized a surprise attack on the Moncada barracks in the Oriente Province on July 26, 1953, where…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays