The
Cuban Missile Crisis: How close were we to nuclear war?
Paul
Cleary
`
Summer
2009
The world has never been closer to nuclear war
than it did during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. The Cuban
government led by Fidel Castro and the Soviet government led by Nikita
Khrushchev placed nuclear missiles in
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Objectives |
Students
will: ·
Gain an appreciation for use of primary
sources in historical research ·
Read and comprehend a primary source document ·
Understand the increase of tensions between the Soviet
Union, ·
Understand how important foreign policy is between
countries. |
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Recommended
time frame |
One 85 minute class period |
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Grade
level |
American History (11th grade) |
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Curriculum
fit |
American History |
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·
Transparencies displaying the pictures from the Library of
Congress. ·
LCD Projector OR ELMO Projector · Khrushchev Letter to President Kennedy October 24, 1962 http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/x2jfk.html ·
Letter, from Prime Minister Castro to Chairman
Khrushchev after one American U-2 plane was shot down over http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/19621028caslet.pdf http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/19621021mcnam.pdf · Revelations from the Russian Archives: CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/colc.html · Prime Minister Fidel Castro’s letter to Premier Khrushchev, October 26, 1962. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/cuba_mis_cri/19621020cia.pdf · Letters Between Khrushchev and Kennedy http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/sitroom/letters.html ·Statement by
President John F. Kennedy on http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/jfkstate.htm · Declassified document revealing details of a proposed overthrow of Castro http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/publications/cmc/cmcdoc1.jpg |
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Standards 1. Understands and knows how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns 1.1- Apply key concepts such as time, chronology, causality, change, conflict, and complexity to explain, analyze and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity. 2. Understands how events are influenced and interrelated to each other. 2.1-
Analyze and evaluate social and economic effects of
environmental changes and crises resulting from phenomena such as floods,
storms, and drought. 5.
Understands that the cyclical nature of history 5.1-Explain and apply ideas,
theories, and modes of inquire drawn from American History in the examination
of persistent issues and social problems. |
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Day One: 1.
The teacher will get the
student’s attention by posting up a picture from the aftermath of 2.
Then, the teacher will ask the students when has this
almost happened on a much larger scale? 3.
The teacher will lead lecture of
Cold War topics including: the U-2 incident and the Bay of Pigs invasion as a
means of explaining how heightened the tensions were between the 4.
After a brief
lecture with students, the teacher will continue to show students pictures
and political cartoons from the Library of Congress with the objective of
gaining their attention and providing background information on each visual
presented. Pictures and Political Cartoons ·
Better relations through trade: exchange of
Francis Gary Powers for Rudolph Abel ·
Recruits examined before the ·
Cuban Missile Showdown ·
What I can’t understand is why all of the
defense ·
Soviet military build up in ·
Air Force preparation for invasion ·
The ·
Nikita
Khrushchev towing sips with offensive weapons for ·
Onlookers gather to see the Army’s Hawk
anti-aircraft missiles ·
800 women strikers for peace 5.
After all of the pictures have
been displayed the teacher will review and elaborate on any of the comments
that the students may have had that were related to the opening pictures. 6.
The students will then read
excerpts of letters/documents from:
Declassified federal documents revealing proposed overthrow of Castro,
Khrushchev
to Kennedy, Castro to Khrushchev, Khrushchev and Kennedy, Statement from
Kennedy on 7.
Then the teacher will place
students into groups of nine representing the roles of Castro, Khrushchev and
Kennedy and two of their respective advisers. Each group will use the
letters/documents used in step six in deciding what each leader’s foreign
policy and military action should have been. The goal will be to recreate the
thirteen days of nuclear terror that each nation lived under and decide how
easily nuclear war could have occurred. 8.
Following this group discussion,
each individual group of Castro, Khrushchev and Kennedy and their advisers
will then have to explain in a ˝ page reflection explaining their foreign
policy decision (s) during the thirteen days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. |
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Evaluation In a three
page essay, students will answer the following questions using the primary
resource documents, textbooks and own ideas: 1.
What
mistakes did 2.
At
what point were tensions between capitalism and communism the highest? 3.
What
kept the 4.
Looking
ahead, how do you think 5.
Looking ahead, how do you think |
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Extensions |
Students
will answer in a one page essay the following question. 1.
Do you think another nuclear
showdown could be closer to happening in the next five years? Why/Why not? |
Historical Background
·
Political
ideologies between the two superpowers of the Soviet Union and the
Resource Table
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Image |
Description |
Citation |
URL |
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Khruschev Letter
to President Kennedy October 24, 1962 |
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
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Letter,
from Prime Minister Castro to Chairman Khrushchev after one American U-2
plane was shot down over |
A National Security Archive Documents Reader |
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/ |
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A National Security Archive Documents Reader |
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/ |
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Revelations from the Russian Archives: CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS |
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
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Prime Minister Fidel Castro’s letter to Premier Khrushchev, October 26, 1962. |
A National Security Archive Documents Reader |
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/ |
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Letters Between |
On
the Brink." 1997. stolaf.edu . 28 Jul 2009
<http://library.think |
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Cuban missile showdown |
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/ |
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What I can't understand is -- why all the defense? |
Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/acd/ |
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Recruits,
possibly Cuban refugees, line up for physical examination in |
Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/ |
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Better relations through
trade: exchange of Francis Gary Powers for Rudolph Abel |
Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
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Soviet Military Build Up In Cuba, late October 1962 |
United
States Department of Defense graphic in the John F. Kennedy Presidential
Library and Museum, |
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Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?pp/PPALL:@field |
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Onlookers
gather on |
Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/ |
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Air
Force troop carrier planes making refueling stops at |
Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/ |
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800 women strikers for peace on 47 St near the UN Bldg / World Telegram & Sun photo by Phil Stanziola |
Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ |
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Cartoon shows Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev as a dentist about to extract Cuban leader Fidel Castro's teeth, drawn as missiles |
Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
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Nikita
Khrushchev towing ships with "Offensive weapons for |
Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ |
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The
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Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/ |
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Pictorial
newsmap illustrating the |
Library
of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/ |
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STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY
ON |
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http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/jfkstate.htm |
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