The Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline of Events Name

The Cuban Missile Crisis: Timeline of Events Name

6 th August 1945 9 th August 1945

Brief Timeline of Hiroshima/ Nagasaki 7 Dec 1941: Attack on Pearl Harbour 24 July 1945: Truman tells Stalin that the USA has a new, powerful weapon, but doesn’t say it is atomic. 26 July 1945: Potsdam Declaration is issued requiring unconditional surrender from Japan. Two days later, Japan rejects it. 9 Aug 1945: Nagasaki bomb is dropped at 11: 02 am 8 Aug 1945: The Soviet Union announces that it is entering the war against Japan. 15 Aug 1945: Japan surrenders 6 Aug 1945: Hiroshima bomb drops at 18: 16 am

Reasons FOR dropping the Bomb § Retaliation for Pearl Harbour § To “end the war quickly” § Some say lives were saved as USA didn’t have to make a land invasion § To test a nuclear bomb ‘for real’ § To send a message to Russia

Reasons AGAINST dropping the Bomb § Immoral - many innocent civilians suffered (between 140, 000 and 600, 000 deaths). § Some say Japan was going to surrender soon anyway. § The USA might have been trialling the nuclear bomb on real people. § It provoked an international arms race, which led to the nearest possibility of nuclear war – The Cuban Missile Crisis.

If a nuclear bomb hit Buckingham Palace… https: //nuclearsecrecy. com/nukemap/

What happens when a nuclear weapon is dropped? § Within ½ mile of the centre all the people would die. § Within 3 miles there would be complete destruction of buildings and firestorms and 90% of people would die. § The temperature at the centre of the blast would reach millions of degrees c. § Winds would rage at 1000 mph

…effects further out… § Buildings would still collapse up to 10 miles away § Exposed skin would burn from heat rays § Lots of radiation would be released into the air causing radiation sickness

…far reaching effects. § Effects would be even further reaching with black radioactive rain falling throughout the region § A bomb exploded on the ground could spread radiation over large distances and be spread by the wind even further § The effects would reach far into the future with survivors getting leukaemia and cancer years later, and affecting their children and grandchildren

The Cold War • The Soviet Union developed their own nuclear weapons shortly after the US in 1949. • Two superpowers with different political ideologies began forming alliances with other nations to champion their influence. • ‘Cold War’ - because there was no ‘Hot’ direct warfare between the two countries. Instead mass stockpiling of nuclear weapons in an arms race created conflict and suspicion. • Weapons stockpiling resulted in Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) – the logic that neither country would attack the other with a nuclear weapon because they would suffer a similar attack in retaliation. • The Cold War ended in 1991, but the consequences continue to shape world politics

The Cuban Missile Crisis Some say it was the closest the world came to a nuclear war… 19 Dec 1960: Cuba officially aligns itself with the Soviet Union following the severing of diplomatic ties and the embargo from the US. 17 Apr 1961: CIA backed Cuban exiles are defeated at the ‘Bay of Pigs’, after launching an invasion to overthrow the new Castro government. 27 July 1962: Following the failed CIA backed invasion of Cuba in 1961 President Castro announces that any direct US attack on Cuba would result in the equivalent of a world war. 26 Oct 1962: The US begins discussions about invading Cuba. 23 Oct 1962: President Kennedy orders US ships to form a ‘naval blockade’ to prevent the transportation of missiles. 26 Oct 1962: President Khrushchev sends a letter to President Kennedy proposing to remove his missiles on the condition that the U. S never invade Cuba, and remove missiles threatening the Soviet Union from Turkey. 14 Oct 1962: The US obtains photographic evidence of nuclear missiles stationed in western Cuba. 10 Aug 1962: CIA director informs President Kennedy that Soviet medium-range ballistic missiles will soon be deployed in Cuba. 27 Oct 1962: A US spy plane gets lost and enters Soviet air space. 28 Oct 1962: President Khrushchev announces Over Radio Moscow that he has agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba. 27 Oct 1962: President Kennedy agrees to President Khrushchev’s proposal and the secret condition that the United States would remove missiles stationed in Turkey.

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