In 1962, the world came close to nuclear war. Afterward, the United States and the Soviet Union moved toward easing tensions, or détente.
Basic Knowledge
In January 1959, revolutionary forces led by Castro overthrew the pro-American Batista government in Cuba and succeeded in the Cuban Revolution. Cuba broke diplomatic relations with the United States in 1961 and moved closer to the Soviet Union. In October 1962, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft discovered that the Soviet Union was building nuclear missile bases in Cuba, causing the Cuban Missile Crisis. U.S. President Kennedy ordered a naval blockade (quarantine), and tension with Soviet leader Khrushchev continued for 13 days, bringing the world to the brink of nuclear war. In the end, the Soviet Union removed the missiles, while the United States promised not to invade Cuba and to remove its missiles from Turkey, avoiding the crisis. Following this, a hotline was established between the U.S. and Soviet leaders in 1963, and the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) and 1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) were concluded, advancing détente.
1959 Cuban Revolution (Castro)
1961 Berlin Wall built, Yuri Gagarin makes humanity's first spaceflight
October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty, hotline
1968 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Prague Spring → Soviet military intervention
1969 Apollo 11 lands on the Moon (U.S. commander Armstrong)
1972 Nixon visits China and the Soviet Union, SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks)
1975 Helsinki Declaration (CSCE, Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe)
In Depth (Background and Effects)
The United States and the Soviet Union also clashed in the space race. In 1957, the Soviet Union successfully launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1 (the Sputnik shock). In April 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Gagarin made humanity's first manned spaceflight (“The Earth is blue”). In 1961, Kennedy declared that the United States would “put a man on the Moon within ten years” and promoted the Apollo program. On July 20, 1969, Armstrong, commander of Apollo 11, made humanity's first landing on the Moon (“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”). Meanwhile, in 1968, the Prague Spring occurred in Czechoslovakia as First Secretary Dubček pursued liberalizing reforms. The Soviet Union suppressed it by sending in Warsaw Pact forces and justified the action through the Brezhnev Doctrine (the theory of limited sovereignty). In China, during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76, Mao Zedong mobilized the Red Guards to defeat political opponents; several tens of millions are said to have suffered or died.
- Cuban Revolution = 1959, Castro
- Cuban Missile Crisis = October 1962, Kennedy vs. Khrushchev
- Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) = 1968
- Sputnik 1 = 1957, Soviet Union (world's first satellite)
- Gagarin = 1961, humanity's first manned spaceflight
- Apollo 11 Moon landing = July 20, 1969, Armstrong
- Prague Spring = 1968, suppressed by the Soviet Union
- Cultural Revolution = 1966-76, Mao Zedong
Points to Note (Easily Confused)
① Distinguish Kennedy (U.S. president, 1961-63, Cuban Missile Crisis, assassinated in 1963) from Khrushchev (Soviet leader, criticized Stalin). ② Distinguish the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT, 1963, banning tests except underground) from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT, 1968, preventing new nuclear states). ③ The Prague Spring (1968, Czechoslovakia) and the Hungarian Uprising (1956) were both suppressed by the Soviet Union. ④ Apollo 11 was in 1969, while the U.S.-Soviet Soyuz-Apollo mission was in 1975.
Practice
- What event brought the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear war in 1962?
- What were the name of the spacecraft and the name of its commander who made the first human landing on the Moon in July 1969?
- What was the name of the liberalization movement that occurred in Czechoslovakia in 1968?