Cuban missile crisis primary documents

Khrushchev, 14 september 1962 memo from president kennedy to secretary of defense mcnamara, 21 september 1962. Policy, and from hundreds of other documents subsequently obtained through the freedom of information act. Kennedy warned that any attempt by the soviet union to place nuclear weapons in cuba would be seen as a threat to the united states. Students will take notes, write a summary, and answer questions on a primary resource. Students will read a document of kennedykhrushchev exchanges. The documents are drawn from countries all around the world and discuss armament and military supplies sent to cuba, troop training, security issues in the region, and relations. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact. This article was adapted from the cuban missile crisis. How covert and overt operations were proposed and approved during the cold war march 4, 2019.

It will also allow students to conceptualize other inquiries related to the cuban missile crisis for further investigation. Secretary of defense robert mcnamara, military briefing, notes on october 21, 1962 meeting with the president. In this social studies standardsbased lesson, students are challenged to make decisions and recommendations based on primary documents and photos. Brugioni was a career cia officer in charge of allsource intelligence and briefing preparation at the national photographic interpretation center in 1962. The cuban missile crisis 1962 documents reader, from the national security archive at george washington university, is extraordinary in the depth and breadth of materials and narrative. In using the primary sources, the students will confront the difficulties of negotiating at the highest levels in this crisis. Selected online primary sources srs 200 cuba and the. The cuban missile crisis was one of the major climaxes of the cold war, bringing the world the closest it has ever been to a nuclear war.

President kennedy and the cuban missile crisis students investigate outcomes of the cuban missile crisis by using primary documents and roleplaying president kennedys national security team. Includes coverage from the washington post as the crisis unfolded. They will also take the role of kennedy and write a response to khrushchev. Cuban missile crisis, irancontra, terrorism, cia covert operations, nuclear history, vietnam, and weapons of mass destruction. The cuban missile crisis was the most dangerous time in modern history, said bart bernstein, a stanford university historian of the cold war.

Using photographs, maps, and other primary source documents, sixth graders research the cuban missile crisis to understand how relations between cuba and the united states changed as the result of the crisis. Cuban documents about havanas policy toward southern africa in the final fifteen years of the. For the primary source analysis tool, students will choose one written document to observe, reflect, and question the source. In ir political science, most journal articles would be considered secondary sources. The essential reference guide drawing on revealing new research, this richly informative volume is the definitive concise introduction to the crisis that took the world to the brink of nuclear war. The cold war international history project at the wilson center is a large archive of documents with an international focus. Cuban missile crisis according to nikita khrushchevs memoirs, in may 1962 he conceived the idea of placing intermediaterange nuclear missiles in cuba as a means of countering an emerging lead of the united states in developing and deploying strategic missiles. Our documents aerial photograph of missiles in cuba 1962. At the height of the cuban missile crisis, soviet secretary general nikita khrushchev penned a letter to his counterpart, us president john f.

Cuban heritage collection u of miami the cuban heritage collection is a repository for primary and secondary sources of cuba and the cuban diaspora from colonial times to the present. Sreb readiness courses transitioning to college and. These missiles would have been capable of quickly reaching the united states. Cia briefings for jfk shed new light on cuban missile crisis. Documents concerning the cuban missile crisis of october 1962a major confrontation that brought the soviet union and the united states close to war over the presence of soviet missiles in cuba. Cuban missile crisis primary source lesson postwwii. Kennedy library, sta26162 the cuban missile war was the most devastating war in world history. By examining declassified intelligence documents and u2 photographs at various stages of the cuban missile crisis, students live the crisis rather than only read about it. Kennedys speech about the cuban missile crisis 1962 historywiz primary source president john f. Cia daily report, the crisis ussrcuba, october 27, 1962. More on bobby and the cuban missile crisis, by jim hershberg, cold war international history project more new evidence on the cuban missile crisis. The primary source document is written by fidel castro and he is asking for the soviet union to use nuclear weapons against the united states if cuba is invaded. Summary record of the sixth meeting of the executive. After several days of increasing tensions, the soviet union finally agreed to remove the missiles.

The executive committee of the national security council excomm, meeting in the white house cabinet room, sorted through intelligence and advised the president during the cuban missile crisis. George washington universitys national security archive gwus national security archive features a collection of secret government documents, received via the freedom of information act. Cooperative learning and primary resources this lesson is intended to be taught after students have gained knowledge on the cuban missile crisis. Students will speculate about the concept of liberty during the cuban missile crisis. Showing top 8 worksheets in the category cuban missile crisis events. The cuban missile crisis, also known as the october crisis of 1962 spanish. President kennedys address to the nation, published by nara in 1988 as part of its milestone documents in the national archives series.

This worksheet allows students to use a primary source document to learn about the cuban missile crisis. The students in groups will work through a series of primary source documents related to the cuban missile crisis of october 1962. The cuban missile crisis began on october 16, 1962 when the president and his advisers were notified of the u2 reconnaissance photographs of missile sites being installed in cuba. Materials in the kennedy library digital archives related to the cuban missile crisis. The letter described kennedys order to quarantine cuba as an act of aggression which pushes mankind toward the abyss of a world nuclear missile war. Dod, transcripts, secret, notes taken from transcripts of meetings of the joint chiefs of staff, octobernovember 1962. Due to the age and poor quality of some of the pdf images, a screen reader may not be able to process the images into word documents.

Paper prepared by the planning subcommittee of the executive committee of the national security council. Here you will find primary sources such as historical photographs, key documents, and audio and video resources, all of which help bring the crisis to life and show how it was experienced by key players. Memorandum of telephone conversation between the under secretary of state ball and the presidents special assistant for national security affairs bundy no. Radiotv address of the president to the nation from the white house, october 22, 1962. Designed to help policymakers, students, and interested citizens draw lessons from these critical events half a century ago, this site not only provides background on the crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear disaster in october 1962 but also offers tools to understand how. Resources include primary source materials, a detailed timeline, and documents and audio files, from both the united states and the soviet. Cuban missile crisis for thirteen days in october 1962 the world waitedseemingly on the brink of nuclear warand hoped for a peaceful resolution to the cuban missile crisis. On october 15, 1962, the soviet union was discovered attempting to install nuclear missiles in cuba. Fulltext primary source document collections afghanistan and the u. In october 1962, an american u2 spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the soviet union on the island of cuba.

Harvard kennedy schools belfer center has created this site as a resource for the cuban missile crisis. Government documents cuban missile crisis research at. Primary sources history research guides at us naval. An international collection of documents, from the bay of pigs to the brink of nuclear war dnsa. Contains documents on the influence in latin america of the cuban revolution of 1959 and the exclusion of cuba from the organization of american states 1962. Address to the american people about the cuban missile crisis. Cia special national intelligence estimate, major consequences of certain u. The inside story of the cuban missile crisis, new york.

According to separate confidential reports, the piratic raids by the socalled alpha 66 group on the cuban coast and on several vessels near cuba are being carried out not from a base on the american mainland, but rather directly from the sea, from american landing ships carrying the corresponding cutters. This page allows you to explore some of the raw evidence from the cuban missile crisis. In considering a primary source as opposed to secondary source, the difference can be summed up this way. Articles published in prologue do not necessarily represent the views of nara or of any other agency of the united states government. We hold in trust for the public the declaration of independence, the constitution, and the bill of rights but also the records of ordinary citizens at our locations around the country.

This government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the soviet military buildup on the island of cuba. These historical documents are pdf images of formerly classified carbon paper and reports that have been declassified. The documents are drawn from countries all around the world and discuss armament and military supplies sent to cuba, troop training, security issues. Secondary source introduction the cuban missile crisis was an intense, two week standoff between the united states and the soviet union over the placement of soviet missiles on the island nation of cuba in the summer and fall of 1962. Some of the worksheets displayed are crisis missiles in cuba, on the brink from the bay of pigs to the crisis, i v i l i, the cold war, 5 grade social studies, sreb readiness courses transitioning to college and, cuban missile crisis lesson plan, teachers students notes. It is a research site for teachers and advanced students.

Revelations from the russian archives the library of. Address to the american people about the cuban missile crisis october 22, 1962 the white house october 22, 1962 good evening, my fellow citizens. We save documents and other materials created in the course of business conducted by the u. Here you will find primary sources such as historical photographs, key documents, and audio and video resources, all of which help bring the crisis to life and show how it. Umbc center for history education teaching american. The records in this documents reader are drawn from the archives indexed microfiche collection, the cuban missile crisis, 1962. More documents from the russian archives, by jim hershberg, cold war international history project. Instrumental in the early stages of the cuban missile crisis, these photographs showed that the soviet union was amassing offensive ballistic missiles in cuba. Federal government that are judged to have continuing value. Kennedy made public the presence of soviet missiles in cuba in this speech to the american people. The pentagon during the cuban missile crisis october 16, 2012.