Thirteen Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis
Thirteen Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis
Pick three questions to answer. As you watch the movie, take some notes related to your questions on another piece of paper. After watching the movie, answer each question in a good size paragraph (about ½ a page). Be sure to answer all sub-questions. (25 points total)
1. How close were we to nuclear war in the Cuban Missile Crisis? State the facts which support your answer.
2. Who bears responsibility for the Cuban Missile Crisis? Give the reasons for your opinion.
3. Why did the Soviets want to put nuclear missiles in Cuba? Justify your response.
4. Why was the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis considered a personal triumph for President Kennedy? Describe your reasons for this opinion.
5. What was Khrushchev's key miscalculation when he was planning to place missiles in Cuba and why did he make that mistake?
6. Why did Khrushchev back down? Describe the facts and reasons that support your response.
7. President Kennedy convened a large group of military leaders and foreign affairs experts in a team known as EXCOMM. Was the large body of advisors counterproductive (i.e. "too many cooks spoil the broth")? What are the pros and cons of a large advisory group? What are the pros and cons of President Kennedy alone making the choices, without the input of a large advisory body?
8. The Soviets insisted that the missiles they were installing in Cuba were "defensive weapons," intended only to protect the island of Cuba. Was the mere presence of such missiles "offensive" in character, given the capacity of missiles to strike key American cities?
9. As the film accurately shows, the only person to die in the confrontation was Major Rudolph Anderson, the U-2 pilot shot down over Cuba. In an interview with the History Channel, the Soviet leader of the missile battery agreed that he shot down the U-2 without authority from Russia, deciding to act on his own and let the politicians sort it out later. (He said that he received a "telling off" for his actions.) What are the dangers of the ability of some military (on either side) to act without authority from their military commanders, or even their political leaders?
10. Cuba's leader Fidel Castro attempted to justify the Russian actions, saying his island needed nuclear weapons to defend itself against aggression by the U.S. A major source of confrontation between the U.S. and Iraq was Saddam Hussein's past desire to develop nuclear weapons (in the early 1990s). Should every country "have the right to defend itself with nuclear weapons," or are such weapons a special case, requiring international control of these weapons (by authorities such as the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA])?
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