Korea and the Cuban Missile Crisis: the Korean War of 1950 to 1953 as a Cold War conflict, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 and its consequences.

What this dot point is asking

You need to explain how the Cold War turned into open war in Korea (1950 to 1953) and to the brink of nuclear war in the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, and to assess the consequences of Cuba. CCEA examiners reward an understanding of the policy of containment, precise knowledge of how nuclear war was avoided over Cuba, and a judgement that ranks the consequences of the crisis for superpower relations.

The Korean War and containment

Korea had been divided after 1945 into a communist North and a non-communist South. In 1950 the North invaded the South. The USA, under the banner of the United Nations, led a force to drive the invasion back, while communist China intervened on the side of the North and the USSR backed it. The fighting see-sawed up and down the peninsula and ended in 1953 with an armistice near the original border. Korea remained divided, a frozen Cold War frontier, and the war showed both sides willing to fight to stop the other gaining ground.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

How nuclear war was avoided

The crisis was resolved through a compromise that let both leaders avoid catastrophe. The USSR removed its missiles from Cuba. In return, the USA publicly promised not to invade Cuba and secretly agreed to remove its own missiles from Turkey. Both sides could claim a measure of success, and direct war was avoided.

The consequences

The crisis frightened both superpowers into managing their rivalry more carefully.

• A direct telephone hotline was set up between Washington and Moscow to allow leaders to communicate quickly in a crisis.
• The 1963 Test Ban Treaty banned the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, the first major arms-control agreement.
• The fright of 1962 marked a step towards the easing of tension that would develop into detente.

Examples in context

Model consequence paragraph. "The most important consequence of the Cuban Missile Crisis was the move towards arms control, born of the fear of how close the world had come to nuclear war. The immediate result was that the USSR removed its missiles while the USA promised not to invade Cuba and secretly removed missiles from Turkey, so both sides stepped back. More significant in the long run, the fright pushed the superpowers to manage their rivalry: a hotline was set up so leaders could communicate quickly, and the 1963 Test Ban Treaty became the first major arms-control agreement. The crisis therefore made the Cold War more cautious." This scores highly because it ranks consequences and links the crisis to longer-term change.

Try this

Q1. What was the policy of containment? [2 marks]

• Cue. The American policy of stopping the spread of communism into new countries, by aid and, where necessary, force.

Q2. How was the Cuban Missile Crisis resolved? [3 marks]

• Cue. The USSR removed its missiles; the USA promised not to invade Cuba and secretly agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey.

Q3. Name two consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis. [2 marks]

• Cue. Any two: the Washington-Moscow hotline, the 1963 Test Ban Treaty, and a more cautious management of the Cold War.