The day the Cuban Missile Crisis started – level 2

16-10-1962

It is 1962 in Cuba. People are close to nuclear war for 13 days. It is the most dramatic conflict of Soviets and Americans during the Cold War.

It’s October 16 and the US president, John Kennedy, looks at photos from an American plane which flew over Cuba. He doesn’t believe what he sees. He sees many nuclear rockets.

The United States start to block the sea around Cuba. They want to prevent more Soviet ships from arriving.

On October 25, representatives of the Soviet Union and the US meet for the first time at the United Nations. The Soviets are still not saying openly what is going on.

On October 27, President Kennedy gives a 48-hour ultimatum. He says, “Remove the rockets, or we will remove them.”

The Soviets agree to remove the rockets if the Americans don’t attack Cuba and if they remove rockets from Turkey and Italy.

The Americans agree.

Difficult words: prevent from (to stop someone from doing something), ultimatum (information about the time when something must be done or something else can happen), remove (to take away).

What effects did the Cuban Missile Crisis have on international relations between the US and the Soviet Union?

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