Alexander CekalaBay of Pigs
Today I'm going to deal with the Bay of Pigs invasion attempt, which can be seen as a part of the Cold War.
Background
Fidel Castro had led a revolution against Cuba's previous regime and had established friendly relationships with the communist Soviet Union. The United States were nervous about the presence of a soviet ally so near to their borders and so they decided to invade the country.
However, any direct attack on Cuba would be likely to see a reprisal attack from the Soviets against an American ally and so it was decided to train and equip a group of Cubans as well a providing air support.
However, Castro had been warned by Russian intelligence (The KGB) of the attack and had moved his planes to safety and executed some anti-Castro leaders in Cuba.
The Landing
On April 17 1500 exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs and initially took control of the site. However, Castro, armed and equipped by the soviets was almost certain to take this back. Kennedy, the US president at the time balked at sending further help in the form of bombing runs or US marines and instead left the exiles to their fate.
While the invasion saw more Cuban government deaths then exiled deaths, it never-the-less failed, as the CIA's prediction that the Cuban people would rise against Castro turned out to be false.
The Aftermath
Most of the exiles were captured and later released after the United Nations promised more than 50 million dollars of food and medicine. The CIA was embarrassed and senior members were forced to resign.
So...
So that's the Bay of Pigs invasion attempt and following from that (a few years later) was the Cuban Missile Crisis, which I will cover another day, but not tomorrow.
Tomorrow I think I might do a post on something to do with the Mongols....but we'll see.
Adam
Background
Fidel Castro had led a revolution against Cuba's previous regime and had established friendly relationships with the communist Soviet Union. The United States were nervous about the presence of a soviet ally so near to their borders and so they decided to invade the country.
However, any direct attack on Cuba would be likely to see a reprisal attack from the Soviets against an American ally and so it was decided to train and equip a group of Cubans as well a providing air support.
However, Castro had been warned by Russian intelligence (The KGB) of the attack and had moved his planes to safety and executed some anti-Castro leaders in Cuba.
The Landing
On April 17 1500 exiles landed at the Bay of Pigs and initially took control of the site. However, Castro, armed and equipped by the soviets was almost certain to take this back. Kennedy, the US president at the time balked at sending further help in the form of bombing runs or US marines and instead left the exiles to their fate.
While the invasion saw more Cuban government deaths then exiled deaths, it never-the-less failed, as the CIA's prediction that the Cuban people would rise against Castro turned out to be false.
The Aftermath
Most of the exiles were captured and later released after the United Nations promised more than 50 million dollars of food and medicine. The CIA was embarrassed and senior members were forced to resign.
So...
So that's the Bay of Pigs invasion attempt and following from that (a few years later) was the Cuban Missile Crisis, which I will cover another day, but not tomorrow.
Tomorrow I think I might do a post on something to do with the Mongols....but we'll see.
Adam
