Summary of Serhii Plokhy's Nuclear Folly

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected president in 1961. He was young and optimistic, and he projected that he was ready to chart a new course for his country and the world. He wanted to pass the torch of moral leadership to Frost, who wrote a poem specifically for the inauguration.
#2 Kennedy’s vision was to create a new America, based on liberty, that would be brought into being through the dedication and sacrifice of American citizens. He promised Latin American countries to convert our good words into good deeds and form a new alliance against poverty.
#3 The American government entered the Cuban conflict in 1898 to protect the independence of Latin American countries, but also to extend American borders to include Cuba. By far the most trusted American ally in the Cuban presidential office was General Fulgencio Batista, who served as president from 1940 to 1944.
#4 The Castro brothers were released in May 1955, and began a new revolt against Batista in November 1956. They landed illegally on a leaky yacht, the Granma, to start a new revolution. The guerrilla warfare that would eventually bring down Batista began with a major setback. Government troops attacked the Granma rebels soon after their landing, forcing them to seek refuge in the Sierra Maestra mountains of Oriente province, in southeastern Cuba.

Sujets

• Nuclear warfare
• Military

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 25 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781669364399
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Serhii Plokhy's Nuclear Folly
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3 Insights from Chapter 4 Insights from Chapter 5 Insights from Chapter 6 Insights from Chapter 7
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected president in 1961. He was young and optimistic, and he projected that he was ready to chart a new course for his country and the world. He wanted to pass the torch of moral leadership to Frost, who wrote a poem specifically for the inauguration.

#2

Kennedy’s vision was to create a new America, based on liberty, that would be brought into being through the dedication and sacrifice of American citizens. He promised Latin American countries to convert our good words into good deeds and form a new alliance against poverty.

#3

The American government entered the Cuban conflict in 1898 to protect the independence of Latin American countries, but also to extend American borders to include Cuba. By far the most trusted American ally in the Cuban presidential office was General Fulgencio Batista, who served as president from 1940 to 1944.

#4

The Castro brothers were released in May 1955, and began a new revolt against Batista in November 1956. They landed illegally on a leaky yacht, the Granma, to start a new revolution. The guerrilla warfare that would eventually bring down Batista began with a major setback. Government troops attacked the Granma rebels soon after their landing, forcing them to seek refuge in the Sierra Maestra mountains of Oriente province, in southeastern Cuba.

#5

The Cuban revolution had succeeded, but what that meant was not yet clear. Direct American investment increased during the first year of Castro’s rule, but that changed quickly as the government embarked on badly needed agrarian reform.

#6

The CIA had been planning to invade Cuba since 1960, and in March 1961, Kennedy was still debating whether or not to go through with the plan. He was caught between conflicting agendas: wanting to stop the spread of communism in the Western Hemisphere, but also wanting to improve US-Soviet relations.

#7

On April 15, eight B-26 bombers painted in the colors of the Cuban air force took off from airstrips in Nicaragua and headed for Cuban airfields, where they were supposed to destroy Castro’s air force. The raid was a success, but many of Castro’s planes remained undamaged.

#8

On April 16, the landing of Brigade 2506 began at multiple locations on the island. In the early hours of April 17, four transport ships approached Playa Girón in the Bay of Pigs. They were in for a major surprise: the remote location of the landing failed to ensure its secrecy. A Cuban radio operator broadcast news of the invasion before his unit was overtaken by the brigade.

#9

On April 17, Kennedy was back at the White House, keeping his regular schedule of official meetings and meals. He refused a request from the CIA to use now camouflaged American bombers to support the struggling troops on the Cuban beaches.

#10

The Bay of Pigs invasion was a disaster for Kennedy, who was unable to deliver on the air support promised to the invaders. The invasion was a stunning victory for Castro and his regime, and an astounding defeat for Kennedy.

#11

John Kennedy, the president of the United States, was the first world leader that Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, noticed. Khrushchev wanted to help Kennedy win the election, and he ordered his KGB aides to do all they could to achieve that goal.

#12

In 1960, Kennedy was talking about a missile gap between the United States and Soviet Union, but Khrushchev confirmed the words of the junior senator from Massachusetts. The missile gap rhetoric helped Kennedy win the presidential election.

#13

In June 1961, Khrushchev met with President Kennedy in Vienna. He proposed a discussion of the peace settlement in Laos, nuclear disarmament, and the situation in West Berlin. Kennedy was receptive, and hoped to obtain an agreement on Laos and a nuclear test-ban treaty.

#14

The city of Berlin was divided into four zones: Soviet, American, British, and French, in 1945. The Soviets blocked the railway and highway transportation corridors leading from the western parts of Germany to Berlin, thereby blockading the western part of the city. The Western allies ended the occupation of their part of the country in 1949, and created the Federal Republic of Germany.

#15

Khrushchev’s second step toward consolidating supreme power was to confront the majority of the party Presidium in July 1957 with the East German economy falling apart. He stood his ground, and the defeat of the anti-party group cemented his hold on power in the Kremlin.

#16

The debate over Berlin continued, and Khrushchev was adamant about signing a treaty giving East Germany control over access to West Berlin. Kennedy was taken aback by Khrushchev’s threat of war.

#17

Kennedy returned from the summit with his back in even worse shape than before. He had to rely on crutches to move even a few feet, and he was afraid that if he died in office, his successor would have to deal with a nuclear war.

#18

Kennedy had to respond to Khrushchev’s challenge without increasing tensions that might produce all-out war. So he made a public show of getting ready for war. He called for more defense spending and 90,000 more recruits for the navy and air force.

#19

Khrushchev needed a solution to the Berlin crisis that would not involve the threatened peace treaty with East Germany, the loss of American access rights, and a possible military confrontation. He knew that he had nothing with which to counter Kennedy.

#20

The construction of the Berlin Wall was aimed against the people of West Berlin, who felt that it was a step towards a new war. Kennedy responded by sending 1,500 troops to reinforce the American garrison in West Berlin.

#21

The Berlin Crisis was over after midnight on October 28, when the two sides began to withdraw their tanks. The Soviets were the first to order their tanks to begin withdrawing, and the Americans followed suit.
Insights from Chapter 2

#1

In October 1961, Nikita Khrushchev’s inauguration as the world leader of communism took place just as American and Soviet tanks confronted each other at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin. The largest nuclear explosion in history was conducted by the Soviets in the Arctic Ocean on October 30, and was visible 1,000 kilometers away.

#2

The Soviet Union was now the unquestioned leader of world communism, but their rise to the pinnacle did not go uncontested. The challengers were right there in the congress hall, led by Zhou Enlai, the long-serving head of the Chinese communist government.

#3

Before the end of 1961, Fidel Castro had declared himself a Marxist and a Leninist. He had turned his country into a socialist one, and he was looking for weapons to protect his revolution.

#4

Castro’s speech raised the ideological stakes between Cuba and the Soviet Union. He declared himself a Marxist-Leninist, or a Marxist of the Soviet type, and asked for weapons. Khrushchev was not pleased by the self-outing of the alleged closet Marxist Castro.

#5

In 1962, the Cuban economy deteriorated quickly due to the introduction of new economic sanctions by President John F. Kennedy. To deal with food shortages, Castro was forced to introduce rationing.

#6

On April 12, 1962, the day after the publica tion of the Pravda editorial, the Soviet Presidium approved a set of urgent measures to help Fidel Castro and his government. They decreed to expedite delivery to Cuba of 180 antiaircraft surface-to-air missiles requested by Castro in September 1961.

#7

Khrushchev decided to write off Cuba’s debt for the armaments supplied earlier, and he offered new armaments free of charge for the next two years, regardless of quantity and cost. The Soviets also agreed to cover the expenses of their own personnel, except for housing and transportation, to be provided by the Cuban army.