Hello, and thank you for joining me.

I'm Mr. Marchant, and I'll be your history teacher for today's lesson.

I'll be guiding you through all of our resources, and my top aims are to ensure not only that you enjoy our learning, but also that you can successfully meet today's lesson objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on the transformation of the Cold War, where we're asking ourselves, was the world on the brink of nuclear war? By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to assess the Soviet Union's motives for installing nuclear weapons on Cuba.

There are four key words which will help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are alliance, prestige, balance of power, and deter.

An alliance is an agreement between countries to work together.

Prestige is respect and admiration which a country enjoys from others.

The balance of power refers to the strength of different countries compared to one another, and to deter someone is to make a person or a country less likely to do something.

Today's lesson will be split into three parts and will begin by focusing on missiles on Cuba.

After the Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961, security cooperation between Cuba and the USSR increased.

Although the Soviet Union sent military advisors and combat troops to Cuba, Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the USSR, assured President John F.

Kennedy, JFK, that nuclear weapons would not be sent to Cuba.

So, thinking about what we just heard, what did Khrushchev promise JFK? Was it that the USSR would not attack Cuba, that the USSR would not send weapons to Cuba, or that the USSR would not send nuclear weapons to Cuba? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

Khrushchev promised JFK that the USSR would not send nuclear weapons to Cuba.

On the 14th of October 1962, an American U-2 spy plane flying over Cuba detected the construction of missile launch sites on the island.

The sites were being constructed by the USSR for intermediate range ballistic missiles or IRBMs. A photo of a Soviet missile base taken by an American spy plane can be seen on the screen.

So, let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads, "On the 14th of October 1962, "the USA discovered nuclear missiles on Cuba." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our answer, so two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that, "American U-2 planes detected the construction "of IRBM launch sites," and the second says that, "American U-2 planes detected a Soviet army "preparing to invade the US." So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was A, American U-2 planes detected the construction of IRBM launch sites.

Soviet IRBMS were capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

It was calculated that almost every city in the USA, including New York, Washington, DC, and LA would be within range of nuclear IRBMs launched from Cuba.

In fact, the range of intermediate range ballistic missiles based on Cuba can be seen from the map on the screen, where the dashed circle represents how far those missiles could have been fired.

So, I want you to study the map on the screen.

Based on the map, which inference is most valid? Is it that Soviet IRBMs in Cuba would not threaten the USA, that Soviet IRBMs in Cuba only threatened the US East Coast, or that Soviet IRBMs in Cuba threatened most of the USA? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct inference was C.

From our map, we can see that most of the USA was within range of IRBMs placed on Cuba, so this would suggest that those Soviet IRBMs could threaten most of the USA.

The discovery of nuclear missiles sites in Cuba caused outrage in the United States.

JFK was determined to prevent any Soviet nuclear missiles being set up on the island.

This triggered a period which has become known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the risk of war between the superpowers peaked.

So, what was the crisis period in October 1962 known as? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the crisis period in October 1962 was known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the USA was insistent on trying to prevent nuclear missiles being installed on Cuba.

So, we're now ready to put all of our knowledge about missiles on Cuba into practise.

I want you to study the claim made by Andeep, who says that Nikita Khrushchev broke his promise to President Kennedy and therefore helped to trigger the Cuban Missile Crisis.

I want you to provide extra details to help support Andeep's claim, so pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So, we heard Andeep's claim that Nikita Khrushchev broke his promise to President Kennedy and therefore helped to trigger the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I asked you to provide extra details to support this claim.

Your answer may have included, "Nikita Khrushchev promised President Kennedy "that Soviet nuclear weapons would not be placed on Cuba.

"However, in October 1962, the US discovered missile sites "being constructed in Cuba which would be capable "of launching nuclear IRBMs at most US cities.

"Khrushchev's decision to break his promise "therefore triggered the Cuban Missile Crisis, "as the US was determined "to prevent missiles being set up on Cuba." So, really well done if your own answer looks something like that model which we've just seen.

And now we can move on to the second part of today's lesson, where we're going to focus on Soviet motives.

Khrushchev's decision to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba was provocative and triggered a serious crisis with the USA.

Given the potential dangers involved and the previous promises Khrushchev had made, historians had debated what exactly motivated the Soviet leader.

Historians have often suggested that the decision to place nuclear IRBMs in Cuba may be motivated by considerations of the Cuban alliance, Soviet prestige, and the balance of power, so we'll think about each of these motives in turn.

There were real concerns about the likelihood of an American attack on Cuba in 1962.

Both Cuba and the Soviet Union believed that an American invasion to overthrow Castro and his government was imminent.

Sending nuclear missiles to Cuba would therefore help strengthen the defence of a Soviet ally.

If nuclear missiles were stationed on Cuba, the USA would be aware that any attack on the island could lead to serious consequences for its own citizens, and this might deter American aggression.

So, thinking about what we've just heard, I want you to write the missing keyword for the following sentence.

"Placing nuclear missiles on Cuba could help blank "the USA from invading the island," but what's the missing word? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the missing word was deter.

"Placing nuclear missiles on Cuba could help deter the USA "from invading the island," and this may have been something that the USSR really wanted to achieve because Cuba was a Soviet ally.

It has also been suggested that Khrushchev was keen to ensure that the USSR looked strong in order to protect the country's international prestige.

There were some critics within the Soviet Communist Party who suggested that their leader had been too weak in his dealings with the US government.

For instance, it was argued that Khrushchev had given up on communist control over West Berlin when he ordered the construction at the Berlin Wall in 1961.

Installing nuclear missiles so close to the USA would demonstrate the continued strength of the Soviet Union during the Cold War and help Khrushchev defend his leadership against his critics.

So, let's check our understanding of what we've just heard.

What did some of Khrushchev's critics in the USSR accuse him of? Was it taking too many risks, making the USSR appear weak, or cutting the size of the Soviet army? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B.

Some of Khrushchev's critics in the Soviet Union accused him of making the USSR appear weak.

For example, in his handling of the Berlin Crisis and the construction of the Berlin Wall.

This helped motivate Khrushchev to make sure that over Cuba, the USSR appeared strong.

In the early 1960s, the USA had taken the decision to instal new nuclear missile sites in Europe.

In 1961, American Jupiter missiles were installed at a base in Southern Turkey.

From this location, major Soviet cities, including Moscow, Leningrad, and Kyiv fell within range of the USA's Jupiter missiles.

Some historians have suggested that Khrushchev decided to place Soviet IRBM missiles in Cuba in order to restore a balance of power between the superpowers.

The USA would now be threatened by intermediate range nuclear missiles, just like the USSR was.

This could potentially help the USSR in any negotiations with the Americans by ensuring each side felt equal pressure from the other.

Some historians have even suggested that Khrushchev's real aim was to create a situation where the US could be pressured into removing its Jupiter missiles from Turkey.

So, let's make sure we have a clear understanding of what we just heard.

In which year did the USA instal its Jupiter missiles in Turkey? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct year was 1961.

That is when the USA installed its Jupiter missiles in Turkey, and these missiles were within close range of many major Soviet cities.

And let's try another question.

How could Soviet IRBMs in Cuba affect the balance of power between the superpowers? Was it that it meant that only the US was under threat of close range nuclear missile attacks, that it meant that only the USSR was under threat of close range nuclear missile attacks, or that it meant both the US and USSR were under threat of close range nuclear missile attacks? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was C.

By placing missiles in Cuba, it's been suggested that Khrushchev was trying to restore a balance of power, as both the USA and the USSR would now be under threat of close range nuclear missile attacks from one another.

For the USSR, this threat would come from American missiles based in Turkey, and for the USA, this threat would come from Soviet missiles based in Cuba.

So, we're now ready to put our knowledge of Soviet motives into practise.

I want you to match up each of our factors, so the balance of power, Cuban Alliance, and Soviet prestige, to the description which best demonstrates Khrushchev's possible motives for placing missiles in Cuba.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to check your answers.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So, I asked you to match up each of our factors to the description, which best demonstrates Khrushchev's possible motives for placing missiles in Cuba.

For the balance of power, you should have matched up to the description that says, "The USA had its own nuclear missiles based in Turkey "within close range of the USSR." For the Cuban Alliance, you should have matched this to the description that says, "Castro and Khrushchev "both believed a US invasion was imminent." And for Soviet prestige, you should have matched this up to the description that said, "Critics suggested that Khrushchev "had been too weak in previous dealings with the USA." So really well done, especially if you got each of those factors matched up correctly with its proper description.

And now we're ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today, where we are going to think about Khrushchev's letter to Kennedy.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, on the 26th of October 1962, Nikita Khrushchev wrote to JFK.

In this letter, Khrushchev offered his justifications for placing Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba.

In a letter written to the US President, JFK, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Nikita Khrushchev wrote that, "Our purpose is to help Cuba, "and no one can challenge the humanity of our motives "aimed at allowing Cuba to live peacefully.

"You want to relieve your country from danger, "and that is understandable, "but you have surrounded the Soviet Union "with military bases, "surrounded our allies with military bases, "set up military bases literally around our country "and stationed your rocket weapons at them.

"This is no secret.

"Your rockets are stationed in Britain "and in Italy and pointed at us.

"Your rockets are stationed in Turkey.

"You are worried over Cuba.

"You say that it worries you because it lies at a distance "of 90 miles across the sea "from the shores of the United States.

"However, Turkey lies next to us.

"Do you believe that you have the right "to demand security for your country "and a removal of such weapons that you qualify as offensive "while not recognising this right for us?" So, let's reflect on the extract from Khrushchev's letter to President Kennedy.

In the extract from his letter to JFK, which two issues did Khrushchev mention? Was it Cuban security, American missiles, or Soviet prestige? Remember, you're looking for two answers to this question, so pause the video here and press play when you re ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the issues mentioned in the extract were American missiles and Cuban security.

So, we get an impression that these were important motives for the placement of Soviet missiles on Cuba.

And let's try another question.

This time I want you to study the quote from Khrushchev's letter where he says, "Do you believe that you have the right to demand security "for your country and a removal of such weapons "while not recognising this right for us?" What type of motive for placing Soviet missiles in Cuba is Khrushchev alluding to? Is it creating a balance of power, defending Cuba, or increasing Soviet prestige? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was A.

This extract suggests that creating a balance of power was very important for Khrushchev.

We can tell this because he talks about the US being concerned about its security, but not being as empathetic for the Soviet Union's concerns about its own security.

He doesn't mention anything about the actual defence or security of Cuba itself, and nor does he talk about the Soviet Union's reputation or how it's perceived by others, so we can also tell this isn't really alluding to prestige as a motive.

It's very much a balance of power argument.

Khrushchev's letter referred to both the balance of power and the USSR's Cuban alliance to justify installing Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba.

To judge which motive was more important, historians might consider which issue Khrushchev seemed to emphasise more.

An issue might be emphasised using different methods, including the use of emotive language and repetition.

Evidence of these methods can be identified in Khrushchev's letter to JFK and can be used by historians to assess which motives may have mattered most to the Soviets.

So, we have an extract from Khrushchev's letter where he says, "Our purpose is to help Cuba, "and no one can challenge the humanity of our motives "aimed at allowing Cuba to live peacefully.

"You want to relieve your country from danger, "and this is understandable, "but you surrounded the Soviet Union with military bases, "surrounded our allies with military bases, "set up military bases literally around our country, "and stationed your rocket weapons at them.

"This is no secret.

"Your rockets are stationed in Britain and in Italy "and pointed at us.

"Your rockets are stationed in Turkey." So, from this extract, one of the things we can see very early on is the use of emotive language, this idea of there being humanity behind the Soviet motives.

This is where Khrushchev's alluding to the defence of Cuba to allow Cuba to live peacefully, so we can see him emphasising the importance of that alliance here as a motive for the Soviet Union.

We can also see emotive language used where Khrushchev talks about the idea of the Soviet Union being surrounded.

So almost that atmosphere of claustrophobia and a massive threat.

Surrounded is a really clear term used to emphasise how insecure the Soviet Union was beginning to feel because of American actions, and so here we can see an allusion towards balance of power arguments and attempts to emphasise the importance of that.

Furthermore, we can also see a lot of repetition going on in the second half of this extract, as Khrushchev uses different language to repeat the same point about US missiles threatening the Soviet Union.

So we see him talking about military bases being set up literally around the country, rockets being stationed in Britain and Italy, rockets being stationed in Turkey.

Khrushchev keeps returning to this same point of US threats made against the Soviet Union as part of his justification for putting missiles in Cuba.

So, let's make sure we have a secure understanding of everything that we just heard.

We have a statement on the screen that reads, "The issue which Khrushchev's letter emphasises most "is a need to protect Soviet prestige." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false, but we need to be able to justify our response, so two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that, "The letter repeatedly draws attention "to the location of American missiles close to the USSR," and the second says that, "The letter repeatedly draws attention "to the threats the USA was making against Cuba." So which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct justification was A.

Khrushchev's letter repeatedly draws attention to the location of American missiles close to the USSR.

He does mention the American threat being made against Cuba, but the point he keeps coming back to, that he keeps repeating, is the location of American missiles which threatened the Soviet Union.

So, we're now in a good position to put all of our knowledge from today's lesson into practise.

I want you to answer the following question.

"How does Khrushchev's letter to John F.

Kennedy "on the 26th of October 1962 help historians "understand Soviet motives "for placing nuclear missiles on Cuba?" You should include details from the source and your own knowledge as part of your answer.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your hard work on that task.

So I asked you, "How does Khrushchev's letter "to John F.

Kennedy on the 26th of October 1962 "help historians understand Soviet motives "for placing nuclear missiles on Cuba?" And your answer may have included, "Khrushchev's letter to JFK can help historians "understand that both the balance of power "and the USSR's Cuban alliance were important motives "for his decision to place nuclear missiles on Cuba.

"For example, the letter states that the USSR's purpose "is to help Cuba.

"This was a reference to the fear "shared in both Cuba and the USSR that the USA "was imminently planning an invasion "to overthrow Fidel Castro's government.

"This suggests that the Soviets hoped to deter "an attack on their ally.

"Khrushchev's letter also suggests "that his most important motive was to address "the balance of power between the superpowers.

"In 1961, the USA installed Jupiter missiles in Turkey, "putting large areas of the Soviet Union "within range of a nuclear strike.

"Khrushchev repeatedly refers to this throughout his letter.

"For example, he says, 'You have surrounded the Soviet Union "with military bases' and questioned how the US "could demand 'the removal of such weapons' from Cuba "whilst not acknowledging the similar concerns of the USSR." So, really well done if your own answer looks something like that model.

What's really important is that you should have been incorporating both quotes from the source content and your own knowledge to explain the relevance of those quotes.

And so now we've reached the end of today's lesson, which puts us in a good position to summarise our learning about the initial stages of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

We've seen that American U-2 spy planes detected the construction of Soviet missile bases on Cuba in October 1962.

The discovery of the bases triggered the Cuban Missile Crisis as the US demanded that no Soviet nuclear missiles be placed on Cuba, as these threatened virtually every US city.

Khrushchev and his Cuban allies were worried that an American invasion of Cuba was imminent by 1962, and the Soviet Union was concerned by US Jupiter missiles installed at close range in Turkey in 1961.

So, really well done for all of your hard work during today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure to help guide you through our resources today, and I look forward to seeing you again in future as we think further about the transformation of the Cold War and continue to ask ourselves, was the world on the brink of nuclear war during the 1960s?.