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Welcome to the Cold War Museum. Museum Entrance. Back Wall Artifact. Room Two. Room Three. Room One. Room Four. Room Five. Curator’s Offices. Curator’s Office. Paloma Palacios.
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Welcome to the Cold War Museum Museum Entrance Back Wall Artifact Room Two Room Three Room One Room Four Room Five Curator’s Offices
Curator’s Office Paloma Palacios Paloma Palacios is a newly graduated student specializing as a Cold War curator and how the Cold War affected Latin America at Cold War Museum. Contact me at www.worldhistory04@gmail.com Return to Entry Note: Virtual museums were first introduced by educators at Keith Valley Middle School in Horsham, Pennsylvania. This template was designed by Dr. Christy Keeler. View the Educational Virtual Museums website for more information on this instructional technique.
Cuba falls into the Cold War Room 1 Artifact 2 Artifact 3 Return to Entry
Cuban Missile Crisis Room 2 Return to Entry
Nicaragua Civil War Room 3 Return to Entry
Ortega as Politician Room 4 Return to Entry
Weapons of the Cuban Crisis And Ernesto “El Che” Guevara Room 5 Return to Entry
Fidel Castro Fidel Castro was born to a middle-class family living in Mayar, Cuba in 1926, and graduated with a degree in law in 1950 during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, a dictator who ruled Cuba for 33 years. Batista established small light industries for the country, but allowed foreign companies, mostly from the United States, to dominate sugar and oil refineries in Cuba, it’s major industries. Only a small percent of the Cuban population benefitted from these companies while the rest lived in poverty. Castro was arrested on 1953 for attempting to overthrow Batista. When he was released in 1955 he went to Mexico, gathered rebels there and returned to Cuba and engaged in guerilla warfare against Batista’s army. With the support of the people, and the U.S., since he wasn’t communist at the time, Castro became premier weeks after Batista fled to Mexico on January 1, 1959. "Fidel Castro." Political Theories for Students. Ed. Matthew Miskelly and Jaime Noce. Detroit: Gale, 2002. World History in Context. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. Return to Exhibit
Castro’s Economic reforms Castro cut down rent, proposed improved healthcare and education, farming reforms, and gave pieces of large estates to the poor to farm. When the time came for elections none were held as had been promised. Castro nationalized Cuban and foreign business, including American owned oil refineries and banks, in February 1960. President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by refusing to import Cuban sugar. The Soviet Union then rose to buy Cuba’s sugar in order to strengthen economic ties with the country. Wealthy and middle-classmen fled to America in fear and established an anti-Castro community meant for those who had stayed on the island. Well, Danny. "Join the Project Censored Mailing List Here for Breaking News!" The Daily Censored. Wordpress, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.dailycensored.com/>. Return to Exhibit
Relations with Cuba break After the U.S. refused to support his reforms or stop the anti-Castro community in Miami, Florida, Castro signed a trade agreement with the Soviet Union, and at the United Nations 1960 conference in New York Castro announced he and his country were communist. On January 31, 1961, all diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba were severed, leaving Cuba highly dependent on the Soviet Union. Leffler, Warren K. "Main Page." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Apr. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>. Return to Exhibit
Bay of Pigs Invasion Before President Kennedy came to office President Eisenhower, sensing Castor was leaning toward communism, secretly used 13 million dollars to train anti-Castro members with the CIA, or Central Intelligence Agency, in Nicaragua and Guatemala to overthrow Castro and secure a non-communist government there. Kennedy was briefed on the operation before his inauguration, and he allowed it to continue on the condition that the U.S. Army would not be involved to make it seem as if the U.S. hadn’t played a direct part in the invasion. Confident that the people of Cuba would support them, the invasion commenced April 17,1961 at Bay of Pigs, but the plan failed when the invaders were defeated by Soviet made tanks. Over 100 men were killed and 1,000 were captured that day. The invasion only fueled support for Castro in Cuba instead of lessening it as the U.S. thought it would. The failed Bay of Pigs invasion also prompted Castro’s anti-American imperialism policies. Yeung, Marie. "Epoch Times | China News, World News | NYC | Business, Science and Beyond | The New Times." The Epoch Times. Epoch Times, 17 Aug. 2011. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.theepochtimes.com/>. Return to Exhibit
The Cuban Missile Crisis Begins The Soviet Union sent 40 missile launchers, each capable of carrying 2 missiles, to be built on Cuba. Though Castro felt uncomfortable with the idea of missiles on his island he felt they would bring him prestige in the eyes of other Latin American leaders. Twenty-four of them would be SS-5 medium range ballistic missiles, or MRBMs, each missile had an explosive of power equal to 1 million tons of TNT, and a range of 1,000 miles, easily putting Dallas, TX, Washington, D.C., and all of the southern states at risk. In WW2 Hiroshima, Japan was obliterated by an explosive force equal to 13,000 tons of TNT. As the launchers were being built the Soviet Union promised they were for defensive purposes. Hansen, James H. "Epoch Times | China News, World News | NYC | Business, Science and Beyond | The New Times." The Epoch Times. Awesome Stories, 22 Apr. 2002. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.theepochtimes.com/>. Return to Exhibit
Cuban Missile Crisis Escalates A U-2 aircraft took a picture of a neat complete MRBM near San Cristobal, Cuba on October 14, 1962. This was taken as an aggressive action, and on October 16 at a.m. President Kennedy called for the Committee of the National Security Council, or Ex-Comm, for a near continuous two week meeting to decide what to do about the nuclear threat off shore. Many members switched between aggressive military action and diplomatic strategy and less invasive tactics. On October 18 1962 the Ex-Comm finally agreed on a non-aggressive naval quarantine , or blockade, of Cuba scheduled for October 24 of that year. "U.S. Military Surveillance of Cuba Leading to Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962." Gale World History in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2010. World History in Context. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. Return to Exhibit
War is in the cards On the day of the quarantine the U.S. issued DEFCON 5, the highest state of alert for the military, meaning war was looming. All planes in the air force were armed with missiles for the first time, submarined took up their assigned positions, and U.S. missiles were ready to be fired. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev warned nuclearly armed submarines had orders to attack ships if provoked. Bourgeous, Lane. "50 Years Ago: 31st Fighter Wing Readies to Strike Cuba amid Crisis." 50 Years Ago: 31st Fighter Wing Readies to Strike Cuba amid Crisis. N.p., 15 Oct. 2012. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.aviano.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123322234>. Return to Exhibit
The Crisis Dies Down October 26 Soviet ships carrying military equipment stopped midway across the ocean, turned around, and sailed back to the Soviet Union. Those that didn’t have military cargo resumed their course to the quarantine, were searched, and allowed to continue to Havana, Cuba. On October 26, Khrushchev sent a letter to Kennedy offering the removal of Cuba’s missiles and if the U.S. would promise not to invade Cuba again. Before Kennedy could respond, another letter arrived from Khrushchev demanding that U.S. missiles in Turkey also be removed if Cuba’s were removed. Kennedy agreed to the terms of the first letter promising to stop the quarantine and never invade Cuba again. Utz, Curtis A. "Cordon of Steel." Cordon of Steel. Naval History an Heritage Command, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/cordonsteel.htm>. Return to Exhibit
The Cuban Missile Crisis ends When Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin asked about the removal of the missiles in Turkey, Kennedy promised to remove them in secret so as not seem as if the country was abandoning Western Europe, the U.S. had considered the missiles out dated and had planed to remove them, anyway. Khrushchev removed his missiles from Cuba on Octoer28 and the U.S. had removed theirs from Turkey by 1963. A hotline between Moscow and Washington, D.C. was set upon June 1963 to keep open communication between the two countries. "Jupiter Missiles in Turkey - Map Locator." AwesomeStories.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Jupiter-Missiles-in-Turkey-Map-Locator>. Return to Exhibit
Civil War in Nicaragua The Cold War not didn’t affect just Cuba, it also affected Nicaragua. Jose Daniel Ortega was born on November 11, 1945 in La Libertad, Nicaragua to parents who were strongly anti-Somoza, his father had served in a previous civil war against U.S. occupation in the 1920’s. After a few month of attending college Ortega joined the FSLN, or Sandinista National Liberation Front, and became leader of its urban guerilla campaign. He was arrested in1974 for taking part of a bank robbery and was released in 1974 as part of a prisoner exchange. Then he went to Cuba where he got some months of guerilla training with which he united Sandinistas when he returned to Nicaragua, and made allies of business groups, and political organizations. The Nicaragua Civil War began in 1977 when the National Army and guerilla clashed and attacked was made on the National Palace of Managua. "Main Page." Wikimedia Commons. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.commons.wikimedia.org/>. Return to Exhibit
Ortega Assumes Power The U.S. became wary of Ortega’s revolution since it was inspired by Cuba’s revolution that ended in a Communist state. Somoza was defeated on July 1979 and Ortega and a 5 man militaristic Junta took charge of the country, seized Somoza’s land and disbanded the National Guard and Congress. At a meting of non-aligned nations Ortega assured them he’d “invest in tractors and plows instead of weapons”(according to the Washington Post) before he and members of the Junta went to Washington where President Jimmy Caster and other U.S. officials would discuss economic aid to Nicaragua, but U.S. conservatives feared a dictatorship that would promote revolutions throughout South America. Ortega saw their concerns as an excuse to be involved in Nicaragua’s affairs. "BBC Homepage." BBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/>. Return to Exhibit
Ortega’s relation with the U.S. The Junta passed a law that banned privately owned television stations and fined, even temporarily suspended, newspaper and radio stations. When Ronald Reagan won the elections of 1980, the U.S. cut off most of its aid to Nicaragua suspecting the nation of getting weapons from Cuba and increasing its military for aggressive not defensive purposes. Instead of invading as Ortega warned his people they would do the U.S. supported Somoza loyalists called Contras that began to attack Sandinistas from their base in Honduras. Sandinistas responded by censoring news and limiting political activity. Ortega went to Moscow in May 1982 and asked for military and economic aid for Nicaragua. "The Big Story." The Big Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.bigstory.ap.org/>. Return to Exhibit
Nicaragua’s Civil War Ends Nicaragua had elections November 1984, during which the government lessened censorship and allowed opposing parties to air for a limited time on radio and television. The Sandinistas won the election by 64% popular vote and by most of the members of the National Assembly. The Reagan Administration increases it’s support of the Contras and established a five year embargo on Nicaragua. The civil war between Contras and Sandinistas ended late in the 1980’s when they signed a peace treaty negotiated by Oscar Arias Sanchez, the president of Costa Rica, that called for free elections on February 1990. In that years elections Ortega lost to Violeta de Barrios de Chamorro from the National Opposition Union. "BBC Homepage." BBC. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/>. Return to Exhibit
Ortega Runs for President Daniel Ortega ran again for president but lost to Arnoldo Aleman Lacayo, leader of the conservative Liberal constitutional Party and former head of Somoza’s party. Both men signed a pact with each other in 1991 that changed election laws that presidential candidates would win with a 36% vote. Some Sandinistas, upset of Ortega’s control and deals split and made their own parties. Ortega lost to Enrique Bolanos in the elections of 2001. In 2005 he kept Sandinistas from impeaching Bolanos to keep political stability in Nicaragua. Return to Exhibit "La Voz Del Sandinismo - Unida, Nicaragua Triunfa." La Voz Del Sandinismo. N.p., 2014. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.lavozdelsandinismo.com/>.
Ortega Becomes President Ortega won the 2007 elections and was supported by Hugo Chaves of Venezuela and Evo Morales of Bolivia. The following day Morales, Chaves Ortega and Cuban vice president, Jose Ramon Machado, signed a pact that approved of Chaves’s economic cooperation plan that included 30 million dollars in debt forgiveness, low interest loans, and 24 electrical plants for Nicaragua. Iran agreed to build 10,000 houses in Nicaragua's country side and help build a 120 million dollar electrical plant to help the country out of its power crisis. In September 2011 Rene Nuñez, Sandinista legislator, reprinted the Nicaraguan constitution and included a new article that allowed public officials to stay in office beyond their term until replacements could be appointed. Ortega was unanimously voted by the FSLN to serve a third term. Opposes claimed his extra term as illegal, claiming the article was unenforceable. Robertson, Ewan. "Venezuelanalysis.com | Venezuela News, Views, and Analysis." Venezuelanalysis.com | Venezuela News, Views, and Analysis. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://venezuelanalysis.com/>. Return to Exhibit
Ernesto Guevara Ernesto Guevara, a revolutionist and martyr to the imperial liberation of Central and South America, was born to an upper-middle class family on June 14, 1928 at Rosario, Argentina, but spent most of his childhood in Alta Gracia, Argentina. His parents were leftist supporters and ,as such, he came to support Marxist ideals. At age 14 he joined the Partido Union Democratica, an anti-capitalist union, and took part in street fights against peronistas, or supporters of dictator Juan Peron. Return to Exhibit "Bienvenidos Al Partido UD." Partido UD Honduras RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.partidoud.com/>.
Political Strife in Bolivia Guevara studied to be a medic and graduated with honors from college at 19 years of age and enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires. He temporarily left his studies in 1952 to hitchhike through out South America with his friend Alberto Granados where he saw the poverty, and hunger that came along with it, that afflicted many people. He went back to Buenos Aires and graduated as a doctor in 1953, but instead of giving services he knew the poor couldn’t afford Guevara took a two year trip across South America to see budding revolutionist governments. He arrived in Guatemala under the revolutionist government established in 1951 headed by Jacobo Arbenz, and joined the Alliance Democratic Youth, a pro-Arbenz and Guatemala labor party. This was where he got his nickname “El Che”. Arbenz’s land reforms infuriated elites and land owners such as the United Fruit Company, a Boston-backed company that owned the most land in Bolivia and lost 387,000 acres to those land reforms. "FrontPage." WRS Latin American and the 20th Century /. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://wrscoldwar.pbworks.com/>. Return to Exhibit
America gets involved with Bolivia The CIA secretly trained soldiers under the right-wing leader Castillo Armas and overthrew the government. Guevara led small bands of revolutionists to retake Guatemala City, but they were unsuccessful. Once targeted by the new government as a Marxist, Guevara got refuge in the Argentine embassy and spent the next months studying the works of Karl Marx and Lenin. He was convinced that freedom from imperialism would come by use of force. Newsinger, John. "Socialist Worker (Britain)." Socialist Worker (Britain). N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://socialistworker.co.uk/>. Return to Exhibit
“El Che” and Fidel Castro Guevara escaped Guatemala on September 1954 and went to Mexico where he met and joined Fidel Castro, a revolutionist who was training an 82 man guerilla force to over throw Fulgencio Batista, in 1955. The guerilla landed on Cuba on December 2, 1956. 14 of the 82 men survived a battle against Batista’s army at Alegria del Pio and went to the Sierra Maestra in eastern Cuba. Batista fled to Mexico in 1956 after revolutionists fought at Santa Clara. Victory belonged to the guerilla on January 4, 1959. Once in power Castro made Guevara head of the Ministry of Industry. Guevara’s main goals were to lessen Cuba’s dependence on sugar exports and sales to the U.S.. "Info:Main Page." - New World Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/>. Return to Exhibit
“El Che” Guevara in Cuba Guevara accomplished his economic goals by negotiating with neutral and friendly countries, and made a deal with the Soviet Union that called for it to buy sugar from Cuba in exchange for Cuba’s support of communism. He also made Cuba closer to the Soviet Union when he seized American, and British owned oil refineries in hopes of making the country industrious, but lack of markets, technology, funds, worker incentive, and issues with the Soviets over unyielding policies led to economic failure. He disappeared from political spotlight on March 1965 and resurged as part of a revolution in the Kinshasa Republic of the Congo, now known as Zaire, but returned to Cuba after 6 months without success. "Castro Betrayed Che With Moscow's Help, Says Former Guerrilla." Www.laht.com/. Latin American Herald Tribune, 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <www.laht.com>. Return to Exhibit
The Liberation of Bolivia Guevara trained a Cuban guerrilla force according to his manual “Guerilla Warfare” to liberate Bolivia, and from there establish a base form where to spread revolutions through out South America, but his plan failed due to a lack of trust form the Bolivian people, and his uncompromising socialist ideals distanced the Bolivian communist party. On October 8, 1967 Guevara’s separated guerilla force was surrounded in a canyon by the Bolivian Army after 18 months of war against the combined forces of the army and U.S. Army Rangers. Guevara was wounded and captured then executed the next day at 39 years old. Return to Exhibit "Che Guevara Historical Photos Narrations. | Paparazi Photos | Che Guevara Historical Photos Narrations. | Paparazzi, Secret Funny Pictures, Rare Images, Celebs." Che Guevara Historical Photos Narrations. | Paparazi Photos | Che Guevara Historical Photos Narrations. | Paparazzi, Secret Funny Pictures, Rare Images, Celebs. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://lumq.com/01/che-guevara-historical-photos-narrations/>.
U-2 Spy Plane Francis Gary Powers was the pilot of a U-2 spy plane that crashed on Soviet Union territory where he was captured and released in a spy trade for Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, a Russian spy, to the United States. Its crash only made nuclear war even closer than ever before. Though the U-2 could fly 70,00 feet high and out of the range of anti-aircraft missiles, it was unstable and difficult to control. It’s speculated that the U-2 crash of the cold war went out of control or had a malfunction causing it to go out of route and stray into Soviet airspace. "INTELLIGENCE | WORLD." INTELLIGENCE WORLD TECHINT. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.intelligence-world.org/category/ipcycle/collection/techint/>. Return to Entrance
Things to Learn From The Cold War had many effects on America. Distrust is still shown when President Obama signed an agreement with the Russians on April 8, 2010 to cut off both nations amounts of weapons. The tension between the Russians and the US ever since the Cold War. Both of these nations have a powerful militarily. The Russians and the Americans, both, have many weapons that could do great damage. Another effect on America was technology. During the Cold War, the tension between the US and Russia was so great, that both countries were trying to one-up each other at everything. The Russians launched Sputnik, the first satellite, into space. America, not wanting to look scientifically inept, fought back by sending the first men to the moon. These constant fights sparked America to put more effort into education, and that is exactly what happened. This lead to Americans realizing that the more you put into education, the more you get out. That spark during the war lead the US into the era of technology and education, and the war is why we still have both of those things present in the US today. "Neko Random." Neko Random. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.linkrandom.blogspot.com/> Return to Entrance
MRBM SS-5 medium range ballistic missiles, or MRBMs, each missile have an explosive power equal to 1 million tons of TNT, and a range of 1,000 miles. Hiroshima, Japan was obliterated by an explosive force equal to 13,000 tons of TNT during WW2 Nitze, Paul H. "Home." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.cosmosclub.org/>. Return to Exhibit