The Address That Revealed the Cuban Missile Crisis
On the evening of October 22, 1962, millions of Americans turned on their televisions or radios to hear President John F. Kennedy deliver alarming news. The United States had discovered that the Soviet Union was placing nuclear missiles in Cuba, an island about 90 miles from Florida. Kennedy announced that the United States would act to stop further weapons shipments. For the next several days, the world watched as two nuclear-armed powers faced a dangerous confrontation.
Why Cuba mattered
The crisis grew out of the Cold War, a long struggle for power and influence between the United States and the Soviet Union. The two countries did not fight each other directly in a full-scale war, but they competed through military buildups, alliances, and conflicts involving other nations. Each possessed nuclear weapons capable of causing enormous destruction.
- confrontation:
- A tense situation in which opposing sides face each other.
- alliances:
- Agreements between groups or countries to support one another.
- exiles:
- People living away from their home country, often because they cannot safely return.
- reconnaissance:
- The gathering of information about a place or an opponent.
- analysts:
- People who carefully study information to understand it.
- offensive:
- Intended for attacking rather than defending.
- fallout:
- Radioactive material spread through the air after a nuclear explosion.
- restraint:
- Control over actions, especially when acting more forcefully could cause harm.
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Main Idea
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Structure
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1How did Cuba's concerns and Soviet strategic goals both contribute to the placement of missiles in Cuba?
- 2Why did the location of the missiles make them especially alarming to American leaders?
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About this explanatory article passage for Middle School
“The Address That Revealed the Cuban Missile Crisis” is a explanatory article reading passage about Cuban Missile Crisis, written for Middle School. It takes about 6 minutes to read (927 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.