Bay of Pigs
Failed Cuban invasion
The Bay of Pigs is a bay on the southern coast of Cuba, site of a failed 1961 invasion by CIA-trained Cuban exiles attempting to overthrow Fidel Castro.
The operation's spectacular failure became shorthand for botched military or political ventures: The whole campaign turned into a Bay of Pigs.
Irish-origin surname, political dynasty
- KhrushchevCold War Soviet premier
- CIAU.S. foreign intelligence service
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
- domino theoryContagious political collapse belief
Soviet Union · communism · capitalism · proxy war · espionage · propaganda · Iron Curtain · nuclear threat
Cuba's largest city
- CastroProminent Cuban surname
- FidelName signifying faithfulness
- CaribbeanTropical Atlantic region
- embargoOfficial prohibition on trade
Guantánamo · exiles · sugar cane · Che Guevara · socialism · revolutionary · Miami · Mariel
Attack launched from water
- landingDescent's final moment
- paramilitaryUnofficial armed organization
- beachSandy waterside margin
- commandosElite assault troops
flotilla · air strike · infiltration · paratroopers · reconnaissance · supply ships · covert operation · ground forces
Humiliating public failure
- debacleSudden, complete failure
- blunderFoolish, costly mistake
- miscalculationError in estimation
- disasterSudden ruinous event
humiliation · defeat · botched · misjudgment · intelligence failure · underestimation · political fallout · ransom negotiations
1962 US-Soviet nuclear standoff
- nuclear standoffArmed nations frozen mid-threat
- blockadeSealing off a place
- quarantineIsolation preventing disease transmission
- assassination plotsPlanned killings of prominent figures
Kennedy
Irish-origin surname, political dynasty
- KhrushchevCold War Soviet premier
- CIAU.S. foreign intelligence service
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
domino theory · Soviet Union · communism · capitalism · proxy war · espionage · propaganda · Iron Curtain · nuclear threat · ideological warfare
Havana
Cuba's largest city
embargo · Guantánamo · exiles · sugar cane · Che Guevara · socialism · revolutionary · Miami · Mariel · nationalization
amphibious assault
Attack launched from water
- landingDescent's final moment
- paramilitaryUnofficial armed organization
- beachSandy waterside margin
commandos · flotilla · air strike · infiltration · paratroopers · reconnaissance · supply ships · covert operation · ground forces
fiasco
Humiliating public failure
- debacleSudden, complete failure
- blunderFoolish, costly mistake
- miscalculationError in estimation
disaster · humiliation · defeat · botched · misjudgment · intelligence failure · underestimation · political fallout · ransom negotiations · lessons learned
Cuban Missile Crisis
1962 US-Soviet nuclear standoff
- nuclear standoffArmed nations frozen mid-threat
- blockadeSealing off a place
- quarantineIsolation preventing disease transmission
assassination plots · ransom · congressional inquiry · historical legacy
- Cold War ConflictsKorean War, Vietnam War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Berlin Wall, Prague Spring
- Cuban CultureCelia Cruz, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Little Havana, guayabera
- Cuban PlacesHavana, Trinidad, Guantanamo
- Secret OperationsCOINTELPRO, Iran-Contra, covert action, black budget, PRISM
- US HistoryAmerican Revolution, US history, Civil War, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln
- Sixtieshippies, Beatles, Woodstock, Vietnam War, JFK
Bay of PigsOperation Desert Storm
1991 allied Iraq offensive
D-Day · Operation Overlord · decisive victory · Six-Day War · Gulf War
Bay of PigsBerlin Airlift
Allied supply mission, 1948
fall of the Berlin Wall · Marshall Plan · Truman Doctrine · Apollo 11
Bay of PigsAmerican exceptionalism
Belief U.S. is uniquely virtuous
Pax Americana · shock and awe · deterrence · Vietnam War · Mogadishu