ESL Lesson | C1 | History: the Cuban Missile Crisis

Summary

This ESL lesson for C1 English students delves into the Cuban Missile Crisis, a pivotal moment in Cold War history. This English class material uses a compelling video to explore the historical events, key figures, and intense diplomacy that averted a potential nuclear catastrophe. Students will enhance their historical comprehension, expand their vocabulary related to international relations and conflict, and master the use of the third conditional to discuss hypothetical past scenarios and their outcomes. The lesson is designed to foster critical thinking and engaging discussions about diplomacy, power, and the fragility of peace.

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Activities

A warm-up discussion about the Cold War and initial knowledge of the Cuban Missile Crisis, prompting students to consider the impact of international tensions.
Video comprehension activities where students watch a documentary about the crisis and complete fill-in-the-gap exercises, focusing on precise language and understanding key events.
A vocabulary matching task to familiarize students with essential terms related to international conflict, such as blockade, escalation, negotiation, and diplomacy.
A grammar exercise on the third conditional, enabling students to construct "what if" scenarios related to the crisis, such as "If Vasili Arkhipov hadn't refused to launch the torpedo, a nuclear war would have broken out."
Vocabulary in context exercises, applying newly learned words like abyss, thwarted, and unleash within sentences describing the crisis.
A sequencing activity that challenges students to chronologically order the critical events of the Cuban Missile Crisis, solidifying their understanding of the timeline.
A concluding discussion session for students to reflect on the lessons learned from the crisis, the role of individual actions, and the importance of diplomacy in preventing global conflicts.

00:00:06 It's not hard to imagine a world where at any given moment,

00:00:10 you and everyone you know could be wiped out without warning

00:00:14 at the push of a button.

00:00:17 This was the reality for millions of people during the 45-year period

00:00:21 after World War II,

00:00:22 now known as the Cold War.

00:00:25 As the United States and Soviet Union faced off across the globe,

00:00:28 each knew that the other had nuclear weapons capable of destroying it.

00:00:33 And destruction never loomed closer than during the 13 days

00:00:37 of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

00:00:40 In 1961, the U.S. unsuccessfully tried to overthrow Cuba's new communist government.

00:00:46 That failed attempt was known as the Bay of Pigs,

00:00:49 and it convinced Cuba to seek help from the U.S.S.R.

00:00:53 Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev was happy to comply

00:00:57 by secretly deploying nuclear missiles to Cuba,

00:01:00 not only to protect the island,

00:01:02 but to counteract the threat from U.S. missiles in Italy and Turkey.

00:01:07 By the time U.S. intelligence discovered the plan,

00:01:10 the materials to create the missiles were already in place.

00:01:14 At an emergency meeting on October 16, 1962,

00:01:17 military advisors urged an airstrike on missile sites

00:01:21 and invasion of the island.

00:01:24 But President John F. Kennedy chose a more careful approach.

00:01:27 On October 22, he announced that the the U.S. Navy

00:01:30 would intercept all shipments to Cuba.

00:01:33 There was just one problem:

00:01:35 a naval blockade was considered an act of war.

00:01:39 Although the President called it a quarantine

00:01:41 that did not block basic necessities,

00:01:44 the Soviets didn't appreciate the distinction.

00:01:47 In an outraged letter to Kennedy,

00:01:49 Khrushchev wrote, "The violation of freedom to use international waters

00:01:53 and international airspace is an act of aggression

00:01:56 which pushes mankind toward the abyss of world nuclear missile war."

00:02:02 Thus ensued the most intense six days of the Cold War.

00:02:07 While the U.S. demanded the removal of the missiles,

00:02:09 Cuba and the U.S.S.R insisted they were only defensive.

00:02:13 And as the weapons continued to be armed,

00:02:16 the U.S. prepared for a possible invasion.

00:02:20 On October 27, a spy plane piloted by Major Rudolph Anderson

00:02:24 was shot down by a Soviet missile.

00:02:27 The same day, a nuclear-armed Soviet submarine was hit by a small-depth charge

00:02:32 from a U.S. Navy vessel trying to signal it to come up.

00:02:36 The commanders on the sub, too deep to communicate with the surface,

00:02:40 thought war had begun and prepared to launch a nuclear torpedo.

00:02:45 That decision had to be made unanimously by three officers.

00:02:49 The captain and political officer both authorized the launch,

00:02:53 but Vasili Arkhipov, second in command, refused.

00:02:58 His decision saved the day and perhaps the world.

00:03:01 But the crisis wasn't over.

00:03:03 For the first time in history,

00:03:05 the U.S. Military set itself to DEFCON 2,

00:03:08 the defense readiness one step away from nuclear war.

00:03:12 With hundreds of nuclear missiles ready to launch,

00:03:15 the metaphorical Doomsday Clock stood at one minute to midnight.

00:03:20 But diplomacy carried on.

00:03:22 In Washington, D.C., Attorney General Robert Kennedy

00:03:25 secretly met with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin.

00:03:29 After intense negotiation, they reached the following proposal.

00:03:33 The U.S. would remove their missiles from Turkey and Italy

00:03:36 and promise to never invade Cuba

00:03:38 in exchange for the Soviet withdrawal from Cuba under U.N. inspection.

00:03:43 Once the meeting had concluded,

00:03:45 Dobrynin cabled Moscow saying time is of the essence

00:03:48 and we shouldn't miss the chance.

00:03:51 And at 9 a.m. the next day,

00:03:53 a message arrived from Khrushchev

00:03:54 announcing the Soviet missiles would be removed from Cuba.

00:03:58 The crisis was now over.

00:04:01 While criticized at the time by their respective governments

00:04:04 for bargaining with the enemy,

00:04:06 contemporary historical analysis shows great admiration

00:04:09 for Kennedy's and Khrushchev's ability to diplomatically solve the crisis.

00:04:14 But the disturbing lesson was that a slight communication error,

00:04:17 or split-second decision by a commander, could have thwarted all their efforts,

00:04:21 as it nearly did if not for Vasili Arkhipov's courageous choice.

00:04:27 The Cuban Missile Crisis revealed just how fragile human politics are

00:04:31 compared to the terrifying power they can unleash.

Vocabulary focus

The vocabulary section introduces advanced terms crucial for discussing international relations and crises. Key terms include overthrow, deploying, intercept, abyss, ensued, diplomacy, negotiation, thwarted, fragile, unleash, blockade, escalation, and nuclear. Students will learn to use these words to describe complex political and military events.

Grammar focus

This lesson concentrates on the third conditional (If + Past Perfect, would/could/might have + Past Participle). This grammatical form is essential for discussing hypothetical situations in the past and their imagined outcomes, allowing students to analyze historical "what if" scenarios related to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

History: the Cuban Missile Crisis

Summary

Activities

Vocabulary focus

Grammar focus

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