Lesson Y9-U07-L04

To the Brink The Cuban Missile Crisis Quiz: KS3 History, Unit 20

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U07-L04, To the Brink The Cuban Missile Crisis: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 History (National Curriculum), Unit 20: Year 9: The Cold War, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which country first used atomic bombs in war, in 1945?

    • The USSR
    • Britain
    • Germany
    • The USA

  2. In which year did the USSR test its own atomic bomb?

    • 1949
    • 1953
    • 1945
    • 1962

  3. What is an 'arms race'?

    • A competition between countries to build more and better weapons
    • A battle fought only with long-range missiles over the ocean
    • A treaty banning the making of new weapons and their testing
    • A race between athletes from rival countries in the Olympic Games

  4. What is a 'deterrent'?

    • A weapon kept to frighten an enemy out of attacking
    • A gift given to an ally after a peace deal
    • A weapon that can only be used underwater
    • A weapon used to defeat an enemy's army

  5. What does MAD stand for?

    • Military Alliance Declaration
    • Massive Air Defence
    • Mutually Assured Destruction
    • Missile and Artillery Divisions

  6. How did MAD help keep the peace?

    • It forced both sides to give up nuclear weapons after the 1962 crisis
    • It let each side hide its weapons from the other behind secret treaties
    • It made war cheaper for both superpowers by reducing military budgets
    • Both sides knew an attack would destroy both, so neither would start a war

  7. Which weapon did both superpowers build in the early 1950s, far more powerful than the atomic bomb?

    • The hydrogen bomb
    • The machine gun
    • The crossbow
    • The tank

  8. What was Cuba's government after the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro?

    • A monarchy ruled by an emperor
    • Communist and allied to the USSR
    • A military junta supported by Britain
    • A capitalist democracy allied to the USA

  9. How far is Cuba from the coast of the USA?

    • About 90 miles
    • About 900 yards
    • About 900 miles
    • About 9 miles

  10. What was the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961?

    • A Soviet invasion of Florida launched from Cuban ports in 1961
    • A US-backed attempt to overthrow Castro that failed
    • A Cuban attack on the USA's naval base at Guantanamo Bay
    • A British attack on the Cuban capital that was called off quickly

  11. What did Khrushchev secretly do in 1962?

    • He sent a fleet to blockade New York
    • He shipped nuclear missiles to Cuba
    • He signed a treaty ending the arms race
    • He gave Cuba back to the USA

  12. What was the US naval move called during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

    • A 'quarantine' of Cuba
    • A 'surrender' of the navy
    • A 'carnival' of the fleet
    • A 'liberation' of Cuba

  13. When was the Thirteen Days crisis?

    • October 1950
    • October 1968
    • October 1962
    • October 1956

  14. What was 'Black Saturday' in the Cuban Missile Crisis?

    • 24 October 1962, when Soviet ships turned back from the quarantine line
    • 28 October 1962, when the missiles were removed from the island of Cuba
    • 27 October 1962, when a US U-2 plane was shot down over Cuba
    • 16 October 1962, when spy photos were shown to the president in Washington

  15. What did Khrushchev agree to on 28 October 1962?

    • To remove the missiles from Cuba
    • To sign an alliance with Britain
    • To keep the missiles and send more to Cuba
    • To invade Florida with Soviet troops

  16. What was the USA's secret part of the deal that ended the Cuban Missile Crisis?

    • It agreed to share its nuclear codes with the Soviet government in Moscow
    • It agreed to close all its airports and military bases in the south
    • It promised to hand Cuba to the USSR as part of a peace treaty
    • It quietly agreed to remove its own missiles from Turkey

  17. What was set up between Washington and Moscow after the crisis?

    • A trade route through the Arctic
    • A joint military base in Cuba
    • A telephone hotline
    • A shared nuclear arsenal

  18. What did the 1963 Test Ban Treaty do?

    • It banned all trade between the USA and USSR
    • It ended the Berlin Wall
    • It banned nuclear testing in the atmosphere
    • It gave Cuba independence from the USSR

  19. Why did both leaders step back from the brink in 1962?

    • A Cuban army defeated both sides in a short and bloody battle
    • They both wanted to share Cuba and its sugar industry equally
    • Neither wanted nuclear war, and each could claim a win
    • The United Nations forced a surrender by both sides at the end

  20. Why was the Cuban Missile Crisis so dangerous?

    • Because the crisis involved only land battles on the Cuban coast
    • Each move risked forcing the other side into a corner with no safe retreat
    • Because the USSR had no missiles at all in the Caribbean region
    • Because Cuba had no contact with either superpower during the crisis

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