On 3 January 1959, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reports on the toppling of the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista by the revolutionary Fidel Castro in Cuba.

On 24 April 1959, the Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro pays a successful visit to the United States.

‘Cuba, united we stand.’ In May 1963, the Soviet Union strongly condemns US policy towards Cuba and deplores the imperialist and acquisitive aims of the United States.

Range of the Soviet rockets installed on the island of Cuba in 1962 in relation to the United States and Latin America.

‘What do you mean, a threat? Surely it’s all right to go fishing, isn’t it?’ On 30 September 1962, the German cartoonist Herbert Kolfhaus illustrates the diplomatic and political trial of strength between Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the US President John F. Kennedy over the strategic importance of the island of Cuba. Following the signing of an agreement in late September 1962 between Cuba and the USSR for the construction of a port in the Bay of Havana, which according to Cuban leader Fidel Castro will serve as a base for the Soviet fishing fleet in the Atlantic, the cartoonist paints an ironic picture of Moscow’s real plans on the island of Cuba.

On 14 October 1962, United States U2 reconnaissance aircraft spot launchpads for Soviet missiles under construction on Cuban soil.

On 14 October 1962, photographs taken by US aircraft prove that Soviet missiles have been stationed on Cuban territory, sparking off the Cuban missile crisis.

On 26 October 1962, French Ambassador to the United States, Hervé Alphand, informs French Foreign Minister, Maurice Couve de Murville, of an acceleration in the construction of Soviet military bases in Cuba.

On 29 October 1962, the Cuban Communist leader, Fidel Castro, gives an address to the nation on the Soviet missile crisis which sets the country against the United States.

In October 1962, the cartoonist Behrendt illustrates the seriousness of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the attitude of the United States and the Soviet Union, who are preparing for the worst ‘just in case …’

On 20 April 1961, three days after the failed attempt by Cuban exiles to land in the Bay of Pigs, Cuba, the US President, John F. Kennedy, describes the event in an address given to the American Society of Newspaper Editors.

‘Caribbean bullfight. After the Caribbean bullfight (end of round one) … and the bull lived happily ever after …’ In April 1961, Opland, Dutch cartoonist, depicts the failure of the landing of anti-Castro exiles in the Bay of Pigs and emphasises the bitter defeat suffered by the United States.

'‘Don’t stir things up!’ In February 1962, the USSR looks unfavourably on what it feels to be imperialist designs by the United States on the island of Cuba.

On 22 October 1962, the US President, John F. Kennedy, gives a televised address on the Cuban missile crisis.

On 24 October 1962, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) draws up a memorandum which records international reactions to the Soviet missile crisis in Cuba.

On 24 October 1962, the US President, John F. Kennedy, makes a televised statement from the Oval Office in the White House in which he announces the blockade of Cuba following the discovery of launchpads for Soviet missiles on the island.

On 27 October 1962, the White House issues a press statement in which the United States makes the dismantling of the launchpads for Soviet missiles that have been constructed in Cuba a prerequisite for all international negotiations.

‘OK, that’s enough!’ In October 1962, in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Ernst Maria Lang, German cartoonist, illustrates the resolve of John F. Kennedy, US President, in imposing a naval blockade on the island.

On 25 October 1962, Maurice Dejean, French Ambassador to the Soviet Union, describes to Maurice Couve de Murville, French Foreign Minister, the ignorance in which the Soviet people are being kept with regard to the measures determined by the United States during the Cuban missile crisis.

On 27 October 1962, the US President, John F. Kennedy, sends a letter to Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, concerning the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis.

On 28 October 1962, Nikita Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, sends a letter to the US President, John F. Kennedy, in which he justifies the purely dissuasive objective of the missiles supplied by the USSR to the Cuban regime.

On 12 November 1962, US reconnaissance planes photograph the Soviet freighter ‘Kurchatov’, having left Cuba on 7 November, during her return journey to the Soviet Union. Russian missiles covered by tarpaulin can be seen on the ship’s deck.

On 12 December 1962, Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, outlines to the Supreme Soviet his point of view on the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis

On 23 May 1963, at a meeting marking the friendship between the peoples of the Soviet Union and the Republic of Cuba, Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, summarises the Cuban crisis.

On 25 October 1962, the German daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung considers possible solutions to the Cuban missile crisis and analyses US policy towards the Soviet Union.

Sithu U Thant of Burma, third Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971.

On 26 October 1962, U Thant, UN Secretary-General, writes to the Cuban Prime Minister, Fidel Castro, asking him to stop the installation of Soviet missiles in Cuba during the round of negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union.

On 27 October 1962, Mario Garcia Inchaustegui, Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), informs Sithu U Thant, UN Secretary-General, that the Cuban Government is ready to consider a solution to the missile crisis, despite its condemnation of interference and reprisals on the part of the United States, such as the naval blockade imposed by John F. Kennedy.

On 29 October 1962, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera leads with news of the end of the Cuban crisis and analyses the U-turn taken by Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

On 30 October 1962, the French daily newspaper Le Monde comments on the outcome of the Cuban missile crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union.

On 31 October 1962, André Saint-Mleux, French Consul General in Hong Kong, informs the French Foreign Minister, Maurice Couve de Murville, of the reaction of the Chinese authorities to the Cuban missile crisis.