The Cuban Missile Crisis And The Cold War

The event of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. Fifteen years into the cold war, the two superpowers continued the fierce competition to increase their military strength. In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the nuclear arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe, whereas the US missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba which would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union. The fate of millions

In response to the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev decided to agree to Cuba's request to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to deter future harassment of Cuba.

The relationship between Castro and Khrushchev was cemented between 1959-1962 as the Soviets gained Castro’s trust by buying Cuban sugar crops two years in advance, as well as accepting trade and economic assistance (Nathan 38). The Soviet surface to air missiles (SAMs) began being shipped to Cuba in the spring of 1962, in response to the U.S. Jupiter missiles placed in Turkey (Nathan 75). Eventually, the two nations would sign the Russia-Cuba Pact in August, 1962, and the shipment of Soviet medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) began (Nathan xxiv). “Fidel Castro accepted the Russian arguments that Cuba needed to accept missiles for its self-defense. Castro did not accept the logic but, as a member of the Soviet Bloc, felt Cuba had a duty to sustain socialism….(Nathan 76).”

Let the record show that our restraint is not inexhaustible. Should it ever appear that

The Cuban Missile Crisis impacted the Cold War because it was a direct confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Crisis in Cuba was the closest the United States and the USSR came to nuclear war, and was one of the high tension points of the Cold War. The crisis was unique in a few ways, with calculations, miscalculations, direct and secret communications, and miscommunications on both of the two sides.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a thirteen day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union in October of 1962. The stand off was over Soviet ballistic missiles deployed in Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the Cold War ever came to a full out nuclear war. The event was broadcasted on television for the world to see causing a global panic, especially in America. John F. Kennedy announced that the U.S. would use a naval blockade to eliminate the Cuban threat, showing that America was prepared to use military force to preserve their national security. The Cuban Missile Crisis escalated very quickly and nearly ended consequentially in nuclear destruction across the U.S. and Russia.

In 1962 atomic war appeared to be unavoidable to the world, it was the first run through atomic war was holding tight a string. The Cuban Missile Crisis introduced a danger to the world, in which the USSR planted atomic rockets on Cuba. America's reaction was to debilitate propelling atomic rockets at the Russians. This occurrence propelled the world into another time, which displayed atomic weapons as a wellspring of force.

The Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban missile crisis was the most dangerous of the Cold War, but

It was a battle of beliefs between leaders of powerful nations. It was a battle between Communism and Democracy. A battle that could have caused a nuclear war…...The event that I am referring to is the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban missile crisis was just one of the important events that came in the beginning of the Cold War. Some of the other events that occurred at the beginning of the Cold War were the Space Race, the Berlin Wall, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. We will look at each of these events in some detail, but the main focus is going to be on the Cuban Missile Crisis and why it caused so much tension between the US and the USSR. To start, we will look at the impact these events had on the Citizens of the U.S. and how that

The world stood still in October 1962, as it watched the two most powerful leaders at the time play a high-risk game of “Chicken” with nuclear weapons. One of the most dramatic episodes of the Cold War played out at this point between the two super powers - the Cuban crisis. The Americans act swiftly and demonstrate that they will not put up with the presence of Soviet nuclear missiles just 200 miles from their coast. American ships began to circle around Cuba and the US Army is raised on full alert for nearly two weeks as the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. The Cuban crisis was a consequence of a chain of false information, conclusions and analyses by experts and specialists from both sides. “The week the world stood still” is an excellent book in

John F. Kennedy said at the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963 that, “It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization.” (Kennedy, 1963). The Cuban missile crisis was a detrimental event in the course of history. On October 22nd, 1962, John F. Kennedy gave his Cuban missile crisis oval office address. Kennedy gave this speech to inform Americans about the nuclear missile sites that the Soviet Union established in the island of Cuba. (Kennedy, President Kennedy 's Cuban Missile Crisis Oval Office Address, 1962) I chose this speech because did I not only find it very interesting, but it described very well the events that were happening at the time. In addition, the way that Kennedy informed the public and presented the speech was great in getting their attention and presenting the facts. Kennedy’s speech was televised and radio transmitted in order to better reach the general public. My father, having lived in Cuba during the Cold war and the Cuban missile crisis, has told me many stories about how life was like in the country and things that were going on. However, there was only so much that he could remember and was able to tell me. Due to this I decided to choose this speech in order to learn more about the situation in which my father grew up in and how this affected not only the later years in his life but also the ones of the other people in both Cuba and the United States. I also

Information found from source 1: Two superpowers the United States and the Soviet Union were the very close to nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis was very special in many ways. The U.S. failed to overthrow Castro in Cuba with the Bay of Pigs invasion, President Kennedy was planning Operation Mongoose. Operation Mongoose was a secret operation to fight against Cuba and remove communist from the power. Fidel Castro and Soviet Nikita Khrushchev reached an agreement to place nuclear missiles in Cuba. The sites where the missiles were supposed to be put was a secret, but the U.S. found out. President Kennedy gathered his closest advisors to help come up with a plan to resolve the issue. He decided on a naval “quarantine” of

The Twentieth Century was plagued by a multitude of wars from the World Wars to the communist revolutions to conflicts on the accessibility of natural resources. After the conclusion of World War II, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United States of America directed their attention to the changing global political atmosphere, specifically on trying to influence other countries. This clashing of interests resulted in the escalation of many communist revolutions in the Americas and Asia with the USSR supplying the communists and the US the capitalists. So, while the two countries never faced each other in direct battle, because of the fear of an all out nuclear war - a threat to all life

The Cold War is the name given to the poor relation between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as the USSR. This relation started directly after World War Two, which lasted about forty five years. Cold war is the rivalry of economics, military, and politics between the two superpowers. This rivalry strain led to many major crises, for example the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis took place in 1962 , the crisis consist of the United States having missiles in Turkey . The USSR had ask for the Missiles to be taken away,

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a frightening moment for the entire world. It started October 14th, 1962 after the Soviet Union planted nuclear missiles inn Cuba. The U.S. found out that these missiles were being planted without their knowledge, but the Soviet Union continued the construction of these nuclear missile sites, even after President Kennedy, the president of the U.S., sent out a warning against these weapons in Cuba. Even after this warning, Kennedy once again found out that the construction was still happening. Following the discovery of the ongoing construction, Kennedy wanted to meet with people at the White House to solve the problem that they were encountering. There were multiple sides during their talk about the missiles. Some of the people at the meeting wanted to take a more aggressive approach and destroy these missiles and then follow up with an attack. Kennedy eventually decided to quarantine Cuba. After Kennedy quarantined Cuba, there were many messages sent between the White House and the Kremlin to try and solve the problem. The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted for thirteen extremely tense days. At the end of these thirteen days, the Cuban Missile Crisis ended with an agreement between the United States and Soviet Union. The Cuban Missile Crisis greatly impacted history. It strengthened the bond between the United States and Soviet Union, showed people how to come to a