Cuban Missile Crisis By Bryce Faber

The Cuban Revolution was touchy topic for the United States and Cuba. America’s alienation of Cuba didn’t help when communism from the USSR was brewing over the revolution. When the revolution gained Castro as its leader, the worry and hatred from the United States was unbearable, especially when the Soviet Union landed in Cuba to interest Castro in its aid. The US’s fear of communism, Fidel Castro, and aid from the Soviet Union was significant because it changed the US’s political role in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution.

After it became officially globally acknowledged that Cuba was in fact a communist state and was being led through a dictatorship run by Castro, it did not take long before powerful enemies and essential allies were formed. The act of seizing all foreign land with none or very little compensation was received with great hostility amongst those who lost in their property through this process, and probably the reaction that had the biggest impact on Cuba’s economy was that of the US. Castro’s communistic policies did not of course help calm this resentment and also took part in leading to the establishment of trade embargos with Cuba from the US. This meant that Cuba would now lose a very valuable buyer of their precious sugar, [5] but they did however gain another one, a powerful nation that shared quite similar Marxist ideals and were quick to form an alliance with the Cubans, the USSR.

The United States embargo of Cuba has its roots planted in 1960, 53 years ago, when “the United States Congress authorized President Eisenhower to cut off the yearly quota of sugar to be imported from Cuba under the Sugar act of 1948… by 95 percent” (Hass 1998, 37). This was done in response to a growing

Cuba was one of the biggest producers of sugar which was what the us wanted. Spain wanted to trade with other countries but since they were still part of Spain, they were not able to do that ( Brad Williford).Spain had really strict rules on who to trade with and that was one of the biggest problems they had and why they wanted to be independent.That is why they wanted independence so that no one is able to tell them anything and they trade with who they want, and do what they want as their own country.”Cuba's economy became even more closely linked with that of the United States than it had been earlier in the century” (José M. Hernandez). After Cuba became closer to the US, their sugar prices dropped and also their economy dropped and that was not good for Cuba. People started becoming poor after all that happened with the

The United States is known for being one of the greatest and strongest countries in the world looking at past events and in this day and age. What might strike some people as shocking is that the U.S. would not be as strong without close ties with other countries or allies. Examples would be France, England, and Canada, plus many more. What people don’t talk about is the U.S.’s rivals or countries that the U.S. has had trouble with in the past leading up to now. One of the most renowned countries is only ninety miles away from the southern tip of Florida and that is Cuba. Cuba is known for the fantastic beaches, some of the most well-known baseball players around, and, of course, Cuban cigars and rum. But, the past with Cuba is not as bright as the U.S. wants it to be because of historical events such as the embargo, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban missile crisis during World War II that caused the two countries to separate as allies and close tied nations. Over the past year the U.S. and Cuba have been trying to put the past behind them and have diplomatic and cultural relations once again.

The relatively short distance between Cuba and the U.S. naturally led to a long and involved history of relations between the two nations, but relations between the two nations over the past fifty years have been unhealthy and harmful to both nations. The embargo imposed by the U.S. has only been damaging and unhelpful to the situation. “As a result of the new government’s nationalization policy, American investors suffered major losses and the U.S. retaliated in July 1960 by canceling planned purchases of Cuban sugar” (Crouch 70). This was the first act of neglect toward Cuba that would only quickly progress until all trade and relations were cut off with Cuba.

The United States has had a long history with Cuba. Within that long history came many arguments and accusations, such as the demand that Castro request that the U.S. embassy staff be reduced. Following that request came an outrageous accusation stating that the embassy was being used as a foundation for spies. This made U.S. officials think that Castro’s government was too anti-American to be trusted. Castro started nationalizing foreign property and companies as a response to the U.S., so the United States decided to cutback trades with Cuba. America tried to resolve the differences with Castro’s government through diplomacy. Seeing that they could not come to an agreement the united states decide to embargo trade with Cuba. Two months later, President John F. Kennedy unleashed the Cuban exile force which caused Castro’s military to kill or capture the exile troops.

The fear of nuclear war between the nations of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba only intensified the Cold War. Cuba, who was already struggling with the huge transition of becoming communist, was not at all prepared for the possible war. Along with, the United States who were still dealing with controlling the spread of communism. The events of the Cuban Missile was the closest the world has ever gotten to a nuclear war. Its aftermath resulted in measures to make sure these events were not repeated.

The precise manner that American and Cuban relations would be operated was outlined in “The Platt Amendment, which was to govern American relations with Cuba down to the advent of Fidel Castro” which necessitated the input of the United States before the government of Cuba made any decision or attempted to take any action . The political landscape of Cuba was heavily influenced by the United States prominently supporting the military government of the dictator Fulgencio Batista following a coup in 1952 and the cancelling of elections on Cuba. As a result of their support to Batista’s military coup and government Batista was very pro United States business and government. This friendliness to large corporations and businesses from the United States created a very unstable and unsustainable economic model for long-term economic growth in Cuba because it was exclusively dependent on outside forces that could not be controlled by Cubans or the Cuban government. This is shown by the large presence of American sugar producers and corporations in Cuba as the main forces driving the economy of Cuba meaning “that it was at the mercy of external forces on the world market” making it impossible for Cuba to “plan its economy or to develop its standard of living on the basis of such dependence on capricious world forces which it could not hope to control” . American sugar corporations were so dominant and crucial to the Cuban economy that they held “about 75 per cent of Cuba’s arable land” and their sugar product made up “nearly 90 per cent of Cuba’s exports and 33 per cent of the country’s national income” . The dependence on outside corporations and the world market made only worse the condition for the majority of the Cuban population that was employed by

“During the Cuban Missile Crisis, decisions made by President John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev could have plunged both countries into thermonuclear war (Kessler).” The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted thirteen days (“Cuban Missile Crisis”). This is the closest this world has ever came to a nuclear war.

In the early 1900’s, Cuba was a stomping ground for many of the rich and famous from the United States. Many famous movies stars and wealthy business entrepreneurs spend their vacations there along with a substantial amount of money. Trade and commerce between the United States and Cuba flowed freely and abundantly. Even with the Dictatorship-like regime of Batista, the countries benefited from the economic trade between them. This was all about to come crashing down as revolts against Batista occurred and Fidel Castro came to power within Cuba.

In October 1962, the world stood on the brink of nuclear war for 14 days. During the Cold War, tensions heightened after the Soviet Union had found to place secret nuclear weapons on the Caribbean island nation of Cuba. The Kennedy government demanded a withdrawal which is said to be not only the most dangerous confrontation of entirety of the Cold War but also the earth's history.

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.

The closest the World has ever been to nuclear war was with The Cuban Missile Crisis. The lives of millions lay in the ability of President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev to reach an agreement. The crisis began when the United States discovered that just ninety miles from the coast of Florida, the Soviet Union had set up nuclear missiles. On October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery of the missile installations to the public and his decision of the naval quarantine

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. The crisis was a major confrontation between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The confrontation was caused by the Soviets putting missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the United States of America. The world was in the hands of President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khruchchev. These two men would have to reach a compromise or else the results would be fatal.