Cuban Missile Crisis Perspective

At this time, the dilemma for American policymakers was that most of the military equipment could be described accurately as defensive, and therefore not a threat to United States security. However, much of it could also be used offensively, and the main concern was whether or not the Soviets would provide Cuba with missiles capable of attacking America. (Johnson, Hatch p. 2)

World War III is an alarming event to ponder on right? Especially if that war would be nuclear. This event almost happened on multiple occasions, but this is going to be about a nerve-racking time in 1962. What happened in 1962 you may ask? The Cuban Missile Crisis. Just as the year was coming to an end an American spy plane took pictures of missiles in an island 103 miles off the coast of Florida, Cuba. Can theorize who put the missiles there? The USSR put them there because Cuba was a neighboring communist country to the US, so if the US were to do something the USSR could shoot the missiles. Mind you, these weapons are nuclear and as we should all know that is never excellent. After this very stressful time for the US and the USSR how did

armed forces, Castro felt a second attack was inevitable. Although he was reluctant to accept the missiles at the beginning, he was finally persuaded. It could be argued that Castro pursued closer relations with the Soviet Union mainly for the protection of Cuba, and therefore was more open to Soviet suggestions such as placing nuclear weapons in Cuba to ensure its security. Che Guevara, a major figure to play a central role in training the military forces for the Bays of Pigs invasion and in bringing the Soviet nuclear weapons to Cuba, stated that "all the Cuban people must become a guerrilla army, each and every Cuban must learn to handle and if necessary use firearms in defence of the nation.1" Guevara's statement suggests that if the Cuban people had to fight, they were willing to fight, which shows the Cuban enthusiasm towards protection and, therefore, towards the Soviets. The Soviets, seeing an opportunity to make their international position feel close to the one of the US, rushed to aid Castro in order to double their military strength. Having said that, it could be argued that the Cuban-Soviet relationship was inevitable due to the poor U.S.-Cuban relationship. Placing the missiles in Cuba was a huge military step for the Soviets as it could enable them to reach and destroy most of the continental U.S. And, for that reason, the Cuban Missile Crisis was an event of a very high international importance.

On October 16, 1962 the United States began a blockade of Cuba after spy planes had confirmed the establishment of Soviet nuclear missile sites in the country. These missiles posed an unprecedented danger on the United states being only miles from the American coast line. During this ordeal, the country was divided on how to proceed, the military command or “Hawks”, favored the invasion of Cuba to dismantle the missiles. Others favored a more peaceful approach and

Over the course of this paper, we will take a comprehensive look at information regarding the United States' and Russia's traumatic Cuban Missile Crisis. First, we will review the actions the United States and Russia took that enable the Cuban Missile Crisis to come to fruition. Second, we will highlight the actions that each nation took during the heighten alert state to protect each country's interest. Next, the international negotiations that ultimately led to the movement of each country's missiles and de-escalation of the situation. Now, the Cuban Missile Crisis is an event that showcases how superpower nations that maintain a prideful nationalistic idea can bring the world to the brink of destruction due to their consistent political

It didn’t take the U.S government long to spot the missiles located in cuba. A pilot of an american U-2 spy plane making a high altitude pass above cuba took images of the missiles. As soon as he heard about the news he immediately called upon a group of advisors and officials known as ExCom (Executive committee)

It can also be described as the 13 days of back-and-forth deliberation where the Soviets and the Americans stood “eyeball to eyeball”, with neither side backing down; however, for history’s sake and the advancement of the U.S. Intelligence Community, it’s important to not only understand how the missiles got to Cuba, but what details were overlooked and what indicators should have been caught in the first place that could have ended this crisis before it ever began (Allison 2012). Although the Russians played a great game of denial and deception, the missed details and indicators were mostly effects of mistaken perceptions by policymakers and

Only since the 1990’s, have we have understood the immense threat that presented itself over the course of two weeks in October of 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis, which is arguably the closest we have come to nuclear war in our history, was the result of five key entities and events. The five entities and events are the Manhattan Engineering District, Strategic Air Command, Mutually Assured Destruction, the missile gap, and the Bay of Pigs invasion. Without each of these individual components, the Cuban Missile Crisis would never have occurred or been the danger to the world that it was. This paper will examine the role MED played in the development of nuclear weapons, SAC’s presence in promoting a stronger stance on the Soviet Union, and the missile gap that created a situation in which the abundant need for missiles skyrocketed on both sides of the Cold War. It will also examine MAD’s ability to involve the entire Northern hemisphere in nuclear war, and the Bay of Pigs’ impact on Cuba’s relationship with the Soviet Union.

The early nineteen sixties saw the world go through one of the most stressful and dangerous periods in history: The Cuban Missile Crisis. For thirteen days, the Kennedy administration dealt with the possibility of a nuclear attack by the Soviets in the form of missiles launched from Cuba. Once Fidel Castro took power in Cuba, he allowed the Soviets to bring in nuclear missiles, putting the U.S. in danger. Through perseverance and diplomatic agreement, EXCOMM was able to prevent a catastrophe from occurring. Despite having nearly resulted in the eradication of the human race, the background, events, and aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis were important lessons

In order to understand the importance of the Cuban Missile Crisis in American history one must first understand the Cold War drama, Castro’s rise to power, and the American operations that set up the crisis. “The term Cold War refers

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two different powers came closest to nuclear conflict or even meltdown. The crisis was unique in a number of ways, featuring calculations and miscalculations as well as direct and secret communications between the two sides. The dramatic crisis was also characterized by the fact that it was primarily played out at the White House and the Kremlin level with relatively little input from the respective government typically involved in the foreign policy process.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a dangerous Cold War event because of the nuclear armed missiles the Soviet Union had placed in Cuba. The Soviet Union and Cuba had recently strengthened relations when Cuba became a Communist nation and the Soviets knew the United States wanted to invade Cuba to try and overthrow the government a second time. Concerned Cubans enlisted the help of the Soviet Union to help protect them with nuclear arms in case the need arose. At first, the Soviets thought that the United States would do nothing to stop the nuclear arms trade, though they were very wrong. Once it was reported to the White House, that the Soviet Union gave the Cubans missiles, action was taken. The action was decided by the Executive Committee

Fidel Castro was Prime Minister of Cuba at the time of The Cuban Missile crisis. This crisis was a dispute between the United States and Soviet Union about Cuba’s development of ballistic weapons. It took place from October 16th to the 28th in 1962. The purpose of this investigation is to assess to what extent Fidel Castro played a part in the Cuban Missile crisis. Therefore, Fidel Castro’s actions taken during the crisis must be viewed throughout its many phases. These pivotal moments include the shooting down of the American U-2 plane and the conflict’s final resolution. Research will be conducted using, The National Security Archive on the Cuban Missile crisis and the text Cuba on the Brink: Castro, the Missile Crisis, and the Soviet Collapse.

On October 16th 1962, a United States U-2 reconnaissance plane took photos of medium-range Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba, confirming that the Soviets had lied to the US despite Khrushchev’s “various private and public assurances” that there were no “surface-to-surface missiles” sent to Cuba (Kennedy 27). This was the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which lasted for the next thirteen days. Six years later, Robert F. Kennedy, the Attorney General at the time and President Kennedy’s brother, wrote a memoir of the event entitled Thirteen Days and I. F. Stone, an investigative journalist, wrote his own article on the subject in 1966. In his account, Robert praises his brother’s abilities to remain calm, actively assess the implications of every possible moves and take in as many viewpoints as possible. Stone, on the other

In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis took place, this crisis was the closest that the United States and the Soviet Union came to having a nuclear war. The standoff lasted 13 days and was in response to the alliance between Cuba and the Soviet Union and the installation of nuclear weapons on the Cuban shore aimed at the United States. The United States quarantined Cuba and the Soviets decided to race ships towards the US ships but at the very last second, the Soviets decided to fall back. The crises ended after the Khrushchev agreed to pull out the missiles in exchange for the US promise to not invade Cuba.