Khrushchev Peaceful Coexistence

The Cuban Missile Crisis all started in October, 1962, when an American spy plane spotted and secretly photographed missile sites being built on the island of Cuba by the Soviet Union. President Kennedy did not tell the Soviet Union right away that we had found their nuclear missile site. But days later, President Kennedy meet secretly with his advisors to discuss the situation. President Kennedy and his advisors though long and hard about what to do and the finally came up with an idea. Kennedy decided to put a naval blockade around the island of Cuba. The purpose of this was so Cuba could not get anymore military supplies for the Soviet Union. President Kennedy demanded that the missiles that were already there be disabled and that the sit be destroyed. Later on, Kennedy told America what was happening on a televised address. Everyone was anxious about what the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, would say about the naval blockade. But both President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev recognized that the devastation that a nuclear war will bring is too much.

In 1962, Cuba was convinced that the USA was planning to attack them and asked the Soviet Union for military assistance. The USSR sent Cuba materials to build missile bases and launch sites. When President Kennedy realized that Cuba could launch missiles into America, he demanded that the USSR remove its weapons and troops. The Americans formed a naval blockade as the world stood nervously on the edge of a nuclear war. The USSR removed its weapons despite protests from Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

This   shows  the  imperialistic  nature  of  the  Soviet  Union  and  not  of  truly  peaceful   cohabitation  by  clearly

Kennedy had given a speech to the American people where he has said “We have unmistakable evidence that a series of offensive missile sites is now being built on that island … Cuba has been made into an important strategic base by the presence of these long-range offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction… Our objective must be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country. We must secure their withdrawal from the Western Hemisphere” (Doc 6). President Kennedy was trying to calm the society by explaining they will be prevent the use of the missiles by withdrawing the Western Hemisphere. During the year of 1962, October 27 Premier Khrushchev stated in a message “Mr. President, the Soviet government decided to help Cuba with means of defense against outside attack. These weapons were only meant for defensive purposes. We have supplied them to prevent aggression against Cuba … With respect and confidence I accept the statement you set forth in your message of October 27, 1962. You said then that Cuba will not be attacked or invaded by any country of the Western Hemisphere … We have given the order to discontinue building the installations. We shall dismantle them and withdraw them to the Soviet Union” (Doc 8). This message was sent to the U.S after ordering a blockade of all offensive military equipment being sent into

This was a problem for Kennedy because Cuba was within a 90 mile radius from the United States, easy sticking distance. The United States had missiles in Turkey, which were in striking distance from the Soviet Union, which Khrushchev used as a weighing option when deciding to place missiles in Cuba. Kennedy saw the missiles that were being held in Cuba as almost an act of war from the Soviet Union. Khrushchev assured President Kennedy that the missiles were not an act of war, but yet only a defense for Cuba, who was feeling Having Soviet Union missiles this close to the mainland was a problem for the United States. Kennedy decided that the only way to stop the Soviet Union from fully equipping Cuba with enough missiles to destroy the United States, was to stop the missiles from getting to Cuba. To stop them Kennedy dispatched U.S. warships into the Atlantic, which was able to prevent the Soviet missile fleet from reaching Cuba. Unfortunately there were already missiles in Cuba from earlier fleets and they were

As a result, when it was discovered the Soviet Union was building a missile inventory on the island of Cuba, the Cuban Missile Crisis unfolded October 16 to 28, 1962. In response to this discovery, “the United States took forceful military steps for a potential invasion of Cuba” by staging troops off the coast of Florida and using vessels to to form a blockade around Cuba (Kross). The Soviet Union placed “over 42,000 troops on the

Imagine that you are John F. Kennedy in 1962, and you find out that your ally, Cuba, has your enemy, Soviet Union, has ICBMS (intermediate- range ballistic missiles) & Ilyushin Il-28 light bombers, that could reach the United States and aimed toward the United States. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a thirteen-day confrontation between the United States, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. Cuba had the missiles there for like three months before one of the U.S had a spy plane that figured out that Cuba had the Soviets Missiles. For a while, the U.S had Intel that Cuba had the missiles but JFK did not believe that Cuba was betraying them. These missiles were only ninety miles away from Florida the U.S. issued a military blockade to prevent further missiles from reaching Cuba. When all the offensive missiles and light bombers were taken from Cuba the blockade was initially ended on November 21, 1962. Although the Cuban Missile Crisis ruined relations with the United States of America and Cuba, it impacted the blockade between the United States of America and Cuba, the respect for the United States of America, and the Bay of the Pigs.

When Joseph Stalin died, power went to an obscure Communist official named Nikita Khrushchev. His goal was to have the Soviet Union be an equal to the United States militarily and economically. Although he tried to soften Stalin's brutal tactics, Soviet foreign policy remained the same. This ruthless treatment of satellite nations that tried to break free fostered further distrust between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. At the inauguration of our new president, John F. Kennedy, Khrushchev decided to test Kennedy's resolve with renewed pressure on Berlin via the construction of the Berlin Wall. However, none of these events were to equal the effect that came from one small island ninety miles off of the coast of Florida, the small island of Cuba.

The Cuban Missile Crisis began October 16, 1962. It was at the height of the Cold War that this potentially lethal confrontation arose between the United States and the Soviet Union. A United States reconnaissance plane discovered a military stockpile of Soviet nuclear missiles and bombers in Cuba. Some historians point out that Khrushchev's real intention in deploying the missiles into Cuba was to control West Berlin. They would be used in this context as a sufficient reason for the Western powers (The USA, UK, and France) to allow him to achieve his plan. However, The government of Washington, along with President John F. Kennedy at its head, believed this to be a threat and was not willing to tolerate such a threat so close to home.

With President Kennedy’s advisers, he opted on a naval blockade to stop Russian ships from conveying the missiles for the sites in Cuba. Khrushchev cautioned that Russia would view the blockade as an act of war. The Russian militaries were put on vigilant and the US bombers were placed in the air sustaining nuclear bombs (Blight., et al 24). The arrangements were made to attack Cuba. There was enormous tension in both Moscow and Washington. The US secretly proposed an exchange of missile bases that is the Russian bases in Cuba and the US bases in

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a product of American paranoia to a great extent, for it was the underlying factor that triggered the USSR and Cuba’s actions. The USSR’s actions were actually their means of defending themselves, in reply to what America had done (placing missiles in Turkey). America was obsessed with preventing Communism, for it would threaten America’s ideology of Capitalism and take a toll in America’s economy, stability and peace. Thus, they took very extreme measures. Furthermore, the reason Cuba sought protection from the USSR was because it wanted to protect itself from an attack from America; Cuba’s actions were a reaction to America’s behavior. The USSR took advantage of the situation in Cuba to gain a foothold in an area that was crucial to USA’s safety. This act led to the escalations of tensions, and became a high-stakes dispute

On October 15, 1962, a photograph proved the existence of the missile being constructed on Cuba, and for the U.S., the nightmare began. After a week of intense debating with his closest advisors, President Kennedy made a decision. He decided to impose quarantine, of sorts, around Cuba to ensure there were no more missiles arriving. The Soviet Union demanded the

Krushev said in his message” …..these means as I had already informed you earlier are in the hands of the Soviet officers--to take appropriate measures to discontinue construction of the aforementioned facilities, to dismantle them, and to return them to the Soviet Union.”(Krushchev 1). Finally, the ordeal that had the entire world holding their breath for thirteen days was coming to a close. But in order to have the missiles removed, the United States had to make promises to the Soviet Union and to Cuba. Such promises included removing the missiles in Turkey, placed by the United States. Also, the United States had to promise not to invade CubaAlso mentioned in the speech was the death of Anderson Jr. Khrushchev stood by shooting down the spy plane, saying it was the United States fault for “violating Cuban airspace” (Krushchev 1) and showed no remorse for the young pilot. Although peace was the outcome of these negotiations, Castro was furious. He believed that removing the missiles, was an act of betrayal by the Soviet Union. The nuclear missiles were removed fro Cuba, however, the nuclear warheads that were also placed by the Soviets were not removed because they were not under the negotiations.They were removed later on because of fear that Castro would use the missiles on the Soviets for not attacking the United States (History.com Staff

Khrushchev thought of placing missiles in Cuba, which would serve as a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union. At the same time, Fidel Castro was looking for a way to defend his nation from another attack by the US, after the ¡¥Bay of Pigs¡¦, where John F. Kennedy was unsuccessful in his invasion Cuba. Fidel Castro consequently, approved of Khrushchev¡¦s plan to place missiles on the island. When the US discovered Khrushchev¡¦s plan via reconnaissance photographs, Kennedy announced the soviets plan to the public and most of the world thought that

Soviet leader Krushchev quickly agreed to protect Cuba. Cuba was in a strategic location to place missile launch sites that could strike nearly all of the continental United States. During the Cold War the United States had many missile launch sites placed all over the world and pointed at the Soviet Union. The United States was allied with Turkey, so the American military had a base there to work their U-2 from and many missile sites pointed at the Soviet Union. These missiles in Turkey made Krushchev want to build surface to air missile sites on Cuba to balance the power and show his force. Krushchev would soon start sending ships and submarines loaded with equipment to start building medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles. In May 1962, Krushchev wrote in his memoirs: “This will be a means of protecting Cuba from another U.S. Invasion of Cuba like the Bay of Pigs in 1961, also to counter the U.S. emerging lead of deploying strategic missiles.”