The Cuban Missile Crisis And The Soviet Union

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.

The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 lasted thirteen days and was one of the major events during the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union were brink of a nuclear world war. Fidel Castro had become leader of Cuba and had turned the country into a communist state, similar to the Soviet Union. The USSR was given permission to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to target major cities in the United States, the reason was because the Soviet Union was threatened by the missiles placed in Italy and Turkey by the Americans. However, neither of the nation's fired their weapons; and an agreement between Nikita Khrushchev (leader of the USSR) and President John F.

People on both sides wondered if this would cause World War III. On October 22, 1962, President Kennedy appeared on national television to speak about the crisis; the people need to know what was going on directly (Edwards, 9). President Kennedy said the missiles stationed in Cuba could strike Washington, DC, or the Panama Canal. They could also strike Cape Canaveral, Florida, or Mexico City; nowhere in the US was safe. He explicated that he warned Cuba not to strike any American cities; this meant cities in Central American and South America, too (Edwards, 9). President Kennedy also shared with the American people his plan of surrounding Cuba with the US Navy. Now, it was just a matter a

The crisis began when the United States discovered the existence of offensive Soviet Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), nuclear capable, barely 90 miles from the southern coast of Florida, in Cuba. U-2 spy plane reconnaissance missions over Cuba captured the

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.

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

The Soviet Union, in 1962, was rushing to catch up with the U.S. in the arms race, (arms being a metonymy for all military weapons), but their missiles were lacking in power. If activated, they could only reach Europe and would fall short of the U.S. Unfortunately, in April the Soviet Union placed their missile on Cuba, only 90 miles from the U.S.! Coincidently, Castro was paranoid of a second attack and was looking for a defense mechanism, so he jumped at the chance to have the Soviet Union’s missiles on his island directed toward the U.S. Therefore, that summer Cuba and the Soviet Union worked together to install missiles in Cuba.

The Cuban Missile Crisis began when the United States had a spy plane fly over Cuba and noticed that on the island were Nuclear tipped missiles owned by the Soviet Union. The Cuban dictator known as Fidel Castro, became close to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union leader, Nikita Khrushchev and the President of the United States John F. Kennedy both agreed that if the United States does not invade Cuba, the missiles would be removed from both Cuba and from the country of Turkey. “There is one point on which I want to give you new information right away, I have refrained from doing this until now; but today an attempt is being made to frighten all mankind by propagating the idea that Cuba, and in particular I, might provoke a nuclear war, so I feel the world should know the true story of the missile emplacement” (Castro). During this crisis, Fidel Castro and the Soviet Union almost started a nuclear war at one of the most important parts in history. But way before the crisis happened, Castro said that there were warnings coming of an invasion. “Six months before these missiles were installed in Cuba, we had received an accumulation of information warning us that a new invasion of the island has being prepared under sponsorship of the Central Intelligence Agency, whose administrators were humiliated by the Bay of Pigs disaster and by the spectacle of being ridiculed in the eyes of

On October of 1962 there was a big misunderstanding between the dictator of the Union Soviet and the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. People all around the world was terrified as it could’ve turn into a nuclear war, this event was known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. It all began after the outcome during the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 which resulted in a total failure of the United States trying to take over the Cuban dictator (history.state.gov). At this point the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, was concerned about another attack from the United States and decided to make a pact with the Union Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev. They held a secret meeting where Fidel Castro offered Nikita Khrushchev locations inside his territory, allowing the Russian leader to build launching facilities and place nuclear missiles inside Cuban soil. Nikita Khrushchev accepted this proposition, he believed that President Kennedy wasn’t capable of making the right decision judging him by the outcomes of the already mention event, the Bay of Pigs, as well as the Mongoose Covert

“When Fidel Castro’s revolutionary July 26 Movement assumed power in Cuba in 1959, it marked the end of U.S. political and economic dominance over the island. Ever since the late nineteenth century, the United States, supported by loyal Cuban politicians, had enjoyed control over all Cuba’s commerce and industry. Castro, however, refused to adhere to U.S. interests, and as a result, the United States attempted to overthrow Castro’s government.” (Salem Press Encyclopedia). The Cuban Missile Crisis was as a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet ballistic missiles deployed in Cuba. The tension between the two countries begins after the United States failed to overthrow the Cuban regime in Cuba in an invasion called the Bay of Pigs. Skeptical of the United States planning another invasion of Cuba, the Soviet Union leader, Nikita Khrushchev settled a classified agreement with the Cuban premier Fidel Castro to place nuclear missiles in Cuba to prevent any future intrusion attempt. When rumors spread

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a conflict caused by the U.S.S.R. setting up nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba. In October of 1962, Nikita Khrushchev, under the pretext the U.S.S.R. was protecting Cuba with soviet arms, began to transport military supplies to Cuba in order to set up missile bases. On Tuesday 16 October 1962, John F. Kennedy learned of the U.S.S.R.’s actions when he was brought an unmistakable photograph from a U-2 plane flying over Cuba. The photograph depicted Soviet soldiers hurriedly and secretly assembling nuclear-armed missiles. After Kennedy assembled a small counsel to aid in his decisions called the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, ExComm for short, he proceed to examine his options.

The Soviet Union had been storing missile in Cuba to have closer access to North America and Canada. This became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. During a routine flight, a pilot was taking photographs and noticed the piles upon piles of missiles, fuel tanks, etc in Cuba. President Kennedy feared these were nuclear missiles. He took action and ordered a naval quarantine on Cuba to keep the Russians from bringing in more missiles. Soviet ships headed towards this blockade and were enraged. The world was on the brink of a disaster as they feared this would be the break out of actual war between Russia and the United States. Eventually, Khrushchev in Russia called his ships back and stated he would clear the missiles out of Cuba if the United States agreed to leave

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest that the United States and U.S.S.R. came to nuclear warfare. Nikita Khruchchev made an agreement with Fidel Castro that allowed for nuclear missiles to be placed in Cuba. The U.S. discovered signs of construction of a few missile silos. On September 4, 1962, President Kennedy informed the public about the nuclear weapons in Cuba. On October 22, Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba. Over the following days, tensions grew between the two superpowers. An agreement was made between Kennedy and Khruchchev. He U.S.S.R. agreed to remove missiles from Cuba and the U.S. agreed to remove missiles from Turkey and to not invade Cuba. On October 28, the Russians stated that they would

On one of the following days, Kennedy asked if the Air Force could take out all of the missiles in Cuba. The Air Force then told the President that with that process there would be 10-20,000 civilian casualties. Kennedy then decided to set up a blockade around Cuba. US ships prepared for a quarantine. The press then learned about the nuclear missles and questioned them about it, the President asked the reporters not to reveal the news so he could announce it to the American people on TV. The Soviets had instrustion to launch the missiles within minutes of Kennedy’s speech. After Castro listened to the President’s speech he moblized all of Cuba’s military forces.

Evidence of the missiles location and its owners being Soviet was quickly discovered by the U.S.. President Kennedy released a public announcement warning the American nation about the dangerous weapons in Cuba. On the 14th of October, a U.S. U-2 aircraft captured photographs of the sites for medium and intermediate range of nuclear missiles. The pictures were shown to the White House soon after and the Cuban Missile Crisis earned its name. The President called for his advisors to help weigh the options and determine the best course of action for the U.S. that would rightfully solve the issue. Some advisors argued for an