The Cuban Missile Crisis During World War II

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

“I know there is a God--and I see a storm coming; If he has a place for me, I believe I am ready,” is the Abraham Lincoln quote, written on a slip of paper, that President John F. Kennedy kept in his pocket (Dobbs 14). And if ever there was a storm coming, it was evident to Kennedy the morning of October 16, 1962: the date Kennedy was made aware of Soviet missiles in Cuba. This was the testing ground, the closest the world has ever been to nuclear war, the Cuban Missile Crisis, 16-28 October, 1962. The future for millions of lives depended upon the ability of United States President John F. Kennedy and Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev to reach an agreement in which both did not lose face, and more importantly, the world survived.

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 wartime between 1947 and 1991 is more formally known as the Cold War, which describes the growing tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union following World War II. The governmental system that was in place under the Soviet Union followed that of Communism, which was a great fear of Americans, who did not want to see their country fall to that type of government. The largest fear of any democratic society or country during the time period was that communism would grow to take over the country and that the Soviet Union would become the world’s superpower. The United State’s president at the time of the start of the Cold War was Harry Truman, who highly disliked Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, which affected his opinions

had ever received. Instead of tactics such as “massive retaliation,” Kennedy had a different idea. This was called “flexible response.” Flexible response is the idea that instead of instant aggression, we try and use forms of diplomacy (talking it out) to fix our issues. (Ayers). This strategy worked a multitude of times and is still used today. Kennedy was constantly fighting to send economic aid to small countries that he feared were being slowly consumed by communism. He was also intent on sending supplies to war-torn and third world countries, showing his use of military aid. Though he tried his hardest to stay away from war, there was a very notable time in our history where he was forced to. This was known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. America had discovered Soviet missiles in communist Cuba pointed at the U.S. Kennedy ordered that the Soviets must remove their nuclear warheads. The Soviets refused, saying that Kennedy must remove the American nukes in Turkey. Kennedy refused and ordered a military blockade of ships to prevent Soviet ships from reaching Cuba. Kennedy stated that if a single ship crossed the blockade, they would open fire. In order to test us, the Soviets sent one ship slightly across. Kennedy was able to see through their tricks and ordered the U.S. fleet to stand down. Soon, the entire Soviet fleet left, showing that we had won. Kennedy kept us from the brink of nuclear war where it could have very well happened. This was the beginning of the end of the Cold War.

On the one hand, there was tension internationally with soviet Russia. As their manifesto spread, tensions grew higher. This was a huge topic of interest during the 1960 presidential election. Both Nixon and Kennedy understood the importance of preventing the spread of communism, and domestic tranquility. Shortly after Kennedy won the election, tensions peaked. As communism spread in nearby Cuba, Kennedy decided to try and slow the spread by sending armed Cubans in to the country to overthrow the new regime. The troops surrendered almost as soon as they had landed. This disaster became known as the “Bay of Pigs.” Fueled by this moral victory, the Soviets attempted to move nuclear missiles to Cuba. This attempt was met by a blockade from the United States Navy. This “Cuban Missile Crisis” was the peak of the international tension.

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.

On October 22 JFK announced that the Soviets had long range missiles in Cuba, which posed a dangerous threat to the United States. Kennedy ordered a naval blockade to stop Soviets from delivering more missiles. The Soviets on the other hand were heading right for the blockade and Americans prepared for war. Kennedy and the Soviets had secret negotiations were at the end the Soviets offered a deal. The deal was the Soviets would remove missiles from Cuba if the US promised to not invade Cuba and they had to remove their missiles from Turkey. On October 28 both Kennedy and Khrushchev came to an agreement because neither one wanted nuclear war. Kennedy’s quick thinking and his willingness to negotiate with the Soviets was the only reason the US was able to avoid going to nuclear war. Kennedy after the Cuban missile crisis had many ideas that he wished to implicate but sadly he was assassinated before he could do

One of the scarcest events in American history happened during the month of October 1962. The world was about to enter a new phase of world warfare, using nuclear weapons to destroy the oppositions. This event affected everyone in the world, it was the possibility of nuclear death. It affected American citizens like my uncle, Walter Neal Woodruff. He was a solider working in the Administrate branch of the Army, stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona on call during this moment in American history. This event was called the Cuban Missile Crisis and it was the closest the world had ever been to WW3. Looking back on history now, knowing the crisis was resolved, it would have never been possible without President Kennedy’s nationally televised speech on October 22, 1962. The presidential speech was a key moment in ending the Cuban Missile Crisis and leading to actions taken by both, Soviet and American government to de-escalate tensions of the Cold War.

The events that took place in October of 1962 had correlated a cease of movement due to what the Americans believed that a possible missile crisis was arising amongst the Soviet Union and Cuba. All three countries had undergone a change of leadership, opposing American ideals, making matters that even more difficult to come to a compromise between the three states. Ultimately, this had led to a blockade on part of the American government a few days on retrieving evidence of the accumulation of missiles within Cuba and resulted in immediate, carefully thought out action on part of President Kennedy. It is arguable that Castro and Khrushchev had reasonable action to work together, but this cooperation of the two led to a near nuclear crisis possibly leaving the US on warzone territory. Despite the circumstances, President Kennedy was valiant in his efforts in upholding actions where matters can

The world was at the edge of a third world war. This was the result of a variety of things: the Cuban Revolution, the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, US anti-communism, insecurity of the Soviet Union, and Cuba's fear of invasion all made causes for war. However, war was not the result due to great cooperation from both President Kennedy and President Khrushchev and each of the decisions made by the leaders was crucial in the outcome of The Crisis. Kennedy's choice to take action by means of quarantine instead of air-strike and Khrushchev's decision to abide by the quarantines were perhaps the two most significant decisions made by the leaders in order to prevent war. The Cuban Missile Crisis showed the

In the next couple of months Kennedy journeyed to Vienna to meet Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, for the first time. There, Khrushchev took a hardline view of west Germany. Kennedy got backed in to an ideology fight with the leader, insisting America will back democracy in west Germany. The meeting did not in resolution but the Berlin Crisis and later the building of the Berlin wall, on the part of Khrushchev,

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

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

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 reflects possibly the most precarious moment in nuclear history. For the first time, the world’s two nuclear super powers, the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, were poised to destroy each other in a war of unprecedented proportion. On the brink of what may have escalated into a nuclear war, the leaders of two nations showed courageous restraint and diplomacy to avoid an exchange of brute force and unimaginable desolation. The situation was preempted by the Bay of Pigs, an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro, Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba. Castro had gained authority through a rebellion against Fulgencio Batista, the previous Cuban dictator (Bay of Pigs). America was displeased with Castro, mainly because he was a Communist leader so close to American shores, so a plan to depose him was made, without official United States military support.