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The Cuban Missile Crisis

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The world was at the brink of a third world war, which would be the war of all wars. Events leading up to this potential catastrophic war was 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. Thankfully, the conflict was avoided due to great cooperation from both President John F. Kennedy of the United States and Soviet Union leader, Nikita Khrushchev. Each decision made by each leader was vital in the outcome of The Crisis. Kennedy's choice to take action by methods of quarantine instead of air strike and Khrushchev's decision to follow the quarantines were the two key decisions made by the leaders in order to prevent war. The Cuban Missile Crisis showed the world that compromising and discussion could prevent war. The Cuban Revolution was a background cause to the crisis. On January 1st, 1959, a Marxist government in Cuba would have seemed doubtful. To the communist party in Cuba, Fidel seemed reckless and predictable. In 1943 President Batista added communist to his Cabinet, who was used as the leader of his labor unions. Batista soon began to disappoint the Cuban communists and their loyalties shifted towards Castro. On December 1st, 1961 Castro claimed himself a Marxist and claimed he had always been a activist. Most Cubans admired Castro, supported his government, and accepted his actions. He preached about having the drive to help the poor and said he would

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