The Cuban Missile Crisis : The Cold War

This Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the biggest events in American history. After World War II, much of Europe was left in ruins. Europe had been divided into two sections: eastern and western by the Iron Curtain. The Soviet Union and many new governments in Eastern Europe were communists, controlling everything from businesses to schools and people. As a result, the Cold War began with the Soviet Union and the United States became rivals competing to recruit other countries to their side.

“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.

Shortly after World War II, the world’s two most powerful nations, the United States and the Soviet Union, emerged as arch-adversaries and in doing so, they created a rivalry that casted a shadow over international affairs for decades known as the Cold War. The Soviet Union saw the United States as a ruthless, imperialist power whose goal was to destroy communism and encourage the growth of a capitalist world. In contrast, America saw the Soviets as a ruthless, imperialist, and totalitarian power whose goal was to destroy democracy and encourage a Communist revolution through expansion. Therefore, the United States’ actions toward the Soviet Union was justifiable after World War II. American diplomat George Kennan said how the Soviets were

     Did you know that our world was one time at the edge of total nuclear warfare, and a a push of a button the world as we know it could be decimated?  That was the life for some people during October 1962.  This major event in history is known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Cuban Missile Crisis, a standoff between the Soviet Union and U.S. Could have possibly lead to an outbreak of a nuclear war. The dangerous outcome of the Cold War, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 35th President of the United States, took things into his own hands. The events during the crisis left Americans scared. How Kennedy accomplished everything may have been the best way to prevent an all out World War III.

The occurrence of the Cuban missile crisis remains the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. The placement of Soviet nuclear weaponry on the island of Cuba in October 1962, sparked thirteen days in which the Cold war grew increasingly hotter as tensions between the two superpowers escalated. However, despite marking a turning point in US-Soviet relations it could be argued that Operation Anadyr cannot wholly account for the disharmony between the United States and the Soviet Union. This can be seen as despite reaching a visible climax in 1962 -with the Cuban missile crisis- the Cold war remained largely a political stalemate between the two superpowers. The incompatible ideologies of the United States and Soviet Union served as the primary cause for the disharmony between the two nations, as the competing systems subsequently meant the US and USSR were unable to coexist harmoniously. However, a decline in the political influence and military capabilities of the Soviet Union, accompanied by increasingly an aggressive US foreign policy following the election of Kennedy served to exacerbate the long standing ideological divide between the two superpowers.

How did the world become so close to full-blown nuclear war? It all started with a deep routed conflict between the United States and Soviet Union. The U.S and the Soviet Union had different views on political and economic systems. The United States believed in Democracy, which means the people have say in what the government does. While the Soviet Union believed in Communism which means the government controls everything and ultimately leads to a dictatorship. After World War II the superpowers need to talk about post war goals. July, 1945 Churchill Brittan’s (Prime Minister), Truman (the President of the United States) and Stalin (the Soviet Union’s Dictator) all met at what is known as the Potsdam Conference. Truman and Churchill are determined to preserve Democratic government. After losing 20 million men and suffering widespread destruction. Stalin wanted to punish Germany, impose Communism on his entire nation and pay reparation for war damage. He would do this by establishing satellite nations. This meant that Germany could still be their own country, but the Soviet Union would have control over their decisions. Truman, on the other hand, believed that they should not punish Germany’s people for what Hitler had done and that Germany’s industry was critical to Europe’s recovery. Paralyzing Germany would only hurt Europe as a whole. Nearly three decades later the Potsdam Conference did nothing to bridge the divide. These two competing ideas caused tremendous conflict

During 1939-1945, the United States and Soviet Union were involved in the Cold War. When Cuba accepted communism, the United States tried to drive out Cuba’s leader, Castro, during the Bay of Pigs, but it failed (Kauffman). The U.S. were concerned even more when they discovered Soviet Missiles in Cuba. Kennedy had established a quarantine to try and stop weapons coming to Cuba, but it was still a mystery when it came to what Kennedy’s response would be. Many Americans were in favor of using military action to remove the missiles, while critics of military action wanted to negotiate with the Soviets instead. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, John F. Kennedy chose the best course of action to end the crisis because he was able to prevent war, get the Soviet’s to remove their missiles from Cuba, and avoid alienating the United State’s allies.

Following the events of World War II, in 1945 the United States and the Soviet Union entered a state of tension due to disagreements between the two countries during the war. With the United States being a capitalist nation and the Soviet Union being a communist nation, friction easily escalated into The Cold War which resulted in intense competition for many years after. The United States greatly feared the spread of communism beginning with the first Red Scare during World War I and adopted the containment policy after the second Red Scare to prevent further spread of communism. Tensions peaked at an all-time high during John F. Kennedy’s presidency, (1961-1963) along with the Soviet leadership of Nikita Khrushchev and the Nuclear Arms

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

The Cuban Missile Crisis became the closest the world had ever been to nuclear war, resulting from growing tension in the Cold War between the United States (NATO) and the Soviet Union (Warsaw Pact). Cuba at the time also had ongoing conflict with the United States, after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in attempt to overthrow corrupt government leader Fidel Castro. The Soviet Union and Cuba’s newfound similar plights led to a partnership and the strategic positioning for the Soviet Union to implement ballistic missile bases in the near proximity of the U.S. (“Cuban Missile Crisis”). However, the Soviet actions were also in response to the U.S. nuclear missile, the Jupiter, previously placed in NATO ally country, Turkey. These missiles

The Third Concern that the united States had was The US attack on the Bay of Pigs in Cuba was the another trigger to the Cuban Missile Crisis. This US led attack on April 17, 1961 was initially a success at first before in turned to defeat for the United States. The US used painted planes to look like Cuban Air Force planes. Many of the targeted areas were missed. This attack took place on the south coast of Cuba.

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 countries came closest to nuclear war. It was a 13-day political and military standoff over the installation of nuclear Soviet missiles on Cuba and American ballistic missile deployment in Italy and Turkey. The missiles on Cuba were discovered after an American U-2 spy plane photographed a Soviet SS-4 medium-range ballistic missile being assembled for installation. President John Kennedy immediately called together a group of his closest advisors to figure out what to do.

The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred as a result of the hard evidence captured by a U-2 spy plane (on the 15th October 1962) of Soviet missiles on the ground in Cuba. This event lasted thirteen days and is widely seen by most historians as the closest the world has ever come to all-out nuclear war. It is my belief that the crisis held a great significance to the Cold War, largely due to the major ease off in tensions between the USA and the USSR that occurred as a result.

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