Traumatic Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis forever marked 1962 as the year the world almost witnessed a nuclear war. The Soviet Union, Cuba, and the United States were all teetering on the edge of a cliff that was crumbling from the weight of fear, tension, and secrecy. It also marked the official end of Americans innocent belief that they were safe in the glow of Lady Liberty’s torch. Yet amidst the dark shadow of nuclear threat one American president rose to this challenge and proved that peace through strength is the best strategy.

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

In October of 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union came closer than at any previous point during The Cold War to direct and open hostilities. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the direct result of Soviet expansion initiatives in Cuba and America’s nuclear armament in Europe, while both of the “Super Powers” involved attempted to out maneuver each other politically.

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.

(CMC) During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U.S was trying to prevent a nuclear war, and attempting to contain the hostility between the U.S and the Soviet Union. In 1962, an American U2 plane spotted a Russian missile site being built with short, medium, and long range missiles (cite). After Kennedy got the notice of there being a threat, he didn’t want the public to know, so he met with his close advisors in private (cite). He also needed to hurry as those missiles were ninety miles away from the U.S. Kennedy and his advisors had to come up with a way to get rid of the missiles without causing a worldwide conflict or causing a nuclear war. After many meetings Kennedy came down to five options. The first option

Twelve years later, another “proxy” military conflict occurred in Vietnam when a similar division to that of the Korean War was present. The Russians once again took action to arm the Northern, and Communist, Vietnamese, whereas America armed the democratic South. After the war dragged on and it was apparent that the South was losing, America sent in troops, illegally, to fight against the Russian armed Northern Vietnamese (Garrett). In the scope of world history, this misdemeanor committed by the U.S. drifted off into nothingness, being that it was done to combat Communism, but, at the time, it truly highlighted America’s undying mission to ensure that Communism never reached America, or any of its allies, even if that meant “doing the wrong things for the right reasons.” A final military conflict, but by no means the least important, was the Cuban Missile Crisis. In October of 1962, tensions reached a breaking point in Cuba, so much so that nuclear armageddon was narrowly averted. Going back a few years, Nikita Khrushchev, Russia’s premier at the time, and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro were in an agreement that was awfully suspicious to the U.S.. Both of these anti-American nations being so close in proximity to the U.S. and being in an agreement with, more than likely, hidden agendas threw a large red flag in American national security. With haste, recon missions were deployed in an attempt to discover the true purpose of

In October 1962, the USSR and the United States of America were on the brink of a nuclear war that had devastating implications on a global scale. In the aftermath of the Second World War, both the USSR and the U.S. found themselves in a power struggle to become the prominent world super power. Subsequently, both states became involved in an ever evolving ‘arms race’ which saw an antagonistic approach towards defence and security measures. The reason for choosing this topic to research is that I am profoundly interested in global politics and interactions between states. The Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to a standstill as they waited for potentially catastrophic repercussions as the consequence of two very dissimilar states clashing. At the centre of all this was President John F. Kennedy who is a leader that I deeply admire and one who fronted up to the challenges put before him and came out better as a result, engraining his legacy in the history books. In this research essay I intend to analyse and discuss the relationship between the USSR and the U.S. throughout the Cold War period, the build up to the Cuban Missile Crisis and ensuing tensions surrounding it. Whilst doing so, I will also look at President John F. Kennedy’s decision making throughout this period and the consequences of these decisions, in particular, his decision to blockade Cuba.

The failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961 left Cuba feeling threatened with the possibility of the United States trying once more to invade them. The U.S. wanted to take Fidel Castro out of power. He was the nationalist leader that overthrew the dictatorial president of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista. During Batista’s time in power, American individuals and corporations owned most of the sugar plantations, cattle, ranches, mines, and utilities in Cuba. Batista allowed the Americans these privileges. Castro, on the other hand, did not agree with this American approach. He believed that Cubans should be in control of their nation. Once Castro was in power, he made

The period of détente between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War lends one the opportunity to study how the two powers worked to achieve some of their common interests, such as mutual security, prevention of further conflict, and expanded trade. To examine how the détente of the 1970s worked, one must begin with analyzing what the concept of détente describes in the geopolitical case. Going forward, we also must examine what factors led to both superpowers seeking “high détente,” as Stevenson puts it, in the period following the Cuban Missile Crisis and their initial response. Along with this, once can note the various aspects of détente, including missile treaties, trade agreements, and other accords, allowing us

The Cuban missile crisis of 1962 had put America and Canada in danger and had almost started a nuclear war. On October 15, 1962, an American spy plane took pictures of nuclear missiles being built in Cuba, these missiles were capable of hitting targets anywhere in the United States or Canada, these missiles belonged to the Soviet Union (Russia), and were too dangerous to be left alone. The missiles had been placed there after the failed mission of the Bay of Pigs, for protection. John F. Kennedy had been told about the missiles the day after and had informed world leaders a few days after. Kennedy informed Americans about the missiles on October 22, 1962, John Diefenbaker informed Canadians an hour and a half after Kennedy. During the crisis, Kennedy had spoken with his advisers and began negotiations with the Soviet Union. The crisis had lasted 13 days, it ended on October 28, 1962, when Kennedy and the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev came to a compromise. The compromise was that Khrushchev would dismantle the missiles, in return for Kennedy promise not to invade Cuba, and the removal of the U.S. missiles in Turkey aiming at Russia. The Cuban missile crisis had created controversy between Canada and the U.S. The U.S had put Canada in danger because of tensions between the Cuba and the Soviet Union, The Canadian Prime Minister and the U.S. President had did not get along, Canada did not want war, and it brought a question to Canada’s nuclear weapon policy.

The majority of the conversation is about what Cuba would need to do to prevent a mobilization of troops into Cuba. Castro’s action of military defense was more than called for beings how the Bay of Pigs invasion happened less than six months prior. Although the Bay of Pigs invasion was a complete failure for the United States, it still was a possibility that they could invade again. In this source it is obvious that Fidel Castro is taking the military action route when dealing with a tough situation. Most of the preventions are focused on anti-aircraft and aviation preparations. This memorandum shows a lot of about the paranoia of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The number of advisors that Castro has really tells just how serious the Cuban military is taking the threat of the American attack. The amount of artillery that the Cuban Military was talking about putting in vulnerable areas, it can be assumed that Castro truly believes that an attack on Cuban soil is emanate. The conversation really helps the audience understand how much pressure was put on not only Fidel Castro, but also his team of advisors during this nerve wrecking

By the 20th century world conflict had claimed the lives millions of innocent lives displacing families and destroying homelands. In the in midst of the Cold War, tension grew between the United States and the Soviet Union and led to a stand-off between both nations over nuclear armed missiles placed in Cuba, Italy, and Turkey. The world was on the brink of catastrophe as two super powers were engaged in a competition to show military superiority. For decades, historians have debated that the Cuban Missile crisis was the most dangerous time in history. Within this 16 day span the world would be on edge, as the possibility of nuclear warfare was as close as it has ever been.

In October of 1962, the world cautiously observed the emotional standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States of America amid the discovery of Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic and tactical missiles on the island of Cuba. Just how close the world came to a nuclear disaster over this confrontation is still debated to this day, but the escalation of this crisis to the levels that it reached could have caused “the deaths of 100 million Americans and over 100 million Russians” (Allison 2012). The one side of this story that often gets left untold is just how the situation got to where it did and what mistakes, if any, did the American Intelligence Community make in the days, weeks, and months leading up to it. After 50 years of study

The Cuban Missile crisis was one of the most intense period of time that ever took place. The 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 transpired due to the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, capable of striking anywhere in the US. Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. The two superpowers’ feud nearly lead to a potential nuclear warfare that would have eradicated much of the world. 50 years later we learned that the Soviet commander in Cuba could have used the 98 tactical nuclear weapons without further codes from Moscow, triggering a full-scale nuclear war that would have killed over 150 million people and led to a global radioactive “nuclear winter” (Thompson). Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 is undeniably a major confrontation of the Cold War. Lasting for 13 days it is arguably the pinnacle of the Cold War. This crisis was a decisive factor in the United States’ (US) decision process of whether to engage in a nuclear war with the Soviet Union (USSR). However the essential fault of both state leaders (J. Kennedy and N. Khrushchev) which created the inevitable crisis was miscommunication. Today we recognise actions taken by both states during the crisis as consistent with a realist point of view. Realism holds great emphasise on the obstacles enforced by human nature and the non-attendance of an international government. Creating international politics an area focused on power and state-interest.