Turning Point Of The Cold War

President Kennedy came to office with warnings of a missile gap. The Soviets had achieved or were achieving a significant advantage in strategic nuclear weapons. Though tensions ran even higher, "Eisenhower’s strategy of massive retaliation made little sense and did not account for the rapidly growing Soviet nuclear arsenal4. Kennedy's nuclear strategy became known as flexible response. The idea was to acquire the military forces that could deal flexibility with varying levels of Soviet Aggression3. The most serious confrontation between Russia and the US was the Cuban Missile Crisis. (Link to Stephanie's page) Soviet leader Khrushchev attempted to place intermediate range missiles in Cuba. Kennedy responded by imposing a quarantine on Cuba. This resulted in the removal of the Soviet missiles and led to Kennedy making the decision to dismantle U.S. missiles based in Turkey. Some analysts argue that the successful outcome was due to the United States’ nuclear superiority, which proved that strategic superiority offered important political advantages5.

On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy “informed the world” that the Soviets were building secretive missile bases in Cuba, very close to Florida. President Kennedy decided to take the peaceful route in handling is major crisis. As

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.

At the long awaited end of World War 2, Germany was divided into two pieces, one for capitalists and the other for communists. Berlin, the stronghold city of Germany at the time, was split into two pieces as well, one part for capitalists and one part for communists, all separated by the infamous Berlin wall. West Berlin was a pro-american island in a soviet sea, and when the soviet union decided to blockade any shipments into West Berlin, the United States had to take immediate action. America shipped in supplies to West Berlin by air! If it hadnt been for America and its allies supporting West Berlin, it could have easily been conquered by the surrounding communists. The Berlin Airlift displayed the fight that America put into containing communism and how hard they were willing to work to keep the red water as far away from them as possible. These diplomatic tactics saved Berlin and eventually led to the Berlin walls’ downfall, allowing the city to come together and live peacefully. This was one of the first major steps in stopping the spread of communism through

The Cuban Missile Crisis and how it was a turning point in the Cold War

Whilst the Soviet Union had more nuclear missiles in total, the USA had much more long-range missiles, meaning that they had a greater advantage in the Arms Race. Also, the USA had military bases in the UK and Turkey, meaning that it would have been very easy to fire missiles accurately onto Soviet targets. This meant that Khrushchev needed to find a solution to the Berlin refugee crisis without furthering the risk of a war that his country could not win, hence a diplomatic decision that would not prompt Western (particularly American) aggression. In US President John F. Kennedy’s own words, “a wall is a lot better than a

The cold War was a stressful war and it was after World War II. The cold war abroad. The cold war was a fight against at home mirrored a growing concern with the soviet threat. In June 1950, the first military action of the cold war began when the soviet backed North Korean people’s army invaded its pro-western neighbor to the south. Many American officials feared this was the first step in a communist campaign to take over the world and deemed. Truman sent the American military into Korea, but the war dragged to a stalemate and ended in 1953. In early 1960s, President Kennedy faced a number of troubling situations in his own hemisphere. The Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961.

Krushehev the leader of the Soviet Union entered into talks with the Kennedy administration where it was agreed missiles would not be placed in Cuba, and America would not attack.

In 1962 the cuban missile crisis was a confrontation between america and the soviet union. In 1962 the cuban missile crisis was a confrontation between america and the soviet union. This was the closest we have came to nuclear war which scared people all around the world.This resulted in a agreement to end nuclear testing in the sea and above ground.This resulted in a agreement to end nuclear testing in the sea and above ground.This made people feel safe and also protected the environment from the testing of nuclear bombs.

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

Throughout the 1950's and 60's both superpowers raced to build an arsenal of nuclear bombs (Intro. to the Cold War (1945-1991)). Seeing that the Soviet Union had been building their own nuclear bombs, the United States had their allies building nuclear weapons ("Nuclear Weapons" Lerney. K Lee) and placing them close to Soviet Russia. With both sides producing a mass of nuclear weapons, a thermonuclear war seemed to be around the corner and in 1961 with The Cuban Missile Crisis it seemed like it was going to happen (Intro. to the Cold War (1941-1991)). The United States military had a big play in the Cold War. The Cold War was never a war that had military battle but military influence in certain nations, when the war began, many United States officials wanted to strengthen their military alliance with other nations so that those counties would not turn to communism and form an alliance with the Soviet Union. With the alliance to China, North Korea, and Vietnam to the Soviet Union, the united States responded with military fortification of neutral Asian nations ("Cold War" Gale Encyclopedia of U.S.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the only devastating event in U.S. to ever bring the country into DEFCON-2. Ever since World War 2, the U.S. and the Soviet Union have been rivals(Jeffery, Riley, 4). The Soviets later aligned themselves with the small country of Cuba. It is a small piece of land in enemy territory, but it is very important to them because they have to protect their allies at all times. For this reason, The USSR placed missiles in Cuba to keep them prepared for an invasion. In 1962, The two huge superpowers brought the Cold War to a nuclear crisis in Cuba which led to DEFCON-2, the closest point to a nuclear war(The Choices Program)

The world could be gone and the human race would end sooner if nuclear weapons were abused. Everyone was living under the fear that the they could be bombed with nuclear bomb at any second. While in the Caribbean, the problem with the use of nuclear energy was evident. Fidel Castro, the dictator of Cuba during the Cold War period, had befriended Nikita Khrushchev and the US, as a democratic, was scared of the spread of communism. The US invaded the Bay of Pigs in Cuba on April 17. 1961 to try to make a change in the Communist system of Fidel Castro, but it failed (The Cold War Bay of Pigs). At the beginning of 1962, the Soviet Union started to install nuclear missiles in Cuba, but the US was not satisfied with that decision. On October 22,

The following year Vietnam is split at the seventeenth parallel to combat Communism. Three years later in 1957 the Russian Sputnik is launched into orbit marking the start of the Space Race between United States and Soviet Union. In January of 1959, Cuba is taken over by Fidel Castro. In April 1961, the Bay of Pigs Invasion becomes a mistake by America and the relations between Cuba, Soviet Union, and the United States falls apart. Few months later in August, the Berlin Wall begins construction, marking the separation of Communism and Democracy in Berlin, Germany. The following year in 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis almost starts a war between the Soviet Union and United States, while United States involvement in Vietnam is increased. (3)

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. The crisis was a major confrontation between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The confrontation was caused by the Soviets putting missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the United States of America. The world was in the hands of President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khruchchev. These two men would have to reach a compromise or else the results would be fatal.