The Cuban Missile

997 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: About the impact of the Cuban missile crisis 1962

13 days in October of 1962 were quite possibly the tensest in the on-going confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Popularly known as the Cuban Missile Crisis in the West, it involved the Soviet plan for placing medium and short-range ballistic nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba was a bold gamble by the Kremlin and Khrushchev. Dino A. Brugioni states, “On 15 October (1962), interpreting a U-2 mission flown over Cuba…, NPIC discovered two medium-range ballistic missile sites under construction…”1 This discovery started a drama that would have the world holding its breath for nearly two weeks. It is common knowledge about the outcome of the crisis. How President Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba, while at the same time negotiating terms for withdrawal of missiles with Soviet Prime Minister Khrushchev.
The Pentagon advised President Kennedy on three possible courses of action. One was containment, utilizing a naval blockade. He chose this path. Second was an airstrike to destroy the missile launch sites. Thirdly, was an all-out invasion of Cuba to destroy the missile sites and secondly, as an after-thought, to oust the Revolutionary Communist Cuban leader Fidel Castro. What would have been the outcome of option three, with the United States choosing to invade mainland Cuba in order to secure their interest and destroy the Soviet missile sites? Would the invasion on a Soviet protectorate and ally have escalated to a nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union? Was the Soviet Union prepared for all-out war? Was the Cuban missile move a large gamble that might have paid off if the United States was not willing to take action? This paper attempts to answer those questions and det...

... middle of paper ...

...en a Nuclear War?,” History News Network, http://hnn.us/article/149233.

Bibliography
Brugioni, Dino. The Invasion of Cuba, quoted in Robert Crowley, The Cold War: A Military History (Random House Publishing Group, NY, 2006), 211, 227.

Bernstein, Barton. “Reconsidering the Perilous Cuban Missile Crisis 50 Years Later”, Arms Control Association, https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2012_10/Reconsidering-the-Perilous-Cuban-Missile-Crisis-50-Years-Later.

Dr. Swedin, Eric. Interviewed by Jonny O’Callaghan, What if the Cuban Missile Crisis had escalated into nuclear war?, July 22, 2013, http://www.historyanswers.co.uk/interviews/41312/what-if-the-cuban-missile-crisis-had-escalated-into-nuclear-war/.

Dr. Swedin, Eric. “The Ultimate What-If of the Cuban Missile Crisis: What If There Had Been a Nuclear War?,” History News Network, http://hnn.us/article/149233.

Show More
Related

  • John F Kennedy Ethos Appeal In Jfk Speech

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy reached out to America and the Cubans with his Cuban Missile Crisis Address to the Nation. During this time, the Cold War had occupied several countries of world. This war resulted from tensions, military and political, between Russia and its allies and America, its allies, and the Western Hemisphere. When President Kennedy gave his speech, Russia had occupied Cuba and began building military bases that contained nuclear warheads and other deadly missiles. People of America saw this as a threat to the freedom of the U.S. and the Western Hemisphere. In a time of great tension and fear, President Kennedy delivered his spectacular and reassuring speech that appealed to the citizens of American in several ways.

    Read More

  • Containment Dbq Essay

    498 Words  | 1 Pages

    In January of 1959 , Communist dicator Fidel Castro took over Cuba. The United States in 1961 tried to overthrow Fidel by arming rebels and attempting to support them. This was the failure known as the Bay of Pigs. In October of 1962 , The US finds evidence that medium range nuclear sites had been installed in Cuba. They annonce that on the twenty-third that a quatntine was being Cuba and that any ship carrying offensive weapons to Cuba wasn’t allowed. Five days later , the crisis was averted when the Soviets began to remove the

    Read More

  • What Were the Repercussions of President Kennedy and his Executive Committees decisions Made During the Cuban Missile Crisis?

    1648 Words  | 4 Pages

    Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Thorndike: G. K. Hall, 2001. Print. The. MAY, ERNEST R., and PHILIP ZELIKOW.

    Read More

  • The Legacy of John F. Kennedy

    1907 Words  | 4 Pages

    May, Ernest R. “John F Kennedy and the Cuban MIssile Crisis.” BBC News. BBC., 18 Nov. 2013.

    Read More

  • The Miracle on Ice: The US Hockey Team

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Soviet Union and the United States were very distant during three decades of a nuclear arms race. Even though the two nations never directly had a battle, the Cuban Missile Crisis, amongst other things, was a result of the tension. The missile crisis began in October of 1962, when an American spy plane secretly photographed nuclear missile sites being built by the Soviet Union in Cuba. JFK did not want the Soviet Union and Cuba to know that he had discovered the missiles, so he made his decisions very secretly. Eventually, Kennedy decided to place a ring of ships around Cuba and place missiles in Turkey. Eventually, both leaders superpowers realized the possibility of a nuclear war and agreed to a deal in which the Soviets would remove the missiles from Cuba if the US didn't invade Cuba. Even though the Soviets removed took their missiles out of Cuba and the US eventually taking their missiles out of Turkey, they (the Soviets) continued to build a more advanced military; the missile crisis was over, but the arms race was not.

    Read More

  • The Cuban Missile Crisis In 13 Days

    1174 Words  | 3 Pages

    The docudrama ‘13 Days’ depicts the conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union which nearly ended in a cataclysmic crisis widely known as the Cuban Missile crisis. The course of events and the escalation of the crisis during the intense 13-day period in October 1962 are conveyed to the audience through the perspective of US political leaders. The crisis begins as U-2 spy planes evidence that Soviet leader, Khrushchev, had intermediate-range missiles deployed to Cuba in secrecy and is in the process of activating them. The movie surfaces the conundrums faced by President Kennedy in deciding appropriate actions to be undertaken, such that the missiles in Cuba are removed without resorting to war. Audiences are acquainted with the various complexities involved in the decision making processes, as President Kennedy not only had to deal with the antagonistic Soviet Union, but also disagreements within his own administration.

    Read More

  • Thirteen Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis

    693 Words  | 2 Pages

    Robert F. Kennedy's chilling account of his experiences with his brother, President John F. Kennedy over thirteen days in October of 1962 give an idea to the reader of just how alarmingly close our country came to nuclear war. Kennedy sums up the Cuban Missile Crisis as "a confrontation between two atomic nations...which brought the world to the abyss of nuclear destruction and the end of mankind."1 The author's purpose for writing this memoir seems to be to give readers an idea of the danger confronted during the Cuban Missile Crisis and to reflect on the lessons we should learn from it as a country, and for future members of government.

    Read More

  • The Cuban Missle Crisis

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wingrove, Paul. "Cuban Missile Crisis: Nikita Khrushchev's Cuban Gamble Misfired." Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 22 Oct. 2012. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

    Read More

  • The Cuban Missile Crisis

    2016 Words  | 5 Pages

    Comparable to no other moment in history, the Cuban Missile Crisis shaped a generation entering the nuclear age with unease and tension. Decisions ultimately were made by the leaders of the nations which were undoubtedly shaped and influenced from voices far exceeding the three men’s own ideologies. The opinions and beliefs of those closest to the leaders with large vested interest in the Crisis dictated monumental moments throughout the thirteen-day standoff. The issue arouse on the morning of October 16th when National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy awoke President Kennedy with startling photographs taken by U-2 aircraft over Cuba’s mainland. The photos proved that there were Soviet Medium-Range Ballistic Missiles on the island, which is only 90 miles from American shoreline. Long before the Cuban Missile Crisis, as noted by the JFK Presidential Library, “Kennedy warned of the Soviet's growing arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles and pledged to revitalize American nuclear forces.”...

    Read More

  • The Cuban Missile Crisis

    1916 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Cuban Missile Crisis was a major event in U.S History that almost led to nuclear destruction. It was over a period of thirteen days in which diplomats from the U.S and the Soviet Union were trying to reach a peaceful resolution so that they wouldn’t have to engage in physical warfare. The crisis was the hallmark of the Cold War era which lasted from the 1950’s to the late 1980’s. The Cold War was a power struggle between the U.S and Soviet Union in which the two nations had a massive arms race to become the strongest military force. The U.S considered Communism to be an opposing political entity, and therefore branded them as enemies. Khrushchev’s antagonistic view of Americans also played a big role in the conflict. The Cold War tensions, coupled with a political shift in Cuba eventually lead to the military struggle known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the point of most tension and near collapse causing the Cold War to almost shift from a passive and underground struggle to a violent and catastrophic one.

    Read More

  • Cuban Missile Crisis-Individual, Realism

    1384 Words  | 3 Pages

    "The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962." U.S. Dept. of State Office of the Historian. Office of the Historian, 31 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. .

    Read More

  • The Realist Perspective of the Cuban Missile Crisis

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted two weeks in the midst of the Cold War, and brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever before. In October of 1962 multiple nuclear missiles of the Soviet Union’ s were discovered in Cuba, a mere 90 miles south of the United States. Given the communist ties between Cuba and the USSR, this poised a considerable threat to our national security. Throughout the 14 days the two leaders, John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev struggled to clearly understand each others‘ genuine intentions. Actions taken by each state during this crisis demonstrates the realist point of view, in a variety of ways. The fundamentals of Realism will be explored and explained along with actions taken during this crisis from a realist point of view.

    Read More

  • Thirteen Days Movie Analysis

    1335 Words  | 3 Pages

    Roger Donaldson’s film, Thirteen Days dramatizes the Kennedy administration reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The film discusses a time when the United States had come close to a nuclear war with other nations. The film mainly focuses on showing the audience the United States perspective of the crisis. The Cuban Missile crisis was a thirteen-day long confrontation between the United States, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. This crisis started out when both the United States and the Soviet Union wanted to be seen as the most superior nation in the world. Therefore, both nations decided to use the technology they had in order to produce nuclear missiles and other weapons to show the globe how powerful they were as nations. The United States and

    Read More

  • Fidel Castro's Role in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962

    1817 Words  | 4 Pages

    Chang, Laurence and Peter Kornbluh. The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962. New York: The New Press, 1992.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Masters of War, by Bob Dylan

    2172 Words  | 5 Pages

    Stern, Sheldon M. The Cuban Missile Crisis in American Memory: Myths versus Reality. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ., 2012. Print.

    Read More

More about The Cuban Missile

Open Document