Cuban Missile Crisis: Turning Point In American History

1991 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impacts of the Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis
Background
The Cuban missile crisis was a major turning point in American history. It sparked conflict between two of the most powerful countries and almost led to possibly the most horrific war ever. This point in American history also caused long lasting tension between the United States and Cuba and posed as the most terrifying 13 days in United States history.
The Cuban missile crisis can be argued to be one of the most dangerous events in the history of the United States. The United States was on the verge of nuclear warfare with Cuba and the Soviet Union. A United States’ spy plane discovered missile silos being constructed in Cuba. This raised suspicion for the president at the time, John F. Kennedy, and the rest …show more content…

Soon after this incident, the famous "hotline" was installed between the United States and the Soviet Union to help resolve future conflicts. The hotline is used for direct communication between the United States and the United Nations. This was a very important installment because it made it made it easier for the United States and the Soviet Union to stay in contact and to make sure that everything stays under control so that there is no potential war that breaks out.
Impact
The Cuban missile crisis left many impacts on not only the countries involved in it, the entire world. It sent waves of fear, anxiety, and paranoia across the world. Countries began to panic as they sat by watching the United States and Cuba on the verge of all out nuclear warfare, they began the search for a way to protect themselves in case they got brought into the battle or in case a rival country also decides to start war. After the Cuban missile crisis ended the arms race for nuclear weaponry was at its peak. Countries from around the world began the race to build and discover nuclear weaponry. The nuclear arms race mainly consisted of France, Russia, Great Britain, Germany, and the United States (History.com). All these countries raced to be the first to build these great nuclear bombs in fear that if the others finished creating them first that they will

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

  • How Did the Cold War Affect the Politics of Germany and Italy?

    1982 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1945, the USA was the only country in the world that had the nuclear weapons. But in the 1949 USSR started to learn about their nuclear weapons. In further developments forced the USSR was soon created by nuclear, and then thermonuclear weapons. Isaacs J, 2008: Fight has become very dangerous for all.

    Read More

  • Race for the Super Bomb

    525 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1945, America terrified the world by using the Atom Bomb in Hiroshima and later in Nagasaki. This fear of the most powerful weapon ever created started a cold war between America and Russia. These two great nations had started the race for the super bomb, which would have each country trying to out do the other for decades to come.

    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

  • 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

  • Atomic Bomb In World War 2

    385 Words  | 1 Pages

    After 1945 the US made thousand of atomic bombs and a wide range of small size nuclear weapons like, land mines, missiles, and grenades. By 1965 the larger countries of the world had also developed atomic weapons.

    Read More

  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    1192 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Cuban Missile Crisis was not only the tensest confrontation between these two nations; it was also the most controversial. There have been many different theories as to why the Soviet Union set up nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba in the first place. One theory suggests that Stalin’s successor, Nikita Khrushchev, placed these weapons in Cuba because he felt endangered by the United States’ nuclear missiles in Turkey, which were a threat to the Soviet Union. Another theory proposes that Castro feared for another US invasion in Cuba, thus enlisting the help of their communist allies. Since the unsuccessful attack at the Bay of Pigs, Castro feared for another invasion, perhaps a more successful one of Cuba. But nonetheless, the Cuban Missile Crisis proves to be successful in which we avoided a nuclear war.

    Read More

  • The Cuban Missle Crisis

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    Without the occurrence of the Cuban Missile Crisis we would may not be living in the world we are today. During the Cold War the Cuban Missile created a stalemate between the two major countries involved in the war, the Soviet Union and the United States. This event greatly known as a turning point in the it during the 1960's period of the infamous war, by being able to turn the tables and prevent a “hot” war to form out of one of the “coldest” wars in history. The Cuban Missile Crisis was an exceptionally significant event during the Cold War because of its ability to affect multitude of aspects between the two sides involved during the war.

    Read More

  • The Cuban Missile Crisis

    2016 Words  | 5 Pages

    Thirteen days in October of 1962 changed the course of the World in the nuclear age forever. The Cuban Missile Crisis represents the closest brink of mutual nuclear destruction the World has ever been close to reaching. The leadership in place throughout the crisis is critical to the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Three men dominated the nations involved in the crisis and captivated citizens of all corners of the world. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy of the United States, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, and Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro dominated the airwaves and news circuits leading up to the infamous crisis, which put the three leaders and nations in a cold silence of misperceptions, miscommunications, and unprecedented intentions.

    Read More

  • Cold War

    555 Words  | 2 Pages

    This buildup of weapons by the two countries started The Cuban Missile Crisis (The Cuban). Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet leader of the time, was nervous about the buildup of nuclear weapons in Western Europe and Turkey by the United States. He felt a build-up of missiles in Cuba would level the playing field.... ... middle of paper ...

    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

  • The Crucible

    911 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Cuban Missile Crisis – Between Russia and America. Russia supported Cuba and was going to aid Cuba by supplying nuclear arms. America was totally against it and threatened to start a nuclear war with Russia if it did this.

    Read More

  • Was The Dropping Of The Atomic Bomb Justified?

    2763 Words  | 6 Pages

    When the United States caught word that Germany was close to creating the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer and other scientists wanted to create it first, for the U.S. After three years of research, the first small atomic device was exploded on July 16, 1945 in the lab at Los Alamos. Having proved their concept worked, a larger scale bomb was built. Less than a month later, atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan (Rosenberg).

    Read More

  • Communism Vs Vietnam War

    1363 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Cuban Missile Crisis, would occur after the Korean war and shortly before the first US soldiers would touch down in Vietnam. Fidel Castro seized power of Cuba in 1959 becoming a communist country in league with the soviet union. Skip forward to October, 14,1962 an american U2 Spy plane is flying high above Cuba when photographs of Cuba reveal Soviet medium range ballistic missiles are being placed on the island aimed toward the US with capability of crippling our country. This caused a scrambling in the US of soldiers, naval vessels and the arming of nuclear missiles. Kenedy processed the situation and called for a blockade of Cuba forcing a retaliation of Soviet Ships, but one never came. Eventually after several days of tension John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev, the soviet leader, resulted in removal of the missiles and standoff that would not end till the Cold

    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

More about Cuban Missile Crisis: Turning Point In American History

Open Document