The Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missle Crisis Many agree that the Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war; but exactly how close did it come? The Crisis was ultimately a showdown between the United States and the Soviet Union from October 16 to October 28, 1962. During those thirteen stressful days, the world’s two biggest superpowers stood on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe. The Crisis started as a result of both the Soviet Union’s fear of losing the arms race, and Cuba’s fear of US invasion. The Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, thought that both problems could easily be solved by placing Soviet medium range missiles in Cuba.

The Cuban Missile Crisis John F. Kennedy's greatest triumph as President of the United States came in 1962, as the world's two largest superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, edged closer and closer to nuclear war. The Soviet premier of Russia was caught arming Fidel Castro with nuclear weapons. The confrontation left the world in fear for thirteen long days, with the life of the world on the line. In 1962, Nikita Khrushchev, Premier of the Soviet Union, employed a daring gambit. He secretly ordered the placement of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba.

When President John F. Kennedy failed with the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, the United States started placing fifteen Jupiter intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBM) near Izmir, Turkey. Even though President Kennedy said that these missiles might have "questionable strategic value" the Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, made America aware of his anger and distain regarding Kennedy’s decision. Khrushchev believed that these missiles were not only an offense to him, but to his country as well. However, the United States also possessed nuclear submarines which posed an even greater threat than the IRBM’s. The Soviet Union came to realize that they were extremely outmatched in the area of nuclear weapons and the decision by Nikita Khrushchev to place missiles in Cuba was made.

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.

The Cold War, which began after the end of World War II until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, was the long period of conflict between the West and the East. Tensions were already initiated at the Yalta Conference, where Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt disputed over the issues of dividing up Germany, ... ... middle of paper ... ...he removal of Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, from office. 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.

Cuban Missile Crisis Analysis Works Cited Missing The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the most important events in United States history; it’s even easy to say world history because of what some possible outcomes could have been from it. The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 was a major Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the Bay of Pigs Invasion the USSR increased its support of Fidel Castro's Cuban regime, and in the summer of 1962, Nikita Khrushchev secretly decided to install ballistic missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy and the other leaders of our country were faced with a horrible dilemma where a decision had to be made. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara outlined three possible courses of action for the president: "The political course of action" of openly approaching Castro, Khrushchev, and U.S. allies in a gambit to resolve the crisis diplomatically, an option that McNamara and others considered unlikely to succeed; "a course of action that would involve declaration of open surveillance" coupled with "a blockade against offensive weapons entering Cuba"; and "military action directed against Cuba, starting with an air attack against the missiles" (Chang, 2).

People just did not know what to believe when it came down to the effects that these nuclear weapons were going to have on the nation and the world as a whole. There was what could be considered a revolution as advancements showed up and new ideas and even cartoons came out, all with the universal basis of nuclear weapons. The positives outweigh the negatives on many levels and show that something that seemed so terrible really brought about many positive changes for the nation. The Cuban Missile Crisis began on October 14, 1962 when U-2 flight crews took photos over Cuba that were then analyzed meticulously by experts, who in turn found that there were in fact Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba (Compston, 228). The Soviet Union and the United States were exceptionally close to an all out nuclear war that could have wiped out the entire human population.

The Soviet’s built up their arsenal as well trying to scare Americans. They did happen to scare Americans by sending nuclear missiles to communist country, Cuba which was located off the coast of Florida ("Cuban Missile Crisis."). With both having nuclear weapons, the world was in grave danger of another World War. The Cuban Missile Crisis is why most people consider Kennedy to be one of the greatest presidents of all time. Many people believe that Kennedy’s role in the presidency drastically affected the outcome of the Cold War.

Firstly, Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, wanted to apply pressure on the United States and demonstrate what it felt like to be consistently vulnerable to nuclear weapons. Secondly, the Soviet Union wanted to protect t... ... middle of paper ... ...me. The Cuban missile crisis is one of the most politically debated and analyzed events of the twentieth century. The Cuban missile crisis demonstrated the limited value of nuclear deterrence, but instead the importance of diplomacy pared with conventional warfare on a multilaterally political field were the most influential factors in resolving the crisis peacefully. Work Cited Ambrose, Stephen R. (1984) Eisenhower, Volume 2: The President New York: Simon and Schuster George, Alice.

" We were eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked" (Shmoop). This is one of the most famous quotes American History, and it described the Cuban Missile Crisis perfectly. This was the time when the United States plunged into a state of tension and silent pain with The Soviet Union. Both sides were ready to fire their nuclear weapons, and Cuba was in the middle of it. The Cuban Missile Crisis was caused by uproars started by Fidel Castor; because of those conflicts, it was the closest the world's ever been to nuclear war.