The Cuban Missle Crisis

1076 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Impacts of the Cuban Missile Crisis

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.

The Cuban Missile Crisis most definitively is known for how it halted nuclear attack on the brink of a hot war. With missiles in Cuba and Turkey pointing at each other, a stalemate was created between the Soviet Union and the United States. A policy of Mutually Assured Destruction was followed in order to prevent either side from attacking the other in fear of mass amounts of death and environmental consequences that would be caused by a nuclear war between the two most powerful countries in the world. The United States had always had weapons in Turkey within the region of the Soviet Union, being threatened by this the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev order for missiles to be sent to the communist ally in the caribbean which was Cuba led by former revolutionary Fidel Castro. After this event had occurred President Kennedy addressed the nation and the world on how the U.S. would respond to such threats. “ This urgent transformation of Cuba into an important strategic base--by the presence of these large, long range, and clearly offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction--co...

... middle of paper ...

...ry and Museum, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. .

"Cuban Missile Crisis." - John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum. Presidential Library and Museum, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.

"The Cuban Missile Crisis." The Cuban Missile Crisis. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.

Howarth, Tony. Twentieth Century History: The World since 1900. Burnt Mill, Harlow, Essex: Longman, 1979. Print.

Kallen, Stuart A. Primary Sources: The Cold War. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2003. Print. American War Library.

"A Non-Fictional Account: The Cuban Missile Crisis." A Non-Fictional Account: The Cuban Missile Crisis. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.

Walsh, Ben. Modern World History. LONDON: Joh Murray, 1996. Print.

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

Show More
Related

  • The Short-term Significance of the Cuban Missile Crisis between the US and the USSR

    2127 Words  | 5 Pages

    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 literally hinged upon the ability of two men, President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, to reach a compromise. The sources I have researched strongly agree that it was President Kennedy who was very determined to prevent the world from another war. They also show that the crisis was not just a conflict about missiles; it was a conflict of contradictory philosophies, ideologies and power.

    Read More

  • Cuban Missile Crisis: Turning Point In American History

    1991 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Cuba in the Cold War

    1818 Words  | 4 Pages

    Wood, Jeff. "Cuba Missile Crisis." In Disasters, Accidents, and Crises in American History. Accessed February 11, 2014. American History Online (DACH0151).

    Read More

  • The Cuban Missile Crisis

    2308 Words  | 5 Pages

    The world was at the edge of a third world war. This was the result of a variety of things: the Cuban Revolution, the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, US anti-communism, insecurity of the Soviet Union, and Cuba's fear of invasion all made causes for war. However, war was not the result due to great cooperation from both President Kennedy and President Khrushchev and each of the decisions made by the leaders was crucial in the outcome of The Crisis. Kennedy's choice to take action by means of quarantine instead of air-strike and Khrushchev's decision to abide by the quarantines were perhaps the two most significant decisions made by the leaders in order to prevent war. The Cuban Missile Crisis showed the world that compromising and discussion can in-fact prevent war. As Khrushchev said in 1962, "They talk about who won and who lost. Human reason won. Mankind won." 1 The world had almost seen another world war, the effects of which would have been devastating because of the weapons involved. Humanity, indeed, was the prevention of the war.

    Read More

  • Cuban Missile Crisis

    583 Words  | 2 Pages

    Goldman, Jerry, and Giel Stein. "History." The Cuban Missile Crisis. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. .

    Read More

  • The Cuban Missile Crisis

    1916 Words  | 4 Pages

    This source provided a very good counter-argument to the usual interpretation of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It gives an insightful criticism of the Cuban Missile Crisis as seen through American propaganda. This internet article was able to give an opposite interpretation of the events and portray the U.S as the aggressor in some ways, which helped make my paper more well-rounded.

    Read More

  • Cuban Missile Crisis Research Paper

    412 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Cuban Missile Crisis was a pivotal moment in the Cold War.In October 1962 President John F. Kennedy was informed of a U-2 spy-plane’s discovery of Soviet ballista-tipped missiles in Cuba. The President resolved that this could not stand each with the power of mutual destruction. This war meant the deaths of 100 million Americans and more than 100 million Russians.

    Read More

  • Cuban Missile Crisis Rhetorical Analysis

    1455 Words  | 3 Pages

    One day, in the early 60s the US Government discovered that the Soviet Union had a nuclear missile on the island of Cuba. So, the US government asked the Soviets to get rid of them. It was a bold thing to do because anything could have happened. Things between the US and the Soviets were already tense because of the cold war. For fourteen days, tension grew between the nations. Not knowing if this missile aimed and ready to fire at the US. Kennedy decided to give this speech the “Cuban Missile Crisis Address”. The address was used was to announce there will be a naval blockade on Cuba until the crisis is solved. This address was very effective because Kennedy did not say he was going to start

    Read More

  • Cuban Missile Crisis Research Paper

    1232 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Cuban Missile Crisis did not just happen for no reason. A few key events took place, which caused this crisis to take place. First of all, one big reason for the missiles in Cuba was that the United States had planted missiles in Turkey. Turkey is very close to the Soviet Union, so this frightened the people of the USSR. The nuclear missiles that we had were capable of a 1500 mile range. We were in striking distance of every major

    Read More

  • Cuban Missile Crisis Research Paper

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Cuban Missile Crisis that occurred from October 16 to 28 of 1962, also known as the Caribbean Crisis or the Missile Scare was a thirteen-day confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States. The October Crisis of 1962 occurred as a result of concerns of American ballistic missile deployment in Turkey and Italy while there was consequent ballistic missile deployment in by the Soviet Union in Cuba. Historians consider the confrontation as the closest the Cold War came to result in a full-blown nuclear war. President John F. Kennedy, who was president at the time, issued a nationwide televised address to Americans notifying them about his awareness of the missiles and prepared to take action with military force being a consideration had the Cubans not complied with the request since the missiles posed a threat to national security. The news raised the alarm of a possible nuclear war occurring. However, the near crisis was averted when Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union at the time, agreed to remove Cuban missiles provided the United States promised not to invade Cuba.

    Read More

  • The Cuban Missile Crisis

    1223 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world has ever been to a nuclear war which would have doomed the human race. For thirteen days the world was scared to death of what could happen. In a nutshell, the Soviet Union under leadership of Nikita Khrushchev tried to counter the lead of the United States in developing and deploying strategic missiles. The Soviet Union or USSR knew of the missiles the United States had set up in Turkey. (Garthoff) To gain first strike capabilities they reached an agreement with Cuba under the leadership of Fidel Castro set up missiles in Cuba. Cuba is just 90 miles from Florida. President Kennedy got word of this via photographs and stated that any attack from Cuba would be regarded as an attack from the Soviet Union. (www.lafayette.com) Also he setup a naval blockade on the country of Cuba preventing further Soviet shipments of military weapons from arriving there. (www.lafayette.com) On October 24, 1962 Soviet ships turned around and headed back to the USSR. Then four days later on the twenty-eighth Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles and dismantle the missile sites. (www.lafayette.com) With this, the Cuban Missile Crisis had ended as suddenly as it had begun.

    Read More

  • Cuban Cold War

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Posts about Cuban Missile Crisis on Tim Takechi's Journal." Tim Takechis Journal. Web. 05 May 2017.

    Read More

  • Never Back Down

    951 Words  | 2 Pages

    In October 1962, when the world came extremely close to the beginning of a World War 3, any hope of achieving peace was almost destroyed at the hands of Kennedy, Khrushchev, and to a lesser degree, Castro. After the end of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba in early 1961, the Soviets gained the perfect opportunity to develop an alliance with Cuba (Falk 145). Subsequently, in 1961 the Soviets decided to place missiles in Cuba threatening the Americans which became the basis of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The fact of the matter was that both the Soviet Union and the U.S.A. had enough military power to absolutely destroy the world and the only way to successfully impede this was for Kennedy and Khrushchev to come to a mutual agreement. Unfortunately, both sides could not afford to displease their people or appear weak, so reaching an agreement seemed very unlikely for quite some time. Yet surprisingly enough, over the years historians and the general public mostly learned of the American version of how the situation unfolded and concluded that Kennedy was the best example of how to deal with a crisis until recently when new evidence suggests there was more to the story. The world came to the verge of downright destruction during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 when president Kennedy and Khrushchev almost failed to settle their differences regarding the missiles in Cuba and Turkey.

    Read More

  • The Cuban Missile Crises: Strategic Decision-Making

    1635 Words  | 4 Pages

    ALLISON, G. T. & ZELIKOW, P. 1999. Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis, United States, Longman Inc.

    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

More about The Cuban Missle Crisis

Open Document