The Cold War was an important aspect of the twentieth century. The two dominant powers at the time, United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and their allies were vying for control in the world. The Cold War had very limited combat between countries, and instead it was considered a nuclear threat. The USA was the leading country when examining nuclear warfare and the USSR was lingering behind. The USSR wanted to stay on track with the USA in every military, economic, and social aspect. The aspect of fear was present in the Cold War due to the constant competition between the USA and USSR. Therefore, when the Americans placed missiles in Turkey and aimed them at the USSR, the USSR wanted to have missiles aimed at the USA. The USSR wanted to place missiles in Cuba, and this led to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. During the thirteen-day event the world stood by in fear and waited for something to happen. The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the most important events during the Cold War because of the drive for power between the USSR and the USA, the circumstances and interactions between countries during and after the Cuban Missile Crisis, the USSR foreign relations, and the development of new destructive technology; the USSR’s involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis was significant in their attempt to gain power in the world.
The events that occurred during the Cuban Missile Crisis are important because they demonstrate all aspects of Soviet foreign relations, the interactions between the USSR and the USA, and the development of a nuclear threat. After the United States attempted to overthrow the Communist regime in Cuba in 1961 the Soviets interfered and the agreement to install missile...
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The political ideologies of the USA and of the Soviet Union were of profound significance in the development of the Cold War. Problems between the two power nations arose when America refused to accept the Soviet Union in the international community. The relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union was filled with mutual distrust and hostility. Many historians believe the cold war was “inevitable” between a democratic, capitalist nation and a communist Union. Winston Churchill called the cold war “The balance of terror” (1). Cold war anxieties began to build up with America and the Soviet Union advancing in the arms race for world dominance and supremacy. America feared the spread of Communism
During the late 1940's and the 1950's, the Cold War became increasingly tense. Each side accused the other of wanting to rule the world (Walker 388). Each side believed its political and economic systems were better than the other's. Each strengthened its armed forces. Both sides viewed the Cold War as a dispute between right and wron...
The lack of cooperation in which Diefenbaker had displayed during the Cuban Missile Crisis had surprised America. The crisis had most frightened Americans, and they needed all the help they could get. However, when turned to their neighbor for support it was shocking that Canadian Prime Minster John Diefenbaker had been lacking to cooperate with. When Diefenbaker had been informed of the situation and shown the photographs that an American U2 Spy Plane had taken of several missiles sites in Cuba, the prime minster had been quick to discard. Rather than Diefenbaker agreeing and cooperating with the United States to decide the steps that should be taken to resolve this issue with their new found proof, Diefenbaker not chose to...
Stern, Sheldon M., The week the world stood still: inside the Cuban Missile Crisis, Stanford, 2005, p. 150
The Fifth image is a cartoon drawn by Victor Weisz, for The Evening Standard published 16 July 1963, the cartoon depicts Khrushchev negotiating with Kennedy and MacMillan over the Berlin wall and the image also shows Khrushchev acting aggressive behind the Chinese wall with Mao on the other side. This cartoon represents the two important problems that Khrushchev had between the before and the Cuban Missile Crisis. The first being the Berlin Crisis, which started with Khrushchev trying to force the west out of Berlin and then the construction of the Berlin wall, which turned into the 16 hour tank standoff at checkpoint Charlie. Khrushchev used the event to test the waters after the bay of pigs invasion and see if he could get Berlin without any problems, he said "only a mad man would start a war over Berlin" referring to Kennedy. The crisis was a crucial event which effected Kennedy reaction with the Cuban Missile Crisis, during the crisis he was being hard line with the Soviets and refused to give West Berlin back, he said "we cannot and will not permit the communist to drive us out of Berlin" . At one point he was considering the use a small tactical nuclear strike on Soviet military targets, but he realised 'that there was no direct threat to West Berlin' so Kennedy backed down. This affected his decisions when it came to Cuba, he said on 19 October to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "our problem is not merely Cuba but it is also Berlin. And when we recognize the importance of Berlin to Europe, and recognise the importance of allies to us, that’s what has made this thing a dilemma for 3 days. Otherwise our answer would be quite easy" . The Sino-Soviet split was inevitable by the 1960's due to different views of communism and poor ...
.It was the height of the Cold War and the U.S. needed to be able to provide a credible military response to the Soviet Union. The Reagan Administration was almost 4 years into its campaign to strengthen the U.S. Armed Forces. The Administration appeared eager to use combat force as the instrument of choice for influencing world events. Secretary of Defense Weinberger, on the other hand, believed that “military force is just one of many tools of national power, and certainly not the preferred tool in every situation.”(Weinberger 1985) Weinberger developed six criteria for deciding when to use the US combat forces abroad. This criterion became known as the Weinberger Doctrine, and outlined specific tests which should be met before deploying US combat forces. The strengths and weaknesses of this doctrine can best be discussed when the doctrine is stated as questions. (Hunter 1987)
The Cold War is a term developed to represent the antagonistic relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union between the mid 1940s until the end of the 1990s. The development of tension between these two countries represented two differentiating perspectives on ideological that also impacted the rest of the world. As a result, I believe the Cold War still has an impact on our world today due to the constant issue of the security dilemma as well as the current relations countries have with each other.
The Cuban Missile Crisis exhibits the struggle for power between the two dominant powers of the time. The realist theory believes that world politics is a repetitive struggle for power and or influence. Power, in politics is largely perceived as influence and military capability. Power in mass amounts are located in objects such as nuclear missiles that have an immense influence on others. (Schmidt, 2007; Sterling-Folker & Shinko, 2007). This is clearly depicted through the actions taken by both leaders, as the simple placement of a missile had such a tremendous effect.
This historical investigation aims to address the question: How significant was Fidel Castro’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962?
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.
To view this crisis I chose the individual level of analysis because it is very easy to take that approach when you have three major key players as I mentioned above. Each and every one of those men held an excruciating amount of power which could have changed the total outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis if not used correctly. They all had the highest influences on how the crisis would end. The relationship between countries can be compared to a puzzle. One leaders relative power depicts one single piece to the dynamic puzzle made up by all respective countries and leaders. I drew to the conclusion that the individual level of analysis and international relations theory of realism combined together and allowed me to describe the situations of the Cuban Missile Crisis in the best way possible. The powerful leaders such as Preside...
Ronald E. Powaski, March to Armageddon: The United States and the Nuclear Arms Race, 1939 to the Present, (Oxford: OUP, 1987), 106.
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.
The incident of the Cuban Missile Crisis still connects with us today because the power nuclear weapons present, which provides incentives for countries to want them. Although nuclear technology was around prior to this incident, the power they represented didn’t fully develop till this time. Since the crisis five new countries have attained nuclear weapons, the lack of concern for the proliferation of the club is worrying. If a nuclear war broke out between India and Pakistan (both of whom have nuclear weapons) over a billion deaths would result. The burning cities would create enough smoke and ash to choke off the sun, leading to worldwide famine. Another way the Cuban incident applies to today is the possibility of nuclear terrorism. Republican Senator Richard Lugar conducted a survey of 85 national security experts which reached a similarly alarming conclusion. Although nuclear weapons were around prior to the Missile Crisis, we were never as close to the horror of nuclear war. "This Government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup on the island of Cuba," President John F. Kennedy began in what has to be counted as the scariest presidential address of the Cold War.
Stern, Sheldon M. The Cuban Missile Crisis in American Memory: Myths versus Reality. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ., 2012. Print.