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Cuban Missile Crisis Research Paper

498 Words2 Pages

The Cuban Missile Crisis, the opening of relations with China, and the Vietnam War all contributed to the end of the Cold War from the American perspective. Each shook the stereotypes of communism and showed that communism and capitalism can negotiate. They also changed the American perception that total victory was necessary for success. Neither the Soviet Union nor the United States wanted to go to nuclear war, but the US did not realize this until the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. This was the first time the United States and Soviet Union really communicated and led to the instillation of the Moscow-Washington hotline. Nixon’s opening to the People’s Republic of China ten years later confirmed that capitalism and communism could negotiate. …show more content…

Two immediate factors include poor leadership and a decrease in the influence of the Soviets over their satellite states. As stated in the textbook, “When Gorbachev became general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in March 1985, he was the best-educated, most worldly, and least dogmatic leader of his country since Lenin” (484). Gorbachev himself “blamed his three predecessors for presiding over twenty years of stagnation” and sought to reform the Soviet Union before it buckled under the economic strain (484). The lack of leadership in the Soviet Union allowed the economic situation to become awful, which in turn assisted in the Soviet Union’s demise. Gorbachev and even some of his predecessors allowed reformers to enter the communist bloc to deal with the economic issues, and through this crack capitalism entered Eastern Europe. Soviet leaders used the Iron Curtain to hide the backwardness of the Soviet Union from the Soviet people and the people of the satellite states; as communication with the west increased, the people began to realize the problems within communism. The people of Eastern Europe also realized the inaccuracies of the stereotypes they held regarding westerners. Combined with this realization, economic issues contributed to a decrease in Soviet influence over the satellite states. Therefore, two underlying contributors were increased communication with the west and economic

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