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Cuban Missile Crisis Research Paper

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In mid- October 1962, during the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Cold War almost erupted into a full blown nuclear war between America, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. As a result of the failed invasion attempt at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba, the Cubans made a deal with the Soviets to intimidate the United States. The deal was for the Soviets to give Fidel Castro, the Communist President of Cuba, nuclear missiles, making it a threat to America. From October 16, 1962 - October 28, 1962, America was in a state of panic as the people were terrified if they were going to be in the middle of a nuclear war. President Kennedy planned to disarm the Soviet backed Cuba from the nuclear missiles Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the …show more content…

Fidel Castro, who an extreme leftist considering he is a communist leader of Cuba and established a communist government in the island, aligned himself with the Soviet Union. Cuba became very dependent on the soviet Union. Including military and economic aid for Cuba, this all happening while the Soviets were in conflict with the Americans during the Cold War. After the failed Bay of Pigs invasion by the United States on Cuba, the Soviet union armed Cuba with Soviet SS-4 medium range nuclear ballistic missiles. The Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev sent the nuclear missiles to level the playing field the has on the United States, since the Americans had their missiles targeted at them in western Europe and Turkey. But Fidel Castro only wanted the missiles to deter American aggression from …show more content…

The years after the crisis, there was a direct communication link set up between Moscow and Washington. With this “hot line” similar situations like the Cuban Missile Crisis can be prevented. Also the two world superpowers signed two treaties related to nuclear arms. However, even though it seems that there was starting to be peace, their conflict between each other, also known as the Cold war, was definitely far from being over. The Cuban Missile Crisis convinced the Soviet Union to increase their investment in an arsenal of intercontinental ballistic nuclear missiles capable of reach the United States from Soviet territory. The Cold War would last for 30 more years even after the Cuban Missile

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The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in the month of October, 1962 when American-Soviet relations were tested by the installation of nuclear missiles in Cuba by the Soviet Union. Many historians point to this moment in time as the closest the United States and the Soviets ever came to nuclear war. The tensions began to rise once the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961, supported by the American government, failed to remove Fidel Castro from power in Cuba. As a result, Castro was open for the Soviet Premier Khrushchev to place troops and nuclear missiles to threaten the United States. Khrushchev considered this justifiable because of the American missiles positioned in Turkey.

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760 Words | 4 Pages

America, fearing for their own safety, then put a quarantine around Cuba, not allowing any ships with weapons to enter. (Doc D) Tensions were high, with both capitalist and communist nations having the potential to launch a nuclear strike against the other. After some time, the Soviets decided to retreat. They removed their missiles from Cuba and the threat of a nuclear war subsided.

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1936 Words | 8 Pages

This became a massive threat to the United States due to the fact that Cuba is within ninety miles of the coast of Florida. For the Soviets to have an ally, not only within the western hemisphere, but within ninety miles of the United States was believed to be a catastrophic idea. The threat of the missiles in Cuba was discovered on October 15, 1962. From the threat of the Cuban Missile Crisis the Cuban Embargo was put into effect. Attributing to the conflict that we see today with Cuba and the uneasy alliance that Cuba has with

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681 Words | 3 Pages

In 1962, it led to a dangerous crisis that put much of the U.S in a state of fear, the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was caused when the United States discovered Soviet offensive missile sites in Cuba in October of 1962. The missiles were placed strategically so they would land on U.S soil when launched from Cuba. This was the closest the U.S and Soviet Union’s got to a nuclear war during the Cold

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894 Words | 4 Pages

The Cold War was a very significant period of time in the history of the world. The two Superpowers, USSR and the United States of America, were in the battlefield of ideology representing Socialism and Capitalism respectively. One of the most crucial conflicts in this Nuclear Arms Race was the Cuban Missile Crisis; in fact, it was the closest that the two sides ever got to the nuclear annihilation of the entire human species. As per the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, all the Americas would eventually be under the United States of America, and this supposedly justified the Bay of Pigs invasion by the U.S. to overthrow Castro, and return Capitalism to the nation. In consequence to this threatening attack of the U.S. Castro approached Khrushchev for economic and military support to stand up against Kennedy.

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1513 Words | 7 Pages

As the United States and Soviet Russia entered the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962, it was clear that this was the closest that the two sides had gotten to flirting with the idea of a real nuclear war. As a result of this fact, deliberations between the two for a compromise grew increasingly more tense, and it highlighted the similarities and differences between the United States and Soviet intentions. Clearly, it was in the interest of not only the U.S. and USSR, but the whole human race to find a peaceful compromise to the crisis, and the actions from both sides, public and secret, stopped the greater crisis of nuclear war from happening. The discovery of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba capable of reaching most points on the North

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1105 Words | 5 Pages

The Cuban Missile Address is delivered October 22nd, 1962 in the Presidential office through a major radio and television address (Podell, Anzovin, and States United 705). Historically, it is worth mentioning that United States had attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro, who was at the time Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba, in at least two occasions known as the Bay of Pigs Operation and Operation Mongoose, because of his communist regime and close relationship with the Soviet Union (Pious). Then, after the Bay of Pigs incident, Fidel Castro urged Nikita Khrushchev, the Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to send support and weapons to Cuba, because of the fear of another attack to his person/regime, Nikita did by sending missiles capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction, hence, this major crisis that lasted 14 days ending October 28, 1962 (Deinema and Leydesdorff). In addition, the target audience for this speech is the American people as President starts his speech with the phrase, “Good evening, my fellow citizens” (Kennedy); however, the secondary audience would be the Cuban people, whom he describes as captive people, the Soviet Union leaders, whom he directly addresses and even quotes, and Fidel Castro of course (Kennedy). As noted above, the cultural, socio-political context is important to understand the seriousness of this crisis and

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1563 Words | 7 Pages

As new details about this crisis have been declassified the 50th anniversary is a great opportunity to explore why these events happened and how war was ultimately averted” responded John Wilson, Senior Vice President and Chief TV Programming Executive. On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy educated the world that the Soviet Union was building mystery rocket bases on the island of Cuba, 90 miles off the shores of Florida. The occasions of the following strain filled 13 days, known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, struck trepidation over the globe as the world wavered on the edge of atomic debacle. The destiny of the planet eventually lay in the hands of three intense men: Soviet chief Nikita Khrushchev, Cuban pioneer Fidel Castro and U.S. President John F. Kennedy. (“PBS Offers Special Programs on the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis on October 23, 2012” by

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1456 Words | 6 Pages

There is nothing we can do to stop the Americans from destroying Cuba, other than surrender… We are prepared to disappear beneath the Caribbean Sea. But Comrade Nikita, do not worry about us. We 7.5 million Cubans are doomed only in the physical sense. We are

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1298 Words | 6 Pages

In the 1960’s, President Kennedy and the Soviet Union’s dictator, Nikta Khrushchev were trying to outdo each of their countries over nuclear weapons. After much anticipation by the American public the Cuban Missile Crisis was averted when the Soviet Union retreated. President George H. W. Bush was interested in helping Mikhail Gorbachev save the Soviet Union, but there was stipulations attached. Gorbachev agreed to most of the stipulations, but the United States because of her economic woes could not provide the monetary assistance that was needed and the Soviet Union collapsed in

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538 Words | 3 Pages

The fatal noise of sirens ring out, while children in your class duck under desks for safety. This was one of the reasons the United States wanted containment in the world. During this time period of containment, the Cold War was going on with the U.S. and the Soviet Union (now Russia). This cold war was a name for the period of conflict between the Soviet Union and her communist allies and the United States and her democratic, capitalist allies. The Cold War lasted from 1945 to 1991 when the Soviet Union fell apart.

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1141 Words | 5 Pages

Late president Nikita Khrushchev (from USSR), agreed to assist Castro and took immediate action. He installed missiles in Cuba, which the US thought was a threat to the security of their nation. In summary, I think that this was a defensive move by the Cubans. I most definitely agree with

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533 Words | 3 Pages

I believe that Krushchev intended to erect missiles in Cuba to bargain with the USA, because they had the confidence and would have the possibility to gain American concessions. But this can be contradicted with

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928 Words | 4 Pages

The Soviet Union had always disagreed with the number of nuclear weapons that were placed strategically from sites in Western Europe and Turkey by the U.S., and they see the missiles in Cuba as a way to deter the U.S. from further action towards them. Another important factor in the Soviet nuclear missile plan was the bad relationship between the U.S. and Cuba. The Kennedy administration had already launched one attack on the country of Cuba with the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. Fidel Castro and Khrushchev saw the missiles as a means of preventing further attacks from the

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763 Words | 4 Pages

Castro refused to allow US administration on Cuban territory, and Khrushchev refused to agree that the Soviet IL-28 Beagle bombers were weapons. Discussions through the UN finally led to Khrushchev agreeing to remove the bombers in exchange for dismissing the quarantine/blockade (Galegroup.com 2003). Although the Cold War was dominated by two superpowers, it had other key participants in 1962. Just 4 years earlier, Cuba waged a revolution in which Fidel Castro had ousted, the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Shortly thereafter, Cuba quickly began moving towards the Russians and became a model of socialism that should be saved from the U.S. imperialism.

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