Preview

Cuban Missile Crisis

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1856 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, an event that occurred in October 1962, almost turned the Cold War “hot”, presumably destructive for humanity as we know it. However, the conflict proved manageable, to all participating sides, as no nuclear war actually occurred. To evade escalation of the conflict, involved nations were obliged to come to an agreement, and overcome their differences. To reach the phase of a resolution however, opposing states had to undergo a series of events, which escalated the conflict, thus being on the brink of war. In order to be able to understand how and why the USSR agreed to remove its missiles from Cuba and why the United States, though in secret, agreed to remove its armaments from Turkey and Italy, one must take a look and analyze a couple of events from that period. Firstly, an idea of why the crisis occurred should be taken into account.
Then, an overlook of the events during the crisis would fully reveal how and why the exact resolution was agreed. For a start, looking at the structural level, three important events, which brought the crisis, could easily be distinguished. First of all, it was the policy of the United States towards Cuba. US’ elite was greatly disturbed by the Revolution that took place in Cuba. Americans were very discontent with a country leaning towards leftist politics in their region. They thought that communist and socialist ideas would more easily be spread throughout the western hemisphere, if such a state existed. So it happened as Cuban revolutionaries proclaimed the socialist ideas in countries in Central and South America. In addition, with his coming into power, Castro enforced a nationalization of property. This proved disastrous for a lot of American corporations, based on the island in that period. United States’ political elite was determined to remove Castro from power. And so in 1960 Cuban politics made the United States’ Government to apply a partial embargo on Cuban brown sugar in

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Cuban Missile Crisis took place in the 1960’s not long after President John F. Kennedy’s failure in the Bay of Pigs. In October of 62’ photographs of Soviet missiles were taken from planes flying over Cuban soil. This put Americans on the edge of their seat, not prepared for another war. Kennedy already looking like a “soft president” states to the public he must take action. In his speech he states seven steps that will be taken. Any of which are not followed peacefully, will be consider an attack on the United States.…

    • 363 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cuban Missile Crisis Dbq

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The period of 1950 to 1979 saw the Cold War extending beyond its traditional borders in Europe and finally tore the world into a North-South polarization with each major powers supporting and sponsoring a faction in their chosen client states. This could be seen in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Although Castro had genuine security reasons, his actions leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis were aggressive to a limited extent. This essay aims to examine the actions and motivations of Castro in leading to the outbreak of the Cuban Missile Crisis in order to determine the extent to which were provocative, taking examples from 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion to 1962 the outbreak of…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the film Thirteen Days, the controversy of the historic Cuban Missile Crisis is depicted as one of America’s most trying time because for the first time the U.S and Soviet Union were eye to eye in tension. The key players were President John F. Kennedy and the Soviet Premier Khrushchev. Soviet nuclear missiles were deployed to Cuba in October 1962. The Soviet Union deployments of missiles were for defensive purposes, but the fact that the missiles were deployed close to U.S borders made this an uneasy situation. It was during this time that the president had to be prudent and make some extenuating decisions for America, while facing options of military and diplomatic solutions which included…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    United States President John F. Kennedy reacted by making a naval blockade around Cuba, and promised not to invade Cuba if the Soviet Union removed the nuclear weapons from the country (“Cuban Missile Crisis”). The United States and the Soviet Union were on the brink of war, until the Premiere of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, agreed to remove the missiles (“Cuban Missile Crisis”). A possible nuclear war was averted, and there is no doubt that a nuclear war would have destroyed not only the United States and the USSR, but possibly the world. On October 28th, the missiles were removed, and the conflict concluded. (“Cuban Missile Crisis”).…

    • 1681 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    President Kennedy had to handle this crisis with caution because we were so close to a nuclear war. Kennedy decided to talk to the cabinet members and on the first day of the meetings, many voted for bombing cuba. Kennedy didn't want to do that, he wanted to handle this crisis peacefully and to not make the problem bigger than it already was. He knew if they bombed Cuba they would retaliate and…

    • 1091 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For thirteen days in October of 1962, the world lingered on the verge of a nuclear conflict of unparalleled proportions. In the eyes of those involved with the crisis every action seemed to flirt with disaster and beckon doomsday. The United States discovered the presence of Soviet missile silos in Cuba, capable of launching nuclear-tipped weaponry that could target much of the Eastern United States. President John F. Kennedy, under pressure from his advisors chose to order a naval “quarantine” of Cuba. He gambled that this maneuver would force the Soviets to end their missile shipments to Cuba yet not provoke the USSR to respond militarily. The world waited on edge as the Soviets and Americans drew closer to confrontation, hoping this…

    • 2042 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    On October 16th, 1962, both the United States and the Soviet Union partook in a thirteen-day impasse concerning the construction of nuclear missile sites located in Cuba, merely 90 miles away from the coast of Florida, known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. Realizing exactly how close this installation was, President Kennedy and the Executive Community, a group of fifteen members meant to advise the president and commonly recognized as Excomm, convened for the next twelve days in hopes to solve the dilemma at hand.…

    • 797 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cuban Missile Crisis

    • 1676 Words
    • 7 Pages

    After the United States invaded Cuba at Bay of Pigs, the Soviet Union, forced to protect its only stronghold in the Americas, sent several missiles to Cuba to offset the power of the United States. From October 16th to October 28th, 1962, intense diplomatic and militaristic actions occurred in the United States. The Soviet Union had transferred nuclear missiles to Cuba, a neighboring country to the United States. John F. Kennedy, the president during the crisis of 1962, felt the missiles were a clear and present danger to the people of the United States. The Cuban missile crisis brought panic to many individuals due to growing worry of not just another world war, but an apocalyptic war that would most probably eclipse every other war before it. The Cuban missile crisis that occurred in October 1962 was successfully averted due to prudent choices by both Kennedy and Khrushchev.…

    • 1676 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Both sides having the capability to attack the other with little warning due to the close proximity created a high tensions between the two countries. In return for the Soviets dismantling the missile sites, the U.S. privately agreed to removing their missiles from Turkey, and publicly agreed to not invading Cuba. The USSR saw the U.S. missiles as showing their superiority in weapons, so they began to bulk up their military, further aggravating the U.S. who saw it as a threat. The Cuban missile crisis was perhaps the closest the Cold War got to having nuclear…

    • 757 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Biography John F Kennedy

    • 1106 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Cuba crisis in 1962 is a much more complicated crisis, caused by placing of intermediate range missiles in Cuba by the…

    • 1106 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cuban Missile Crisis

    • 2003 Words
    • 9 Pages

    On October 22, 1962, after reviewing newly acquired intelligence, President John F. Kennedy informed the world that the Soviet Union was building secret missile bases in Cuba, a mere 90 miles off the shores of Florida. After weighing such options as an armed invasion of Cuba and air strikes against the missiles, Kennedy decided on a less dangerous response. In addition to demanding that Russian President Nikita Khrushchev remove all the missile bases and their deadly contents, Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine (blockade) of Cuba in order to prevent Russian ships from bringing additional missiles and construction materials to the island. In response to the American naval blockade, Premier Khrushchev authorized his Soviet field commanders in Cuba to launch their tactical nuclear weapons if invaded by U.S. forces. Deadlocked in this manner, the two leaders of the world's greatest nuclear superpowers stared each other down for seven days - until Khrushchev blinked. On October 28, thinking better of prolonging his challenge to the United States, the Russian Premier conceded to President Kennedy's demands by ordering all Soviet supply ships away from Cuban waters and agreeing to remove the missiles from Cuba's mainland. After several days of teetering on the brink of nuclear holocaust, the world breathed a sigh of relief. This essay will therefore look at the short term impacts of the Cuban Missile Crisis…

    • 2003 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    All of these series of events that would be known as the Cuban Missile crisis. For 13 days in October 1962 the United States and soviet Russia were at the brink of war because of the nuclear missiles in Cuba. A lot of time was spent determining how to get Russia to admit the missiles were there and how to get them to remove the missiles and stop more from coming in. After many discussions, it was determined a blockade of Cuba would be the best action to take. The blockade of Cuba and diplomacy from the United States finally worked and Russia admitted to the presence of the missiles. Eventually through negotiations, the missiles were removed from…

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Cuban Missile Crises also can be called the October Crisis, had occurred on October of 1962 for 13 nerve wreaking days. Nerves were high not only for the American people who believed the Soviets could and would annihilate their very existence, but also the people of Cuba and the whole world. The blockade of navy ships surrounding the island of Cuba would only be a reaction to a nuclear war and cause a World War III. Everyone was on edge, the whole world would be affected in one way or another and millions would die. The fate of the world laid with three men, U.S. President John Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, and Fidel Castro. “It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization.”…

    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What evidence shows that the decision makers in the Cuban missiles crisis were using a judgmental decision making strategy to obtain a satisficing outcome?…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In October of 1962, President John F. Kennedy was informed that a U-2 Spy plane had found and taken pictures of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. Furthermore, “the photographs showed that the Soviet Union was secretly positioning ballistic missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles (145 kilometers) off the coast of Florida” (Byrne 8). The Cuban Missile Crisis was a moment during the Cold War, where President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev confronted each other, each with the power of mutual destruction. If a war were to happen, that would’ve meant the death of 100 million Americans and more than 100 million Russians (“History of the Cuban Missile Crisis”).…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays