Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a time of consistent danger, stress, and constant conflicts between the United States and the Soviet Union. This was a moment when the two states came closest to nuclear war. After the United States failed to dethrone the Castro regime using the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev made a secret agreement with the Cuban premier Fidel Castro. The plan was to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to prevent any attempted invasions. On September 4, 1962 during a surveillance flight, the U.S. intelligence discovered Soviet IL-28 bombers in Cuba. In order to protect the United States, Kennedy had to either invade Cuba or find a way to prevent an invasion in peace. On August 1962, …show more content…
Kennedy soon ordered the navy to allow the Soviet’s ships that weren’t armed, to pass without being searched, out of desperation. He was desperate to not push Khrushchev too far. As Kennedy was doing this, Khrushchev sent him a long letter convincing him to trust that they will prevent the catastrophe from going on further. Khrushchev firmly insisted that if the threats pointing at Cuba ended, the weapons will soon disappear. Both sides of this problem were under tremendous stress as they were reluctant to start a war. While Khrushchev's message did seem like it was suggesting settlement, matters eventually turned worse. A new message was sent from Moscow. The messaging was offering a deal that both Turkey and Cuba would remove the missiles while the United States of America would guarantee the security of those two nations. Kennedy was interested because it was a reasonable deal, as the crisis was slowly escalating. Kennedy ended up insisting the missiles in Cuba to be removed and even offered to end the blockade. Furthermore, Kennedy’s brother sent a private message, asking the Soviet ambassador to withdrawn the Turkey missiles. Khrushchev, desperate and vulnerable to attacks, eventually agreed to this deal. At the end Russian ships departed with the …show more content…
After the U.S. intelligence found Soviet IL-28 bombers in Cuba while on a surveillance flight, President Kennedy had to find a way to protect the United States whether it was an invasion or a peaceful approach. He initially planned on using air strikes. However, it would cause Cuba to retaliate and would lead to a World War III. He had to give up on the use of air strikes. Kennedy eventually came up with a plan, which was the use of a blockade. This method could be suggested as a peaceful approach, opposed to an invasion. An invasion could have led to a possible World War III. Even after forcing a blockade, the crisis was still not over and the missiles still remained in Cuba. Kennedy and Khrushchev, both desperate and vulnerable, decided to make a peaceful agreement. Kennedy insisted that the missiles in Cuba should be removed and offered to end the blockade. Khrushchev agreed to this deal, and the Russian ships departed with the missiles. If Kennedy hadn’t taken action, our country would’ve been different and the people would’ve been different. Kennedy prevented a World War III from happening and had it not been for Kennedy, the world wouldn’t be the