...During Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential tenure, a disagreement with Fidel Castro caused friction between the United States and Cuba. The turmoil between the United States and Cuba continued after John F. Kennedy took office. Each one these men, Fidel Castro, President Eisenhower, President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev struggled for power and almost led our nations to a nuclear war. What led to the Cuban Missile Crisis? Fidel Castro was a lawyer in Cuba, he was unhappy with Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship and tried to use the law to remove Batista from power.1 After his failed attempts he became a rebel with the intent of overthrowing Cuba’s dictator Fulgencio Batista. His vision was to spread the wealth of the rich and give to the poor; and provide everyone with the same resources.2 Batista’s cruel behavior and murder of the Cuban people made him a target, he eventually fled.3 After winning public support and overthrowing their dictator, Fidel Castro began to spread the wealth among the Cuban people.4 This was a positive movement for the poor, but not popular among the more educated people who knew how to make money, so they began to flee Cuba.5 On April 15th 1959, Fidel Castro made an attempt to meet with President Eisenhower, instead, President Eisenhower went to play golf to avoid interaction with Castro.6 His intentions may have been to address the turmoil between the United States and Cuba. Instead, Vice President Nixon met with Fidel Castro, the vice presidents...
Words: 1229 - Pages: 5
...The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 Throughout 1952- 1959 a right wing dictator called Batista was in power. The Americans supplied him with many resources and had large trading deals. In 1959 Fidel Castro led a revolt again Batista and came into power and began ruling in a communist way. Americans immediately stopped trading with Cuba so Castro looked for help from Kruschev. The Bay of Pigs 1961: The new young president Kennedy decided to launch a CIA plan to contain communism. He sent 1,500 cuban exiles into Cuba hoping to spark a revolt against the new communist regime. This was a fiasco as Kennedy had underestimated the popularity of Castro as well as the strength of the Cuban armed forces, he wanted to contain communism. Castro then asked Kruschev to help him with defend Cuba from any other attacks. The US had missiles in Turkey facing towards the USSR so Kruschev wanted threatening missiles as well. Kennedy sent U2 spy planes in which it was confirmed that the USSR were sending missiles to Cuba and the bases were being made towards the US. Kennedy called upon the committee of the National Security to help him decide how to deal with the situation. A naval blockade was then sent around Cuba to prevent the USSR ships containing the missiles to reach Cuba. The ships turned away when they met the American navy, however the missiles already on Cuba carried on being made. Kruschev sent a letter to Kennedy admitting there were missiles on Cuba but only for defence. Before...
Words: 761 - Pages: 4
...The beginning of Cuban missile crisis-a conflict between two huge atomic nations, the U.S and the U.S.S.R. was a formal presentation made by the CIA to President Kennedy. Experts pointed to the missile base being constructed near San Cristobel, Cuba. No one expected that the Russians would build a base in Cuba for Ballistic Missiles after confirming that the Russians would sign an atmospheric test-ban treaty. This may have been justified by the fact that U.S had a similar base in Turkey near the border with the Soviet Union. However, the biggest puzzle was that Khrushchev assured that there were no military installations in Cuba and that the relationship between the two superpowers would not conflict. The best decision about Kennedy was when he warned that U.S would not tolerate any kind of interference in Latin America by the Soviet Union. More importantly, the president called the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM), a group which met continuously for next twelve days and almost daily for some six weeks thereafter and wanted an air strike on the missile sites. “The President…knew he would have to act.” Kennedy instructed the members to come forward with recommendations for one course or possibly several alternative course of action and various alternatives like quarantine, blockade, and air strike against the missile bases alone were suggested. While the argument went on about the possible sanction the missiles were already in Cuba and they realized...
Words: 731 - Pages: 3
...1st Period CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS John .F. Kennedy was the youngest man to become the president of the United States. He held office for almost 3 years before being assassinated in Dallas, Texas. He faced many important events while being in office, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and The Bay of Pigs. During his second year of presidency he was warned by his advisors that the United States might be under threat by the Soviet Union. They suspected that the Soviet Union had started to build powerful missiles which would be transported to the island of Cuba. These missiles would have the capability to travel great distances and could hit major US cities such as Washington D.C, Houston and San Francisco. John F. Kennedy knew about the strained relationship between the United States While John F. Kennedy was suspicious at first later it was clear to him that this was an act to shift the power from U.S to the Soviet Union. After he was completely sure about the situation JFK addressed the public on this issue on October 22, 1962. He explained his decision to perform a naval blockade near the coast of Cuba, he also said that the US was ready to use military force if there is a threat to national security. The Cold War was one of the most important wars and would have been one of the most deadly wars of the 20th century. The Cold War is the closest that the world has come to a nuclear war. One of the main events of this war was the Cuban Missile Crisis. The 2 most powerful...
Words: 932 - Pages: 4
...Introduction The Cuban Missile Crisis originated because of a number of different issues, stemming from the ongoing struggle between The United States of America and The Soviet Union and between Capitalism and Communism. There were various events and circumstances which caused this standoff. Firstly, the decision to place missiles on Cuban soil was taken by the Soviets as a means to offset their strategic inferiority. The second main cause was the fact that America felt threatened by a Castro lead Communist Cuba. Their continued efforts to oust Castro, was a significant factor in creating a very real fear in Castro of a US invasion of Cuba. This led him to form strong bonds with the Soviets and subsequently allowing them to place missiles in Cuba. We also look at Americas failed attempt to remove Castro with their ‘Bay of Pigs’, invasion of Cuba, in 1961. A final factor in the cause of the crisis is the possibility of the Soviets using the missiles as a means of strengthening their power, with regards to negotiating with America in matters outside of Cuba. The first aspect to look at when dealing with this question is Soviet insecurity and strategic inferiority with the US. The Soviets had many reasons to feel insecure or threatened in the period directly preceding the Cuban Missile Crisis. Khrushchev had long known that the Soviets had a disproportionally lower amount of missiles than the Americans, however it was not until after events surrounding the building of the Berlin...
Words: 2294 - Pages: 10
...iTHE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS Module prepared for CIAO By Richard Ned Lebow August 2000 The Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 is generally regarded as the most serious military confrontation of the Cold War. American destroyers deployed along a picket line to intercept Soviet ships transporting missiles and nuclear warheads to Cuba while American air, ground and naval forces prepared for air strikes against Soviet missile sites under construction in Cuba and a follow-up invasion. The Strategic Air Command was put on an unprecedented state of alert – “DEFCON II,” only one step away from “war is imminent.” On Saturday morning,October 27, President Kennedy and his advisors were pessimistic about their ability to preserve the peace. Robert Kennedy, the President’s brother and Attorney General of the U.S., had “the feeling that the noose was tightening on all of us, on Americans, on mankind, and that the bridges to escape were crumbling.”1 In Moscow, the tension was “phenomenal.” On Sunday morning, General Secretary Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev and his advisors worried “that Kennedy intended to declare war, to launch an attack” against the Soviet Union.2 That same day, the two leaders reached an accommodation that, in retrospect, turned out to be one of the key turning points of the Cold War. 1 OVERVIEW The “Caribbean crisis,” as it was known in the former Soviet Union, was attributed to the Kennedy administration’s unwillingness to accept the status quo in Cuba. Unalterably...
Words: 7837 - Pages: 32
...most people think of 1962, they think of the Cubin Missile Crisis and these same mass of people would probably also say that, in the month of October, 1962 the Crisis starts to begin. I would have to push to say that this whole event was a ending factor to the Cold War, this can be argued for lifetimes, but learning and researching this event, you can see that the countries involved in the Cuban Missile Crisis are of the same in the Cold War. With our missiles in other countries and Western Europe and Turkey pointing nuclear missiles at the Soviet Union, this was only building the Soviets, which the Soviets felt threatened and needed to put their missiles in places where they could get a better hold on the missile threats. The Soviets had very little support and most countries did not really want to do be in this nuclear standoff, heck, neither did the United States or the Soviet Union. With the Soviet Union feeling uneasy of the numbers of nuclear missiles pointed at them they did not have any other choice, but to look into countries that were in conflicts with any of these current countries and they did have one choice and it was a country that was recently attacked by the United States, it was Cuba. The reason for this was the fact that the United States, under the Kennedy administration, had launched one attack on the island in the previous year of 1961. Both Castro of Cuba and Khrushchev of the Soviet Union saw the missile as a means of deterring further U.S. aggression...
Words: 1038 - Pages: 5
...The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred from 13th October – 26th October 1962, was a diplomatic conflict between America and Russia, which moved the world to the edge of a nuclear precipice and World War Three. The United States (US), led by then President J. F. Kennedy, had to suppress the nuclear threat posed by the Soviet Union (SU), who had secretly stationed nuclear missiles in Cuba – within 90 miles of the US – in order to deter any future US attempts to attack Cuba and to equalize the nuclear strategic balance of power. (Cimbala, 1999). The Movie, Thirteen Days (2000), directed by Roger Donaldson, depicts the tension that the crisis provoked and illustrates how foreign policy was made, which ultimately ended with SU’s withdrawal and removal of the nuclear missiles in Cuba. Thirteen Days began with the discovery that Russia had deployed nuclear missiles on Cuba, with evidence from the U2 photographs captured. This was an impermissible security threat; and the outcome of responses to that threat could lead to a nuclear holocaust. The main thesis of the movie is that, strategic decisions are not made individually or based exclusively on a rational deliberation of evidence, but is embedded in a web of complex organizational undertaking. US Response to the SU emplacement of missiles in Cuba The sequence of action unfolds over a course of 12 days and is illustrated through the three major models of decision-making in the field of Organizational Theory – the Rational Actor...
Words: 1676 - Pages: 7
...Isaac Montoya Junior English CP 16 February 2013 Period 2 The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever, and Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use battlefield nuclear weapons to defend the island if it was invaded. In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe but U.S. missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev had the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba. A deployment in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arms and provide a real deterrent to a U.S. attack against the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Fidel Castro was looking for a way to defend his island nation from an attack by the U.S. Ever since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Castro felt a second attack was inevitable. He approved of Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island. For the United States, the crisis began on October 15, 1962 when reconnaissance photographs revealed Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba. Kennedy organized the EX-COMM, a group of twelve advisors to handle the crisis. After seven days debate within the upper echelons of government, Kennedy concluded to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba; He wished to prevent the arrival of more Soviet offensive weapons on the...
Words: 495 - Pages: 2
...The Cuban Missile Crisis: A Soviet Policy Failure and United States Success AP US History 03/13/13 Few events in modern history have ever come close to changing the course of the world as much as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis which almost changed the Cold War into a truly hot and nuclear massacre, was resolved miraculously to those living through it. A pivotal turning point in the cold war, the Crisis led to increased calls for peaceful existence, and a change from confrontational to indirect policy. Along with these changes the Cuban Missile Crisis was the utter failure of Soviet Cold War policy, and the success of the United States, as evidenced by the Politburo's disorganization, the defeat of Soviet Policies on the floors of the United Nations, and the successful emergence of the United States from the crisis. The Cold War was the period between the end of World War II and the fall of the Soviet Union, during which the West characterized by the United States and the "West", and the "Soviet Union" along with other communist countries, competed for control of the world. These conflicting ideologies caused continuous confrontations, leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis. There were three notable events setting the stage for the crisis. The first was the U.S.S.R. shooting down U-2 spy plane pilot, Gary Powers, flying a spy mission into the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960 (York). The handling of the affair by the Eisenhower administration was...
Words: 1814 - Pages: 8
...The Cuban Missile Crisis The world was at the edge of a third world war. This was the result of a variety of things: the Cuban Revolution, the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, US anti-communism, insecurity of the Soviet Union, and Cuba's fear of invasion all made causes for war. However, war was not the result due to great cooperation from both President Kennedy and President Khrushchev and each of the decisions made by the leaders was crucial in the outcome of The Crisis. Kennedy's choice to take action by means of quarantine instead of air-strike and Khrushchev's decision to abide by the quarantines were perhaps the two most significant decisions made by the leaders in order to prevent war. The Cuban Missile Crisis showed the world that compromising and discussion can in-fact prevent war. As Khrushchev said in 1962, "They talk about who won and who lost. Human reason won. Mankind won." 1 The world had almost seen another world war, the effects of which would have been devastating because of the weapons involved. Humanity, indeed, was the prevention of the war. The Cuban Revolution was a background cause to the crisis. On January 1st, 1959 a Marxist regime in Cuba would have seemed unlikely. To the communist party in Cuba, Fidel Castro appeared tempestuous, irresponsible and stubbornly bourgeois. In 1943 President Batista appointed a communist to his Cabinet, as he used communists as leaders of the labor unions. Batista started to fail the Cuban communists and their...
Words: 5946 - Pages: 24
...In September 1962, the Cuban and Soviet governments began to build bases in Cuba for a number of medium- and intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles with the ability to strike most of the continental United States. These actions were taken after the United States deployed intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles to Italy and Turkey. The United States built more than 100 missiles having the capability to strike Moscow with nuclear warheads. On October 14, 1962 a Unites States U-2 plane captured photographic evidence of a Soviet missile base in Cuba. The ensuing crisis ranks with the Berlin Blockade as one of the major confrontations of the Cold War and is generally regarded as the moment in which the Cold War came closest to turning into a nuclear conflict (Strategic Studies Institute). The confrontation ended on October 28, 1962 when John F. Kennedy reached an agreement with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to return the offensive weapons to the Soviet Union. In exchange the United States agreed not to invade Cuba. As a secret part of the agreement the United States deactivated IRBM’s deployed in Europe during 1963. This pertains to current events based upon North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons. North Korea stated they have nuclear weapons and the CIA believes they have an arsenal of chemical weapons. On October 9, 2006, the North Korean government issued an announcement that it had successfully conducted a nuclear test for the first time. Both the...
Words: 442 - Pages: 2
...The Cuban Missile Crisis February 13, 2012 On October 14, 1962, a U2 spy plane, flying a mission over Cuba, snapped a series of photographs that became the first direct evidence of Soviet medium range ballistic nuclear missiles in Cuba. These missiles clearly displayed an offensive weapons buildup on the island. These photographs lead to the closest the world has ever came to a nuclear war. According to Nikita Khrushchev's memoirs, in May 1962 he conceived the idea of placing intermediate range nuclear missiles in Cuba as a means of countering an emerging lead of the United States in developing and deploying strategic missiles. He also presented the scheme as a means of protecting Cuba from another United States-sponsored invasion, such as the failed attempt at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. Furthermore, the Soviet Union wanted to have missiles within the range of major United States cities because of the Americans stash of missiles in Turkey. After obtaining Fidel Castro's approval, the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build missile installations in Cuba. On October 16, 1962 President Kennedy was informed that the Soviet Union was constructing sites in Cuba for surface to air missiles with a range of 1000 miles. The United States is about 90 miles away from Cuba The missiles had the potential to carry warheads 60 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. The President called together a group of advisors ( named the Ex -Comm) who contemplated...
Words: 1246 - Pages: 5
...The Cuban missile crisis was one of the first major escalations of the cold war. If this crisis where handled wrong it could have caused a nuclear war and possibly, ended the world. J.F.K. and his team of advisors managed to peacefully remove Soviet nuclear weapons from Cuba and maintain world peace. This crisis started when reconnaissance photos from a U-2 spy plane showed Soviet missiles in Cuba. These missiles posed an immediate threat to the mainland United States. Immediate action was needed. A political exchange to get answers from the Soviet government was needed in this situation. J.F. K. also made the same decision. Diplomacy is always the first choice before war. As time ran out, I chose to create a military blockade (quarantine) around Cuba so that Soviet ships could not get through with parts to finish building missiles. President Kennedy did the same. Soviet ships were approaching the quarantine zone and Secretary Nikita Kruschev knew that a crossing of this line could end in a violent exchange between the United States and Soviet forces causing a nuclear war. He could choose to let the ships pass or order them to come back. I would have chose to force the ships to return, thereby sparing any conflict. One of the ships ran the quarantine line and was pursued by a United States destroyer causing the ship to turn back. The United States got word that Kruschev had been overthrown and the Soviet missile project was hastened to prepare the missiles for readiness...
Words: 449 - Pages: 2
...Starts off with audio/video addressing America on crisis The Cuban missile crisis was a suspenseful 13 day standoff between the Americans and the Soviet Union. It all started on October 14, 1962, when a high altitude U-2 plane took pictures of nuclear tipped IRBM (intermediate-range ballistic missiles) and MRBM (medium range ballistic missiles) in Cuba. The two proposals were set on the table: air strike and invade, or naval blockade. Ever since the Bay Pigs invasion, (which was an American led invasion where we got over 1200 Cuban refugees and sent them to Cuba to overthrow the government, but the effort failed) the Cubans wanted to be better protected. Cuba was allied with Soviet Union at that time and since the Cold War was going on between...
Words: 1115 - Pages: 5
