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Wednesday, February 10, 2010 @ 7:32 PM
Cuban Missile Crisis Introduction
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba in October 1964, during the Cold War). In September 1964, the Cuban and Soviet governments placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. When United States military intelligence discovered the weapons, the U.S. government sought to do all it could to ensure the removal of the missiles. The crisis ranks 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 a nuclear war.The tensions were at their height on 27 October 1962, which was known as "Black Saturday". On 14 October, United States reconnaissance observed (with a US Navy F-8 Crusader) missile bases being built in Cuba. The crisis ended two weeks later on October 28, 1962, when President John F. Kennedy and the United Nations Secretary-General U Thant reached an agreement with the Soviets to dismantle the missiles in exchange for a no-invasion agreement.
The Americans feared the Soviet expansion of Stalinism, but for a Latin American country to ally openly with the USSR was regarded as unacceptable, given the Russo-American enmity since the end of the Second World War in 1945. Such an involvement would also directly defy the Monroe Doctrine, a United States policy which held that European powers should not interfere with states in the Western Hemisphere.
In September 1962, the Cuban government saw what it perceived to be significant evidence that the U.S. would invade, and Khrushchev and Cuban leader Fidel Castro agreed to place strategic nuclear missiles secretly in Cuba. Like Castro, Khrushchev felt that a U.S. invasion of Cuba was imminent, and that to lose Cuba would do great harm to the communist cause, especially in Latin America. He said he wanted to confront the Americans "with more than words...the logical answer was missiles." The Soviet leadership believed that Kennedy would avoid confrontation and accept the missiles as a fait accompli, based on Kennedy's perceived lack of confidence during the Bay of Pigs invasion.
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010 @ 7:32 PM
Cuban Missile Crisis Introduction
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba in October 1964, during the Cold War). In September 1964, the Cuban and Soviet governments placed nuclear missiles in Cuba. When United States military intelligence discovered the weapons, the U.S. government sought to do all it could to ensure the removal of the missiles. The crisis ranks 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 a nuclear war.The tensions were at their height on 27 October 1962, which was known as "Black Saturday". On 14 October, United States reconnaissance observed (with a US Navy F-8 Crusader) missile bases being built in Cuba. The crisis ended two weeks later on October 28, 1962, when President John F. Kennedy and the United Nations Secretary-General U Thant reached an agreement with the Soviets to dismantle the missiles in exchange for a no-invasion agreement.
The Americans feared the Soviet expansion of Stalinism, but for a Latin American country to ally openly with the USSR was regarded as unacceptable, given the Russo-American enmity since the end of the Second World War in 1945. Such an involvement would also directly defy the Monroe Doctrine, a United States policy which held that European powers should not interfere with states in the Western Hemisphere.
In September 1962, the Cuban government saw what it perceived to be significant evidence that the U.S. would invade, and Khrushchev and Cuban leader Fidel Castro agreed to place strategic nuclear missiles secretly in Cuba. Like Castro, Khrushchev felt that a U.S. invasion of Cuba was imminent, and that to lose Cuba would do great harm to the communist cause, especially in Latin America. He said he wanted to confront the Americans "with more than words...the logical answer was missiles." The Soviet leadership believed that Kennedy would avoid confrontation and accept the missiles as a fait accompli, based on Kennedy's perceived lack of confidence during the Bay of Pigs invasion.
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