The October Crisis Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the President John F. Kennedy ended the Cuban Missile Crisis. Thesis: Thanks to President Kennedy’s plan of action in dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis, we were able to avoid a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Introduction: I. Attention Getter: Did you know that in 1962, we were very close to a nuclear war? Did you know that the Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest we have ever been to a nuclear war?
After the US discovered the presence of the missiles the US issued a naval quarantine of Cuba. This brought the world to the brink of nuclear war as Soviet ships approached the quarantine line, but at the last minute the ships turned back as part of the US/Soviet agreement to withdraw their missiles from Cuba and the US’ from Turkey and secret clause of agreement that the US would not invade Cuba
In the early 1960’s the Soviet Union and Cuba had a very close relationship was during the Cold War where the Cuban Missile Crisis began. The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred when the Soviet Union offered Cuba protection if they gave them the ability of planting missiles there. The 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, was in a breakdown when he discovered ballistic missiles in Cuba on October 16, 1962. By October 29 John F. Kennedy took action from the fear of the ballistic missiles striking Washington D.C. John F. Kennedy considered starting a naval blockade to halt Soviet missiles entering Cuba. The naval blockade became successful on October 29, 1962; Soviet missiles were interrupted from the regular schedule of importation.
Second, Castro was a charismatic communist and the US government feared that communism would spread. The United Stated wanted to create a new non-communist Cuba with a new leader and a new government that was friendly to them. Their goal was to overthrow Castro and his regime. The USSR and the US were the two super powers at the time and were competing in nearly everything during this period of time. The USSR was helping Cuba.
The book gives information of both the embargo and the inner damage it did to both nations. Cuba had been taking steps towards isolation years before we closed trade. Author, Peter Schwab, believes that Castro had been planning this once he entered power. These events have helped limit are economy which obviously a bad thing. I think that the U.S. once again step there foot in Cuba to spread are Americanized culture as we once did.
Tensions between the USSR and the United States rocketed after it came to the American Government’s knowledge that the USSR were setting up weapons in Cuba, a communist state in the Americas. The Soviet Union’s actions came as a result of American Missiles – namely Jupiter -being placed in Turkey, although there is a suggestion that the Soviet Union’s leader Nikita Khrushchev –according to his claims- placed missiles in Cuba as a shield of protection of the smaller country after America’s failed Bay of Pigs attempt of 1961. The aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis could be seen as a highly significant turning point. The agreement that both sides came to meant that Missiles were removed from Turkey and Cuba, and that Fidel Castro’s leadership on Cuba was strengthened. As a result, a Moscow-Washington hotline was also created -enabling a direct means of contact between the USA and USSR- which to an extent could have been seen as ground breaking due to the Communist/Capitalist line of communication being created.
U.S. trained Cuban insurgents were to invade Cuba and instigate an uprising among the Cuban people in hopes of removing Castro from power. On April 17, 1961, Kennedy ordered the previously planned invasion of Cuba to proceed. With support from the CIA, in what is known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1,500 U.S. trained Cuban exiles, called “Brigade 2506,” returned to the island in the hope of deposing Castro. However, Kennedy ordered the invasion to take place without U.S. Air support. By April 19, 1961, the Cuban government had captured or killed the invading exiles, and Kennedy was forced to negotiate for the release of the 1,189 survivors.
A few weeks after the ousting of Batista, Castro is appointed premier. In the eyes of the U.S. this was a welcome change from the Batista regime. Soon after gaining the role of premier, Castro made a sharp turn toward the Soviet Union and announced his transformation to Marxism and Leninism. This startling change in policy caused alarm in the American camp because Cuba was just over 90 miles off the coast of Florida and a Communist Country that close to the U.S. could not be tolerated. The Cold War was in full swing and the domino theory was a house hold word at this time.
It has been about 50 years since this embargo took effect and no changes to its policy in sight. Instead of an embargo, is the United Sates at war with Cuba without knowing it? I believe that the United State is at war with Cuba because they are using tactics that would normally be used against a country they are at war with. They are not trading with Cuba because of their relationship with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. During war, nobody win
The arms race began in 1945 when the US dropped their atomic bomb on Japan. Not only did this demonstrate the power of the USA but was the catalyst for an age of rapid weapon development, the arms race. This ended with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963, an event that bought the superpowers dangerously close nuclear war. A number of factors other than the accumulating advancements in weaponry lead to the Cuban missile crisis, the personalities of the leaders and the national interests of each country all effected how the arms race developed, leading to the inevitable situation where the USA and USSR were left hovering over the trigger. The main aspect that lead to the Cuban missile crisis was the arms development between 1945-1963.