What events led to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and how did they affect Americans?

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a serious situation for the United States and for the world. The United States had supported the government of Fulgencio Batista for many years. He was a brutal dictator, and many people in Cuba disliked him. A revolution, led by Fidel Castro, occurred in 1959, and Batista was overthrown. At first, President Eisenhower thought this would be a good thing, as he thought there would be social reform and a friendly, democratic government in Cuba. However, this was not to be the case.

After Castro took power, he began to take actions that harmed the interests of the United States. Castro and his supporters believed that the significant influence of the United States in Cuba was the cause of many of Cuba’s problems. Castro began to seize American property, and he did not hold democratic elections. Anti-American rhetoric increased.

The United States worked to end the Castro regime. Economic sanctions were placed on Cuba. The United States also tried to overthrow him. Assassination attempts were tried, but they failed. In 1961, the Bay of Pigs invasion was launched. The hope was that the invasion would trigger an uprising in Cuba against Castro. That did not happen, and the invasion was a total failure. These attempts to oust Castro made him more secure in Cuba. He also became friendlier with the Soviet Union.

President Kennedy warned the Soviet Union not to place offensive weapons in Cuba. While defensive weapons were acceptable to Kennedy, missiles with nuclear warheads would not be tolerated. When American spy planes detected that missile sites were being constructed in Cuba—and reports surfaced that missiles were already in Cuba—President Kennedy was forced to act. He ordered a naval blockade around Cuba. The world waited in anticipation as Soviet ships headed toward Cuba. With intense negotiations occurring, the Soviet ships stopped and turned back.

A compromise was reached. The United States would remove its missiles in Turkey, which were a direct threat to the Soviet Union. The Soviets would dismantle the missile sites and remove its missiles in Cuba, which were a direct threat to the United States. The United States also agreed not to invade Cuba.

These events impacted Americans in several ways. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, Americans were very concerned about the possibility of a nuclear attack on the United States. The crisis reinforced the idea that because both countries possessed so many nuclear weapons nuclear war was always a possibility. Military forces went on full alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis also led to an attempt by the United States and the Soviet Union to avoid confrontation in the future. A hotline was installed, so the leaders of both countries could directly talk to each other. Eventually, the Partial Test Ban Treaty was signed in 1963. This led to the banning of above-ground nuclear tests. Despite these agreements, Americans had good reasons to fear the possibility of future confrontations with the Soviet Union.

What were the causes and effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis?

The Cuban Missile Crisis has been described as one of the tensest moments in the entire history of the Cold War. It brought the world to the brink of nuclear war and the results helped shape the next decade to come.

The crisis was brought on by several factors. Since the time of the Monroe Doctrine, the U.S. was against European nations, especially communist ones, allying with Latin American nations. During the Cold War any Soviet/Latin alliance was a clear threat to the national security of the U.S. When the country of Cuba openly adopted Communism, the U.S. tried to institute a coup during the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.

Thinking the U.S. weak in light of the invasions failures, the Soviets decided to make a power play. Knowing that the U.S. led the Soviets in nuclear arms, Nikita Khrushchev and others decided to strengthen their strategic position by offering to play short-range missiles in Cuba. Fidel Castro gladly accepted the offer, hoping the placement of missiles in his nation would dissuade further U.S. invasion. When the U.S. finally got wind of the plot, the opposite became true and the Cuban Missile Crisis began.

The results of the crisis helped steer the course of Soviet/U.S. relations for then next decade. Khrushchev lost face internationally when he agreed to remove the missiles because the fact that the U.S. had agreed to remove their Italian and Turkish batteries was not made public. His fall from power a few years later can be directly linked to how the missile crisis ended.

In the U.S., the resolution was lauded by almost everyone. Although some military officials like Airforce General Curtis LeMay felt it was “the greatest defeat in our military history,” both past and contemporary historians agreed that Kennedy handled the situation extremely well. Some historians suggest however that the U.S.’s victory in this crisis may have spurred their involvement in other military operations like Vietnam.

The missile crisis also led to the creation of the Moscow-Washington Phone Line, also known as the “red phone” which connected the White House and the Kremlin directly. Communication issues between both sides almost led to a nuclear showdown, so it was agreed that in the interest of humanity, such a connection was necessary.

What caused the Cuban Missile Crisis and what were its effects?

Looking at the bigger picture, the overall cause of the Cuban Missile Crisis was the geopolitical rivalry of the Cold War. The United States and its allies were vying for global influence against the Soviet Union and its allies. Part of this was the nuclear arms race. By strategically placing nuclear weapons around the globe, each side hoped to stave off an attack by their opponent should the Cold War turn hot. The United States had already stationed nuclear missiles in Turkey and Italy. The Soviet Union felt that this was too much of a threat and responded by secretly placing its own nuclear weapons in Cuba. Since the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Cuba was the Soviet Union's only ally in close proximity to the United States.

An American spy plane found evidence of these missile installations in October 1962. The United States could not afford to allow such a large threat to exist so close by. Although some of President Kennedy's advisors urged an invasion of Cuba, Kennedy felt a more tactful approach was best. A naval blockade of Cuba commenced to "quarantine" the island and prevent more nuclear materials from arriving there.

For several days, tensions ran high as the United States and the Soviets nearly came to blows over the issue. The Soviets eventually agreed to withdraw their missiles from Cuba as long as the United States did the same in Turkey.

A major effect of this incident was that it was made clear to both sides exactly how close they could come to nuclear war. Cold War rhetoric cooled down somewhat for a time afterward. To prevent such an event from happening again, better communication between Russia and the United States was fostered. In fact, a direct phone line between the Kremlin and the Pentagon was established. The two countries entered into a series of nuclear de-escalation pacts as well, namely the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

What were the effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis on the United States?

The Cuban Missile Crisis describes the attempt of the Soviet Union to put offensive missiles in Cuba and our response to this threat. When we discovered that the Soviet Union was building missiles and had placed missiles with offensive capabilities in Cuba, we demanded that the missile sites be dismantled and that the missiles be removed. We placed a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent any ships from the Soviet Union with materials that could aid in the building of these sites from entering Cuba. We would search all ships before letting them pass through the blockade.

Many people feared the United States and the Soviet Union were heading for a nuclear confrontation. It seemed that neither side was willing to budge and that a military option would be needed to resolve this dispute. Many people believed this would include the use of nuclear weapons. Fortunately, both sides realized that compromise was a better option.

The Cuban Missile Crisis helped both the Soviet Union and the United States realize that there needed to be a reduction in tensions so that neither side would get so close to possible nuclear warfare. Tensions did decrease between the countries to some degree. This can be seen in the agreement we made with the Soviets banning the above ground testing of nuclear weapons in 1963. Many Americans also realized how fragile peace could be in the world. Any event could threaten to put us in a state of conflict. Americans realized we needed calm and rational thinking when handling international disputes. Americans realized the threat of nuclear war was a real threat.

The Cuban Missile Crisis impacted us greatly.