Cuban Missile Crisis
_- Americans supported a corrupt regime under Fulgencio Batista until the Cuban Revolution in 1959
- Fidel Castro took control and aligned with the Soviets
- 1962 soviets began to put nuclear weapons in Cuba
- The US had three options to deal with this:
- Diplomatic solution (negotiate removal of missiles)
- Conventional attack (would result in an nuclear war)
- Naval blockade (American ships would cutoff the supply of nuclear weapons to Cuba)
- Robert Kennedy (attorney general) convinced his brother to use the Blockade
- 13 days of American vs. Russian standoff, these days were especially tense
- Closest the world ever came to a nuclear war
- Brinkmanship ensues (UN gets involved)
- Russia agrees to leave Cuba if Americans remove missiles in Turkey
- Direct result in the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1962 (banned above ground testing of nuclear weapons)
- Fidel Castro took control and aligned with the Soviets
- 1962 soviets began to put nuclear weapons in Cuba
- The US had three options to deal with this:
- Diplomatic solution (negotiate removal of missiles)
- Conventional attack (would result in an nuclear war)
- Naval blockade (American ships would cutoff the supply of nuclear weapons to Cuba)
- Robert Kennedy (attorney general) convinced his brother to use the Blockade
- 13 days of American vs. Russian standoff, these days were especially tense
- Closest the world ever came to a nuclear war
- Brinkmanship ensues (UN gets involved)
- Russia agrees to leave Cuba if Americans remove missiles in Turkey
- Direct result in the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1962 (banned above ground testing of nuclear weapons)
Summary
_
A very scary period for both nations. It was a power struggle that could have ended horribly. Neither side wanted to back down but they both got what they wanted in the end, and a nuclear war was avoided.
A very scary period for both nations. It was a power struggle that could have ended horribly. Neither side wanted to back down but they both got what they wanted in the end, and a nuclear war was avoided.
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