The Cold War was a hollow and fearful time for the United States. The Cold War was not a physical ground war but an era of history between the late ’40s and early ’90s where the United States and the Soviet Union were on the brink of Nuclear War. After the end of the second world war, a fight for global security was underway.
With the Soviet Union’s Communist Party securing the Eastern Bloc and the United States the Federal Republic rushing to secure relations with Western Europe both superpowers were in a horse race to the top. Though Russia and the United States never went into ground combat. There were numerous Proxy Wars. As well as acts of espionage, embargos, propaganda, and sanctions on both sides. Don’t forget the space race!
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a dark time for our country. From October 16th to the 28th in 1962, America held its breath as President John F. Kennedy was on the brink of nuclear war with Russia due to their placement of Nuclear Missiles in Cuba. The Kremlin made this hasty decision due to the United States decision to house missiles in both Italy and Turkey which were strategic points for the United States against the United Soviet Socialist Republic or USSR.
In addition, Cuba was definitely not on good terms with the United States especially after their failed coup of Cuba by the Central Intelligence Agency better known as the Bay of Pigs. The crisis was resolved by the Kennedy Administration’s agreement to remove their missiles from Turkey. Which in return the Soviets agreed to remove their missiles from Cuba.
With the fall of the USSR in 1991, a new life came into the post-soviet nations, as well as into the United States. I do not believe that the Cuban Missile Crisis would have ever existed without already building tensions between the two superpowers.
References
- History.com – Cuban Missile Crisis
- Britannica – Cuban Missile Crisis
- United States Department of State – Telegram From the Department of State to the Embassy in Turkey
- The Avalon Project at Yale Law School – Memorandum for Senator Dodd From William M. Horn, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Installations and Logistics
- EDSITEment – The Cuban Missile Crisis: When the US Blink
- Library of Congress – Cuba and Weapons of Mass Destruction
