Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was more than difficult for just the leaders. This was an issue that truly had the power to end the world once and for all with the amount of damage that each missile could cause. Even though both sides truly wanted it to end peacefully, that did not prevent the tensions from being high and the threat of launching a missile.
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overallThe Cuban Missile Crisis was in 1962 when the world was on edge of a nuclear war. It was almost safe to say that both sides wanted world piece, but they also weren't afraid to fight if it came down to it. In October, American spies captured pictures of the USSR missile sites in Cuba. The president ordered a blockade around the island to prevent more military equipment from entering.
JFK demanded for the missiles to be dismantled. The response from Khrushchev was that he would as long as the US would not invade Cuba. There was also an agreement that the US would take their missiles out of Turkey if the USSR took theirs out of Cuba. Both sides took a while to settle on this but eventually did with the knowledge that if anything went wrong the whole world could have been destroyed. |
USSRThe USSR almost seemed to feel threatened more than anything. Khrushchev did not want to give into anything for a while and continued to send supplies over in preparation. They met up in several meetings with representatives of the US to talk about the issue, and they went pretty smoothly. However, they USSR felt like the US was still in an "attacking" position since they had the blockade and their missiles, while demanding the USSR to get rid of theirs and end it all.
The only way they came to the agreement was because they felt it was fair if the US removed their missiles in Turkey, which was right next to their country where as Cuba was a little further. They felt that the US was being unfair with what they were asking for and not doing which is why tensions were still high. |
USPresident Kennedy was under a lot of pressure during these couple of days. One wrong move from the USSR or the US and the whole thing could have exploded. As much as he wanted things to end peacefully. he was not going to sit back and let the USSR continue. The US pressured the Soviet Union to cave into the pressure and stop the production of the missiles without giving much in return.
They seemed to be going in with a "don't give in" kind of attitude where they would take and not give. A couple days later in October is when they compromised they would take out their missiles after the USSR told them that would be a deal. They also had to remove the Blockade which ended up being pretty successful. |