Cuban Missile Crisis: Difference between revisions

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The '''Cuban Missile Crisis''' was a confrontation during the [[Cold War]] between the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[United States]] regarding the Soviet [[rocket launch site|deployment]] of [[nuclear weapon|nuclear missiles]] in [[Cuba]]. The missiles were ostensibly placed to protect Cuba from further planned attacks by the United States after the failed [[Bay of Pigs Invasion]], and were rationalized by the Soviets as equivalent to the U.S. placing deployable nuclear [[warhead]]s in the [[United Kingdom]], [[Italy]], [[Greece]], and most significantly, [[Turkey]].

The crisis began on [[October 14]], [[1962]] when U.S. [[reconnaissance]] imagery revealing Soviet nuclear missile installations on the island were shown to [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[John F. Kennedy]] and ended fourteen days later on [[October 28]], [[1962]], when Soviet premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]] announced that the installations would be dismantled. The Cuban Missile CrissCrisis is often regarded as the moment when the Cold War came closest to escalating into a [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear war]].

Russians refer to the event as the "'''Caribbean Crisis'''," while Cubans refer to it as the "'''<span title="Not to be confused with the Canadian 'Koli Crisis' of 1970">October Crisis</span>'''."

==Background==

[[Fidelken Castrokariuki]] took power in Cuba after the [[Cuban Revolution|Cuban revolution]] of [[1959]] and soon took actions inimical to [[Cuba-United States relations|American trade interests]] on the island. This started with nationalizing the former U.S. controlled telephone system, as well as introducing land reforms limiting the size of farm holdings, and later nationalizing other, largely American owned, industries. In response, the U.S. stopped buying Cuban sugar and refused to supply its former trading partner with much-needed oil.<ref>[http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/briefing/index.html The Cuban Missile Crisis Briefing Room]</ref>

The U.S. government became increasingly concerned about the new Cuban Government, which became a major focus of the new Kennedy administration when it took office in [[January]] [[1961]].<ref name="thousand"> ''A Thousand days:John F Kennedy in the White House'' [[Arthur Schlesinger Jr]] 1965 </ref> In [[Havana]], one of the consequences of this was the fear that the U.S. might intervene against the Cuban government. This fear materialized in [[April]] [[1961]] when Cuban exiles, trained by the U.S. [[Central Intelligence Agency]], staged an invasion of Cuban territory at the [[Bay of Pigs Invasion|Bay of Pigs]]. Although the invasion was quickly repelled, it intensified a buildup of Cuban forces that was already under way. U.S. armed forces then staged a mock invasion of a Caribbean island in [[1962]] called [[Operation Ortsac]]. The purpose of the invasion was to overthrow a leader whose name was, in fact, Castro ("Ortsac" spelled backwards). Although Ortsac was a fictitious name, Castro soon became convinced that the U.S. was serious about invading Cuba.<ref>[http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/causes.html Cuban Missile Crisis Causes]</ref> Shortly after the Bay of Pigs invasion, Castro declared Cuba to be a [[socialist state|socialist republic]] and entered close ties with the [[Soviet Union]] leading to a major upgrade of Cuban military defense.