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Cuban Missile Crisis

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Cuban Missile Crisis
Since the Cuban Revolution of 1959, tension and problematic situations have arose between the United States and Cuba (US-Cuba Relations 1). Before America helped Cuba fight of the Spanish for their independence, the Americans had strong political and economical affairs within the island (US-Cuba Relations 1). But, since the Cubans created a nation of their own, they blocked the Americans from many freedoms within Cuba (US-Cuba Relations 1). Although there are many examples of the tension between America and Cuba, the Cuban Missile Crisis had the most crucial effect on their long lasting feud.

The main reason for the crucial effect of the Cuban Missile Crisis comes from the fact that this event was the closest the world has ever been to a nuclear war. In 1962, America was very prepared with their nuclear weapons, being able to attack the Soviet Union with missiles if necessary (Overview of the Crisis 1). But the disadvantage to the Soviets was that their missiles could only be used within Europe. As a result, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev proposed the idea of placing their missile launching centres in Cuba, making their distance from the United States very slim (Overview of the Crisis 1). Since Castro was fearing another American attack, he approved the proposal of placing missiles on his island. By 1962, the Soviets had started placing missiles in Cuba, and that was when the crisis began (Overview of the Crisis 1). On October 15, 1962, photos were taken from American airplanes revealing the missions of the Soviet missiles in Cuba (Overview of the Crisis 1). On October 22, President Kennedy took matters into his own hands by announcing the reveal of missiles in Cuba (Overview of the Crisis 1). He announced his mission to quarantine the island, along the lines that any missile launched from Cuba will be announced as an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union. At this time, America demanded that Soviets pull their missiles out of Cuba, yet Khruschev

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