Preview

Significance of Cuban Missile Crisis

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1470 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Significance of Cuban Missile Crisis
Significance of Cuban Missile Crisis
-This was an intense period where nuclear war could break out at any time.
-A rash decision by any side could spark off war between the USSR and USA and in turn nuclear weapons might be deployed.
-Fortunately, the leaders made rational decisions to resolve the crisis.
-After the Cuban missile crisis, both sides realized the danger of nuclear war and began to talk more about peaceful co-existence.

-A hotline was established bet the USSR & the USA to make immediate telephone communication easier.
-This is to allow leaders from both sides to communicate more effectively and prevent any events like the Cuban missile crisis from happening again
-It marked the beginning of a thaw, albeit a small one, between the USSR and the US.

What were the results of the crisis for the wider international situation?
-A general easing of relations between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 1970s, a thawing at a period roughly in the middle of the Cold War.
-Marked the first time in the Cold War period that the US and the USSR worked together to lessen international tensions, caused primarily by MAD.

Reasons:
-Both superpowers faced economic problems caused by the expensive arms race.
-The USSR was finding the expense of keeping up with the Americans crippling.
-The Americans were beginning to realize that there must be a better way of coping with communism than the one which was having so little success in Vietnam.
-The nations of Western Europe were also worried because they would be in the frontline if nuclear war broke out.

-Bans on nuclear testing, anti-ballistic missile systems, and weapons in space all attempted to limit the expansion of the arms race.
-However, these treaties were only partially successful.
-Both states continued building massive numbers of nuclear weapons, and new technologies such as MIRVs limited the effectiveness of the treaties.
-Both superpowers retained the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    After the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as superpowers and subsequently a period of tension and hostility arose, known as the Cold War. During this time, a new possibility of complete nuclear destruction that would claim the lives of many emerged, therefore “the easing or relaxing of tensions” on both sides was needed, this period would be known as detente. Both countries had been guaranteed mutually assured destruction as they had both managed to stay ahead in the development of nuclear arsenals. By the late 1960s the Soviets had surpassed the United States in intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) by 1,300 to 1,054. Although the U.S was still ahead in various categories, it no longer enjoyed the immense nuclear advantage as before. However, neither side was prepared for the risk of a full scale war. Apart from the possibility of a disastrous nuclear war, factors in both the U.S and the Soviet Union also motivated the need for a relaxation of tensions.Both countries were in severe economic crisis due to the arms race and needed to diverge the funds to rebuild the economy. In the United States public opinion in America indicated that the Cold War was 'unjustifiable both economically and morally' due to the ongoing war in Vietnam. All these factors would eventually lead to the establishment of detente.…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Atomic Bomb DBQ

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages

    With the end of World War 2 came the Cold war with many controversies even between former allies. Communist Russia forced control over their section that was gained in the Potsdam conference. They set up many barriers around their portion of East Berlin and eventually around East Germany. America had dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima and a new technology been revealed as a massive, deadly weapon that could wipe out thousands instantly, it was now an arms race. “Push of a button in Russia, and 35 minutes later much of U.S. could be laid to waste—with power to retaliate limited.” (Document E)…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Richard M. Nixon commenced a new policy called Détente, which is a French word that means “release from tension,” with the implementation of this new policy the relations between the Soviet Union and the United States improved, it was something completely different to the period of Confrontations and Surrogated Interventions. During the period of Détente, Nixon reduced the policy of containment, emphasizing the talks concerning discussions of ways to control nuclear weapons. One of the approaches made by Nixon was when he visited Moscow, Russia, and signed seven agreements that include space exploration and arms control, the discussion of this last topic was made during a series of talks called: Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (S.A.L.T). But…

    • 683 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    To defuse the Cold War conflict, during the 1980s, Reagan and Gorbachev participated in a series of summits and meetings, leading to an eventual compromise (“Reagan-Gorbachev Compromise”).…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When the Reagan Administration took office in 1981 they brought with it one of the most anticommunist policies that the United States had seen to date. However, by the end of his second term in office, Reagan had changed his views and realized that the conflict between the two world super powers could possibly be just a “mutual misperception.” There was three meetings held between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in which there were attempts to better the U.S.-Soviet relationship. The first summit, the Geneva Summit, was held in November of 1985 and it resulted in provided benefits for both sides. First, and most importantly, Reagan and Gorbachev “had come to like and respect each other,” which allowed for a successful endeavor. The second summit was the Reykjavik Summit, held in October of 1986. To many of the participants this meeting is considered a failure even though there was serious discussions about eliminating a major portion of both countries nuclear arsenal.1 The third summit, held in…

    • 636 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Cold War took off after the end of the Second World War when the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the two global dominant superpowers each grasping ideologies that were dichotomous from each other. This adverse relationship continued for half a century and the clash of two distinct and differing political ideologies of communism and capitalism saw no clear conclusion or victory for either side. The tense atmosphere resonated not only in the United States and the Soviet Union, but also around the world and into space. For most of the fifty years of the cold war, the ideological struggle and the many indirect physical conflicts between the West and the Soviet Union were in a deadlock with no visible success of either side. However,…

    • 392 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ronald Reagan Influence

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages

    During the years of 1947-1991, the World was divided in two, the eastern nations, who believed in Communism and social equality, and those of western nations, who believed in Democracy and free-trade. The world changed a lot during this time, leading from a world divided into a world that was more accepting of foreign ideas. Tensions between the United states and the USSR rose during the Cold War, but feel and disappeared altogether during the end. It was a War fought with espionage and secrecy, instead of combat and bombings. A war with no declaration or actual documentation of conflict, it was the war that lasted 45 years, it was the Cold War.…

    • 832 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Soviet Russia and the United States were so called ‘’allies’’ however due to the difference and hatred of one another’s governing systems the cold war began to evolve. Both countries knew that getting…

    • 739 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The advent of nuclear weapons dawned a new and terrifying era in human history. The destructive power of the atomic bomb, demonstrated at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ushered in a global climate of fear. Emerging from the rubble of the Second World War, the U.S. and Soviet Union became the two most dominant economic, political, and military superpowers in the global arena. Upholding fundamental ideological differences, the U.S. and Soviet Union became entrenched in their respective camps of capitalism and communism. Having acquired nuclear weapons, and illustrated their ability to use them, the U.S challenged the Soviet Union’s military might. The Soviet Union promptly accepted this challenge by successfully acquiring nuclear capabilities on par with the U.S. In effect, a nuclear arms race ensued and the Cold War began. Fear of nuclear annihilation ultimately swept across the globe and into the homes of American citizens.…

    • 2478 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    After WWII, America and the Soviet Union were the 2 remaining super powers of the world. A rivalry formed between the two and created the Cold War in which both nations tried to be better in any way than the other. This had great effects on the American Society and Foreign Policy.…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Reagan Turning Points

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages

    These talks, however, didn’t do much to improve U.S.-Soviet relations as the Soviet Union deployed SS-20 intermediated nuclear missiles in Eastern Europe. It was during this confrontation that Reagan announced his plan for a missile-defense system. It wasn’t until Mikhail Gorbachev came to power…

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin with both countries were nuclear armed, it didnt help out at all, it just made things worse. There was a constant fear that, because there was not at the time a definitive World…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Cold War happened between the years of 1945 and 1991, it was a time of military, political, and economic tension between the Soviet Union and the United States. Just after the second World War had ended, complications came up around the area of international power, who would gain more power and who would lose power. The main thing the Soviet Union attempted to do during this shifting of power was they tried to gain more territory in order to solidify their spot as a world wide power, while the United States attempted to limit the territory gained by the Soviet Union. The multitude of ideological differences separated the two countries as well, especially in the years coming after the second World War, during that time the American government…

    • 1576 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Cuban Missile Crises also can be called the October Crisis, had occurred on October of 1962 for 13 nerve wreaking days. Nerves were high not only for the American people who believed the Soviets could and would annihilate their very existence, but also the people of Cuba and the whole world. The blockade of navy ships surrounding the island of Cuba would only be a reaction to a nuclear war and cause a World War III. Everyone was on edge, the whole world would be affected in one way or another and millions would die. The fate of the world laid with three men, U.S. President John Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, and Fidel Castro. “It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization.”…

    • 1801 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cold War Containment

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Coming out of a post-World War II the relationship and tensions between America and the Soviet Union lasted for most of the second half of the twentieth century. This so-called war, heightened suspicions, creating a series of international events that brought the world’s two superpowers down to the brink of destruction.…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays