Reasons For The Cuban Missle Crisis Flashcards
Introduction
Following the end of the World War Two,the previously allied USA and USSR,had now been in a conflict known as the “Cold War”
This is mainly due to their ideological differences,the USA believing in Capitalsim whereas the USSR believing in Communism
This essay will discuss(krushchevs view of Kennedy,the arms race,castors victory in Cuba and US foreign policy)
This essay will argue that …
Krushchevs view of kennedy
Another factor contributing to the cuban missle crisis was Khrushchevs view of kennedy.In june 1961 Kennedy and nikita khrushchev had a discussion called the “vienna summit” discussing issues such as Events in berlin and The Bay of pigs invasion.During this kennedy felt “bullied” by khrushchev,causing khrushchev to believe that Kennedyw was young and inexperienced making him believe that Kennedy would be to scared and weak to stop the soviets weapons being put into cuba.However During his election campaign Kennedy was very anti-communist,showing that Kennedy was very unlikely to back down and not use his military,this perhaps leading to the cuban missle crisis.Overall it is clear that US foreign policy
Arms race
another factor contributing to the cuban missle crisis was the Arms race.
to counter the Soviet nuclear threat,in 1949 the USA set up NATo,this allowed the US to have various military bases around europe.The soviets furthermore donme the same in 1955,with the Warsaw pact.As a result by having nuclear weapons right beside the USA it allowed the USSR to directly attack the US and without doing this would lead to the USSr having a huge disadvantage in a conflict perhaps causing the cuban missle crisis .However the USSR doing this might not have been about matching the US and simply perhaps protecting a foreign communist state.
US FOREIGN POLICY
Another factor contributing to the cuban missle crisis was US foreign policy.The USA had a polict to contain the spread of communism.In asia the USA had sent solidiers to the Korean war to prevent communisms expansive spread.In order to further do this The US set up NATO in 1949 including jupitar nuclear missles in Turkey and italy,this causing the USSR to feel threatened and perhaps their attempts to put weapons in cuba was to simply get the USA to remove their weapons and to do be on the same playing field as the US .potentially causing the cuban missle crisis.However the Jupitar missles were highly outdated by the 1960s and were it was unlikely the soviets were really that threatened and to risk war because of it
Castors victory in Cuba again
One factor contributing to the cuban missle crisis was Castros victory in cuba.In 1959 American backed dictator was overthrown by Fidel castro.When castro was in power he often gave land from America to Cuban Peasents,causing America to slowly get more and more infruitated to the point where firstly sanctions were put onto Cuba from the US such as Sugar from cuba thenDiplomactic relations were ended in 1961.As a result cuba started to build relations with the USSR.Potentially leading to the cuban missle crisis,However cuba was a small and weak country and physically didnt pose any real threat to America,perhaps the US overreacting,this could have avoided the cuban missle crisis.Overall it is clear that US foreign policy was the main casue of the crisis and not Fidel castros victory as if castro had no felt threatened by the US with mulitple assasination attempts on his life.Then castro wouldnt have saw fit to sought help from the USSR.Making all other factors redundant
Conclusion
In conclusion Castros victory in cuba was not the main reason for the cuban missle crisis but US foreign policy
US foreign policy was more important than Castros victory in cuba because Althought castro taking power and giving out US land to the peasents of Cuba caused america to eventually end their diplomatic relations causing the USSR to build a relationship with Cuba.nevertheless Cuba was a small and in size and power no match for the US perhaps showing the US could have ignored cuba.This showing the Castros victory in Cuba was not the main reason for the cuban missle crisis
US foreign policy was more important than khrushchevs view of kennedy because Although at the vienna summit kennedy felt bullied and imtimidated leading to khrushchev to believe Kennedy was powerless and would do nothing if weapons were put in Cuba.however Kennedys campaign was strictly anti-communism meaning he wouldnt backdown from soviet aggresion.This showing that Khrushchevs view of kennedy wasnt the most important factor because simply khrushchev knew any aggresion towards kennedy would cause kennedy to act meaning the cuban missle crisis could have been avoided
US foreign policy was more important than the Arms race because.The US setting up NATO and having bases near the USSR called jupitar missles in firing range,would cause the USSR to feel on edge.in reality however these missles were highly outdated and it was unlikely the US would fire,furthermore the USSR was unlikely to to start war over these weapons.this showing that US foreign policy was the most important factor and not the Arms race,as these jupitar weapons were not going to be used and were outdated by 1960 standards.
