However other people say that the cold war started in 1945. After the allies won world war two they met at Yalta and agreed to let the people of Europe be allowed free elections to decide their own governments (democracy). They also agreed that Germany would be split into 4 zones run by Britain, USA, France and Soviet Union. The problem with this was the Soviets did not want free elections in the countries on its borders e.g. Poland. They wanted to make sure that the governments of these countries were loyal to Soviet Union and no one else. The new American president was called Harry Truman, was very suspicious of what the Soviets were doing. Relations between the two sides got worse. This could be a reason why the crisis developed over Cuba in 1962. As now the two superpowers didn’t trust each other and the Soviet Union didn’t want elections in countries on its borders.
However in 1948 the Soviet Union formed an Iron Curtain. This consisted of 12 million Soviet soldiers in seven of the countries of Eastern Europe that surrounded Soviet Union. This gave Stalin the power to make what ever changes he wanted in these countries. Over the next two years, Soviets forces did all they could to give these countries communist governments. In some countries they did so by rigging elections in favour of communist candidates. In others they simply other threw the existing leaders and put communist leaders in their place. By the end 1948, six of the seven countries had governments which supported the Soviet Union and were willing to take order from Stalin.
In response America decided that they needed to contain communism. In 1947 President Truman introduced the Truman Doctrine. Harry Truman hated communism and decided that it must be contained, this meant not being allowed to spread beyond the countries that were already communist. Harry Offered American aid and money to counties who also feared becoming communist. Harry Truman’s secretary of state, George Marshall made 400 million of aid available to Europeans countries for them to recover from WW2. The aid was offered to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union but was refused by Stalin.
The cold war made the crisis more likely because the superpowers were now natural enemies. They both hugely disliked each other and believed that their countries were run in the right way. This is because Harry Truman hated communism and was now also trying to stop it spreading. On the other hand the Soviets thought communism was the right way for a country to be run and all countries should be run in that way.
Another long-term cause was the arms race. The arms race began in 1945 when America dropped an Atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan. The soviets Reaction was to also develop atomics bombs.
Nuclear weapons were popular because they were cheap to make. Because of this America over-estimated the amount of nuclear missiles the Soviet Union had, by the time Soviet Union exploded there first atomic bomb in August 1949, the Americans had built up a stock of nearly a hundred bombs, as well as long-range aircraft to drop them. When they learned that the Soviets had exploded an atomic bomb, the American began to work on far more powerful nuclear weapons. The hydrogen bomb , they exploded the first h-bomb in November 1952. Unknown to the Americans, the Soviets had started to work on their own H-bomb at almost the same time. They exploded their first H-bomb in November 1952. By 1962 the superpowers had enough nuclear bombs to destroy the world four times over.
Because they had so many weapons they could place them around the world to threaten their enemies. This is what happens in Cuba in 1962.
The arms race made the crisis more likely because both superpowers had nuclear weapons and even H-bombs. This made the crisis more likely because if the superpowers didn’t have the nuclear weapons. Soviet Union would have none to put on Cuba and therefore would be no Cuban missile crisis.
Between 1948 and 1956 the cold war between the superpowers worsened. 1948 the Soviets blocked Berlin from the rest of Germany, this was a problem as it was meant to be shared with the USA, France and Britain. This confirmed that Soviet Union was prepared to be aggressive towards capitalist countries and also establishes their un-willingness to settle disputes peacefully with the Americans.
Stalin decided to force the western allies to leave Berlin. In June 1948 soviet forces closed all railways, roads and canals leading from their zone into the western sectors of the city. This immediately cut off all food and fuel supplies. The people of West Berlin faced starvation.
But the Americans, British and French refused to abandon Berlin. If the West Berlin was taken by the Soviets, western Germany would surely be their next target. So they gathered together a huge fleet of aircrafts to take food, coal and clothing to Berlin along there air corridors. The Berlin Airlift, as this rescue was known, lasted for nearly a year. It kept people of Berlin alive until Stalin gave up in and lifted the blockade in 1949.
As a result of the blockade NATO and Warsaw pact were created. These organisations agreed if anyone of them was ever attacked by the Soviet Union, they would join forces and fight the attacker together. These two organisations were formed by Allies, this was Canada and nine Western European countries.
In addition in 1956 the Soviets sent tanks into Hungary.
Hungary was one of the Soviet “satellites” in Europe. Soviets sent tanks because in 1956, Hungary joined in a revolution to break free of soviet control.
Two events in 1955 raised people’s hopes for more freedom in Eastern Europe. First, the new soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, ended a long argument with the Yugoslav leader, Tito. Yugoslavia although communist, had never become a satellite because soviet army did not occupy it in 1945. Tito had resisted Stalin attempts to take control, and had now broken relations with him. Now Khrushchev restored relations and accepted Yugoslav had the right to be independent. This raised hopes of greater independence in the satellite states.
The second event concerned Austria, for the past ten years Austria, like Germany had been occupied by the war time allies. Now, in 1955, an Austrian state treaty ended the occupation. As Soviet troops left their zone of Austria, neighbouring East Europeans began to hope that Soviet troops would soon leave their countries.
People hopes rose further 1956. In a speech to the Soviet communist party, Khrushchev criticised Stalin as a tyrant who had done much damage. Soon after he began a programme of “destainisation” allowing Soviet citizens a little more freedom. People in the satellite states began to expect a similar ‘thaw’.
In Hungary they demanded an end to the rule of the mini Stalin, Roakosi. In mass demonstrations they called for democratic rights, for the seeking of Stalinists, and for the withdrawal of Soviets forces.
These events made the crisis more likely to develop because this confirmed that Soviet Union was prepared to be aggressive towards capitalist countries and it also established their un-willingness to settle disputes peacefully with the Americans. This also worsened relations because the Soviets were acting ruthlessly and didn’t want to co-operate with America. This meant it would be harder for the superpowers o begin to end the cold war and fixed their relations.
There were also short term causes of the crisis. 1959 Fidel Castro becamr president of Cuba after overthrowing Batista, Castro bought many reforms, some of them directed against the US owning businesses in Cuba. When relations between the USA and Cuba deteriorated, Castro turned to the Soviet Union as an ally.
On 17th April 1961 Kennedy supported an invasion of Cuba. The US was evolved in the invasion of Cuba. The US was evolved in the invasion because they also wanted to overthrow Castro but didn’t want to get directly involved. The USA supplied arms, equipment and transport to anti-Castro exiles. The invasion was a complete failure. This made superpower relations worse because to Cuba and the Soviet Union the failed invasion suggested that America was trying to overthrow Communism. The soviet leader Khrushchev was scornful of Kennedy’s pathetic attempt to oust Communism from Cuba. This meant that Cuba was beginning to dislike America even more and strengthened relations with the Soviet Union. As a result Castro made Cuba a communist state in May, which made Kennedy ban all US trade with Cuba, depriving Americans of Cuban sugar and Havana cigars. Castro retailed by stepping up Cuban trade with the Soviet Union.
The events in Cuba helped the crisis to develop because Cuba becoming a communist state, would leave America with no choice but to stop buying from them. This meant the relations between America and Cuba would now be destroyed as they were running their states in different ways, one being wrong. It also meant that Soviet Union and Cuba could now begin to make their relations stronger as they were both running their states in the same way.
However America acted very aggressively towards Cuba in their pathetic attempt to over throw Castro which just pushed Cuba to the Soviets. This meant that America was now alone and Cuba and Soviets were to team up against America. As they now both disliked America, This made the crisis more likely to develop over Cuba.
In October the American’s spotted missiles in Cuba and this sparked the crisis. In my opinion the arms race was the biggest cause. The is because if the superpowers didn’t have an arms race they both wouldn’t of had nuclear weapon to frighten their enemies. This would mean the Soviet Union wouldn’t have any to weapons to put on Cuba and threaten American mainland.
In my opinion the Berlin wall was also a cause made the crisis to develop. This is because President Kennedy had promised to support and protect the people of Berlin if the Soviets stepped out of line however Kennedy didn’t act until the wall was built. This was when American, Britain and France decided there wasn’t going to abandon Berlin and put the Berlin aircraft rescue into action. Kennedy’s late, lack of action and weak leadership could be a key reason why the crisis developed. This is because Khrushchev viewed Kennedy as an in-decisive leader giving him the confidence to put missiles on Cuba that threatened the American mainland.
