2. A crisis developed in 1962 about Cuba due to a number of causes, some long term and others short term. Long term causes included, Russia’s response to the Nato bases in Europe. America’s nuclear missiles had been installed in Nato Bases in Turkey for some time, which were in range of Russia. In 1962 Russia installed missiles in Cuba in range of the USA. This increased tension as Russia would want to keep missiles in Cuba whilst America would want them moved. Another long term cause was the arms race that the two superpowers had embarked upon from 1945 as both countries were competing to have the best weaponry. Both the USA and Russia wanted to be better equipped than the other is so that if an armed conflict arose they would be more likely to win. The formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact created a further deepening of the crisis. It now became more likely that if communist Cuba was attached, Russia and then other communist countries in the Warsaw Pact would help it. This made tensions rise between America and the Warsaw Pact countries.
Another long term reason why a crisis developed in 1962 about Cuba was because of Fidel Castro’s revolution which overthrew Batista. Batista had been a pro American dictator, whereas Castro set up a communist regime in Cuba. America was using containment, the Truman doctrine and Marshall aid to try and stop the spread of communism. However with Castro ruling Cuba it looked like communism was spreading out of Eastern Europe to a country just 100 miles away from America itself. Castro’s revolution in Cuba links to another long term cause of the Cuban crisis, which is Cuban sugar trade. Before the revolution America bought most of Cuba’s sugar, its main export. However America did not want to trade with a communist regime, so Russia stepped in to start buying the sugar. This would cause tension over Cuba as America would want to make the economy of Cuba worsen making the people want to go back to their non-communist past. The Revolution in Cuba and the Cuban trade problem led to another reason why a crisis in Cuba developed as it led to the Bay of Pigs fiasco. This was an American invasion of Cuba in April 1961, with 1400 men landing in the Bay of Pigs. The whole affair was a disaster as the Cuban people did not support them and it pushed Castro even more into the arms of the Russians. This made a crisis in Cuba develop as Russia saw it as an American attempt to remove Cuba’s legal government, so they would step in to help Cuba from any more American attacks.
Another reason why a crisis was likely to develop in Cuba in 1962 was the way both America and Russia viewed each other’s leaders, this cause is linked to the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the letters Khruschev sent to Kennedy. The USA saw Khruschev as unreliable as he sent JFK two letters, the first of which Khruschev asked America not to attack Cuba and stop the blockade and in return he would destroy Russian bases on Cuba. A second letter, sent the next day, took a harder line demanding that the American missiles on Turkey be removed. Therefore Kennedy didn’t know how to respond and this made a crisis more likely. Russia however viewed Kennedy as a weak leader as he was young and he made mistakes, such as the Bay of Pigs fiasco. Due to this view Khruschev was less likely to negotiate with Kennedy as he thought he was weak and this made a crisis more likely.
The short term reason that finally sparked off the crisis over Cuba was when Castro turned to Russia for support because he was feeling more threatened than ever by America. Russia, meanwhile, was feeling threatened by US nuclear missiles in Turkey so they placed their own medium ranged nuclear missiles in their bases in Cuba. These missiles sparked off the Cuban crisis as it scared America as its own citizens were under threat. The crisis was worsened as America could prove Khruschev was lying to them as he said he had no intention of placing nuclear missiles in Cuba but the U2 photographs of the Russian basses proved nuclear missiles were on Cuba. This made the Crisis start as America had proof Russia was lying and that nuclear weapons were on Cuba, and America wanted these missiles removed as quickly as possible, while Russia wanted to keep their only nuclear missiles in range of America where they were.
3. The superpowers were able to resolve the conflict without going to war as both countries had a lot to lose by attacking each other. Both countries would have millions of casualties and the world could be placed in a nuclear holocaust, with billions of innocent people killed if war did occur and they used their nuclear missiles. Therefore neither Russia nor America wanted all out war. Neither country wanted to be the one who made the first act of war as this would make them look bad to the rest of the world and the opposing country could use propaganda stating that they started the war. This then led to brinkmanship being used by the two countries and this is another reason why both the superpowers were able to resolve the crisis without going to war. Brinkmanship means that both USA and Russia went within the brink of going to war but didn’t go too far as they both didn’t want to be the one starting the war. An example of this game of brinkmanship is that USA set up a blockade around Cuba stopping Russian missiles getting to the bases on Cuba. This blockade meant Russia would have to start the war if they sent any missiles past the blockade. Because of this dangerous game of brinkmanship and neither country wanting to start a war, they were able to resolve the Cuban crisis without war. The blockade set up by Kennedy on the 24th October 1962 is another reason why the crisis was resolved without war. This is because it showed Kennedy didn’t want war as he chose to not attack Cuba in any way in favour of the peaceful blockade. The blockade also showed Khruschev didn’t want war, as he didn’t order any ships carrying missiles to cross the blockade. Due to the actions taken by the superpowers leaders the Cuban missile crisis ended peacefully.
The letters exchanged by Khruschev and Kennedy during the crisis are another reason why America and Russia were able to solve the crisis without going to war. The letters sent by Khruschev were the first hope of a peaceful solution to the end of the crisis. These letters helped solve the crisis as it gave Kennedy the two options that didn’t involve war or violence. He could stop the blockade and not attack Cuba, or he could remove his missiles from Turkey and Russia would take back the missiles on Cuba. This was the first options Kennedy had that didn’t involve either invading Cuba or using air strikes on the Russian bases in Cuba but both of these options could have led to retaliation from Russia and the start of war. Kennedy accepted the first offer and the Cuban missile crisis was over, without the superpowers going to war.
- I think the Cuban Missile Crisis was a turning point in the relationship between the superpowers because it made America and Russia realise how easy a nuclear war could begin. The crisis made both sides more ready to settle their differences by talking. The first evidence of this was in 1962 when Moscow and Washington set up the telephone hotline, to make it easy for the two leaders to contact each other. There was also a printer link established. This proves that after the Cuban missile crisis both countries would rather talk about their issues than fight about them, therefore improving their relationship. The hotline was also set up as the two countries realised brinkmanship was too dangerous a game to play, so instead they should talk.
Another way in which America’s and Russia’s relationship improved was they both realised that they had a responsibility to the rest of the world to not go to war as the consequences of a nuclear war between their countries would have catastrophic results on everybody else. Both sides realised that whatever the issue is, it isn’t worth the death of billions of people around the world. From this they learned direct conflict between the USA and Russia anywhere in the world has to be avoided at all costs, to save humanity. All of this was a result of the Cuban missile crisis and so the crisis is a turning point for the better in the relationship between the superpowers. Another improvement in the superpowers relationship was the signing of the test ban treaty in August 1963 between the USA, Russia and the UK. This treaty limited tests of nuclear weapons and improved relations as they realised nuclear missiles weren’t the answer to problems but they should talk, so missiles weren’t that important and they don’t need to test them as much as neither side had any need to improve them.
However the most significant improvement between the USA and Russia’s relationship was the period of détente both America and Russia went through between 1969 and 1979. During détente both sides realised the money they were spending on the arms race was a pointless waste of money. In America it led to massive inflation and in Russia it led to lower and lower standards of living and a shortage of consumer goods. So both sides stopped spending so much money on arms and this improved their relationship. Other ways in which the superpowers relationship improved during this time was in scientific co-operation, which was when the two superpowers linked up in science, an example of this is on the 17th July 1975, when 3 American astronauts and 2 Russian cosmonauts met in space. Their relationship also improved during this period of détente as in Helsinki 35 states including Russia and America agreed the frontiers of post 1945 Europe should be permanent. The significance of this was the Russians thought it meant that the West accepted the iron curtain as a fact of life and that their influence in Eastern Europe couldn’t be questioned. This improved relations as America accepted the communist control of Eastern Europe. When Brezhnev came to power in Russia he also helped the Russian and American relationship improve as he set up the Brezhnev doctrine, in which he welcomed closer links to the west.
All of these things during détente helped improve relations between the two super powers but in my view the biggest single event which was a result from the Cuban missile crisis was the signing of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks 1 (SALT 1) in 1972. In this the two countries agreed to limit some types of missiles and to hold talks of limiting more. It is a result of the Cuban missile crisis as both countries learnt that having a lot of missiles and weaponry is not a good thing as it could very easily cause a war.
In conclusion the Cuban missile crisis was definitely a turning point in relations between the superpowers for the better. However some events did make their relationship worse but they were not results of the Cuban missile crisis, for example the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The Cuban Crisis led to détente, the telephone hotline and the realisation that both sides have a responsibility to the whole world not to go to war so this proves that it was a turning point in relations between the superpowers.
