Why was the Cuban Missile Crisis a turning point in Cold War Relations?

by niiayikumah (student)

Alvin Nelson

History

Mr Englefield

Why was the Cuban Missile Crisis a turning point in Cold War relations?

The Cuban missile crisis had relieved the tensions and possibilities of a nuclear war between the two superpowers. The USA had attempted to destroy Castro’s regime, with the April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion where 1,400 Cuban rebels attempted to invade the island. The USSR had come to the aid of Cuba, providing nuclear missiles aimed at major cities in USA. The USA ordered a naval blockade to prevent Soviet ships from transporting the missiles to Cuba. The threat of a nuclear war was apparent and eventually the two superpowers made an agreement stating the removal of the US missile sites in Turkey in exchange for the USSR missile sites in Cuba, aborting the possibility of nuclear annihilation. The two superpowers were at the brink of a nuclear holocaust but the crisis made them realise the policy of brinkmanship was dangerous so they abandoned it, which is why the crisis is viewed as a turning point.

The crisis had also improved US-USSR relations. USA and the USSR were prepared to avoid a future crisis after they realised the policy of brinkmanship nearly caused a nuclear war. A telephone hotline was set up between the White House and the Kremlin to provide swift communication and in August 1963, a Test-Ban treaty was signed, outlawing the test of nuclear weapons. Therefore, the Cuban Missile Crisis was a turning point in Cold War relations because the two superpowers developed a friendship, putting the effort in to reduce risk of a recurrence. On the contrary, it could only be described ...

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