The relations between the two nations became serious when Fidel Castro ousted the corrupt, American backed dictator Batista and nationalised American-owned estates and factories. This led to the USA breaking off diplomatic relations, while the Cuban relations with the USSR improved. Due to the increased Cuban relations with the Soviet Union, Kennedy became convinced that Cuba was a communist country and he approved a plan for Batista supporters to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. However, the operation was so badly planned that it failed and Castro had no difficulty crushing it and soon declared Cuba as a socialist country. In the past, Cuba had relied heavily on American investment, it needed help, and this now came from Russia. In return for this aid, Khrushchev decided to set up nuclear missile launchers in Cuba aimed at the USA in October of 1962. The situation became tense and had it not been for Kennedy’s handling of the situation a nuclear war could have developed. Many of Kennedy’s military advisers suggested air strikes but he resisted, and eventually Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for the USA promising to not invade Cuba, and the removal of missiles from Turkey that were aimed at the USSR.
The Cuban Missile crisis only lasted a few days but was incredibly important and had lasting results in the relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union. Both sides claimed to have gained something but they also realised how easily a nuclear war could have started and the catastrophic results that would have occurred. This series of events seemed to bring the leaders to their senses and resulted in a marked relaxation of tension between the two sides.
Another major development that caused ‘fundamental change’ within America and the world was also partly due to the competitive nature of the Soviets and Americans. This major development was space exploration and began when the Russians put the first satellite into orbit in the previous decade. The Russians achieved the first major development when Yuri Gagarin became the first man to orbit the earth, however it was the Americans who made the biggest contribution when Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon in 1969.
I believe that these to space events were major and they resulted not only in a fundamental change in the understanding of space but also helped to realise that almost anything was possible with the use of technology. The desire and will to put a man on the moon resulted in many other technological advances later in the 20th century because there was the sense of mind that ‘anything is possible’.
One of the other major occurrences that helped shape America and was a major factor in the change of the social and moral structure was the civil rights movement. This movement achieved many gains during the 1960s and these gains would help to advance the rights of blacks for the remainder of the 20th century.
The fifties had ensured some gains for the welfare of blacks such as the desegregation of schools in the Brown v The Board of Education Topeka Kansas in 1954 but much was still to be done and some of this was achieved in the 1960s. Two major advancements in the civil rights movement in the early sixties were the creation of Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the creation of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). These two organisations allowed the black people to protest together, gave them a voice and organised protests such as the Montgomery bus boycotts, the Freedom Rides and the lunch counter sit-ins. Another major event that is still widely remembered today was the Freedom March to Washington in August 1928 where Martin Luther King delivered his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. This rally was very important as it brought the plight of the Negroes to a worldwide audience and helped to put pressure on the United States government to pass a civil rights law. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 and reaffirmed in 1968 and it made the discrimination of a person because of their creed a criminal offence.
In my opinion, the sixties did launch a process of change for the blacks in America and helped to free them from oppression. Although, the events of the sixties were just a starting step they helped to ensure Blacks were acknowledged and recognised as equals in society.
In the decade in question there were also many other changes in societies views and changes were made that reflected this. These changes occurred in fashion, literature, architecture, music, and other social representations.
Literature was a major example of the change and what was happening in the political arenas and social issues of America in the sixties. There were many books that talked about the civil rights movement and the plight of the Negroes. An example of this is Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird; this is a story about a small southern town and social distinctions between races. Many other authors wrote stories and articles that commented on the changing social role of women within America. Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou and Margaret Walker Alexander all helped to create new insights on feminism as it developed in America. Other authors such as Sylvia Plath in The Bell Jar, and Mary McCarthy in The Group, represented the way the role of the female was changing from being a wife and mother to a more important involvement in society. There were also many books written that were disillusioned with the system and society of America and this was the theme of books like Catch-22 and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
These changes in the subject material again helped to enhance the rights of minorities as it again gave them a platform to speak out against oppression. It also began to further the original constitutional right of freedom of press, which was a great change and advancement.
Another fundamental change that occurred in the sixties was that of fashion. Although many view it as rather unimportant I feel that it was a major change in the right to freedom of expression and the rebellion of youth against the restrictive nature of their parents. Women’s clothing became tighter and mini skirts were introduced, which were often worn with go-go boots. Unisex clothing also came to the fore with bell-bottomed jeans and embellished t-shirts being worn by both male and females.
The theatres and cinemas were also part of the change with many new shows or movies breaking the previous taboos so much that a new code had to be written. There was also a major change in popular music in the mid-1960s, caused in part by the drug scene that was prominent within America. Acid Rock, highly amplified and improvisational, and the more mellow psychedelic rock gained prominence.
These changes in fashion and the arts were vitally important to the world as we know it today because had it not been for the youth of the fifties then many of these changes may not have taken place and the youth of today may be stuck with the oppressive nature of the arts and fashion in the fifties.
In conclusion, I feel that the decade of the sixties did launch a process of fundamental change and was vitally important in American history. Many of the advancements made in this decade launched the changes and processes that helped to shape and mould the country into the United States of America, as we know it today.