The Cuban Revolution and the take over of the ‘communist’ Castro built up the US hostility towards him. President Eisenhower refused to meet Castro when he visited the US in 1959, and began to refuse loans on Cuban and economic aid. This forced Castro in the direction of the asking the Soviet Union for help. When this happened the US imposed a trade embargo on Cuba, which meant they refused to buy their sugar which was the basis of Cuban economy.
The build up of tension between the US and Cuba due to Castro resulted in the invasion of the Bay of Pigs in 1961, this contributed to the Cuban Missile crisis of 1962. The US believed that if they were to invade it would trigger a general Cuban uprising against Castro’s government. 1,500 men landed on the Bay of Pigs in April 1961, only to be rounded up by Castro’s troops, the invasion was a failure and no uprising took place. This only caused Castro to be pushed further towards the Soviet Union. This also made Kennedy look weak, as Castro was able to defeat him and his men.
Why Was There A Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962?
90 miles from the American coast, as he was concerned about the missile the US had placed in Turkey.
The insecurity of the Soviets lead up to missiles being placed on Cuba which was significant to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviet leader Khrushchev was concerned about the fact that the US had more missiles than the USSR, and also that US missiles were placed in Turkey just 150 miles from the USSR. As a result of this the Soviets felt threatened, this helped them come to the conclusion that their own missiles should be kept on Cuba, as Khrushchev felt this justified.
The arms race may have also contributed to the Cuban Missile Crisis and may be another reason why the Soviet Union felt the need to place missiles on Cuba. After July 1960 when the US had produced the Polaris missile, no where in the Soviet Union was safe from attack, as it could travel up to 1,500 miles. The Soviet union were bound to either strengthen or build more missile sites due to the growing threat of the US weapons.
There were also past factors that contributed to the Missile Crisis. The building of the Berlin Wall did increased tension between the Superpowers, as did the bitterness after World War Two.
As I have illustrated there were many important aspects that concluded in the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Revolution which lead to US hostility towards Castro and build up of tension between Cuba and the US, the Bay of Pigs invasion which made Castro fear yet another attack from America, the insecurity of the Soviets leading up to missiles being placed on Cuba and the US missiles on Turkey, along with the arms race, building of the Berlin Wall and the bitterness after World War Two were all very significant. I think that they all built up more tension between the USSR and the US resulting in a crisis.
