Ethan Shiveley Term Paper MWF 8 AM Cuban missile Crisis The Cold War was a war which did

not involve any direct fighting, but it was still one of the most threatening and frightening war that ever took place. The Cold War was a competition of power and influence between Soviet Russia and the United States. This war took place roughly after WWII and lasted until the 1990s. The reason why this war was such a great threat was that both super powers had achieved nuclear power and had very differing beliefs on the way life should be. America, a western way of thinking, fought for freedom and the Soviets fought for control over peoples lives in the form of communism. Just as putting on a pair of glasses brings clarity to letters on a page, studying the events taking place in America, Cuba, and Russia sheds light on the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis is an important part of history, not to mention a critical moment in the cold war, and understanding why it happened the way it did. America had many reasons to get involved in the cold war, some claim the biggest actions that brought the U.S. into the Cuban Missile Crisis and cold war came out from politics. Thomas Paterson and William Brophy are professors of history at University of Connecticut and S.F. Austin State. They discussed the politics of the time in America taking place at the heart of the Cuban Missile Crisis. They explain that for America this was a very important time politically. At one of the highpoints of this event was when missiles were found in August 1962 just before the voting for control of Congress would take place. Kennedy sought to gain

Democratic majority in Congress. He hoped to gain favor by getting attention with this event which would give him power to accomplish his agenda for his time in the White house (Paterson & Brophy, 1986). Thus, the politics fueling the fire that brought America in played a significant role in how much participation the U.S. had in this event. While learning this is important it is also important to learn why Cuba became involved and why they were at the center of the conflict. A change was taking place in Cuba that would make it an enemy with the U.S. John Swift, a Lecturer in history at St. Martins College in Lancaster, Michigan, wrote an article discussing the events taking place in Cuba. Swift outlines that America was in support of a change in leadership in Cuba, because while the leader at the time, Flugencio Batista, was a U.S. ally he was an embarrassment. America owned a lot of the islands agriculture and industry so it did what it could to protect its interests. As a new Cuban leader fought for power, Fidel Castro, he saw the need to remove the American influence in order to accomplish his goals and remove what he considered to be Cubas source for its problems. This gained him favor in the sight of the Cuban people. He used this time to tear down American reputations (Swift, 2007). The results of this event led the president at the time, Dwight D. Eisenhower, to call Castro a communist and ordering the U.S. to take action against him. The election, in America at this time in the conflict, put John F. Kennedy into office. In an effort to fight the growing force that opposed America the announced communist Cuba became an enemy to the U.S. While the conflict took place on the western side of the world, that did not stop Russia from getting involved.

Soviet Russia was facing lots of dilemmas at the time; they faced conflict with Germany, and competition with America. They desired to push West Germany away and with the erection of Berlin wall to prevent the west from entering the east. Nikita Khrushchev tried to compete with America in missile technology. John Swift explains that not only did Russia have to compete with the missile force and glory that came with it, but with the threat of American missiles in Turkey (Swift, 2007). While all these backgrounds posed significant problems, as they came together we stumble on the brink of a nuclear war. With all of these events taking place in all these countries, culminated in what we call the Cuban Missile Crisis, America saw Cuba as the doorway to the western world for communism. They were resolved to stop Cubas political expansion to other islands. America believed that Cuba was a threat and had to be stopped. As things began to escalate America, especially its leaders saw opportunities to get involved and win some favor. Again John swift sheds light on this topic; Cuba set into action their beliefs, America could not allow Cubas beliefs to spread to other islands. This put into action several events that contributed to the Cuban missile crisis, including the block on exports from Cuba. (Swift, 2007) America decided not to accept goods from Cuba as a way of pushing Cuba around. Cuba saw America as the root of its problems and needed help in removing Americas presence from their nation. They began to forge an alliance with Russia as a result of economic need, and saw that they could use them to their advantage. They worked together with Russia to establish a major power. These common enemies would team-up and pose a threat to the U.S. with Cubas location and the Soviets missile power. America sought to do harm to Cuba by getting some of their own citizens to revolt, but failed humiliatingly and as a result Castros

power began to grow. As they teamed up with Russia, Russia decided to station missiles on their island to support the conflict. Russia saw a need to also show America that they meant business; building a strong relationship with Cuba would give potential to working aggressively against them. As Russia established their power on the Island of Cuba, and put missiles on the island they created an actual threat to America having nuclear missiles within range of the United States. While Russia only had developed short, and mid-range missiles they represented risk even though attacks would only reach the outer parts of the country, America could not afford to let it be. Near the end of this conflict, mid October 1962, America spotted the missiles in Cuba and took action in the form of a naval blockade as a way taking action against further reinforcements but not being forced to start what many thought would be WWIII through military conflict. This would prevent the missiles from coming on to the island and show everyone that something was being done about previous Russian Action. It was after the blockade that discussions began in order to have the missiles removed from Cuba. America would have to remove its missiles from Turkey, and Russias missiles from Cuba. Both sides had to pay a small price in order to avoid a costly debt. All parties involved were able to avoid a terrible catastrophe, and in some way look out for their own interest, no one lost it all. While America still had to step back so did Russia and because of Americas embargo on Cuba they would be at a loss too economically, and America could still be taking a stand against Cuba, stopping them from getting strong military support. Russia was able to convince America to remove its missiles from Turkey. Cuba was able to remove American influence from its island.

From this experience America can take away a few important conclusions, while America is the biggest super-power; it does not mean its enemies will back down. Even the tiny island of Cuba will take its chance to fight the U.S. America was able to avoid World War III by negotiating with Russia peacefully. America still maintained its reputation as the worlds largest power. Paul Nitze sat on President Kennedys executive committee during this crisis, and confirms that America held the advantage over Russia but feared the threat of war. He said that all the advisors thought the only resolution would have come through fighting. (Nitze, 1998) Again America is not the only one to suffer consequences from this event. The impact that the smaller nation Cuba had on all this was amazing, that a small country could create such a panic. It was amazing to see what a difference a change in leadership can make. Cubas change in power was the initial point of contention, as the outside influence came into effect the Crisis was formed, just as a cut becomes infected and the infection spreads and develops into something worse. Even though Cuba and the U.S. were trying to build a relationship prior to their revolution, they turned immediately on the U.S. Russian military personal spoke out after this incident sharing some of the thoughts from the Russians leaders points of view. William J. Medland a professor of history at Saint Mary's
College of Minnesota collected and summarized interviews from Russian Military leaders from this event. Of the seven points he highlights that Russian leaders learned from this; this seems to be one main theme from it: Soviet Russia was much more prepared for battle than it may have appeared. Though they were willing to back down, the idea to send missiles to Cuba was suggested six months before the crisis. It also came out that while they had developed nuclear capability they had limited technology to short and mid-range missiles, meaning only southern parts of America were completely

exposed to attack (Medland, 1990). The country was prepared to fight but feared America would react powerfully against them.

There were many influences in the confrontation in Cuba. Politics played a large role in creating the situation between the U.S., Cuba, and Soviet Russia. This event left everyone wondering what would happen and how would countries respond. People feared the beginning of World War III and for the first time two sides armed with nuclear power faced mutually assured destruction. The question is will this be repeated again as technology has become more available?

Bibliography
Medland, W. J. (1990). The Cuban Missile Crisis: Evolving Historical Perspectives. Society for History Education, Vol. 23 No. 4. Nitze, P. H. (1998). Reflections on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cosmos Journal. Paterson, T. G., & Brophy, W. (1986). October Missiles and Novemeber Elections: The Cuban Missile Crisis and American Polotics. The Journal of American History, Vol. 73 No. 1. Swift, J. (2007). The Cuban Missile Crisis. History Today.