Differences Between Castro And Khrushchev Missile

There are many possible reasons for why the USSR chose to place their nuclear weapons in Cuba whether it be to protect them or us them. The Cubans happily accepted the soviet military onto their island even when it drew them deeper into a war with the US. Both the Cuban leader Castro and Khrushchev said different things as to why they had missiles in Cuba.

They main reason as to why the soviets placed was to bargain with USA. They believed that Kennedy was a weak and novice leader. Khrushchev believe that due he could bully Kennedy into submission and a major part to this was his nuclear weapons being in Cuba. He thought with nuclear missiles so close to America he could make any demands and Kennedy would have to give into them therefore USSR would eventually win the Cold War. Khrushchev thought he would hold the high ground and be able to agree to the removal of the weapons in return for American concessions.

Another main reason for the placement of soviet nukes in Cuba was to test the US. Khrushchev believed he could force the US to act. This plan, even though it backfired, was a great idea as it was guaranteed to force Kennedy deeper into the Cold War. The …show more content…
Although Khrushchev was adamant that the only reason for the missiles in Cuba was for defense it was clear that this was not true. Cuban dictator Fidel Castro himself said that he want to destroy America and the missiles could do that made it fairly clear the real purpose of the weapon. Another way the US found the true intentions of the missiles was via their spy plans that they flew around the island of Cuba. These collected photos off the missiles and their launch sites as well. This showed that the soviet weaponry on Cuba was for more than defense as the photos showed inter-continental nuclear weapons and other form of the nuclear