The Cuban Missile Crisis, or otherwise known as the October Crisis, was a 13-day standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union. This standoff took place from October 16, 1962 to October 28, 1962 during the height of the cold war. John F. Kennedy or JFK, had …show more content…
In response to this, Nikita Khrushchev deployed nuclear weapons in Cuba for the same reason. After the states discovered the missiles in Cuba, JFK debated on whether or not to attack Cuba in order to remove the nuclear weapons. However, it was decided that this would not be the best choice because as a result, the Soviets may attack the United States. The effects of an all-out nuclear war would be devastating to the entire world, and both parties were aware of this fact. Robert F. Kennedy recognizes this in his book, “Now that the Cold War has disappeared into history, we can say authoritatively that the closest to blowing itself up during thirteen days in October 1962”. Instead, an agreement was made between the two nations, the …show more content…
The relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were at the most volatile than they have ever been until that point. This is the closest that the world has been to nuclear war in history. If it had not been for the compromises made by the leaders of the two nations, the world may be in a very different state than it is now. There were a few underlying causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis, however the main issue was the discovery of Soviet nuclear weapons stationed in Cuba that heightened the tensions between the two superpowers at the time. What resulted from this was a more cautious approach to other aspects that may have been treated differently if this event did not occur. In summary, the Cuban Missile Crisis is an important event in world history, and had it transpired differently, the world may be in a very different state that it is