Cuban Missile Crisis Research Paper

The Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 14 day long standstill during the Cold War. This conflict was between the Soviet Union and the United States of America which almost brought these two countries on the brink of war in the fall of 1962. This crisis started on October 14, 1962 when a U-2 reconnaissance plane returned from a flight over Cuba with pictures of long, canvas-covered objects. Over that next 24 hours American analysts looked at the photograph that these pilots had taken and finally determined that the Soviets were installing medium-range ballistic missiles and launch pads in Cuba. These missiles were located less than 100 miles of Florida and were highly able of taking out a large portion of the United States. …show more content…
A single nuclear weapon may have an explosive force equivalent to millions of tons. That would equal megatons of trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene is normally called TNT and is the chemical explosive normally used for comparisons and can destroy a large city in just a few seconds. The devastating power of nuclear weapons comes from the core of the atom. The core of the atom is called the nucleus. One type of nuclear weapon is the fission bomb. The Fission bomb uses the energy let go when nuclei of strong elements like plutonium split apart. Another, even more powerful type of nuclear weapon is the fusion/hydrogen bomb. The hydrogen bomb uses the energy released from nuclei when hydrogen fuses or unites. Nuclear devices have been produced in many sizes and for many reasons. Bombs are devices that can be dropped and released from airplanes. A warhead can be delivered by missiles launched from land, air, or sea. The method of the missiles being released in water are launched and carried by torpedoes. Artillery shells can be fired from cannons while mines can be placed on the land or placed floating in the sea. Some nuclear weapons are small enough to destroy only a portion of a battlefield and are called “tactical nuclear weapons”. Another type of nuclear weapon that is large enough to destroy entire cities is called a “strategic nuclear …show more content…
In the early 1960s, the island nation of Cuba became the Cold War 's most dangerous point in its history. In 1959 Communist leader Fidel Castro (born in 1926) took power in Cuba after helping lead the mission to overthrow President Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (1901-1973). Castro created close relationships to the Soviet Union. This naturally was a positive thing to have a good friend located so close to the United States. John F. Kennedy was the president at that time and he was disturbed by the presence of a Soviet-sponsored communist country just ninety miles off the Florida coast. Mr. Kennedy then made the decision in 1961 to arm a group of Cuban exiles and helped them start an invasion at the Bay of Pigs in southwest Cuba. This mission was `aimed at removing Castro from power. With Castro’s most recent success over the communist leader he planned and installed his new coalition government in Havana. As Fidel Castro solidified his power, the new Cuba grew very distant from the United States and they began to develop close relations ships with the Soviet Union. This alliance that was building between the two disturbed American leaders. American business interests were being crushed by Castro’s revolution and the communist influenced government was eagerly pressed against the United States government. With this tempting the 50 states, the CIA began a plan to overthrow