Why The Cuban Missile Crisis

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Khrushchev took notice of Cuba's fear and vulnerability and extended the Soviet Union's assistance to them. The Soviet Union knew that a few hundred miles away from them there were American Jupiter missiles stationed that had the ability to obliterate them. Khrushchev realized that assisting Cuba would allow him to get leverage against America and decided that by bringing the Soviet's own nuclear missiles to Cuba, they would be able to make America feel the same worry and panic they did.

Due to the belief that America would try to stop the arrival of missiles to Cuba, the Soviet Union sent their ships over in secret. Once the missiles had arrived in Cuba, they were unloaded and began to be constructed. However, the Soviets were

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