Contents
Section A – Plan of investigation 2
Section B – Summary of Evidence 2
Section C – Evaluation of Sources 4
Section D – Analysis 5
Section E – Conclusion 6
Bibliography: 7
How significant was Fidel Castro’s role in the Cuban missile Crisis of 1962?
Section A – Plan of investigation
This investigation assesses the significance of Fidel Castro’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. To investigate Fidel Castro’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, the investigation is carried out through the events that took place during the Crisis, such as the reasons for the USSR missiles being positioned in Cuba and the resolution of the Crisis. In order to evaluate Fidel Castro’s role in the Crisis, he is being portrayed in comparison to the United
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Fidel plays a significant role in the Crisis in terms of alignment with a great power in conflict, resulting with an involvement in a conflict himself and the agreement of the placement of nuclear weapons on the Cuban soil, that triggered American anger even more than it had already been done after two failed invasion attempts.
Section E – Conclusion
To justify the significance of Fidel’s role in the Cuban Missile Crisis aspects such as Khrushchev’s real intentions and Kennedy’s actions must be taken into account. Knowing the lack of respect that Khrushchev had for Fidel and the amount of effort that the US put in attempting the invasion of Cuba, twice, the conclusion can be made as the Cuba was an area that was significant to the Cold War and for the two great powers to balance with each other. The amount of effort it took to solve the problem (an exchange of letters) shows that the problem wasn’t as great since it was easy to resolve.
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Foreign affairs have always been a subject of debate for America ever since its birth. George Washington wanted America to avoid foreign affairs ant to stay neutral, but politicians did not listen to him and wanted to enforce their own form of justice across the world. America’s involvement in foreign affairs has always been for a different reason, at times it could be as childish as having a strong disliking for another country’s way of life. The United States sees itself as one of the most powerful countries in the world, as an icon of sorts, and because of this, they feel that their way of life is the only way of life. However, that is not the case, America overall wants other countries to be parallel to their own form of government, ideologies,
Kennedy’s record with foreign affairs was imperfect. His decisions towards Cuba had major flaws, which could have led to a nuclear war. His biggest failure as president was the Bay of Pigs invasion that took place in April of 1961. It was meant to be a mission to overthrow Fidel Castro. However, the 1400 American trained Cuban invaders were outnumbered by Castro’s troops and “surrendered after less than 24 hours of fighting” (History.com).
The accumulation of weapons and changes made to the defense system in Cuba was a source of concern and attracted the attention of the presidency and the top brass of the military in eliminating the threat presented by Cuba way before its eruption. In the course of the crisis, the President relied heavily on the intelligence system for the much-needed information to enable the making of informed decisions, all of which functioned to rescue the nation from the most serious crisis since the conclusion of the Second World
At the end of World War II, Berlin and Berliner, who used to live as one people in the heart of Germany, experienced a unique situation. Indeed, all Berliners were much undifferentiated except by the fact that they were living in Berlin's Eastern of Western parts. In addition, Berlin was vulnerable as it was encircled by communist lands. Document 1 shows this reality and particularly underlines the precarity of West Berlin’s situation. At any moment Soviet Armies could invade West Berlin before the West could intervene.
The USSR was to be blamed for the Cuban Missile Crisis to a large extent however the USA was also to be blamed for the Cuban Missile Crisis. The USSR was to be blamed due to their involvement with Cuba and the implementation of the missiles in Cuba including their implementation of resources to influence Cuba to join the USSR political ideology which was communism. However the reason for the USA also being blamed for the Cuban Missile Crisis was their factors and their aggressive policies which increased the tensions between the two superpowers in the Cuba Missile Crisis. Mr Kennedy’s aggressive policies, the blockade implemented by Kennedy as well as getting them involved where it was not necessary. USSR and the USA had many factors they
The Cuban Missile Crisis largely was between the Soviet Union and the United States. Their leaders, Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy, most likely felt forced to do what was best for their country. In Kennedy’s situation, the Americans wanted to get rid of the missiles, get rid of Fidel Castro and eliminate Communism from Cuba. Khrushchev and the Soviets wanted to test the USA and prove that the USSR was stronger, but he also wished other countries to feel attracted to
Kennedy said that they could just blow up the missile bases in Cuba, but this, without a doubt, would start a destructive war which would affect not just the US and the Soviet Union, but the whole war. In a speech to the American people, John F. Kennedy said that Cuba had nuclear missiles provided by the USSR, but he already had a plan to make Cuba and the Soviets get rid of the nuclear missiles (2). Therefore, those missiles were putting in check the US because if Cuba ever decided to launch one of the missiles on the US this would cause massive destruction wherever they fall and will lead to the start of the first nuclear war, causing a lot of destruction and suffering around the world. In an entrevista from Dobrynin Cable to the Soviet Foreign Ministry, Robert Kennedy said that the military was demanding President John F. Kennedy responded to fire with fire and blew up the missile bases in Cuba, but he, R. Kennedy genuinely believed that this was a terrible idea because if this would ever occur the Soviets would undoubtedly do the same to the US, somewhere in Europe, starting a real war (4).
World War II caused many tensions in the world, even in the allied nations. After the war, relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were especially tense. The communistic ideals of the Soviet Union clashed with United States capitalism on many occasions. The Soviets wanted to expand their empire and economy to other areas of the world; the U.S. wanted the opposite. They were determined to keep communism where it is, which brings up the question: how did the U.S. contain communism?
In this essay, the true country that caused the Cuban Missile Crisis will be discussed. The Cuban missile Crisis was an international crisis that caused the US and the Soviet Union to come the closest they had ever been to a nuclear war. USA made the first move by trying to invade Cuba at The Bay of Pigs in 1961. The US failed but this attempted acted as a warning to Fidel Castro, the Prime minister of Cuba, and caused him to seek help (Source E). Therefore, the reason Cuba turned to USSR for help was because of the threat from USA.
The Cuban Missile Address is delivered October 22nd, 1962 in the Presidential office through a major radio and television address (Podell, Anzovin, and States United 705). Historically, it is worth mentioning that United States had attempted to overthrow Fidel Castro, who was at the time Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba, in at least two occasions known as the Bay of Pigs Operation and Operation Mongoose, because of his communist regime and close relationship with the Soviet Union (Pious). Then, after the Bay of Pigs incident, Fidel Castro urged Nikita Khrushchev, the Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to send support and weapons to Cuba, because of the fear of another attack to his person/regime, Nikita did by sending missiles capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction, hence, this major crisis that lasted 14 days ending October 28, 1962 (Deinema and Leydesdorff). In addition, the target audience for this speech is the American people as President starts his speech with the phrase, “Good evening, my fellow citizens” (Kennedy); however, the secondary audience would be the Cuban people, whom he describes as captive people, the Soviet Union leaders, whom he directly addresses and even quotes, and Fidel Castro of course (Kennedy). As noted above, the cultural, socio-political context is important to understand the seriousness of this crisis and
John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis John F. Kennedy acted to the best of his ability to solve the Cuban Missile Crisis, whether his powerful speeches, creating a committee, or his agreements with Khrushchev. The crisis began on October 15, 1962, when the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, only ninety miles from Florida. The United States reacted by putting a quarantine, which did not imply a declaration of war like a blockade did, around Cuba. The Soviets then withdrew the missiles, ending the crisis. During the crisis, Kennedy took many important actions that led to the final agreement.
Late president Nikita Khrushchev (from USSR), agreed to assist Castro and took immediate action. He installed missiles in Cuba, which the US thought was a threat to the security of their nation. In summary, I think that this was a defensive move by the Cubans. I most definitely agree with
Gauri Nagpal Minchillo World History 10 13 June 2023 Fidel Castro's Cult of Personality during the Cold War During the Cold War era, Fidel Castro, the former leader of Cuba, emerged as a prominent figure in global politics. His communist ideology and revolutionary agenda garnered widespread attention, with many seeing him as a champion for the oppressed and a symbol of resistance against imperialism. However, behind his charismatic and revolutionary image lay a carefully constructed cult of personality, facilitated by extensive propaganda efforts. Young revolutionary Fidel Castro desired to bring about change for Cuba and its people.
The Cuban Revolution was successful in toppling the corrupt Batista dictatorship and getting the Cosa Nostra (a major crime syndicate in Sicily) out of Cuba. The Cuban Revolution was and is not successful however, in making Cuba a free land and a good place to live for everyone. It benefited just the communist party leaders. At first the Cuban people thought they were fighting from freedom, and that they were trying to free themselves from Batista and the United States. However, what most of the cuban people didn 't know it was that it was all a lie.
In an attempt to overthrow Castro and prevent the spread of communism throughout Latin America, Kennedy was forced to implement “a watered down plan inherited from the Eisenhower administration” , which involved using CIA trained Cuban rebels to encourage an anti-Castro uprising which would then appear as an internal uprising. This resulted in what historian Theodore Draper described as a “perfect failure” On April 17th 1961, 1500 rebels landed on the Bahia de Cochinos however invaders were swiftly captured or killed and as Kennedy refused to send in USA troops and cancelled a planned air strike in order to feign lack of American involvement, the plan ended in “total humiliating defeat” . Kennedy was enraged that he had signed what he had seen as an “unworkable plan” and that he had “allowed himself to be swept along by sheer bureaucratic momentum” . Despite this he took full responsibility for the failed operation stating in a news conference on March 21st 1961, that while “victory has a hundred fathers, defeat is an orphan” .