Cuban Missile Crisis
In July 1959, Fidel Castro led a revolution in Cuba and overthrew it’s old leader, Fulgencio Batista. Castro soon turned Cuba into a Communistic country and this greatly upset the United States. The U.S. responded to these actions by sending CIA operatives into Cuba to train a rebel group to overthrow Castro. This was the start of the Bay of Pigs event. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an attempt by United States-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow the government of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. The purpose of this event was to overthrow the Cuban government and return it to it’s previous state. Unfortunately, this was a failed attempt by the U.S.
A few years later in July of 1962, Russian Nikita Khrushchev decided that a way to protect Cuba from an invasion was to put missiles with nuclear warheads in the country. The U.S. soon found out about these actions when they sent U2 spyplanes over Cuba and those spyplanes captured images of the missiles and launchers there. After receiving this information, President John F. Kennedy met in secret with his advisors to discuss their plan of action. It was decided that the U.S. would set up a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent the Soviets from bringing in any more military supplies. JFK demanded that the missiles be removed and the sites be destroyed. No one knew how the Soviet Union and Cuba would respond to these demands and everyone feared that this would be the start of WWIII.
Everyone was relieved when the two sides came to an agreement. The Soviets would dismantle the weapon sites in exchange for a pledge from the United States no to invade Cuba. However, at another conference that took place in secret, the U.S. agreed to remove nuclear missiles from Turkey.
A few years later in July of 1962, Russian Nikita Khrushchev decided that a way to protect Cuba from an invasion was to put missiles with nuclear warheads in the country. The U.S. soon found out about these actions when they sent U2 spyplanes over Cuba and those spyplanes captured images of the missiles and launchers there. After receiving this information, President John F. Kennedy met in secret with his advisors to discuss their plan of action. It was decided that the U.S. would set up a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent the Soviets from bringing in any more military supplies. JFK demanded that the missiles be removed and the sites be destroyed. No one knew how the Soviet Union and Cuba would respond to these demands and everyone feared that this would be the start of WWIII.
Everyone was relieved when the two sides came to an agreement. The Soviets would dismantle the weapon sites in exchange for a pledge from the United States no to invade Cuba. However, at another conference that took place in secret, the U.S. agreed to remove nuclear missiles from Turkey.