oct 16, 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis

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The Cold War featured many confrontations between the United States and the Soviet Union, with one of the biggest being the Cuban Missile Crisis, which was a direct and dangerous confrontation that caused the closest the two superpowers ever came to nuclear war.

During 1962, the Soviet Union began to secretly install missiles in Cuba as a way to level the playing field, as their was the presence of US ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey. In October 1962, these nuclear missile sites being built were secretly photographed by an American U-2 spy plane, and President Kennedy was soon informed of these events. He called a meeting with his advisors, with some wanting to attack, and others wanting to negotiate. The US had American soldiers on high alert, and decided to blockade Cuba. After much negotiation, the missiles were removed, but only in exchange for the promise that the US would not invade Cuba. The crisis was over, and after a short while, the US ended Cuba's quarantine, allowing the world to finally take a sigh of relief.

The Cuban Missile Crisis expressed that neither the United States or the Soviet Union were ready to use nuclear weapons because of the threat of mutually assured destruction. Cuba stayed Communist and highly armed, and was faced with political isolation for many years, with both sides considering that they had secured a victory. The Cuban Missile Crisis also significantly affected the Soviet Union, as it played an important part in Nikita Khrushchev's fall from power and also expressed the Soviet Union's determination to achieve nuclear parity with the United States.

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