Soviet Union example essay topic

The Cuban Missile Crisis: The Events Before, During, and After Let the record show that our restraint is not inexhaustible. Should it ever appear that the inter-American doctrine of noninterference merely conceals or excuses a policy - if the nations of this hemisphere should fail to meet their commitments against outside Communist penetration - then I want it clearly understood that this Government will not hesitate in meeting its primary obligations, which are to the security of our Nation. Should the time ever come, we do not intend to be lectured on ' intervention ' by those whose character was stamped for all time on the bloody streets of Budapest. (Address by President Kennedy, 20 April 1961, ' The Lesson of Cuba, ' Department of State Publication No. 7185.) During the post World War II years, the United States was involved in a continuing conflict with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The differences in democratic and communistic views led to most of this struggle. Although there was no direct military conflict, a climax of military tension was reached during the Cuban Missile Crisis. What exactly happened and what were the causes and effects of this historical event filled with diplomatic as well as tension? In order to fully understand the Cuban Missile Crisis, the events previous to it must be established as they were extremely relevant to the situation. Prior to the twentieth century, Americans had a favorable relationship with the Russians.

However, in the late nineteenth century, c. 1890, America and Russia began to disagree and quarrel over certain situations and questions that arose over Asia. This point in history can be labeled as the ' beginning ' of our feud with Russia (Cold War Encarta). Relations began to become troubled at this point, but there was hope for possible resolution. Unfortunately, in 1917 a group of people known as Communists seized power of the government in Russia and established the Soviet Union. The Communists' primary political party was called the Bolsheviks.

The Bolsheviks wanted very much to propagate their ideas to small and new countries in Asia and in Europe. However, capitalistic nations in the west also wanted to spread their political views. Due to this clash in political beliefs, the Bolsheviks, and the rest of the Soviet Union, declared ' ideological war ' on all capitalistic nations. In retaliation, the United States did not recognize the U.S.S. R as a nation until 1933 (Encarta). In 1920, a new leader, Joseph Stalin, became head of the Communist Party. Stalin did not want to make a truce with the United States, but he did decide to join World War II.

The Soviet Union suffered considerable damage, but fought successfully with the other allies and eventually defeated Hitler. In post - World War II, this alliance began to wither as mistrust and tension grew between Stalin and President Truman, thus giving birth to the Cold War. Opposition, broken promises, and a continuing struggle over who would unite Europe led the United States and the U.S.S. R even farther apart. Most believed that peace was not an option and war was inevitable for the two nations. Although both countries were not keen on going to war, tension and stress of the Cold War was at its height (Encarta). In a sense, it can be said that the stage was set for a deciding conflict.

Both the United States and the Soviet Union had been preparing for war by increasing their military power, which included nuclear capabilities. No one could be certain when or who was planning to attack first. The answer was soon to come. In September of 1962, various American intelligence agencies became flooded with reports which stated that the Russians were supplying and assembling surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles inside Cuba. When questioned, the Soviet Premier, Nikita Krushchev, denied that any missiles were being supplied to Cuba (Abel p 83). Most of these intelligence reports were unconfirmed, but later, after Air Force U-2 aircraft reconnaissance missions, it was established that Russia was indeed setting up missiles (p 91).

One can state that Russia was only supplying the defense of one of its allies, but the cause for concern came from the short distance between Cuba and American soil (Thompson p 96). The closest American border was a mere 90 miles away from Cuba. If these missiles were to be launched, quite possibly with nuclear warheads, then it left almost half of the continental United States under a nuclear threat (p 97). During a September 13 press conference, President Kennedy announced the situation to America.

He stated that intelligence reports of Russian shipments did not pose a serious threat to America or any of its allies at this time. He was quick to add, though, ' that if Cuba were ever to become an offensive military base of significant capacity for the Soviet Union, then this country will do whatever must be done to protect its own security and that of its allies ' (Cook p 24-25). ' It is exciting to have a real crisis on your hands, when you have spent half your political life dealing with humdrum issues like the environment. ' (Margaret Thatcher on the Falklands campaign, 1982). It is uncertain on whether or not, Kennedy viewed the situation in front of him as exciting, but it was definitely about to excite his political career. A solution or option was needed so the Cuba situation could be addressed with hopefully no conflict.

In early October, Kennedy met with advisers, know known as the Executive Committee of the National Security Council, to discuss possible options: invasion, air strikes, blockade, or diplomacy (Cook p 33). Kennedy made his decision and on October 22, 1962, he announced that American forces would install a naval blockade around Cuba to prevent the entrance of more Russian missiles (p 34). Kennedy reinforced his forcefulness by demanding to Krushchev that the Soviet Union dismantle and fully remove all missiles as well as other weapons. Kennedy also declared a ' quarantine zone ' around Cuba to more successfully allow American naval forces to either block or examine ships wanting to enter Cuban ports (Trease p 312). Although a naval blockade seemed the best option, the first few days after it was installed Soviet vessels continued on voyages to Cuba and successfully avoided quarantine zones. Krushchev appeared not to be bothered by the apparent aggression by the United States, but he did not strike.

He and Kennedy continued to communicate through various diplomatic channels (p 325). This went on for a few days, almost like a well played game of chess. Each side was not acting until fully analyzing the others move. Then after seeing that Kennedy was not bluffing, Krushchev changed his position. On October 26, Krushchev sent a message to Washington and agreed to remove all missiles. He also wanted to open communication to negotiate other terms.

Kennedy accepted the message and Krushchev's agreement. After negotiations, Krushchev offered and on-site inspection of Cuba in return for a promise not to invade Cuba. To this, Kennedy gladly accepted and discontinued the blockade (Cook p 77). It seemed both Russia and America were satisfied with the terms of the negotiations, but Fidel Castro, leader of Cuba, became angry due to excessive Soviet submission.

He refused to permit an on-site inspection, but did promise never to accept and install offensive weapons in the future (p 78). Without the on-site inspection American leaders were still unsure whether or not missiles were being disassembled. Consequently, the United States was again forced to use aerial reconnaissance in order to make sure that the missile bases were in fact being disassembled. The crisis was over. After such a close encounter of war, would it be possible for Russia and the United States to eventually declare peace? The answer was an unfortunate no.

Due to his ineffective handling of the situation, Soviet Premier, Nikita Krushchev was ousted out of the government in 1964. The Soviet Union also became weaker when the Chinese broke their ties with Moscow and when restlessness began to occur in Eastern Europe. In this period of history, their was a great stride by new and smaller countries to move toward nationalism since it proved to be stronger than communism (SIRS). Meanwhile, while Russia was having its problems, the United States was again involved in a battle against communism. The Vietnam War was an extremely bloody and costly conflict for the United States. As a result of the large economic funds that were needed to support the war, America's economic superiority began to become challenged by countries such as Japan and West Germany.

Something had to be done because a large amount of America's finance was still supplying military defense for a possible confrontation with Russia (SIRS). Russia was also experiencing similar economic dilemmas. In 1973, a solution was proposed by the two superpowers. They agreed to halt, not completely though, the financial fund draining arms race and agreed to slow their competitive rivalry in the Third World. This agreement lasted for a mere seven years due to the invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet troops in 1980 (SIRS). There was only one last hope for resolution between the Soviet Union and the United States.

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power and brought the views of a new and young generation with him. He and Reagan cut back on both of the superpower's presence in Europe and they also moderated their ideological differences. In the early 1990's, due to the work of Gorbachev and the previous work of Reagan, the cold war finally ended in Europe. Non-communist governments were being elected, countries that were once divided were uniting, the arms race was almost totally halted, and perhaps the biggest threat to democracy, communism, was being discredited. These new ideas spread also into the Soviet Union.

Not long after the cold war ended in Europe, there was a dramatic break up of communism in the Union of Soviet Socialists Republics. The U.S.S. R was broken up into many smaller, democratic nations. The threat of communism was over (Encarta). Some of the most trying times in our nation's history took place during those thirteen beautiful October days. The Cuban Missile Crisis is probably this world's closest encounter to a full scale nuclear war. If it had not been for our strong president and the fearlessness of America as a whole, the world might be a drastically different place today.

Thankfully, though, it is not and due to the almost non-existent threat of communism in today's world it will probably not radically change in the years to come.

Bibliography

Abel, Elie. The Missile Crisis. New York City, New York: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1966.
Cook, Fred. The Cuban Missile Crisis. New York City, New York: Franklin Watts Inc., 1972.
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Cuban Missile Crisis. LaF eber, Walter. ' Cold War. Partington, Angela, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Schulz inger, Robert. ' The End of the Cold War. ' OH Magazine of History (1994): 13-18.
SIRS CD-ROM. SIRS Inc. 1996.
Trease, Geoff ery. This is Your Century. New York City, New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World Inc., 1965.