Cuban Missile Crisis

The infamous Cuban Missile Crisis started in September 1962, when the USSR placed several nuclear missiles in Cuba following Fidel Castro's rise in power. Although the USA made various attempts to remove the missiles from Cuba, they were mostly ineffective. The USSR refused to move the missiles, causing a period of tension between the two superpowers.

The USA contemplated on taking several courses of action. They could either launch an attack on Cuba to remove the missiles, attempt to diplomatically get the USSR to remove them, do nothing, or conduct a naval blockade to prevent the USSR from delivering the nuclear warheads.

Finally, an agreement was made when Kennedy agreed to remove the nuclear weapons from Turkey and southern Italy in exchange for Khrushchev removing the missiles in Cuba. However, at that point of time, Kennedy's removal of the missiles from Turkey and southern Italy was not publicized, causing the general public to have the opinion that Kennedy had triumphed and Khrushchev had been humiliated. This could have been one of the reasons why Khrushchev eventually lost power in the Soviet government.

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