The Cuban Missile Crisis heightened tensions between the US and USSR from "summary" of The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a pivotal moment in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. It began when American U-2 spy planes discovered evidence of Soviet missile sites being constructed in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of Florida. The presence of these missiles posed a direct threat to the security of the United States, as they had the capability to strike major cities with nuclear weapons. The discovery of the missile sites in Cuba led to a tense standoff between the US and the USSR. President John F. Kennedy demanded that the Soviet Union remove the missiles from Cuba, while Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev insisted that the missiles were purely defensive in nature. As both sides refused to back down, the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. During the crisis, both the US and the USSR engaged in a high-stakes game of brinkmanship. The US imposed a naval blockade on Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments of weapons, while the Soviets scrambled to complete the construction of the missile sites. As tensions mounted, there were fears that a miscalculation or miscommunication could lead to a catastrophic nuclear exchange. Ultimately, the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved through a combination of diplomacy and compromise. In a secret agreement, the US agreed to remove its missiles from Turkey in exchange for the Soviet Union removing its missiles from Cuba. This resolution helped to defuse the immediate crisis, but it also highlighted the fragility of the relationship between the two superpowers. The Cuban Missile Crisis served as a wake-up call for both the US and the USSR, highlighting the dangers of nuclear brinkmanship. It led to a renewed focus on arms control and disarmament, as both sides sought to prevent a similar crisis from occurring in the future. The legacy of the Cuban Missile Crisis continues to shape relations between nuclear-armed states to this day.
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