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Most believe Soviet Premier Kruschev believed the young, newly-elected President Kennedy would not do anything about the Soviets' putting strategic weapons in Cuba.

The Cuban Missile Crisis occurred in October 1962. When the Soviet Union secretly put nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba, it nearly started a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The missiles were discovered by routine spy-plane surveillance. The missiles were still in the process of being made launch-ready. However, President Kennedy had very little time to make a decision regarding what to do about it. His military advisers all but demanded a full-scale air strike, followed by an invasion of the island. Instead, President Kennedy ordered the U.S. Navy to "quarantine" the island by not allowing any Soviet ships to travel to Cuba. This, combined with diplomacy, forced Soviet Premier Kruschev's hand, and the missiles were withdrawn.

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13y ago
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12y ago

It was basically the Russians response to the US having missiles in Turkey. We had missiles that could easily attack Russian. Instead of starting a conflict, the Russians put missiles in Cuba since they were communist allies. This was a big problem in the US. In my opinion, the Americans should have removed their missiles at the request of the Russians to avoid problems. Happily, it didn't start a direct conflict.

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14y ago

President Kennedy admitted to lack of missile gap unlike Eisenhower. He said that the US was way ahead of the Soviets in the developing missiles. This made Khrushchev (The Soviet leader) look bad. And this angers Cuba a lot especially, after our failed attempt with the Bay of Pigs. Castro starts to buddy up with the Soviets a lot more. Khrushchev doesn't want to see the US take Cuba down. So he offers to arm Castro with weapons. The US had the Soviet Union surrounded with missile sites and the Soviets wanted at least one site near the US. If they could get Cuba they would have their "one place". A U2 planes discovered installation sites being built in Cuba by the soviets. Kennedy called together the National Security Council, DOD, etc. to discuss what to do with this. We came up with three options. 1)Invade Cuba-Bay of pigs was a failure. 2) Air Strike- were afraid if we did do that ,t hey would shoot our planes3) Leave it alone. No one was really satisfied with those three option so we decided to Quarantine AKA Blockade Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis scared everyone to death; we were on the verge of nuclear war. In 1963 the US and the Soviet Union Signed a nuclear Test Ban Treaty which banned the testing of atomic weapons. A hotline was also set up between Moscow and Washington D.C.

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13y ago

the Soviet union wanted to launch nuclear missiles at the USA

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13y ago

if i remember correctly we thought Russia gave nukes to cuba

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Q: Why did the Cuban missile crisis happen?
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What century did the Cuban missile crisis?

The Cuban missile crisis started on October 16, 1962


What do the Cubans call the Cuban Missile Crisis?

The missile crisis


What was the cause of the cuban missile crisis?

Soviets were establishing nuclear missile sites in Cuba.


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Cuban missile crisis, because it almost killed us.


The President who resolved the Cuban Missile Crisis was?

President Kennedy is credited with resolving the Cuban Missile Crisis.President John F. Kennedy


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The confrontation took place in the waters off Cuba, but he crisis was in the White House and the Kremlin.


Who Cuban missile crisis?

the U.S.


Was there a Missile Crisis in Newfoundland in 1962?

No. The "documentary" was parodying the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.


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The country that faced the missile crisis was the United States.


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No, no one "fought" in the Cuban missile crisis. He was an Assistant Secretary of State at the time.


What was the central issue of the Cuban missile crisis?

The Cuban Missle Crisis was done in 1984


What were the names of the leaders of the US during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

John F Kennedy was the president of the US at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis.