Leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1945-1962
The Cold War began in 1945 with the end of World War II. The United States and the Soviet Union, former allies in the war, suddenly began fighting a war for power. The two superpowers fought an arms race, a space race, but most of all for the influence of their respective political ideology. The Cold War was essentially a war about whether democracy or communism would prosper, survive, and gain support around the world. In the years prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis, however, Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader at the time, had been losing influence. In 1961, the United States launched an unsuccessful attack on Cuba, known as the Bay of Pigs invasion, in order to overthrow Fidel Castro. Although it failed, Castro and Khrushchev knew that it was likely that the United States would attack again. Tensions increased further as a result of the formation of the Berlin Wall. Khrushchev’s influence had been falling, and in order to equalize the balance of power between the Soviets and the Americans as well as to protect Cuba in the future, Khrushchev decided to secretly deploy the missiles into Cuba.
For more detailed information about the Cold War, click here.
For more detailed information about the Cold War, click here.