2. Introduction The democratic powers in the west went against the communist in the east because they were having disagreements about government, economics, and power. The powers were fighting over power because they wanted to spread their influences throughout the whole world.
3. Background Information Who? The Cold War was between the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States had their NATO allies helping them while the Soviet Union had their Warsaw Pact allies helping them. What? The Cold War was a competition that took place after World War II. The competition was between the Soviet Union and its satellites and the democratic countries in the western part of the world which was lead by the United States.
4. Background Information Where? The Cold War was not an actual war. There were not any battles or battle grounds. However the Cold War effected the whole world. When? The Cold War took place from around September 2, 1945 until December 25, 1991. Why? The Cold War began slowly when the Allied Powers made a pact with Russia that would help to defeat Germany and Italy during World War II. Then after World War II Germany was divided into small territories that were then controlled by Russia and the Allies. This caused the relationship between the Soviet Union (Russia) and the Allies (mostly the United States) to go bad.
6. The Cuban Missile Crisis What Was The Cuban Missile Crisis? The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States, the Soviet Union and Cuba. This took place during October in the year of 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis almost caused the Cold War to turn into a huge nuclear conflict. The Soviet Union built bases in Cuba used for ballistic nuclear missiles that were able to reach most of the United States. When an American spy plane caught sight of the secret missile bases being built, these findings were reported to President John F. Kennedy. He did not want the Soviets to know he knew about the missiles, so he met secretly with his advisors. The United States considered attacking Cuba by the air and/or sea. However, they decided to use a military quarantine that would stop the shipping of weapons to Cuba. This would also demand the Soviet Union to stop the construction of missile bases. This also made the Soviet Union get rid of weapons. When Was the Cuban Missile Crisis Solved and How? The crisis was solved around October 28th during that same exact year. President John F. Kennedy and U Thant (the United Nations Secretary-General) finally decided on an agreement with the Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. This agreement said that the Soviet forces would have to send the offensive weapons back to the Soviet Union. In exchange the United States would send a vow to never invade or attack Cuba. On December 6th that year all weapons had to be shipped back to Russia, but the United States decided to stop the quarantine in Cuba. They also decided as an unwritten part of the agreement to removed a few Jupiter, intermediate-range, ballistic missiles from Turkey. What Did the Cuban Missile Crisis Create? The Cuban Missile Crisis led to two creations, these creations were the Hotline Agreement and the Moscow-Washington hot line. These creations were a way of direct communication. These were used between Moscow and Washington, DC.
7. Points of View United States Soviet Union The United States was afraid of the expansion of Stalinism. They also did not think that the European countries should interfere with the states in the western hemisphere. The United States were afraid of the nuclear weapons that were available to the Soviet Union. They were unprepared and never thought that the USSR would plant nuclear missiles and attack on them. The United States had five choices. They could do nothing, they could use diplomatic pressure and hope to get the Soviet Union to remove the missiles, they could attack the missile bases by plane, they could do a full military invasion, or they could make a naval blockade. The United States decided that the only way to defeat this was to go with a full on invasion of Cuba. The United States did not think that the USSR could or would stop them. President Kennedy was not to sure about this plan even thought it would lead them to conquer Berlin so he met with Andrei Gromyko (the Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs). He told President Kennedy that the missiles were only for defensive purposes. The American people were not sure how the Soviets would respond to a naval blockade. The Soviet Union was helping the allied country Cuba to avoid an invasion by the United States. Khrushchev realized the possible negative effects of a nuclear war. Khrushchev told his ships to return back home and to removed all the missiles that were in Cuba. The Soviet Union eventually wanted peace with United States. Other Countries Great Britain did not like the decisions the United States were making because Great Britain did not believe there was really a missiles in Cuba. China was siding with Cuba. The Germans were agreeing with how the United States responded to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Germany was also scared that the Soviet Union would come back to Berlin. France was not too sure whether or not there were really missiles in Cuba. However later on they accepted that there really were missiles in Cuba.
8. Groups Point of View As a group we agree with the way things were handled towards the end of the Cold War. We think that it was a good thing that the Soviet Union eventually left Cuba and removed all the missile there. However, there was a lot of controversy over the quarantine but the United States was right for doing what they did. The United States needed to take action because if this was them who was being threatened by nuclear weapons they would hope another country would do the same for them.
9. Conclusion At the end of the Cold War the president wanted to make peace with the other countries. President Kennedy asked his people (the people of the United States) to find peace with those from the Soviet Union. He said, “For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”
10. Works Cited "Cuban Missile Crisis." Spiritus-Temporis. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2010. "Cuban Missile Crisis." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis>. "JFK in History: Cuban Missile Crisis." John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2010. <http://www.jfklibrary.org/ Historical+Resources/JFK+in+History/Cuban+Missile+Crisis.htm>. Smith, S. E. “What Was the Cold War?” Wise Geek. Conjecture Corporation , 2 May 2010. Web. 11 May 2010. <http://www.wisegeek.com/what-was-the-cold-war.htm>. TheCorner.org. “Cold War 1945-1960.” The Corner of the World. TheCorner.org, 1979. Web. 11 May 2010. <http://www.funfront.net/hist/europe/coldwar.htm#top>. "The Crisis Ends." The Crisis Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2010. <http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/conclusion.html>. Walker, Martin. The Cold War: A History. New York: Henry Holt, 1995. Google Book Search. Web. 12 May 2010. <http://books.google.com/books?id=67jOU3BAeW4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=cold+war&num=8&client=internal-uds&cd=1&source=uds#v=onepage&q&f=false>. “What Was the Cold War.” History Learning SIte. historylearningsite.co.uk, 2000-2010. Web. 11 May 2010. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/what%20was%20the%20cold%20war.htm>. Wikipedia.org. “Cold War.” Cold War. GNU Free Documentation License, n.d. Web. 11 May 2010. <http://faculty.ucc.edu/egh-damerow/cold_war1.htm>.
