The Cuban Missile Crisis is considered by historians to be a period of time where the tension of the Cold War was so high that the possibility of a nuclear war was very high. It was the point that US and USSR came the closest to using nuclear weapons on each other.
The Cuban missile crisis spanned over a period of 14 days. (14-28 oct 1962)
14th- U2 spy-plane takes pictures of missile bases in Cuba.
16th- Kennedy is informed. A committee is set up to advise Kennedy.
22nd- Naval blockade on Cuba
24th- Soviet ships blocked. Khrushchev sends message to Kennedy.
26th- Khrushchev sends 2nd message, more aggressive than the first. Kennedy is advised to ignore the 2nd message and reply to the first.
27th- US promised not to invade Cuba, and to dismantle missiles from turkey.
28th- USSR agreed to dismantle missile bases in Cuba. Crisis Ended.
Causes of the Crisis:
1. Superpower tension between US and USSR.
2. Fidel Castro, a communist, took over in Cuba.
3. Castro wanted to protect Cuba from US after the Bay of Pigs invasion, thus asking for weapons from USSR. Khrushchev, at the same time, wanted to set up missile bases where US was in range, Cuba proved to be a good location.
Possibility of a nuclear war: very high
This is the time where both US and USSR were ready for a war, a nuclear war. Nuclear bombers from the US were ready to attack, and at least one eighth of them are airborne at anytime. Missile bases in Cuba were ready and fully operational. A nuclear war could have started by just a little trigger. However, fortunate for the whole world, both Kennedy and Khrushchev took a step backward and contributed in preventing a war.
Sources:
History notes.
