The Cold War On The World War II - 1171 Words

Good morning/afternoon ladies and gentlemen I ______ am pleased to be presenting here today at the Cold War symposium. The cold war was a defining ideological conflict of the 20th century that has left a legacy into the 21st century. A critical event in the Cold War was the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. It presented a situation where both the United States and Soviet Union wielded the power of nuclear weapons, with the potential to descend the world into its first nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis was initiated by the Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev, provoking U.S president John Kennedy by imprudently placing nuclear missiles in Cuba. Khrushchev’s superficial proposals of a missile exchange and intentions of preventing Cuba from†¦show more content†¦To resolve the issue Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev authorised the construction of the Berlin wall in 1961 to officially separate the east from the west and to prevent civilians from leaving. In that same year t he US made an attempt to invade Cuba . In 1959 communist revolutionary Fidel Castro overthrew former pro-American Cuban Dictator, Fulgenico Batista. After previously living under the firm hand of American imperialism, where Cuba’s trade and economics were monopolised by the US government. Castro was determined to restore Cuba’s independence and promised to renounce their reliance on the US. President Eisenhower responded by placing an embargo on Cuba, banning the islands primary export of sugar. Also in an attempt to overthrow Castro and monopolise the government also, Eisenhower planned the ‘Bay of Pigs’ invasion of Cuba in 1960 that did not commence until 1961 when the new US President John Kennedy authorised the invasion. By this time Castro was aware of the US agenda and prepared for the invasion, and ultimately ending in a failure for the United States. Castro’s hostility towards the US grew and he severed US-Cuban relations completely. Subsequently Cuba was desperate for trade partn ers and feared impending US invasions. Castro pursued the Soviet Union who offered to purchase all Cuban sugar that was produced; thus creating conflict between both nations. This new foreign relation between Cuba