“… We have unmistakable evidence that a series of offensive missile sites is now being built on that island … Cuba has been made into an important strategic base by the presence of these long-range offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction. This is an open threat to the peace and security of the Americas.” (Document 8) The placing of the missiles created a threat of nuclear war thus making the US fear the possibilities that the Soviet Union would actually fire as they created an open threat to the peace and security of Americans. After Kennedy ordered a blockade, the Premier of Soviet Union, Khrushchev responded to Kennedy’s message. He stated, “Mr. President, the Soviet government decided to help Cuba with means of defense against outside attack. These weapons were only meant for defensive purposes… You said then that Cuba will not be attacked or invaded by any country of the Western Hemisphere … We have given the order to discontinue building the installations. We shall dismantle them and withdraw them to the Soviet Union.” (Document 10) Here, Khrushchev explains that the missiles were placed for defensive purposes and so he decides to remove them because Kennedy stated that other countries will not attack or invade Cuba. Although this is the case, the missiles are returning back to the Soviet Union still giving them a chance to fire at anyone especially since the amount of …show more content…
The Soviet Union and the US have mostly been fighting over their ideologies and spreading them worldwide. The Soviet Union however targeted many countries that were failing in economics and thus making them change to a communist society. The US wanting to prevent that tried to save countries in need before they fell into the hands of communism like the dividing line did. For that to happen, the US formed NATO to help countries in need as well as form allies who feared the safety of their country as communism was beginning to spread. In response to this action, the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact. The allies of the Soviet Union provided a buffer for them which allowed the Soviet Union was able to continue growing without having the US face them head on. Finally, the Cuban missile crisis was set as an open threat to the US or in other words, a message stating, “This is war.” Using different methods in terms of letting their nation grow, the Soviet Union lighted the flames of the Cold