Download History 200 Historians Blog #7 Rough Draft

INTRODUCTION/HISTORICAL CONTEXT
( I am still a little unsure about the specific ways that the introduction and the historical
context need to be divided, this current one is very raw and untouched, but I will continue to
work around it as I get a better grasp, hopefully your input will assist me P.S. I know it will need
to be broken up into shorter paragraphs)
Following the end of World War II, Europe was divided between the victors and the
world began to take sides in a new war that would last over 40 years. Western Europe fell under
the watchful eye of the United States and the ideology of democracy it valued within society. In
contrast, Eastern Europe fell under the iron fist of the Soviet Union and the communist agenda it
emplaced within society. As division between the United States and the Soviet Union increased,
a new weapon came to lead the forefront of the conflict; nuclear missiles. By the 1960s, both
United States and Soviet Union held the destructive forces of nuclear bombs that could destroy
the world hundreds of times over, with fear of retaliation being the only factor holding both
nations at bay. However, the events of 1962 would test the resilience of the United States and the
Soviet Union and change the Cold War forever. Upon the placement of nuclear missiles by the
United States in Turkey, the Soviet Union began to stockpile their own supply of nuclear
missiles within the island of Cuba. For the first time in the Cold War, both sides held a nuclear
arsenal that could reach the opposition in a manner of minutes. With the two sides on the brink
of nuclear war, all diplomacy and politics needed to be handled with extreme caution, for if one
side made the wrong move, it could lead the other to retaliate with a nuclear bomb. As evidenced
by the fact that the world still exists, it is clear that this conflict did not have the catastrophic
consequences it could have, but it still had its effects on the world itself. Political and diplomatic
instability created by the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 would remain between the United States
and the Soviet Union until the disbandment of the Soviet Union in 1991. The fact that one event
would come to influence both United States and Soviet politics and relations for almost 30 years
demonstrates the significant impact of such a crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 increased
Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union through the relative
proximity of opposing nuclear weapons in both countries, the resulting diplomatic standoff
between the two nations, and the increased political instability that followed the crisis.
HISTORIOGRAPHY
Throughout most of the post-WWII 20th century, the two superpowers of the United
States and the Soviet Union were locked in an intense diplomatic standoff. This standoff, known
as the Cold War, began after WWII due to the nuclear presence that each nation held over the
other. The tensions that arose from this nuclear standoff reached its peak during 1962 when the
Soviet Union secretly moved nuclear missiles into Cuba in response to the placement of nuclear
warheads in Turkey by the United States. The Cuban Missile Crisis led to a massive diplomatic
standoff between the two superpowers, as any sudden move could in turn lead to World War III.
After both sides resolved to remove their nuclear weapons from both Cuba and Turkey, tensions
within the Cold War still remained high between the two sides. The events of the Cuban Missile
Crisis specifically lead to political instability within the Soviet political field and in turn lead
many Americans to resent the fear that America instilled towards its Soviet opponent. The events
of the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis often get thrown into two different viewpoints
within American society. The historiography of the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis can be
broken down into Orthodox and Revisionism. Orthodox thinkers blame Soviet expansion and
encroachment on democracy as the main reasons for the Cuban Missile Crisis. Revisionist
thinkers tend to blame the US fear of Soviet threats and the misguided idea of U.S. containment
as the cause of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The first ideology that many Western thinkers take in regards to the Cold War and Cuban
Missile Crisis is that of the Orthodox thinkers. Orthodox philosophers hold the view that the
Soviet Union bears the responsibility of the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis. Philosophers
argue that the Soviet Union encroached on the idea of American democracy and were displeased
with the threat democracy held to the political structure of the Soviet Union. In turn, Orthodox
view this paranoia as a direct reason to the placement of warheads in Cuba by the Soviet Union,
as they wanted to hold a direct threat to the American homeland. In addition, Orthodox thinkers
believe that the diplomatic victory of the United States in regards to the Cuban Missile Crisis,
dealt a major blow to the power that the Soviet Union held on the world. One prominent
Orthodox thinker is American historian, Graham Allison. In his piece, “The Cuban Missile Crisis
at 50”, Allison analyzes the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis from a very pro-American
standpoint. Within his piece, Allison praises many of the decisions made by John F. Kennedy
and his administration and plays out the Soviet Union as the antagonist within the entire debacle.
This is a viewpoint held by many Orthodox thinkers, whom view American policy as the chief
protagonist within the Cuban Missile Crisis, while the Soviet’s communist agenda and threats as
the antagonist throughout the Cold War. Many Orthodox thinkers view Kennedy in such a grand
sense within their descriptions and viewpoints of the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis, which
can in turn lead to other important components being left out of their accounts.
On the other spectrum in American politics, there sits the viewpoints and ideologies of
Revisionist thinkers. Not necessarily pro-Soviet, Revisionist thinkers still place most of the
blame for the events of the Cold War on American policies and political agendas. Revisionists
believe that it was the fear amongst American diplomats of any communist agendas that in turn
led to the placement of missiles within Turkey. The fact that the Soviet Union’s placement of
missiles within Cuba was a direct response to the placement of American missiles in Turkey is a
point that many Revisionists use to emphasize the fear of American society to the ideas of
communism. Although the Revisionist movement began prior to the Cuban Missile Crisis, both
the events of Cuba and American involvement within Vietnam only empowered the ideas of
these thinkers who viewed American paranoia as the chief cause of the Cold War. In addition,
Revisionists often couple the American fear of communism as a threat to not only democracy,
but to the capitalist system America thrived upon. The primary philosopher and in turn, founder,
of such Revisionist ideologies was American William Appleman Williams. Williams often
argued that it was really the system of capitalism, not democracy, which fueled the conflict
within the United States against the Soviet Union. Instead of blaming the events of the Cold War
upon Soviet encroachment, Williams and other Revisionist thinkers blame the foreign policies of
the United States and the egocentrism America placed upon its own national image.
The ideas of Orthodox and Revisionist thinkers can both be utilized to accurately depict
and describe the events of the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, yet both viewpoints take
opposing ideas. On one hand, the Orthodox thinkers view the Soviet Union as the primary
antagonists, while the United States plays the part of the protagonist within the Cold War.
However, on the other hand, Revisionists thinkers place the role of the antagonist upon the
United States and the capitalist system that drove their diplomacy. Although both sides offer
valid points, they are simply utilizing facts that exist, and shaping them to match their argument.
What either side fails to acknowledge, or even suggest, is the possibility that both sides were to
blame for the events of the Cold War. Instead of separating the ideas of the Orthodox and
Revisionist thinkers, by combining the viewpoints of these viewpoints, history can be properly
represented within its proper context. Another observation within these viewpoints is how they
relate to just the specific diplomacy between the United States and Soviet Union, while it never
takes into account how the populations of these countries were affected by such transgressions.
In other words, both Orthodox and Revisionist thinkers tend to embrace a more anti-Marxist
viewpoint over the historical events of the Cold War. Despite all the differences within their
specific views on the events of the Cold War, Orthodox and Revisionist thinkers are simply
offering two different reasons for the tensions between the two world superpowers without
conceding the validity of the other’s viewpoint.
The historiography of the Cuban Missile Crisis and Cold War ultimately exists between
the pro-American Orthodox thinkers and the anti-American Revisionist thinkers. While the
Orthodox thinkers blame the Soviet system of communism for the tensions, Revisionists tend to
foot the blame upon the capitalist agenda of American diplomats whom feared the threat of
communism within American allies. Both viewpoints are simply two facts that both accurately
led to the beginning of the Cold War and the events that followed, such as the Cuban Missile
Crisis. However, neither side concedes to the others argument for fear that such an acceptance
would threaten the validity of their own point of view. Essentially, the arguments held between
Orthodox and Revisionist thinkers are for no one’s sake, but that of arguing.
BODY
One of the major reasons for increased tension between the United States and Soviet
Union were the increased presence of opposing forces near occupied homelands. The immediate
presence of United States Jupiter missiles within Turkey led to increased Cold War tension from
the Soviet Union. These Jupiter missiles where placed within Turkey during the Eisenhower
administration and continued hold their bases within the country once Kennedy was elected
president. The major worry from the Soviet Union was the fact that Jupiter missiles were firststrike intermediate-range ballistic missiles that would be useless if not utilized in a surprise
attack (Bernstein 62). In essence, the Jupiter missiles would have to serve as an initiation of war
with the Soviet Union, rather than retaliation. The Jupiter missiles within Turkey maintained the
capability to reach the Soviet Union within ten minutes of deployment, which led leader Nikita
Khrushchev to come up with his own retaliation of sending missiles to Cuba.
The placement of Russian nuclear missiles within Cuba only led to an extensive stand
still between the world’s two superpowers. Despite how history has placed much more emphasis
on the Soviet placement of missiles in Cuba, it has now become obvious that such placement was
a response to the presence of Jupiter missiles in Turkey. However, the Soviet Union was much
more cunning and deceptive in their missile installation within the Caribbean island. Allying
with the Cuban socialist leader, Fidel Castro, Khrushchev was able to sneak nuclear missiles
onto the island and unite against the threat of American capitalism and democracy (Dinerstein
181). The immediate threat of nuclear war so close to home forced the United States to address
the issue of the Soviet Union and its own presence within Turkey. The Soviet retaliation to U.S.
presence turned the entire world into an observer of the nuclear standoff that would ultimately
decide the immediate fate of the world. If either the United States or Soviet Union launched a
nuclear missile at the opposition, the retaliation that would ensue would create the first nuclear
war that held the capability of destroying the entire globe.
As a direct result of the nuclear standoff that the United States and Soviet Union became
encompassed within, the two nations were also thrown into a diplomatic standoff that would
determine the actions of each nation. With both nations holding weapons in close proximity of
the other, diplomacy became the best means of avoiding a nuclear catastrophe that could result
from the utilization of force. One of the most important proceedings of the Cuban Missile Crisis
involved the proceedings of the United Nations that was meant to resolve the conflict between
the Soviet Union and the United States. With the United States bringing accusations of Soviet
presence, the Russian vehemently denied any presence of missiles within Cuba. To address the
issues brought upon by the two nations and the worldwide threat such accusations held, the
United Nations organized to administer the crisis. In response to Soviet denial, United States
representative Adlai Stevenson brought forth evidence in the form of photographs that directly
placed Soviet nuclear missiles within Cuba, which in turn exposed the Soviet Union and their
deception (Kennedy 75). The effective utilization of evidence by the United States exposed the
Soviet Union for the threat they held against the United States, but not in turn stop the presence
of missiles within Cuba. However, the proceedings of the United Nations were able to put
increased pressure upon the Soviet Union for its actions.
The underlying root of Soviet and American tensions steams from the differing political
ideologies of the nations and the U.S. policy of containment. The Soviet Union utilized a
communist-authoritarian system of government that strayed directly against the United States’
system of democracy and capitalism. After World War II, both countries spread their influence
upon other nations as a method of gaining political allies around the world. In relation to Cuba,
which had become a Soviet ally, the United States feared the effects of Soviet influence upon the
rest of the Americas. Although Russian military forces were readily available should the crisis
escalate into a nuclear war, they still lacked immediate allies around the United States (Kennedy
51) . In addition to the threat of Soviet incursion, the United States began to fear the spread of
Russian communism into surrounding regions. The constant fear of communistic expansion from
the Soviet Union, the Cuban Missile Crisis not only pitted the United States against the Soviet
Union, but also democracy versus communism. Essentially, the fear of the United States turned
the Cuban Missile Crisis into a political conflict, on top of the military and diplomatic conflict
that already held steady between the nations.
The final component of the diplomatic standoff between the United States and the Soviet
Union was the military standoff that was held within the Caribbean Sea. In response to Russian
shipments of missiles into Cuba, the United States established a blockade on Cuba that would
prevent Russia ships from proceeding to the island. The resulting blockade was ordered to sink
any Soviet ships that failed to heed the warnings of the United States and attempted to break the
blockade line (Garthoff 44). At this point of quarantine, the Americans and the Soviets were at
the closest point to nuclear war; if the Soviet vessels went through the blockade, the American
ships would attack, which would lead to a nuclear retaliation by the Soviets. In addition, the
legality of the quarantine came under speculation, as many viewed Kennedy was overstepping
his authority (Chayes 26). Such issues demonstrated just how far Kennedy and his administration
pushed the boundaries in order to help avoid nuclear war at all costs during the Cuban Missile
Crisis. However, the efforts to achieve a peaceful end to the crisis were not just American goals.
President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev communicated daily throughout the debacle, hoping
to avoid nuclear war and all costs (Kennedy 79). The attempts by Kennedy and Khrushchev to
obtain peace through negotiation demonstrates how neither side wanted to suffer through a
nuclear war that held the capacity for worldwide destruction. In the end, Khrushchev agreed to
remove Soviet missiles from Cuba, while in turn, the United States agreed to remove their own
Jupiter missiles from Turkey, thus ending the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Although the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved without the massive death toll and
destruction that a nuclear war encompasses, the crisis left both political and diplomatic aftermath
in its wake. Most immediately, the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis saw the removal of
Nikita Khrushchev from his position as leader of the Soviet Union. Soviets believed that
Khrushchev acted poorly and gave into American interests by withdrawing Soviet missiles from
Cuba. Faced with the scrutiny and ire of his homeland, Khrushchev held little political power
within the Soviet Union after the Cuban Missile Crisis and was replaced in 1964 (Hopkins 218).
The fall of Khrushchev demonstrated the weakening power of the Soviet Union through the loss
of important diplomatic standoffs with the United States and its allies. In addition to his own
people, Khrushchev also lost much favor with Cuba and its people. Relying on the Soviet Union,
Cuba viewed Soviet withdrawal as an abandonment of the nation by their ally (Dobbs 338).
Dissatisfied and betrayed, Cuba denounced its alliance with Russia and began its period as a
socialist nation away from the influence of the Soviet Union. With its breaking from Cuba, the
Soviet Union lost a powerful and influential pro-socialist ally. This loss helped turn the wheels in
the spiral downward for the Soviet Union and its influence around the world.
After Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Union struggled to maintain communist allies to
combat the United States policy of containment that began to cripple communism globally.
Although the Soviet Union won view countries over to a socialist system of government,
democracy had started to become more commonplace throughout the world. Upon deposing
Khrushchev, the Communist Party hoped to demonstrate strength, despite the sudden loss of a
prominent political figure (Medvedev 171). However, replacing Khrushchev became very
difficult for the Soviet Union, who also began to experience economic turmoil as a result of their
socialist economic structure. As the Soviet Union began to crumble, Mikhail Gorbachev,
President of the Soviet Union during the late 80s and early 90s finally called for the dissolution
of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which became the end of the Soviet Union. The
political turmoil that proceeded Khrushchev’s exit from the Soviet Union demonstrates the
lasting effect that the Cuban Missile Crisis held on the Soviet Union. Although it took almost 30
years, the aftermath effects of the Cuban Missile Crisis ultimately led to the fall and collapse of
Soviet Russia.
In addition to political instability within the Soviet Union, the United States also went
through decades of political turmoil as a result of the continuing struggle against communism
and the policy of containment. Following the assassination of President Kennedy, both President
Johnson and President Nixon had to continuously manage the constant threat of communism
spreading throughout the world. The most known and evident struggle that taxed American
foreign and political relations was the Vietnam War. With communist North Vietnam invading
democratic South Vietnam, the United States came to the aid of the democratic south in order to
contain the spread of communism. However, the Vietnam War became a public relations
nightmare for the United States. War crimes and atrocities were brought to the eyes of the
American people and many South Vietnamese wanted to be joined under North Vietnamese rule,
yet the Americans remained to assist a corrupt South Vietnamese government. With many
citizens feeling that the United States was fighting a meaningless war, the United States
withdrew and Vietnam joined under communist rule. The Vietnam War became a major crisis to
the United States as many domestic citizens began to question the morality and motives behind
the U.S. policy of containment. Despite the terrible effects of the Vietnam War, United States
democracy did end up overcoming Soviet communism upon the disbandment of the Soviet
Union in 1991.
CONCLUSION
Conclusions are very easy in my opinion and I wanted to wait until I receive all feedback
and critiques before a write my final conclusion