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Transcript
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