JFK-sh

The Cuban Missile Crisis For the United States, the crisis began on October 15, 1962 when photographs revealed Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba. Early the next day, President Kennedy was informed of the missile installastions. He then ordered a quarantine of Cuba to prevent the arrival of more Soviet offensive weapons on the island. On October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery of the missiles to the public and his decision to quarantine the island. He also explained that any nuclear missile launched from Cuba would be considered an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union and demanded that the Soviets remove all of their weapons from Cuba. Because of the failed invasion of the Bay of Pigs in 1961, Fidel Castro was trying to defend his island from an attack by the U.S. Consequently, he approved Khrushchev's plan to place missiles in Cuba. In the Summer of 1962 the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build a missile base on the island. Khrushchev ordered the forces on Cuba to perform their tactical nuclear warfare if the United States were to invade Cuba. After seven days Krushchev finally met Kennedy's demands and took his forces out of Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world came to a nuclear war.