The Immense Threat of the Cuban Missile Crisis - 1116 Words

Only since the 1990’s, have we have understood the immense threat that presented itself over the course of two weeks in October of 1962. The Cuban Missile Crisis, which is arguably the closest we have come to nuclear war in our history, was the result of five key entities and events. The five entities and events are the Manhattan Engineering District, Strategic Air Command, Mutually Assured Destruction, the missile gap, and the Bay of Pigs invasion. Without each of these individual components, the Cuban Missile Crisis would never have occurred or been the danger to the world that it was. This paper will examine the role MED played in the development of nuclear weapons, SAC’s presence in promoting a stronger stance on the Soviet Union, and the missile gap that created a situation in which the abundant need for missiles skyrocketed on both sides of the Cold War. It will also examine MAD’s ability to involve the entire Northern hemisphere in nuclear war, and th e Bay of Pigs’ impact on Cuba’s relationship with the Soviet Union. The Manhattan Engineering District or MED, was the organization that created the nuclear bomb. Without this original invention, the Cuban Missile Crisis could never have occurred. MED was a program designed in 1939, originally as the uranium committee and was changed to the codename S-1. It was designed to create a nuclear bomb for deterrence purposes only. Many of the participating scientists believed it to be impossible but the ManhattanShow MoreRelatedThe Realist Perspective of the Cuban Missile Crisis 912 Words   |  4 Pages The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted two weeks in the midst of the Cold War, and brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever before. In October of 1962 multiple nuclear missiles of the Soviet Union’ s were discovered in Cuba, a mere 90 miles south of the United States. 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