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22/25 Essay Response: 'The USA was more responsible than the USSR for the crisis over Cuba in the years 1961 to 1962.' Assess the validity of this view.£6.19
22/25 Essay Response: 'The USA was more responsible than the USSR for the crisis over Cuba in the years 1961 to 1962.' Assess the validity of this view.
Essay answering the question: 'The USA was more responsible than the USSR for the crisis over Cuba in the years 1961 to 1962.' Assess the validity of this view. This response gained 22/25 marks and was written in complete exam conditions in the January 2023 Mock Season. This response has been typed...
'The USA was more responsible than the USSR for the crisis over Cuba in the years
1961 to 1962.' Assess the validity of this view.
Both the US and the USSR bear some responsibility for the crisis in Cuba between 1961 and
1962. The US had been aggressive in the past in Cuba such as at the Bay of Pigs invasion
and Kennedy going public also escalated the crisis. Meanwhile, the USSR also holds
responsibility as it was them who placed the missiles in Cuba in secrecy and didn’t
understand how the US would react to it.
To begin, the US did escalate the crisis due to how they provoked the communists. The US
had Jupiter Missiles in Turkey which undermined the Soviets and made them feel
vulnerable. Giving them the desire to place the US in the same threatened position as they
were in order to gain equality. Additionally, just before the crisis in 1961, the US had
invaded Cuba - although unsuccessfully - in order to overthrow Castro. The USSR took this
as a sign that the US were likely to attack Cuba again, therefore, the placement of missiles
can be seen as a defence measure. The Soviets felt threatened by the missiles in Turkey
and wanted to protect their new allies in Cuba in order to maintain the communist influence
there. Thus, the US held more responsibility as their aggressive policies had placed the
Soviets in a difficult position by 1961 where they felt pushed to defend themselves.
Despite this, it was ultimately the actions of the Soviets that led to the crisis. They were the
ones who placed the missiles in Cuba. Not only was it defensive, but Khrushchev also had
the desire to prove himself after the Berlin Crisis and appear threatening to the US to
emphasise his unmoving position on his ideology and policies. Ultimately, Khrushchev
sought to be respected more, and placing the missiles in Cuba would make him and the ussr
look stronger and ensure that the US took him seriously. Therefore, the USSR was not just
acting defensively, but Khrushchev was working out of self-interest in order to raise the
position of the USSR. Thus, they have responsibility too.
Kennedy’s actions also caused the crisis to escalate, however. His decision to make the
crisis known to the public in a television speech on 22 October 1962 increased the tensions
and severity of the crisis and caused the situation to escalate. He also did not seem to
empathise with the fact that the Soviets had done this for defensive purposes and did not
necessarily intend to use them aggressively at any point. The way Kennedy handled the
crisis did escalate it as if he hadn’t gone public, hysteria would not have ensued and it could
have been attempted to be resolved diplomatically behind the scenes. Therefore, Kennedy
himself holds some responsibility for the escalation of the crisis between 1961 and 1962.
The way Khrushchev handled the situation was also unhelpful and caused the crisis. The
secrecy behind the movement of missiles into Cuba made the situation worse as this would
then be seen as more suspicious by the US and lead them to think the worst of the USSR’s
intentions. Not only this, but Khrushchev didn’t seem to understand that there was no
chance that the US would ever tolerate it. A US president would never survive the next
election if they let something like this slide. Khrushchev and the USSR had placed Kennedy
and the US in a tough position where they did not have much choice but to react in the way
they did, leading them to hold much responsibility over the crisis.
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