23 replies to this topic

[MrJohnDClare]

I partly think America were Responsible for worsening superpower relations. For example America had caused the Bay of Pigs invasion, spied on Russia and threatened them with bombs as well as separating Berlin causing one country to act as if it was two.


However, the Soviet Union were also to blame. For example they had placed missiles in Cuba, made missiles bases behind Americas back,...........


is that right and could i add anything more to both please???

Not quite right.

America had caused the Bay of Pigs invasion

Yes!

spied on Russia

Yes - the U2 crisis.

spied on Russia

remember that BOTH sides has he atomic bomb - they threatened each other. However, in the run up to the Cuba crisis he USA DID put nuclear missiles in Turkey, close to Russia.

as well as separating Berlin causing one country to act as if it was two

NO!It was Russia which built the Berlin Wall.

However, the Soviet Union were also to blame. For example they had placed missiles in Cuba, made missiles bases behind Americas back,...........

Correct

[oa.sb]

Thanks for the reply really helped


do you have any information on Marshall Aid??


i know that Marshall agreed with Truman about how communism was wrong and evil
and that he helped to contain communism and believed it was a main cause for poverty

but could i add more information??

[Mr Field]

Marshall Aid: http://www.schoolhis...war_truman.html

• Truman saw war ravaged Europe as a "breeding ground" for Communism.
  
• He felt it was vital to encourage countries to become prosperous again - to recover from the war.
  
• US Secretary of State, George Marshall, propsed Marshall Aid (also know as the Marshall Plan)
  
• Helping European countries to recover also meant creating a market for US exports.
  
• Also (although not publicly admitted) it was a clear aim to prevent the spread of Communism.
  
• Stalin saw this as America trying to buy support.

[oa.sb]

thank you

[oa.sb]

would there have been a crisis if there had'nt been a Cold War??



i have said there wouldnt have been a crisis as both countries were undermining one aonther with words meaning they constanly were going on with issuse

could i add anything more and am i correct so far??

[MrJohnDClare]

Yes, you are right.
The only reason Russia was putting the missiles in Cuba was because of the Cold War
And the reason America was so scared and reacted like they did was because there was a Cold War on.

[oa.sb]

thank you

[oa.sb]

why were the superpowers able to reslove this crisis without going to war?

[MrJohnDClare]

I think there's a difference between:
Why did they resolve the crisis without going to war?
and
Why were they able to resolve the crisis without going to war?

They resolved the crisis without going to war because they alternative - a nuclear holocaust - was unthinkable ... ie the nucelar deterrent worked!

They were able to do so because:
1. Both Khrushchev and Kennedy (although in public they 'struck a pose') backed down - Khrushchev turned the ships around and didn;t push the second letter; Kennedy ignored the U2 shot down and gave way in private on the Turkish bases.
2. Although there was no official 'hot line' between the two sides, there turned out to be hundreds of other informal contacts - businessmen, ambassadors, spies who knew each other - which the two sides used to keep negotiations open throughout the crisis, and which eventually led to the compromise.

My own personal interpretation of the event is that Khrushchev never meant to go to war I think he was just (in a Khrushchev kind of way) 'pressing the boundaries', and he got taken by surprise by the scale of the US response. From that time on, he was looking for a way out without being seen to be defeated ... and in the end Kennedy gave him the key principles which allowed him to say that he had won (Cuba was left alone and the Turkish missile bases were dismantled).
If I were asked 'resolve the crisis without going to war?' I would answer because Khrushchev - thank God - and perhaps alone of the two - had his head screwed on right.
Khrushchev was just playing politics, and he knew when to back down.
Kennedy - who at the time and still for many people - came out of it as the hero of the hour - in my opinion took us all to the edge of annihilation. For Kennedy, the matter was an ideological issue of survival - personally, his own career, as well as internationally, American freedom - and that made him VERY dangerous. I don't think he played much part in the 'why were they able' matter, except that - when Khrushchev gave hom a way out - he was able to seize it.