8. The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)       

               It is the year 1962. The cold war has now lasted for 15 years. Although it was been said to affect the whole world, in my mind now in the year 2012, the world was merely acting on behalf of United States and Russia. Cold war is the one war that I did not really like to study about because, it had no motive other then installing one or two idealism. If it were up to me, let the people decide their own way of thinking. That is the true way of freedom.

the missile that was to be placed in Cuba

                Anyways the Russian was feeling a bit unease by the placement of the US nuclear missile in Turkey. This would mean to them that the American missiles could reach the whole of Russia, while Russian missile could only as far as Europe. They would need to place a missile somewhere closer to the US to make it really count.

                Meanwhile a year earlier, the US had backed Cuban exiled to overthrow it's government, in what is now called 'the Bay of Pigs invasion' but had failed. So Fidel Castro, is now expecting another attack from the US and is looking at ways to defend Cuba. When he heard of 'Premier Nikita Khrushchev' problems they came up with a plan to place a nuclear missile in Cuba (that's right kids, the story in X-men: First Class was kinda true).

                Russia now had sent ships with the missile in it, and it was escorted by a fleet of the Soviet navy, and it's warships. Since Cuba was really close to the US, President John F. Kennedy, had placed a quarantine by the US navy around Cuba. On the 25nd of October 1962, both fleets was on stand still outside, the Cuban waters. The US was trying to stop any Soviet ships from approaching Cuba, and the Soviets are trying to get the missile into Cuba. This was a delicate situation, if the fleets had clashed then the two nations would be at really at war and it would be just a matter of time when all nuclear missiles in the world would be launched. The next day, President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev contacted each other, and worked out a deal, and they need to be quick because news of a Soviet U-2 ship had been shot down. 

Washington-Moscow hotline was established as a result of this event

                In the end, they agreed that no missile will be placed in Cuba, and the US will not anymore attack Cuba. They also negotiated of a dismantle of the US missile in Turkey. On the 28th of October 1962, the crisis was resolve. This moment landed on my favorite moments list because, if it had gone in a different direction, then the world would be destroyed. Armageddon, would have been on the 28th of October 1962, but because of the resolve of the two leaders President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev (unlike the Kaiser and the Tsar). it did not turn to be so, and temporary peace was achieve (though the cold war only ended 29 years later).