The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a time of tension between the Soviet Union, the
United States and Cuba during the Cold War. In Russia, it is known as the
Caribbean Crisis (Russian: , Karibskiy krizis). Cuba calls it the
October Crisis. It was a proxy conflict around Cuba. It happened when the Soviet
Union (USSR) began building missile sites in Cuba in 1962. Together with the
Berlin Blockade, this crisis is seen as one of the most important confrontations of
the Cold War. It may have been the moment when the Cold War came closest to a
nuclear war.[1]
There was a coup in Cuba in 1959. In it, a small group of people led by Fidel
Castro took power. The new government of Cuba took over some American
businesses. The American government refused to buy anything from Cuba after
that. The US embargo against Cuba began February 7, 1962. In 1962, the
American government was worried that the USSR would attack America from
Cuba, because Cuba is near enough that the missiles could reach almost any city
in America. Cuba was then a Communist country, like the Soviet Union.
In October 1962, American ships blocked Soviet ships carrying missiles from
going into Cuba. The Soviets and Cubans agreed to take away the missiles if
America promised not to attack Cuba. America later removed some missiles from
the country of Turkey, near the Soviet Union. However, it is not decided if anyone
"won". The USSR lost China's support over it.