Essay questions about the Cuban Missile Crisis?

[Gemini]

Hi!

I'm about to start writing my historical investigation and I've chosen to focus on the Cuban Missile Crisis (we've had it in class) .

I desperately need help to find an essay question

I've thought about something along the lines of: What consequences did the Cuban Missile Crisis have on the USA's foreign policy? <- I imagine this is the most overdone topic EVER, but I seriously cannot think of anything else, and I'd prefer to write about something that I can use later

(We've read about the Cold War (you know, the fancy purplish book))

So do any of you have any good suggestion or how you could alternate the question to be narrower?

Laura

[Tony Stark]

Hmmmm.... I've seen a good one on "What role did Castro play in the Cuban Missile Crisis?", but that's also quite a common topic. What I'd suggest is not to look at consequences, as that'll be even more overdone, but rather causes. A long-term or mid-term cause could be interesting, perhaps something to do with Soviet domestic factors effecting their foreign policy in this way. The link between the Bay of Pigs and the CMC is fairly obvious.. Other than that, maybe the role of a particular person in the crisis, and not the obvious ones of JFK, Castro and Krushchev.

[HiggsHunter]

So do any of you have any good suggestion or how you could alternate the question to be narrower?

Laura

Hello, Laura! You could focus on a more specific issue such as "To what extent did the Polaris A2 test during Operation Dominic influence the US administration's secret concessions during the Cuban Missile Crisis?"

[Gemini]

Hmmmm.... I've seen a good one on "What role did Castro play in the Cuban Missile Crisis?", but that's also quite a common topic. What I'd suggest is not to look at consequences, as that'll be even more overdone, but rather causes. A long-term or mid-term cause could be interesting, perhaps something to do with Soviet domestic factors effecting their foreign policy in this way. The link between the Bay of Pigs and the CMC is fairly obvious.. Other than that, maybe the role of a particular person in the crisis, and not the obvious ones of JFK, Castro and Krushchev.

Hmm, looking at the causes could be a really good idea! And it'd give a thorough background knowledge:) Thanks for the suggestion.

So do any of you have any good suggestion or how you could alternate the question to be narrower?

Laura

Hello, Laura! You could focus on a more specific issue such as "To what extent did the Polaris A2 test during Operation Dominic influence the US administration's secret concessions during the Cuban Missile Crisis?"

I must admit, I have no knowledge of that nor have I ever heard any mention of it.. I don't think so at least

[HiggsHunter]

Although it was not revealed until several decades later, the secret deal to remove the US missiles from Turkey if the USSR removed theirs from Cuba was an important factor in the resolution of the crisis. It could be argued that JFK would not have agreed to this trade in October 1962 were it not for the successful Polaris A2 firing with a live nuclear warhead from a submarine during Operation Dominic just 5 months earlier. Possession of a long-range SLBM reduced the importance of having surface-launched US missiles based near Soviet territory.

[Gemini]

Although it was not revealed until several decades later, the secret deal to remove the US missiles from Turkey if the USSR removed theirs from Cuba was an important factor in the resolution of the crisis. It could be argued that JFK would not have agreed to this trade in October 1962 were it not for the successful Polaris A2 firing with a live nuclear warhead from a submarine during Operation Dominic just 5 months earlier. Possession of a long-range SLBM reduced the importance of having surface-launched US missiles based near Soviet territory.

Wow, that sounds like a really good topic! I've just reserved a bunch of books from the library, I hope they have something about this

Thanks for the great answer!

[davionmark]

You could argue if the Cuban Missile Crisis led to an important point in the development of the Cold War ....

That or how paranoia was the main driving factor that led to the crisis in October.