The Cuban Missile Crisis / The Cold War / History Lessons / MINAEV

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the moment in the standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States that almost brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. In this new episode of History Lessons, Sergey Minaev discusses the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962: What is the Doomsday Clock? How did Fidel Castro come to power in Cuba? Why did the U.S. impose sanctions on Cuba? Why did the Cold War and the arms race begin? How did the Berlin Wall come about? Why did Fidel Castro travel to the USSR? What became the peak of the conflict between the USSR and the USA? And how did the two countries manage to avoid nuclear war? 00:00 Direct communications line between the US and the USSR 00:36 The Doomsday Clock 02:16 The start of the Cold War between the USSR and the USA 06:21 How Fidel Castro came to power and became a communist 10:02 The USSR abandons its moratorium on nuclear testing 10:54 The US attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro 11:16 How did the Cuban Missile Crisis begin? 12:50 The Berlin Wall 16:19 How Khrushchev came up with the idea to place missiles in Cuba 17:05 Anastas Mikoyan 18:48 Fidel Castro accepts Soviet missiles 20:00 How weapons were transported to Cuba 23:05 Kennedy’s reaction 27:05 The naval blockade of Cuba 28:29 Kennedy addresses the nation 30:24 World reaction 31:24 The start of the blockade and Soviet ships 33:07 Emergency session of the UN Security Council 35:21 Khrushchev tries to negotiate 37:44 The peak of the conflict 41:25 The end of the Cuban Missile Crisis 44:22 Letter from Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev