Crisis Points in Berlin and Cuba
Berlin became a critical flashpoint in the Cold War struggle. When Soviets blocked access to West Berlin in 1948, the US responded with the Berlin Airlift, delivering an impressive 8,000 tons of supplies daily for nearly a year. Later, to stop mass defections (2.5 million since 1949), the Soviets constructed the Berlin Wall in 1961. Despite its 66 miles of concrete, watchtowers, and barbed wire, about 5,000 people still managed to escape, while 200 died trying.
Cuba transformed into a dangerous Cold War battleground after Fidel Castro established a communist government in 1959. The Bay of Pigs invasion (April 1961) was a humiliating failure when Cuban refugees backed by the CIA attempted to overthrow Castro, but President Kennedy called off crucial air support.
The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962) brought the world to the brink of nuclear war when U.S. reconnaissance discovered Soviet missiles in Cuba. Kennedy established a naval blockade and demanded missile removal, creating a tense thirteen-day standoff. The Soviets eventually withdrew their missiles, and the US secretly agreed to remove missiles from Turkey. This near-catastrophe led to the creation of a direct Washington-Moscow hotline and prompted arms limitation talks.
Critical Insight: The Cuban Missile Crisis represents the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. The peaceful resolution demonstrated how diplomacy can prevail even in the most dangerous confrontations.
Vietnam's civil conflict became America's next major Cold War battleground, with US leaders viewing it through the lens of the domino theory - the belief that if one country fell to communism, neighboring nations would follow. Between 1945-1963, American involvement gradually increased from financial aid to military advisors as Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy committed to supporting South Vietnam against communist North Vietnam.