POLITICAL EFFECTS OF THE COLD WAR AND THE CUBAN REVOLUTION - HISTORY - 2025

The most important political effects of the Cold War and the Cuban Revolution were the atmosphere of political and prewar tension and the rise to power of Fidel Castro. The Cold War was a conflict between capitalist allies, led by the United States, and the Communist bloc, represented largely by the Soviet Union.

More than a military clash, the Cold War is considered a cultural, political and even sports confrontation, since both territories, the United States and the USSR, competed in many fields trying to spread their political ideology throughout the world.

Its duration spanned more than 40 years, until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The term Cold War was coined because those involved never took actual military action against each other.

The Cuban Revolution was a revolutionary movement started in Cuba in 1953 and concluded in 1959 with the rise to power of Fidel Castro.

Its most important political effect was the overthrow of the then President of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista, considered by many a dictator.

Main political effects of the cold war and the Cuban Revolution

Consequences of the cold war

This political conflict faced capitalism and communism for 4 decades, and although among the countries most involved, the United States and the Soviet Union, a military conflict was not generated, other regions were affected.

In many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, communist and socialist ideology created a tense political environment. The struggle between communism and capitalism changed governments and divided countries.

However, positive effects were achieved such as the fall of the Berlin Wall, the creation of NATO and the fall of the USSR, which in turn allowed several nations to become independent from the communist bloc.

The Cuban Revolution and its consequences

The arrival to power of the revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has had terrible consequences for the Cuban economy up to the present time.

Castro's opposition to numerous capitalist practices by US businessmen on the island led to the severance of diplomatic relations between the two nations in 1961 and the nationalization of numerous American industries based in Cuba.

The United States responded with an economic and trade embargo on Cuba, which has plunged Cubans into a deep economic and humanitarian crisis.

However, Castro loyalists deny such accusations, alleging manipulation of information by “Capitalist” media.

Missile crisis in Cuba

One of the political effects of the Cold War and the Cuban Revolution was the missile crisis in Cuba. This event, which took place between October 14 and 28, 1962, involved the United States, Cuba, and the Soviet Union.

In response to the installation of US military bases in Turkey, the USSR took advantage of the rising hatred between Americans and Cubans to use Cuba as a strategic location to place batteries of medium-range missiles to attack the United States.

The North American nation took this as a serious threat to its territory and asked to withdraw these missiles.

The USSR declared that any military action carried out by the United States against Cuba would be handled as a declaration of war by the capitalist bloc against the USSR.

During the month of October the tension grew so much that the world came under the threat of a nuclear conflict between the two superpowers.

References

1. The Cold War Museum «The Cuban revolution of« 1959 »» in: The Cold War Museum (2010) Recovered in 2017 from coldwar.org.
2. Jeffrey A. Engel (2007) Local Consequences of the Global Cold War. United States: Stanford University Press.
3. The BBC "The Cuban Crisis" on BBC (2016) Recovered in 2017 from bbc.co.uk.
4. The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica "Cuban missile crisis" in: Britannica (2017) Recovered in 2017 from britannica.com.
5. The BBC "Cold War" on BBC (2014) Recovered in 2017 from bbc.co.uk.
6. Lisa Reynolds Wolfe "Cuba: Cold War Comes To The Western Hemisphere" in: Havana Project (2014) Recovered in 2017 from havanaproject.com.