A janitor leans on a switch, lets loose a nuclear bomb onto the USA who replies with a deadly barrage, which in turn lets missiles from everywhere loose, destroying everything. Nuclear power has the potential to completely wipe out the human race. We witnessed the destruction of nuclear power at the end of World War II. This form of power almost came into use in the Cold War, yet there are a number of reasons as to why World War III never happened. As John Mason said the Cold War remains a Cold War "Because there was no direct armed conflict between the two continental giants, the description cold war remains an accurate one" . A World War would have resulted in the use of nuclear weapons, which had the capability of completely wiping out all humanity. Soviet and American leaders were smart- they knew what could happen. The destructive capability of nuclear warfare is the fundamental reason as to why the Cold War never resulted in World War. Between the years 1947-1962, a series of events occurred assuring the world that World War III would be prevented; these events included the Berlin Blockade, the Bay of Pigs Invasion and the Cuba Missile Cr

As we can see it is quite clear, that on numerous occasions the United States and Russia both had perfect opportunities to implement nuclear force. The fact of the matter is that neither side wanted to use nuclear power, they knew that if military force were used to a large extent, nuclear warfare would be used which would wipe out all humanity. Neither side wanted to die for their enemy; they just wanted to fight for what they believed was right. Both the Soviet Union and the United States really had nothing to gain from the use of nuclear power, apart from the satisfaction of defeating the enemy. Millions of people would have been killed and it is more than likely that nuclear war would have spelt the end of civilization. Luck also played a part is preventing a Hot War, because had the American ships have detected the Russian boats, then one would wonder where we would be today. Mutually Assured Destruction also prevented a Hot War because there was always the possibility of an unprovoked first strike present. The only thing preventing this first strike was a guaranteed counter-strike. Quite clearly, if it weren't for Mutually Assured Destruction, the world would be a very different place. The Cold War definitely had the potential to become a Hot War, but there was no reason to justify a nuclear attack and it is clear from my readings, that there was no real intention for a nuclear attack; the missiles were there more so to threaten each other.

isis. Ultimately, what I will discuss in this essay will be the essential reasons as to why I believe that the Cold War did not erupt into World War. In my opinion World War III was avoided because of Mutually Assured Destruction, luck (to some degree) and the fact that neither side had anything to gain from a "Hot War".

The most dangerous nuclear crisis of the Cold War took place over 13 days in October 1962 . History calls it the Cuba Missile Crisis. A crisis because the Cold War almost boiled at this point. This was sparked by the Bay of Pigs invasion on April 17, 1961, when 1500 Americans conducted a secret invasion of Cuba. However, they failed as Castro's (leader of a rural guerilla army) troops responded quickly and on April 19, 1961 the invasion was seen as a failure. After the Bay of Pigs invasion, Castro turned to Moscow for military projection . In October 1962 an American U-2 reconnaissance flight discovered Soviet missile installations in Cuba . The World avoided a nuclear war by a matter of minutes. United States president Kennedy ordered that any further shipments of missiles to Cuba be stopped or else a naval blockade will be enforced. President Kennedy discovered that Khrushchev was placing offensive missile sites inside Cuba . Kennedy called for the removal of these sites or else he would conduct an invasion within 24 hours. Khrushchev backed down in order to avoid any sort of nuclear attack and ordered his ships to return, however, a communication breakdown occurred and the Russian ships continued with previous orders to attack any aggressors . This is where, by sheer luck, a nuclear war never broke out, Soviet boats passed through American blockade ships undetected. Had they noticed the boats as they were passing through, a full-scale nuclear attack would have erupted. Luckily the crisis ended and the missile sites in Cuba were removed. The Cuban Missile Crisis was Khrushchev's last foreign policy fling and it proved a disaster from which he never recovered . The possibility of nuclear war from now on seems highly unlikely because a Nuclear Test ban Treaty was signed by the United States, Soviet Union and Great Britain in August 1963. The Cuban Missile Crisis did not turn into a Hot War because again, both sides did not want to implement nuclear power unless absolutely necessary. Luck also played a significant part into the avoi

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Approximate Word count = 2577
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)