The Cuban Missle Crisis According to Nikita Khrushchev's memoirs, in May 1962 he conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Cuba as a means of countering an emerging lead of the United States in developing and deploying strategic missiles. He also presented the scheme as a means of protecting Cuba from another United States-sponsored invasion, such as the failed attempt at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. After obtaining Fidel Castro's approval, the Soviet Union …showed first 75 words of 1077 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1077 total…Soviets and the Americans, a hotline communications systems was established between the two capitals. This system was to enable faster and more direct exchange of messages in times of crisis. The next year, 1963, saw the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty being concluded between the two countries. It would not be farfetched to say that coming so close to a nuclear war during the Cuban crisis pushed the USSR and the US to conclude such a deal.