The Cuban missile crisis of October 1962, was a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union regarding the management of nuclear weapons. The United States had initially deployed nuclear missiles in the allied countries of Italy and Turkey. The Societ Union responded by deploying missiles in the Island country of Cuba, which is located a couple of hundred miles of the coast of Florida. This represented a strategic point for the Soviets, as Cuba's geographical proximity to the United States made it the ideal location for a potential launch of attacks if a war were to occur.