Final answer:
The Cuban Missile Crisis was caused by the US placing nuclear missiles in Turkey, the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the agreement between Khrushchev and Castro to install Soviet missiles in Cuba.
Step-by-step explanation:
Main Causes of the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a pivotal moment in the Cold War that almost escalated into a nuclear conflict. The three main causes of this crisis include:
The failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, which pushed Cuban leader Fidel Castro closer to the Soviet Union for protection against future American aggression.
Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev's agreement with Fidel Castro to install nuclear missiles in Cuba as a deterrent, which was subsequently discovered by American intelligence through aerial reconnaissance.
These events culminated in a thirteen-day standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union, which put the world on the brink of nuclear war. The crisis was eventually defused when both superpowers, under the leadership of President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, agreed to remove nuclear missiles from their locations near each other's borders.