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How did the Cuban Missile Crisis effectively end after 13 days?

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Final answer:

The Cuban Missile Crisis ended with a secret agreement between the US and the Soviet Union, where the USSR withdrew its missiles from Cuba while the US vowed not to invade Cuba and to remove its missiles from Turkey.

Step-by-step explanation:

The Cuban Missile Crisis effectively ended after 13 days when the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union reached a peaceful agreement to avoid a catastrophic nuclear war. US President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev engaged in intense negotiations that resulted in Khrushchev agreeing to remove the nuclear missiles from Cuba. In exchange, the United States made a public commitment not to invade Cuba and a secret agreement to withdraw US missiles from Turkey.

The resolution of the crisis was assisted by back-channel communications, specifically the efforts of Robert Kennedy and Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, to reach a compromise. A major factor in de-escalating the crisis was the leaders' awareness of the potential for nuclear annihilation and their willingness to find a peaceful resolution. Post-crisis, measures such as the establishment of a direct communication line between Washington and Moscow, known as the "hotline", and the signing of the Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963, were implemented to avoid future confrontations.

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