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Fifty years ago the US and USSR averted a nuclear clash during the Cuban missile crisis; but the emergency had profound repercussions for each nation’s computing and communications industries.
The Cuban missile crisis of 16-28 October 1962 was a pivotal point in the Cold War. The close brush with nuclear conflict changed both the nature of the stand-off, the economic and technological strategies behind it, and even the way they used technology to communicate. The Cold War was originally a military stand-off, but it became an economic and technical race.
Behind the historic headlines, though, there is another aspect to the confrontation. A number of technological achievements and aspirations had a bearing on the outcome of the crisis; and the crisis itself influenced the technological development of the superpowers in subsequent decades, particularly in the areas of computing and communications. Understanding these aspects is to understand how the Cuban missile crisis links directly with the collapse of the Soviet empire from 1989.
Click on the Infographic for an expanded view.
The Cuban missile crisis of 16-28 October 1962 was a pivotal point in the Cold War. The close brush with nuclear conflict changed both the nature of the stand-off, the economic and technological strategies behind it, and even the way they used technology to communicate. The Cold War was originally a military stand-off, but it became an economic and technical race.
Behind the historic headlines, though, there is another aspect to the confrontation. A number of technological achievements and aspirations had a bearing on the outcome of the crisis; and the crisis itself influenced the technological development of the superpowers in subsequent decades, particularly in the areas of computing and communications. Understanding these aspects is to understand how the Cuban missile crisis links directly with the collapse of the Soviet empire from 1989.
Click on the Infographic for an expanded view.
