Which event involved a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over nuclear missiles in Cuba?

• A. Korean War
• B. Bretton Woods Conference
• C. Decolonization
• D. Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer: (D)

The main idea this question tests is a moment when the United States and the Soviet Union came perilously close to war over missiles placed in Cuba. In 1962 American reconnaissance revealed Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off U.S. shores. The United States responded with a naval quarantine, effectively a blockade, demanding the removal of those missiles. For several days the world watched as Soviet ships and U.S. ships faced off, raising the threat of a nuclear conflict to levels never before seen. A negotiated settlement followed: the Soviets agreed to dismantle the Cuban missiles in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba, plus a secret agreement to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey and Italy. This event is the Cuban Missile Crisis, the defining moment of direct Cold War confrontation over nuclear weapons in the Western Hemisphere. The other options describe different historical events—Korean War, Bretton Woods, and decolonization—that do not involve a U.S.–Soviet confrontation over missiles in Cuba.