The invasion of the Bay of Pigs:
The Bay of Pigs invasion was an attempt by the United States to take the socialist Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, out of power. The United States secretly funded and supported exiled Cuban revolutionaries who opposed Castro's regime to invading Cuba and taking control of the government. Castro's military defeated these revolutionaries after the U.S. withdrew air support. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a failure for the United States and further strained U.S. relations with Cuba and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
Cause of the invasion:
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a minor episode in the more significant Cold War era which was between the Soviet Union and the United States. When Fidel Castro established his socialist regime in Cuba, the United States viewed Castro as an immediate threat to the United States. When Castro showed allegiance to the USSR and communism, the United States believed the only way to protect their interests was to be directly involved in Cuba's government. President John F. Kennedy ordered the Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961 to prevent the spread of communism in the western world.
Following World War II, the relationship between the United States and the communist Soviet Union deteriorated quickly, and the nations of the world were divided between the two sides. Both the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in 'proxy wars in which the U.S. and USSR funded governments and militaries that supported either capitalism or communism. However, neither country wanted to ignite a full-blown war between the two nuclear superpowers.
