World History: Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis (called October Crisis in Cuba and Caribbean Crisis in Russia) was a 13 day standoff among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War. The crisis started when in October 1962, the American spy planes took photographs of what appeared to be mobile missile launchers in remote areas of Cuba (only 90 kilometers from Florida). Upon analysis, it was found that the missiles on the launchers were Soviet made medium range ballistic missiles (MRBMs). These missiles could be launched without warning and to any strike target in United States. United States perceived it as a threat.

Background

There was a revolution in 1959 in Cuba. The much hated dictator, Fulgencio Batista was overthrown and was replaced by Fidel Castro in this revolution. While Batista was a strong ally of United States, his successor was seen with suspicion by US. This suspicion was confirmed on Dec. 19, 1960, when Castro openly aligned with the Soviet Union. Thus, a communist ally of Soviet was on doorstep of United States.

United States had earlier declared to not to intervene in internal matters of Cuba. However, later US president Kennedy backed out of this stand. In April 1961, around 1400 Cuban exiles {the anti-communists who had fled when Castro took over} landed at the coast of Cuba at a place called Bay of Pigs trained and armed by US Central Intelligence Agency. The mission of Cuban exiles was to lead a popular uprising against Castro.

However, what happened was a fiasco and embarrassment for Kennedy administration. The Cuban military stopped the exiles cold; most were captured sent back to the United States. This made Castro a folk Hero in Cuba and Kennedy had to accept the responsibility of all the mess.

By 1962, the situation was tense. There was a mass proliferation of nuclear weapons and a newly communist Cuba was sitting with missiles right off America’s shore.

US President faced a difficult time and choice. If he did nothing, then Soviets under Nikita Khrushchev would be convinced that he had backed down, and they could advance their gains in other areas. If he did what many in US military wanted, which was to invade Cuba outright and finish the job from two years earlier, it would certainly mean war; and the Soviets had promised a full retaliatory response, which would involve nuclear weapons. The situation got much more complicated after finding the missiles could reach anywhere in the continental United States.

Key Events

On October 20, 1962, US President Kennedy and his advisors call for a quarantine of Cuba, in which the US Navy would block the coast and prevent any ship from reaching port. This would stop any new missiles from reaching Cuba, but it wouldn’t remove the ones already there. This was technically not an act of war (the word ‘quarantine’ was used since ‘blockade’ would be an act of war), so Kennedy could claim that he wasn’t escalating the conflict.

On October 22, 1962, Kennedy announced the quarantine of Cuba on television. The US military forces were moved to DEFCON 3 {DEFCON refers to the ‘global defense condition’; DEFCON 5 is peace, DEFCON 1 is active war}.

On October 23, US Navy ships took position on the ‘quarantine line,’ 800 miles from Cuba. Kennedy received a letter from Khrushchev calling the situation ‘a serious threat to peace and security. However, the Organization of American States (OAS), a group of Latin American nations and the US, approved the quarantine, giving Kennedy some legal justification for his actions.

On October 24, the Soviet ships en route to Cuba begin to slow down or change course. U.S. military forces go to DEFCON 2.

On October 25, Kennedy sent a letter to Khrushchev in which he claimed the USSR is responsible for the current crisis. The President’s advisors come up with a possible way out of the standoff: the US would remove nuclear missiles from Turkey, an ally nation, which were ‘due for replacement,’ in exchange for Soviet removal of the missiles in Cuba. These missiles in Turkey had been seen by the USSR as a threatening presence, similar, in their view, to the Cuba missiles. However, Kennedy was concerned that if US removes the missiles, the Soviets might believe that they could try similar attempts at blackmail in the future.

On October 26, the CIA reported that the Soviets seem to be accelerating their construction of missile sites in Cuba and are now trying to camouflage the missile launchers. At the same time, a letter arrived from Khrushchev in which the Soviets pledge to dismantle the missiles in exchange for an American pledge never to invade Cuba.

On October 27, a second letter from Khrushchev arrived, now insisting on a trade for missiles: US missiles in Turkey for the Soviet missiles in Cuba. Kennedy’s advisors worry that Khrushchev may have been overthrown by elements in his own government. The same day, an American plane was shot down over Cuban airspace by a Soviet missile. The Soviets claim it was an error. At the same time, another US plane accidentally violated Soviet airspace near Alaska.

On October 27, Robert Kennedy, the Attorney-General and the President’s brother, met with Anatoly Dobrynin, the Soviet ambassador to the US and told him that US government will pledge not to invade Cuba, and that the missiles in Turkey will be removed within six months. Also, if any information about this pledge leaked prior to the six-month deadline, the Kennedy administration would deny the deal.

On October 28, Khrushchev announced, over Radio Moscow, that he has agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba.

Conclusion

The Cuban missile crisis was a diplomatic triumph for the Kennedy administration and an embarrassment for the Soviet leadership. The only major concession by both sides, after the crisis, was the creation of a ‘hotline’ phone link between the two capitals, to ensure direct communication between the two nations’ leaders in the future. The degree, to which this form of brinksmanship may have encouraged future aggressive military action by the U.S., particularly in Vietnam later that same decade, is a matter of considerable debate by historians.