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The Cuban Missle Crisis According to Nikita Khrushchev's memoirs, in May 1962 he conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Cuba as a means of countering an emerging lead of the United States in developing and deploying strategic missiles. He also presented the scheme as a means of protecting Cuba from another United States-sponsored invasion, such as the failed attempt at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. After obtaining Fidel Castro's approval, the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build missile installations in Cuba. On October 16, President John Kennedy was shown reconnaissance photographs of Soviet missile installations under construction. President Kennedy reviewed aerial photographs showing the Soviets were installing offensive missiles in Cuba. Ordering daily reconnaissance flights over the island, the President and his advisors met regularly to consider military options while he mustered diplomatic support around the world.
After seven days of guarded and intense debate in the United States administration, during which Soviet diplomats denied that installations for offensive missiles were being built in Cuba, President Kennedy, in a televised address on October 22, announced the discovery of the installations and proclaimed that any nuclear missile attack from Cuba would be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union and would be responded to accordingly. He also imposed a naval quarantine on Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments of offensive military weapons from arriving there. During the crisis, the two sides exchanged many letters and other communications, both formal and back channel. Khrushchev sent letters to Kennedy on October 23 and 24 indicating the deterrent nature of the missiles in Cuba and the peaceful intentions of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet government considers the violation of the freedom of navigation in international waters and air space to constitute an act of aggression propelling humankind into the abyss of a world nuclear-missile war. Therefore, the Soviet government cannot instruct captains of Soviet ships bound for Cuba to observe orders of American naval forces blockading this island. Our instructions to Soviet sailors are to observe strictly the generally accepted standards of navigation in international waters and not retreat one step from them. And, if the American side violates these rights, it must be aware of the responsibility it will bear for this act. To be sure, we will not remain mere observers of pirate actions by American ships in the open sea.
We will then be forced on our part to take those measures we deem necessary and sufficient to defend our rights. To this end we have all that is necessary. Respectfully, /s/ N. Khrushchev N. KHRUSHCHEV Moscow 24 October 1962 On October 26, Khrushchev sent Kennedy a long rambling letter seemingly proposing that the missile installations would be dismantled and personnel removed in exchange for United States assurances that it or its proxies would not invade Cuba. On October 27, another letter to Kennedy arrived from Khrushchev, suggesting that missile installations in Cuba would be dismantled if the United States dismantled its missile installations in Turkey.
The American administration decided to ignore this second letter and to accept the offer outlined in the letter of October 26. Khrushchev then announced on October 28 that he would dismantle the installations and return them to the Soviet Union, expressing his trust that the United States would not invade Cuba. Further negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light bombers also be removed from Cuba, and to specify the exact form and conditions of United States assurances not to invade Cuba. Many reasons have been given for why the Soviets decided to place the missiles on the island in the first place. Graham T. Allison's Essence of Decision Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (1971) was a trailblazer for the study and teaching of foreign policy making and bureaucracy.
Graham T. Allison (in Essence of Decision Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis) identifies many of them. The more plausible ones are defending Cuba and missile balance. An inspection of the Soviet installations on Cuba show that while defence might have been on the minds of the Soviets, it was not the real reason. The weaponry sent to Cuba included medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles. These missiles were clearly of offensive nature and were sure to provoke the US (kind of like waking a sleeping giant).
Instead of sending missiles, Soviet troops would have been sufficient to deter the US from trying to succeed where the Bay of Pigs Operation had failed. Also, the support for Cuba was only newly emerging in the USSR which till then had seen it as a US lackey. Missile power parity seems to be the real reason. A tiny section of the Soviet Armed Forces noticed that the US had surpassed them in terms of intercontinental missiles. They wanted to reach, at least, parity and had the firm backing of Khrushchev. As there was not enough resources (nor the support of the entire military institution) to build more intercontinental missiles, they decided to use the IRBMs and Mrs.
These missiles had a smaller range but using Cuba as a launcher would have solved this problem. Also, they were much cheaper. At the end of this adventure nobody was happy: Fidel Castro was angry at the way the Soviets had retreated. One of the main reasons why Khrushchev fell from power in October 1964 is this crisis. The Soviets also realized that it was going to be hard to achieve parity with the US. Yet, the Soviet government did begin an extensive military expansion which was quite successful but the costs of the military expenditures meant that the Soviet economy was being crippled for good.
The US understood that the Soviet danger was much closer to home, i. e. not some distant land. The missiles were removed from Turkey but they became a side issue as the Soviets on October 28 had announced that they would withdraw their missiles based in Cuba without making any references to those in Turkey. From the point of averting a recurrence of such a conflict between the Soviets and the Americans, a hotline communications systems was established between the two capitals. This system was to enable faster and more direct exchange of messages in times of crisis.
The next year, 1963, saw the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty being concluded between the two countries. It would not be farfetched to say that coming so close to a nuclear war during the Cuban crisis pushed the USSR and the US to conclude such a deal.
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Research essay sample on Cuban Missile Crisis Missiles In Cuba
