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.It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.^Enhance Soviet strike capability against the United States.
CIA Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.allworldwars.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^Further, Kennedy has Dobrynin told that if the Soviet Union does not remove its missiles, the United States will attack Cuba.
Cuban History, Missle Crisis (3 of 4) 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.marxists.org [Source type: Original source]
^In the Autumn of 1962 the Soviet Union was placing nuclear missiles in Cuba.
Amazon.com: Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis (9780393318340): Robert F. Kennedy, Arthur Schlesinger Jr.: Books 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.amazon.com [Source type: General]Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis 19 January 2010 8:49 UTC www.amazon.com [Source type: General]
[11]
.To halt this offensive buildup, a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated.^This left the question of what to do--a matter which was resolved after five days of debate and deliberation in favor of a "strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba."
The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962: Presenting the Photographic EvidenceAbroad 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC permanent.access.gpo.gov [Source type: Original source]
^The parliament and military equipment sent to Cuba.
JFK Televised Address on Cuban Missile Crisis at Boston.com 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC multimedia.boston.com [Source type: Original source]
^I hope that the -- to build up a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated.
JFK Televised Address on Cuban Missile Crisis at Boston.com 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC multimedia.boston.com [Source type: Original source]
.All ships of any kind bound for Cuba from whatever nation and port will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back.^Withdrawal of Soviet offensive weapons from Cuba ...
CIA Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.allworldwars.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^Where they found to contain Congo's of offensive weapons being turned back.
JFK Televised Address on Cuban Missile Crisis at Boston.com 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC multimedia.boston.com [Source type: Original source]
^Ownership of any kind bound to Cuba from whatever nation helped -- out.
JFK Televised Address on Cuban Missile Crisis at Boston.com 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC multimedia.boston.com [Source type: Original source]
.This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers.^This quarantine will be extended if needed to other types of Chicago and carry it.
JFK Televised Address on Cuban Missile Crisis at Boston.com 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC multimedia.boston.com [Source type: Original source]
^This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers.
Thirteen Days in October: The Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.squidoo.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^U Thant answered that the Americans are demanding checks on the Soviet vessels carrying cargo to Cuba, as one of the conditions on their lifting the quarantine.
Russian Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC faculty.chass.ncsu.edu [Source type: Original source]
We are not at this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets attempted to do in their Berlin blockade of 1948.
| “ | .It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.^
^
^
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— John F. Kennedy, October 22, 1962
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.They, no more than we, can let these things go by without doing something.^Both of these regimes have proven that they are more than willing to kill thousands of people, destroy hundreds of square miles of land and water, and waste billions of dollars in doing so just so they can establish their position in their battle to control their world.
The Next Cuban Missile Crisis? - From Niklas Kozloff 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.homepagedaily.com [Source type: Original source]
^What's more, without a proper Skirmish or multiplayer option, if you're adverse to such hardships it won't be long before you're pining for something more upbeat.
PC Review: Cuban Missile Crisis: The Aftermath Review - ComputerAndVideoGames.com 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.computerandvideogames.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^Barack Obama is not going to attack ANYONE, and this is no more than Stanley Baldwin being compelled to say something or look even more foolish.
PostPartisan - With Iran, 'The Cuban Missile Crisis in Slow Motion' 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC voices.washingtonpost.com [Source type: Original source]
.They can't, after all their statements, permit us to take out their missiles, kill a lot of Russians, and then do nothing.^In RFK's posthumous book, "Thirteen Days," he describes his conversation with Dobrynin on Oct 27 as refusing any quid pro quo, just that the US was planning to take the Turkey missiles out anyway.
Washingtonpost.com: Live Online 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC discuss.washingtonpost.com [Source type: General]
^JFK states: "We can't very well invade Cuba with all its toil...when we could have gotten them out by making a deal on the same missiles in Turkey.
The Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.hpol.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^We would gladly let your ships pass in both directions, if they carry all your missiles away.
Russian Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC faculty.chass.ncsu.edu [Source type: Original source]
.If they don't take action in Cuba, they certainly will in Berlin.^President Kennedy then said that he thought at some point Khrushchev would say that if we made a move against Cuba, he would take Berlin.
CIA Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.allworldwars.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^They would probably link Cuba with the Berlin situation and emphasize their patience and preference for negotiations, implying that Berlin was held hostage to US actions in Cuba.
CIA Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.allworldwars.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^What is the likelihood that if we take an active step in Cuba, the Soviets will take a parallel counterstep in Central Europe and particularly in or around Berlin.
Inside the Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC openvault.wgbh.org [Source type: Original source]
[15]
| Problems listening to this file? See media help. |
.This initially was to involve a naval blockade against offensive weapons within the framework of the Organization of American States and the Rio Treaty.^This initially was to involve a naval blockade against offensive weapons within the framework of the Organization of American States and the Rio Treaty.
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.history.navy.mil [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^United States lifted its naval blockade.
Cuban Missile Crisis (1).htm 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.ibike.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^It is within the competence of the Organization of American States.
Russian Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC faculty.chass.ncsu.edu [Source type: Original source]
.Such a blockade might be expanded to cover all types of goods and air transport.^Such a blockade might be expanded to cover all types of goods and air transport.
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.history.navy.mil [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^Many more preparations were necessary, however, before the JCS considered the stage set, not so much for the imposition of the blockade but for the possibilities such action might precipitate.
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.history.navy.mil [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^The meeting considered three drafts of scenarios of three possible courses of action, that is, air strike, the political path and progressive economic blockade, all of which are attached.
CIA Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.allworldwars.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
.The action was to be backed up by surveillance of Cuba.^The action was to be backed up by surveillance of Cuba.
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.history.navy.mil [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^JFK suspends U-2 air surveillance over Cuba and orders that no military action be taken against ships approaching the quarantine line.
The Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.hpol.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^We were there ready for action in case a MIG made a run on one of our surveillance aircraft that was flying across Cuba.
CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.mofak.com [Source type: Original source]
.The CNO's scenario was followed closely in later implementing the quarantine.^CNO's scenario was followed closely in later implementing the quarantine.
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.history.navy.mil [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
.Latin American participation in the quarantine now involved two Argentine destroyers which were to report to the U.S. Commander South Atlantic [COMSOLANT] at Trinidad on 9 November.^Latin American countries are beginning to offer military units for the quarantine, and there is generally little adverse reaction in the hemisphere.
CIA Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.allworldwars.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^There are reports that anti-US demonstrations have broken out in several Latin American capitals, including Buenos Aires, Caracas, and La Paz.
CIA Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.allworldwars.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^Recent oral history conferences involving both American and Soviet participants have generated startling revelations about the nature and degree of the threat represented by the Crisis.
Student Question: Cuban Missile Crisis - The Education Forum 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC educationforum.ipbhost.com [Source type: Original source]
An Argentine submarine and a Marine battalion with lift were available if required. .In addition, two Venezuelan destroyers and one submarine had reported to COMSOLANT, ready for sea by November 2. The Government of Trinidad and Tobago offered the use of Chaguaramas Naval Base to warships of any OAS nation for the duration of the quarantine.^Venezuela's naval intelligence chief, Admiral Salbatore Cammarata Bastidas, said that 1,000 Russian military personnel would take part in mid-November exercises with Venezuelan frigates, patrol boats, submarines, and aircraft.
Nikolas Kozloff: The Next Cuban Missile Crisis? 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.counterpunch.org [Source type: News]
^Guantanamo and the two nuclear torpedoes used against American ships ensure that no one is in the mood to take prisoners.
The Cuban Missile War Timeline - Alternate History Discussion Board 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.alternatehistory.com [Source type: Original source]
^He demands that the general use these against Guantanamo Naval Base in retaliation for the American nuclear strike.
The Cuban Missile War Timeline - Alternate History Discussion Board 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.alternatehistory.com [Source type: Original source]
.The Dominican Republic had made available one escort ship.^For instance, aerial photos made available this morning show 68 boxes on ships that are not believed to be Il-28s and cannot be identified.
The Cuban Missile Crisis | Arms Control Association 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.armscontrol.org [Source type: Original source]
.Colombia was reported ready to furnish units and had sent military officers to the U.S. to discuss this assistance.^The forces of the military units in this group (105,000 persons) have been brought to military readiness, and are occupying departure positions.
Russian Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC faculty.chass.ncsu.edu [Source type: Original source]
^Secretary Rusk reported on the United Nations, stated there is no confirmed Soviet reaction or statement of intentions but discussed exchange with.
CIA Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.allworldwars.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^Great care had to be taken to prevent disclosure of the scope of preparations and to avoid the impression that the United States was building to a point of military readiness for Cuban operations.
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.history.navy.mil [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
.The Argentine Air Force informally offered three SA-16 aircraft in addition to forces already committed to the quarantine operation.^Additionally, Castro's air force, which supposedly .
Cuba, Castro, And The Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.globalsecurity.org [Source type: Original source]
^SA-2 sites, of which 16 are believed to be individually operational with some missiles on launcher; .
CIA Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.allworldwars.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^PM Three Soviet nuclear devices destroy Rhein-Main Air Force base and the scratch forces attempting to defend it.
The Cuban Missile War Timeline - Alternate History Discussion Board 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.alternatehistory.com [Source type: Original source]
[20]
| “ | .Direct aggression against Cuba would mean nuclear war.^
^
^
.The Americans speak about such aggression as if they did not know or did not want to accept this fact.^
^
^
.I have no doubt they would lose such a war.^
^
^
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— Ernesto "Che" Guevara, October 1962[22]
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.We had to send a U-2 over to gain reconnaissance information on whether the Soviet missiles were becoming operational.^What's been known for a few years now is Soviet missile commanders on the ground in Cuba had operational control and orders to use the nukes instead of lose them in case of attack.
Cafe Talk | Talking Points Memo | Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^Since the foregoing evidence is not fully conclusive, we must also consider whether the Soviets would wish to secrete strategic missiles in Cuba.
CIA Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.allworldwars.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^Thompson realized that odds were this would not be enough to remove the missiles already existing in Cuba and would not prevent them from becoming operational in the near future.
The Role Of Bobby Kennedy Throughout The Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.freeessay.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
.We believed that if the U-2 was shot down that—the Cubans didn't have capabilities to shoot it down, the Soviets did—we believed if it was shot down, it would be shot down by a Soviet surface-to-air-missile unit, and that it would represent a decision by the Soviets to escalate the conflict.^A Soviet SA-2 missile shoots down Maj.
Thirteen Days in October: The Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.squidoo.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^Soviet decision for the missile deployment, but also provided .
Cuba, Castro, And The Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.globalsecurity.org [Source type: Original source]
^A U-2 plane is shot down over Cuba by a Soviet surface-to-air missile and the pilot is killed.
The Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.hpol.org [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
.And therefore, before we sent the U-2 out, we agreed that if it was shot down we wouldn't meet, we'd simply attack.^Roughly 250 miles away from the airfield, the survivors release their underwing AS-2 Kangaroo cruise missiles before they are shot down in turn.
The Cuban Missile War Timeline - Alternate History Discussion Board 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.alternatehistory.com [Source type: Original source]
^We have just received a report that an unarmed American plane was shot down while carrying out a reconnaissance flight over Cuba.
Cuban Missile Crisis | Red Room 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.redroom.com [Source type: Original source]
^The Iranians sent the letter to the IAEA on Monday, so Russia could easily have known about it before his meeting with Obama.
PostPartisan - With Iran, 'The Cuban Missile Crisis in Slow Motion' 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC voices.washingtonpost.com [Source type: Original source]
It was shot down on Friday [...]. .Fortunately, we changed our mind, we thought "Well, it might have been an accident, we won't attack."^Obviously our minds changed.
Inside the Cuban Missile Crisis 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC openvault.wgbh.org [Source type: Original source]
^Well, Khrushchev thought the missiles would change the nuclear balance, but not significantly.
The Cuban Missile Crisis | Arms Control Association 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.armscontrol.org [Source type: Original source]
.Later we learned that Khrushchev had reasoned just as we did: we send over the U-2, if it was shot down, he reasoned we would believe it was an intentional escalation.^Khrushchev believed, correctly, that we would interpret this as a deliberate escalation of the confrontation.
The Cuban Missile Crisis | Arms Control Association 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.armscontrol.org [Source type: Original source]
^If the US confronts Khrushchev with its knowledge of the MRBM deployment and presses for a withdrawal, we do not believe the Soviets would halt ths deployment.
CIA Documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.allworldwars.com [Source type: FILTERED WITH BAYES]
^What did the Soviets and Cubans believe the U.S. response would be?
The Cuban Missile Crisis | Arms Control Association 2 February 2010 14:014 UTC www.armscontrol.org [Source type: Original source]
And therefore, he issued orders to Pliyev, the Soviet commander in Cuba, to instruct all of his batteries not to shoot down the U-2.[24]
| ←Wikisource:Speeches | Cuban
Missile Crisis by |
| Delivered on 22 October 1962. |
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This work is in the .public domain in
the United States because it is a work
of the United States federal government (see 17 U.S.C. 105).^
^
^
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The English used in this article or section may not be easy for everybody to understand. You can help Wikipedia by making this page or section simpler. |
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a time of tension between the Soviet Union, the United States and Cuba during the Cold War. In Russia, it is known as the Caribbean Crisis (Russian: Карибский кризис, Karibskiy krizis). Cuba calls it the October Crisis. It was a proxy conflict around Cuba. It happened when the Soviet Union (USSR) began building missile sites in Cuba in 1962. Together with the Berlin Blockade, this crisis is seen as one of the most important confrontations of the Cold War. It may have been the moment when the Cold War came closest to a nuclear war.[1]
There was a coup in Cuba in 1959. In it, a small group of people led by Fidel Castro took power. The new government of Cuba took over some American businesses. The American government refused to buy anything from Cuba after that. The US embargo against Cuba began February 7, 1962. In 1962, the American government was worried that the USSR would attack America from Cuba, because Cuba is near enough that the missiles could reach almost any city in America. Cuba was then a Communist country, like the Soviet Union.
In October 1962, American ships blocked Soviet ships carrying missiles from going into Cuba. The Soviets and Cubans agreed to take away the missiles if America promised not to attack Cuba. America later removed some missiles from the country of Turkey, near the Soviet Union. However, it is not decided if anyone "won". The USSR lost China's support over it.
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The Americans feared that the Soviet would expand communism or socialism. The United States and the USSR had been political enemies after the end of the Second World War in 1945. The United States felt it was not right that a country in the Caribbean openly allied itself with the Soviet Union. This would also make the Monroe Doctrine useless. This doctrine kept powers in Europe from getting involved in South America.
In late 1961, President John F. Kennedy launched a number of secret operations against Castro's government. These operations were named Operation Mongoose. They were unsuccessful.[2] In February 1962, the United States launched an economic embargo against Cuba.[3]
In September 1962, the Cuban government thought the United States would invade. They thought this because there was a resolution by the Congress of the United States. This resolution allowed the use of military force if the interests of the United States in Cuba were threatened.[4] The United States also announced a military exercise in the Caribbean to be held the following month.
Castro and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev agreed to secretly place strategic nuclear missiles in Cuba to be ready if the United States invaded. Like Castro, Khrushchev thought that a U.S. would invade Cuba soon, and that for Cuba to no longer be a Communist country would hurt his reputation around the world, especially in Latin America. He said that he wanted to confront the Americans "with more than words...the logical answer was missiles."[5]
The tensions were at their height from October 8, 1962. On October 14. United States reconnaissance saw the missile bases being built in Cuba. The crisis ended two weeks later on October 28, 1962, when the President of the United States John F. Kennedy and the United Nations Secretary-General U Thant reached an agreement with the Soviets to destroy the missiles in Cuba in exchange for a no-invasion agreement. Khrushchev requested that the Jupiter and Thor missiles in Turkey be removed, and the United States did remove them.[6]
In Cuba, Fidel Castro took power from General Batista on January 1, 1959. From 1952 to 1959, Batista was a military dictator in Cuba, very right-wing with Mafia connections and the support of the Eisenhower administration. The United States was interested in Cuba because of the many businesses that they had there, even though the country was a dictatorship. The countries were also military friends. This was shown by the US base at Guantánamo Bay. When Castro came to power in Cuba, he nationalized American companies in Cuba, meaning he took the private property from those companies and made it the property of Cuba, to use as Castro decided.[7] The United States decided to break off economic relations with Cuba[8] (which means that they would stop buying things from them). They stopped all aid going to Cuba and stopped buying Cuban sugar (which was Cuba's main export). This was a disaster for Castro, because America bought the most Cuban sugar. However, Russia saved the Cuban economy by buying Cuban sugar for a lot of money.
Castro turned to the USSR, still powerful at that time. He signed a contract with Nikita Khrushchev, the Russian president at the time. The contract said that the USSR would buy 1 million tons of Cuban sugar once a year, every year in exchange for Castro's Communist support; he declared himself a Marxist-Leninist, December 2, 1961.
The reasons that Krushchev wanted to help Cuba were the following:
The Eisenhower government was worried that Castro was a Communist and that this could be a threat to American economic dominance. A timeline released by the National Security Archives shows that the US began planning to overthrow the government of Cuba in October, 1959. After the nationalization of American property on the island, Eisenhower broke diplomatic relations with the revolutionary government of Cuba on January 3, 1961 and plans were made to remove the Castro government from power. The Kennedy government took over those plans later. On April 17, 1961, the CIA began an operation later called the Bay of Pigs invasion by Brigade 2506. The goal was for a group of Cubans, including some who were still loyal to General Batista, to attack Cuba and overthrow Castro. President Kennedy refused to order American troops to support the invasion.
As the group set off to attack Cuba, Kennedy grew nervous. The president suffered from a rare endocrine disorder of chronic adrenal insufficiency, called Addison's disease, for which he received steroid and cortisone treatment. Stress calls on the adrenal glands to function. Symptoms of an adrenal disease include confusion and psychosis. There was a lot of secrecy surrounding Kennedy's health during his years as president, and the 25th amendment to the US Constitution, which clarifies what happens if the president is unable to do his job, was introduced partly because of this incident. Kennedy thought that an American attack against a Communist state could lead to a full-scale war against the USSR. Kennedy decided not to provide American military support at the last moment. This may have led to the failure of the Bay of Pigs attack.
Castro wanted to feel safe from the United States. He knew that if a second attack was made, Cuba might lose and he would be removed from power. Castro asked Krushchev for missile sites to be built on Cuba so that he could defend himself against any American threat. The USSR agreed to this and started building missile sites on Cuba. These missiles could hit any major city in the United States.
When Kennedy found out about the missile sites on October 16[9] by sending a United States Navy F-8 Crusader to take pictures of Cuba,[10] he saw the missile sites and thought the worst: that Cuba was preparing to attack the United States.
The United States was angry when they found out about the missile sites. Kennedy's advisers did not believe that the missiles were completely ready at the time they first saw the pictures, but they guessed that the missiles would be ready in less than two weeks (this is where the movie and book, 13 Days, get their name). This meant that Kennedy had to act fast. His options were not clear at first, so he started EXCOMM (Executive Committee of the National Security Council) so they would give him some options. The options basically were:
| Options | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Do nothing | Avoids a war | Kennedy would look weak to the USSR and the rest of the world. Leaves active nuclear missiles very close to the USA. |
| Attack | Would destroy some missile sites. | Lots of soldiers would die and Cuba could launch nuclear missiles at the US and cause a lot of destruction, including possibly the destruction of Earth. |
| Diplomatic pressure | Would avoid a war and maybe convince USSR to remove the missiles | USSR would probably not give up and it could end up making them look like they held more power than the US or its allies. |
| Build a Blockade | No casualties. Would make it hard for Cuba to get food, military and other support from USSR or others and would stop any more missiles from coming to Cuba | The missile sites that were already in Cuba would still be there. It was also internationally illegal to run a blockade and could be seen as an act of war against the USSR, causing a war. |
Kennedy chose to build a blockade around Cuba to stop all ships going there.[11] The blockade was put in place on October 20.
The USSR's first ships arrived at the blockade on October 25 and were turned away.
Nikita Khrushchev sent a letter to Kennedy on October 26. Kennedy's advisers said that the letter looked like it had been written by Krushchev himself and not his official writers who would normally do it. They also said that it looked like it was written by a man who was under stress. In a paper called "Forty Years After 13 Days," Robert McNamara quoted a part of the letter from Krushchev:
| “ | Everyone needs peace; both capitalists, if they have not lost their reason, and still more, communists. War is our enemy and a calamity for all people. If indeed war should break out, then it would not be in our power to stop it, for such is the logic of war. I have participated in two wars and I know that war ends only when it has rolled through cities and villages, everywhere sowing death and destruction. I should like you to agree that one cannot give way to pressures; it is necessary to control them. If people do not show wisdom, then in the final analysis they will come to a clash, like blind moles, and then reciprocal extermination will begin. If you have not lost your self-control, then Mr. President we and you ought not now to pull on the end of a rope in which you have tied the knot of war, because the more the two of us pull, the tighter the knot will be tied. And a moment may come when that knot will be tied so tight that even he who tied it will not have the strength to untie it. And then it will be necessary to cut that knot. And what that will mean is not for me to explain to you, because you yourself understand perfectly what terrible forces our countries possess. Let us not only relax the forces pulling on the end of the rope; let us take means to untie the knot. We are ready for this. | ” |
| —Nikita Kruschev[12] | ||
Krushchev was saying that he would remove the missile sites if he promised not to invade Cuba. An invasion of Cuba would make Krushchev look bad and could also lead to a nuclear war. This was the reaction that Kennedy wanted.
The very next day, a second letter was sent from Russia to Kennedy. This one looked more official than the first. It also said that the US must take its nuclear missiles out of Turkey if they wanted Russia to take their missiles out of Cuba. It would have been a fair trade because the US missiles in Turkey were close enough to Russia that they could reach most of the important cities and Cuba was close enough to the US that the Russian missiles would reach most of the important US cities. The problem for Kennedy was that he could not publicly agree to remove the US missiles from Turkey because Turkey would then not be protected and they would not be happy. Another problem was that Kennedy and his advisers did not know if Krushchev was still in power. They thought that someone in the Russian government might have overthrown Krushchev. They thought this because the second letter was so much different than the first. Kennedy decided to send a secret message to Krushchev saying that they would remove the missiles from Turkey in a few months as long as they did not tell the public about it. Kennedy then sent an official letter to Krushchev agreeing to the conditions of the first letter and ignoring the second.
Krushchev agreed to the secret message.
On November 1, the missile sites were removed and the problems were over.
Nobody really knows who won the Cuban Missile Crisis. Khrushchev said that he had won because the United States never bothered Cuba again and the missile sites in Turkey were removed. But he had lost respect from China. China broke off relations with the USSR and Khrushchev had to quit.
Khrushchev goals in the crisis had various results:
The United States saw Kennedy as the hero who had fought Communism and won.
For students' use
Complex
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| | ''Thirteen Days'' movie - Thirteen Days (2000) |
| | President Kennedy's Address to the Nation on the Soviet Arms Buildup in Cuba - Address to the Nation on the Soviet Arms Buildup in Cuba |
| | Latin American Task Force - USS Mullinnix DD-944 - 1962 Cruise (Cuba Crisis) |
| | Interview with Joe Bulik - JOE BULIK - 31.1.98 |
| | The Naval Quarantine of Cuba, 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 |
| | The Naval Quarantine of Cuba, 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 |
| | link title - Example Web Page |
| | ''The Fog of War'' movie - The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003) |
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