Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a tense 13-day standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union in October 1962. It happened when the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba, close to the United States. This brought the world very close to a nuclear war. The crisis started because the U.S. had placed its own nuclear missiles in countries near the Soviet Union, and the Soviets wanted to protect Cuba from a possible U.S. invasion.

When U.S. spy planes found evidence of these missiles in Cuba, President John F. Kennedy decided to block further shipments of missiles to the island. He called this a "quarantine" instead of a blockade to avoid calling it a war. After careful discussions, an agreement was reached: the Soviets agreed to remove their missiles from Cuba, and the United States promised not to invade Cuba again. This crisis showed how important it was for leaders to communicate directly to avoid dangerous conflicts. It also led to the creation of a direct communication line, called the Moscow–Washington hotline, between the two countries to help prevent future misunderstandings.

Background

Cuba–Soviet relations

Main article: Escalante affair

In late 1961, Fidel Castro asked the Soviet Union for more SA-2 anti-aircraft missiles. The Soviet leaders did not act on this request at first. During this time, Castro criticized the Soviets for not being bold enough and started talking with China about getting help. In March 1962, Castro removed Anibal Escalante and his supporters who were closer to Moscow from important positions in Cuba. This worried the Soviet leaders, who feared the United States might invade Cuba. Because of these concerns, the Soviet Union sent more SA-2 missiles and some regular troops to Cuba in April.

Cuba–US relations

Further information: Operation 40, Bay of Pigs Invasion, and Operation Mongoose

The Cuban government believed that US imperialism was the main reason for Cuba’s problems. Before 1958, the US government supported a leader named Fulgencio Batista, who was not popular. After World War II and during the Cold War, the United States worried about the spread of communism.

In 1959, soon after Cuba’s revolution, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under Eisenhower made plans to cause trouble in Cuba. They tried to start attacks and damage the economy. In April 1961, the United States tried to invade Cuba with forces trained by the CIA, called the Bay of Pigs Invasion. This failed and embarrassed the United States. After this, the United States increased its efforts to cause trouble in Cuba, including many attacks on both military and civilian targets. These attacks, supported by the United States, continued for several years. Because of these threats, Cuba felt it needed to protect itself.

US–Soviet relations

Main article: Missile gap

See also: Berlin Crisis of 1961

When John F. Kennedy was running for president in 1960, he talked about a “missile gap” where he thought the Soviets had more missiles. But in fact, the United States had more. By 1961, the Soviets had only four long-range missiles, while the United States had many more, including submarines that could launch missiles. The Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, said the Soviets were making lots of missiles, but this was not true. The United States had more advanced weapons and more nuclear bombs. However, the Soviets had more traditional soldiers and tanks in Europe.

Khrushchev thought Kennedy was not very strong. He felt this way because of how Kennedy acted during the Berlin Crisis of 1961, especially when the Berlin Wall was built. Khrushchev believed Kennedy would make a lot of noise but then give in.

Prelude

Conception

In May 1962, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev decided to place Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. He wanted to balance the advantage the United States had in missiles. At that time, the Soviet Union had only 20 long-range missiles that could reach the United States, and they were not very reliable. The new, better missiles would not be ready until 1965.

Khrushchev also wanted to protect Cuba from possible attacks by the United States. There had been many tensions between the two countries, including attempts to invade Cuba and economic sanctions. By placing missiles in Cuba, Khrushchev hoped to make any attack on Cuba harder for the United States.

Another reason was to support Cuba, which saw the United States as a threat. The Soviet Union had become a close friend of Cuba after its revolution in 1959.

Soviet military deployments

In early 1962, Soviet military leaders met with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. They agreed to secretly place nuclear missiles in Cuba to protect the island and to challenge the United States. The plan, called Operation Anadyr, was kept very secret. Soldiers were told they were going to a cold region and were given winter clothes, even though Cuba has a tropical climate.

American intelligence began to suspect that missile sites were being built in Cuba. Spy planes saw new military equipment and reported their findings. The crisis became a big issue in American politics before the upcoming elections.

The first Soviet missiles arrived in Cuba in September 1962. These missiles could carry huge explosions and were able to reach targets far away. The Soviet Union continued to deny that these were offensive weapons, but the United States grew more and more worried.

Missiles reported

The Soviet Union planned to place missiles in Cuba. These missiles could reach most of the United States. People in Cuba noticed large trucks moving at night carrying long covered objects, which worried American intelligence workers.

Aerial confirmation

The United States used special planes called U-2s to watch Cuba from the sky. These flights stopped for a while because of worries about other planes being shot down. When the flights started again, a U-2 took pictures showing Soviet missiles being built in Cuba.

President notified

On October 15, 1962, experts reviewed the U-2 pictures and saw what looked like missiles. The next day, President Kennedy was told about the missiles. He talked to his team and prepared to respond.

Responses considered

The team discussed different ways to respond, including doing nothing, using diplomacy, attacking the missiles, or blocking ships. They worried about how this would affect relations with the Soviet Union and its effect on global power.

The military leaders wanted to attack, but President Kennedy thought this might lead to bigger problems. He was concerned about how it would look to allies and the world.

Experts debated whether the missiles would change the balance of power. Some thought it would not make a big difference, while others worried about the political impact.

On October 18, 1962, Kennedy spoke with a Soviet official who said the weapons were for defense only, though Kennedy already knew this was not true.

Operational plans

There were two big plans made to deal with the situation. The first plan, called OPLAN 316, was about invading Cuba using soldiers from the Army and Marines, with help from ships and airplanes. However, there were problems with this plan, like not having enough special vehicles or ships to carry the soldiers.

The second plan, OPLAN 312, was mostly for the Air Force and Navy ships. This plan could be used in different ways, from attacking specific missile spots to helping the first plan’s ground forces.

Blockade

Kennedy spoke with his advisers and considered two options: an air strike against Cuban missile bases or a naval blockade of Cuba. A full invasion was not the first choice. McNamara liked the naval blockade because it was strong but limited, keeping control with the US. The word "blockade" was tricky because international law sees it as an act of war, but the Kennedy team thought the Soviets wouldn’t attack over just a blockade. Legal experts from the State Department and Justice Department said they could avoid war by using the Rio Treaty for defending the Western Hemisphere, needing a two-thirds vote from the Organization of American States.

On October 19, a group of advisers looked at both the air strike and blockade plans. By October 21, most supported the blockade. But there was worry that once the blockade started, the Soviets might finish setting up missiles, and the US could end up bombing working missiles if the blockade didn’t make them leave.^: 99–101 

Speech to the nation

At 3:00 pm EDT on October 22, 1962, President Kennedy set up a special committee with a special order. At 5:00 pm, he spoke with leaders of Congress, who wanted a stronger action than a blockade. In Moscow, the US Ambassador told Soviet leader Khrushchev about the coming blockade and Kennedy’s speech. Ambassadors worldwide told leaders not in the Eastern Bloc about it. Before the speech, US teams talked to leaders like the Prime Minister of Canada, the Prime Minister of Britain, the Leader of West Germany, the President of France, and the head of the Organization of American States. They all supported the US.

Just before speaking, Kennedy called former President Dwight Eisenhower. The two talked about how they thought Khrushchev might react, similar to during the Suez Crisis.

At 7:00 pm EDT on October 22, Kennedy spoke on TV to the nation, telling them about finding missiles in Cuba. He said:

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.

Kennedy explained the plan:

To halt this offensive buildup, a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba, from whatever nation or port, will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back. This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers. We are not at this time, however, denying the necessities of life as the Soviets attempted to do in their Berlin blockade of 1948.

During the speech, US forces around the world were put on higher alert. The heavy cruiser USS Newport News was the main ship for the blockade, with the USS Leary as its escort. Kennedy’s speech writer said in 2007 that this was Kennedy’s most important speech because of its impact on the world.

Crisis deepens

On October 23, 1962, US Air Force and Navy planes started very low flights over Cuba to take photos. Only once did Cuban planes try to stop them, but they failed.

At 11:24 am EDT on October 24, a message from a US official to ambassadors in Turkey and NATO said they were thinking about offering to remove missiles from Italy and Turkey if the Soviets removed theirs from Cuba. Turkish leaders said they would “deeply resent” any trade about US missiles in their country. The next day, a writer suggested the same idea in his newspaper. Cuban leader Castro said Cuba’s weapons were only for defense and would not let anyone check them.

International response

In Britain, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan supported Kennedy’s action. The British ambassador in the US, a close friend of the Kennedys, helped in discussions about solving the crisis.

In West Germany, newspapers supported the US action, comparing it to weaker actions before. They also worried the Soviets might do something in Berlin. The West German government supported the blockade.

In France on October 23, the crisis was on the front page of all newspapers. The next day, a paper called Le Monde doubted the US photos at first. After a top US spy visited, the paper believed the photos. French President Charles de Gaulle fully supported Kennedy but thought the crisis showed how Europe could be caught in fights between the two big powers.

On October 24, Pope John XXIII sent a message to the Soviet embassy in Rome, asking for peace. He said, “We beg all governments not to remain deaf to this cry of humanity. That they do all that is in their power to save peace.”

Three days after Kennedy’s speech, a Chinese newspaper said that 650 million Chinese people supported Cuba. This happened at the same time as a fight between China and India on their border.

The Organization of American States supported the US naval blockade, said the Soviet missiles in Cuba were wrong, and voted to stop more attack weapons from reaching Cuba.

In the October 29 issue of Le Figaro, a writer supported the US response.

Soviet broadcast and communications

The crisis kept getting worse. On the evening of October 24, 1962, the Soviet news agency broadcast a message from Khrushchev to Kennedy, calling the US actions “outright piracy” and saying it could lead to war. Later that night, Khrushchev sent another message to Kennedy, saying that if the US acted carefully, the Soviet Union could agree to the US demands. The Soviet Union called the blockade an “act of aggression” and said their ships would ignore it. After October 23, messages between the Soviets and the US often seemed rushed and unclear. Khrushchev sometimes repeated himself or sent messages without proper editing. With Kennedy talking about possible attacks on Cuba and maybe invading, Khrushchev wanted to find a way to talk it through. The way the two superpowers talked changed, with the danger of nuclear war now part of their discussions.

US alert level raised

The US asked for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council on October 25. The US ambassador to the United Nations talked to the Soviet ambassador and asked him to say if the missiles were there. The Soviet ambassador would not answer. At 10:00 pm EDT the next day, the US put its Strategic Air Command forces on higher alert. For the only time in US history, B-52 bombers were kept in the air all the time. B-47 bombers were sent to different airfields and were ready to take off in 15 minutes. One-eighth of the Strategic Air Command’s 1,436 bombers were in the air. Some 145 long-range missiles, some pointing at Cuba, were put on alert. The Air Defense Command moved 161 nuclear-armed fighter planes to 16 different places within nine hours, with one-third ready to take off in 15 minutes. Twenty-three nuclear-armed B-52 bombers were sent to points close to the Soviet Union to show the US was serious. An officer later said about 80 per cent of the Strategic Air Command’s planes were ready to launch during the crisis. Another officer said the Soviet forces were not ready and did not move. He said, “We were never further from nuclear war than at the time of Cuba, never further.”

By October 22, the Tactical Air Command had 511 fighters plus support planes in Florida, ready to take off in one hour. The Tactical Air Command and the Military Air Transport Service had trouble because so many planes were in Florida. They didn’t have enough security, weapons, or communications. They also didn’t have enough planes to move troops far away, so they had to use 24 reserve squadrons.

On October 25 at 1:45 am EDT, Kennedy answered Khrushchev’s message, saying the US had to act after getting repeated false promises that no attack missiles were being put in Cuba. He said the missile placements “required the responses I have announced.... I hope that your government will take necessary action to permit a restoration of the earlier situation.”

Blockade challenged

At 7:15 am EDT on October 25, the USS Essex and USS Gearing tried to stop the Bucharest but could not. Since they were fairly sure the tanker did not have any military goods, the US let it pass. Later that day at 5:43 pm, the blockade commander told the destroyer USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. to stop and check the Lebanese ship Marucla. This happened the next day, and after checking the goods, Marucla was allowed to pass.

At 5:00 pm EDT on October 25, William Clements said the missiles in Cuba were still being worked on. A later report from the CIA said there was no slowdown. In answer, Kennedy approved loading nuclear weapons on planes that would carry out attacks on the Soviet Union. Kennedy said the blockade worked when the USSR turned back fourteen ships thought to be carrying attack weapons. The first sign of this was a report from British intelligence to the White House, which had intercepted messages from Soviet ships saying where they were. On October 24, the Soviet ship Kislovodsk reported a position north-east of where it had been 24 hours earlier, showing it had “stopped” its trip and turned back towards the Baltic Sea. The next day, more reports showed that more ships going to Cuba had changed their courses.

Raising the stakes

The next morning, October 26, Kennedy told his advisers that he thought only an invasion would remove the missiles from Cuba. He was convinced to wait and keep up military and diplomatic pressure. He agreed and ordered more low-level flights over the island, from two a day to every two hours. He also ordered a quick plan to set up a new government in Cuba if an invasion happened.^{[citation needed]}

At this point, the crisis seemed stuck. The Soviets had not said they would back down and had told the public and private groups this. The US had no reason to believe them and was starting to prepare to invade Cuba and attack the Soviet Union with nuclear weapons if they fought back, which the US thought they would. Kennedy did not keep these plans secret, and with many Cuban and Soviet spies around, Khrushchev knew about them.

The threat of air attacks on Cuba followed by an invasion helped the US in future talks, and the chance of military action made Khrushchev suggest a compromise faster. Through the rest of October 1962, messages from Soviet leaders to the United States became more defensive, and Khrushchev’s messages were not clear and sometimes wrong. This made the US more confident. Top Soviet leaders did not say that only the Cuban government could agree to let anyone check the island, and they kept talking about Cuba without Castro knowing. According to Dean Rusk, Khrushchev “blinked”: he started to worry about what could happen from his own plan, and this showed in the way Soviet messages were written. This let the US lead the talks in late October.

The growing danger also made Khrushchev stop plans to possibly attack Albania with the Warsaw Pact, which was being talked about in the group of Soviet countries after an event in Albania the year before.

Secret negotiations

On October 26, 1962, a news reporter named John Scali met with a Soviet official named Aleksandr Fomin. Fomin warned that war might be coming and asked Scali to speak with important US leaders. He suggested that if the United States promised not to invade Cuba, the Soviet Union would remove its weapons from the island.

Later that day, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev sent a letter to US President John F. Kennedy. In the letter, Khrushchev proposed that the Soviet Union would remove its weapons from Cuba if the United States removed weapons from Turkey and promised not to invade Cuba.

The next day, October 27, another message arrived from Khrushchev. This time, he offered to remove the weapons from Cuba in exchange for the United States removing weapons from Italy and Turkey. US officials debated this offer, as they were concerned about appearing to trade weapons with the Soviet Union.

During this tense time, there were several close calls that could have led to wider conflict. Fortunately, leaders on both sides worked to calm the situation and avoid war. Through careful negotiation and communication, a resolution was reached that prevented a major conflict.

Resolution

On October 27, after discussions between leaders, an agreement was made. The United States agreed to remove missiles from Turkey, and the Soviet Union agreed to remove missiles from Cuba. This secret deal helped avoid a big war.

When the leader of the Soviet Union heard the United States' demands, he agreed to the terms without waiting for his group's approval. On October 28, he announced that the Soviet Union would remove their missiles from Cuba. The United States agreed to remove missiles from Turkey. Even though some advisers opposed this, the leader of the United States accepted the offer to prevent fighting.

The United States kept watching Cuba to make sure the missiles were being removed. Over the next few weeks, ships carried the missiles away. The United States and the Soviet Union also agreed to set up a direct communication line to help avoid future crises.

Nuclear forces

During the crisis in October 1962, the United States had about 26,400 nuclear weapons, while the Soviet Union had around 3,300. The U.S. planned to use around 3,500 of these weapons, with a total strength of about 6,300 megatons, to attack the Soviet Union. The Soviets had fewer weapons ready to use, with around 300–320 bombs and warheads. They had moved 158 warheads to Cuba, and about 95 to 100 of these could have been used if the U.S. had invaded Cuba. The U.S. also had many nuclear weapons in Europe, while the Soviets had some in Europe as well.

The United States had many different types of nuclear missiles and bombers ready for use. These included ICBMs, bombers, and submarines with missiles. The Soviet Union also had ICBMs, bombers, and medium-range missiles ready to target areas in Europe and other places. The United Kingdom had bombers and intermediate-range missiles as part of its nuclear forces.

Aftermath

Cuban leadership

When the crisis ended, Cuba felt let down by the Soviet Union. Fidel Castro was upset because important issues, like the future of the US Naval Base in Guantánamo, were not discussed. This led to a cooling of relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union.

Romanian leadership

During the crisis, Romania's leader, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, sent a message to the American president, saying Romania did not support the Soviet actions. This showed that Romania wanted to become more independent from the Soviet Union.

Soviet leadership

After the crisis, Soviet leader Khrushchev wanted to reduce tensions with the United States. He suggested several ideas to avoid future nuclear crises, like treaties to stop testing nuclear weapons and creating a direct communication line between the leaders of the two countries. These ideas led to the creation of the Moscow–Washington hotline and a treaty to stop testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.

US leadership

After the crisis, the United States returned to a less urgent state of readiness. Some American leaders thought the outcome was a setback. The crisis influenced future American foreign policy, including decisions about Vietnam.

Chinese leadership

China was angry about how the Soviet Union and the United States solved the crisis. They criticized the Soviet Union for giving in to the Americans.

Human casualties

A U.S. pilot, Anderson, was honored after his death. Several other military crew members died in plane crashes during the crisis period.

Later revelations

Submarine close call

Many years after the event, people learned about a very scary moment during the Cuban Missile Crisis. On October 27, 1962, American ships found a Soviet submarine near Cuba. The submarine had a nuclear weapon, and the people on it did not know if war had started because they could not receive messages. The American ships tried to get the submarine to come up to the surface by dropping practice depth charges into the water. The captain of the submarine thought this meant war had begun and wanted to use the nuclear weapon. However, one of the officers on the submarine refused to agree to this plan. Because all the senior officers had to agree, the weapon was not used, and the submarine finally came to the surface.

Possibility of nuclear launch

We now know that when the crisis happened, the Soviet forces in Cuba had received nuclear weapons for their rockets and airplanes. If the United States had invaded, the leader of Cuba said he would have recommended using these weapons.

In popular culture

The American media, especially television, often used the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis in both stories and documentaries. Some people believe the crisis was one of the most important moments in American history. Over time, many misunderstandings and incorrect stories about what happened grew up.

Historian William Cohn said that TV was usually how Americans learned about and understood past events. According to Cold War historian Andrei Kozovoi, Soviet media had trouble telling a clear story. Leader Khrushchev lost his position and was removed from the story, and Cuba was no longer shown as a brave underdog fighting against a powerful America. There were also differences in Soviet messages about peace and preparing for war against America.