Cuban Missile Crisis

Thirteen Days in October of 1962 that brought the World to the

brink of annihilation

Key Terms• M.A.D. (Mutually Assured Destruction) – a military strategy in which a full-scale

use of nuclear weapons by two opposing sides would cause complete annihilation of both the attacker and the defender. It is based on the theory of deterrence where the threat of using strong weapons against the enemy prevents the enemy’s use of those same weapons.

• Nationalization – the process of taking a private industry or private assets into public ownership by a national government or state.

• C.I.A. (Central Intelligence Agency) – one of the principle intelligence-gathering agencies of the United States. Has three principal activities:– Gathering intelligence on foreign governments, corporations and individuals– Analyzing that information along with information gathered from other sources– Carrying out or overseeing covert activates and some tactical operations by its

own employees, by members of the US military, or by other partners

Cuban Geography• This island of Cuba lies 150 km

off the Florida coast.• It is the largest island in the

Caribbean at almost 110,000 km2

• Cuba has a tropical climate with an extended dry and an extended rainy season

• Cuba is mostly covered in plains and rolling hills except in the southeast where there are rugged hills and mountainous terrain

Background• 1898 – Cuba was freed of Spanish rule after

the Spanish-American war• 1902 – Cuba becomes “independent” but is

still heavily influenced by the United States and in particular American corporations

• By 1945 Americans owned:– 90% of Cuba’s mineral wealth– 80% of Cuba’s utilities– 40% of Cuba’s sugar cane fields

• By 1959 Cuba had been ruled by Fulgencio Batista for 25 years who had become increasingly wealthy and corrupt allowing American corporations to own much of Cuba

• Cuba had become the playground of wealthy Americans but much of the Cuban population suffered in poverty

Corporate America in Latin-America• Corporate America’s domination extended across

Latin-America• Latin-American governments that tried to reclaim

their country’s land and industry for its citizens were branded as Communists

• Many American Corporations worked extensively with the C.I.A. to topple Socialist governments throughout Latin-America

• This would radicalize many young Latin-Americans who would resist what they saw as American Imperialism

• The most famous of these young Radicals was Ernesto “Che” Guevara

Cuban Revolution• 1953-1959 – Led by Fidel Castro the Cuban

Revolutionaries attempted to seize power from the corrupt Batista regime

• Jan 1, 1959 – Castro entered the capital city of Havana and declared victory establishing his Revolutionary government

• Initially Castro declared his government was not communist and that he would hold free elections

• These elections never happened and Castro began a program of nationalization across the country – American corporations and investors lost over a billion dollars

• American President Eisenhower imposed a trade embargo on Cuba (which lasts to this day) that would cripple the Cuban economy Dwight D. Eisenhower

34th President of the United States1953-1961

Cuba Becomes Communist• Castro would turn to the Soviet Union for

economic and political support• The Soviet Union enthusiastically supported

Castro as it saw Cuba as a potential outpost close to the United States

• USSR bough huge quantities of sugar from Cuba and gave large sums of money to support Cuba

• Soviet military equipment and personal was also shipped to Cuba

• Threats by the United States only pushed Castro closer to the Soviets and to embrace Communism

Bay of Pigs Invasion• During the Eisenhower administration the C.I.A. began training and

funding Cuban exiles as counter-revolutionaries• April 17, 1961 – 1500 Cuban exiles, trained by the C.I.A landed in Cuba

at the Bay of Pigs• Only three months earlier President John F. Kennedy had taken office –

he had been assured the operation would go off smoothly• The invasion was a disaster as Cuban troops quickly rounded up the

invaders• It was clear to the world that the United States had been deeply

involved

Start of the Crisis• Fearing another invasion was imminent, Cuba

and the USSR began a military buildup on Cuba – this would include medium and short range nuclear missiles. They attempted to keep this a secret from the United States but failed

• Oct. 14, 1962 – an American U2-spyplane captured what CIA analysts determined to be SS-4 medium ranged ballistic missile armed with nuclear warheads

• It was believed these sites would be operational within 7 days

• US spy planes identified 20 more Soviet ships bound for Cuba

The Crisis• The Americans viewed this as a major

provocation and direct threat to US security

• Oct. 20 – President Kennedy – despite enormous pressure from the American military to invade Cuba – decides on a naval blockade

Kennedy Addresses the Nation• Oct. 22, 1962 – Kennedy announced on live

television that the US had proof that Cuba was building missile sites that could be used to launch Soviet nuclear weapons at the U.S.

• He publicly announces a ‘quarantine’ (blockade) of Cuba and calls on Soviet leader Khrushchev to remove the weapons

Crisis Continues• Oct 23 – Khrushchev

refuses to acknowledge the blockade or the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba

• Oct 24 – First Soviet ships (accompanied by Soviet submarines) approach the 497 mile exclusion zone

Crisis Continues• Oct 24, 10:32 am, Soviet ships

stop and turn around• Oct 25 – aerial photos show

continued construction of missile sites

• Oct 26 – Kennedy receives a letter from Khrushchev offering to negotiate over the missiles in Cuba with removal of blockade and US invasion of Cuba threat

• Oct 27 – a second letter arrives in the morning calling for the withdrawal of US missiles in Turkey as well

Crisis Deepens• Oct 27 – America U2 plane show down over Cuba

and the pilot is killed.• Kennedy sends a response to Khrushchev ignoring

the second letter but accepting the terms of the first letter

• That night the US made a secret deal to remove their, by now, obsolete missiles from Turkey in exchange for the Soviet Union removing its missiles in Cuba.

• Details of this agreement were not known until many years later

Crisis Ends• Oct 28 – Khrushchev

announced on Radio Moscow that the missiles sites would be removed from Cuba

• The world would be brought back from the edge of what would have been World War III

Aftermath• Initially this appeared as a

great victory for the United States

• Kennedy’s popularity at home soared as he was seen as the leader who had stared down the Communist threat while avoiding a nuclear war

Aftermath• For the Soviet Union and Khrushchev

in particular this was seen as an embarrassing failure – it appeared as if the Soviets had backed down and left Cuba on its own

• It was not know until years later about the deal to remove American nuclear missiles from Turkey

• Khrushchev would be removed from power within two years

Legacy• In response to the Cuban Missile Crisis

the famous hotline was established between Washington and Moscow

• In the event of another major crisis the two leaders would be able to talk to each other immediately and directly