The Cuban Missile Crisis

Test yourself

Soviet and US Relations With Cuba

Before the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the USA's relationship with Cuba was strained.

The Cuban Revolution

Before 1959, Cuba (an island close to the USA), cooperated with the USA under the leadership of the dictator General Batista.
- In the year 1959, Fidel Castro led a socialist revolution that overthrew US-supported General Batista. This ended the co-operation between Cuba and America.
In response, and looking for a strong partner against the Americans, Cuba began to trade with the USSR. Initially, the USSR had no idea who Castro was, however, links strengthened and the Soviets began to sell oil & fuel to Cuba. Brezhnev would go on to visit Cuba in 1974 as the relationship grew stronger.

Soviet relations with Cuba

Cuba began to ask the Soviet Union for (military) defense support. At the same time, the USA was trying to bring Cuba back into America’s sphere of influence.
The USA would not recognise the government under Fidel Castro (the revolutionary who took power in 1959), and the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him.
Kennedy and the CIA decided that extreme action needed to be taken against Cuba.

The Bay of Pigs

At the Bay of Pigs on the 17th April 1961, America invaded Cuba. The CIA told Kennedy that the invasion would look like a Cuban revolt.
The USA assembled a group of Cuban exiles called 'Brigade 2506'. The CIA funded them, gave them US plans and launched an invasion from Guatemala.
- The 1,400 US-backed paramilitaries (or soldiers) were met by an army of 20,000 Cubans. The exiles surrendered.

The US connection

Fidel Castro had been informed about the impending invasion before it was launched. This allowed him to prepare his armies.
The American planes used in the raid made it clear that it was a US invasion.
1,202 members of Brigade 2506 were captured. Castro offered to release the men in exchange for $28 million worth of tractors, before an agreement was struck in 1962 to deliver $53 million worth of food and medicine to Cuba, in exchange for the prisoners. Kennedy attended their 'welcome back' ceremony in Florida.

Consequences of the Bay of Pigs

The Bay of Pigs invasion destroyed the possibility of good Cuban-American relations.
Fidel Castro cemented his socialist rule in Cuba.
The USA lost face. They had funded a failed invasion and pretended they weren't involved.
Robert Greene, an author on Power, argues that over-reactions to small events, such as Kennedy's Bay of Pigs invasion, can escalate your enemy into a stronger position than if you were to take no action at all. Taking a huge action can make something into a big deal and make a small enemy seem larger and more threatening.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

In October 1962, the USA discovered Soviet Union missile sites on Cuba. President Kennedy and his team had to decide the best course of action.

Origins of the crisis

In April 1961, the USA had designed the invasion of Cuba, led by Brigade 2506.
In October 1962, the USA discovered Soviet Union missile sites on Cuba.
- Cuba had allowed the Soviet Union to station (put) missiles there to act as a deterrent to stop the USA attacking Cuba again.
The US media and public were panicked when they heard about the missile sites on Cuba. On Monday 22nd October at 7pm President Kennedy addressed the American TV networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) to inform them about the situation in Cuba.

The options for Kennedy

Kennedy's personal Cabinet and advisors were divided into 2 groups - doves and hawks.
The ‘hawks’, like Dean Acheson, wanted aggressive action against Cuba. The 'doves', led by US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara (who would later be President at Ford Motors) thought that nuclear war would lead to Mutually Assured Destruction and that no risks should be taken.
Kennedy could have 1) invaded Cuba and destroyed the missile sites, 2) done nothing and allowed the missile sites to be built, or 3) find a creative solution in the middle ground.

Kennedy's decision

On the 20th October 1962, President Kennedy decided on a 'quarantine zone'. He thought an invasion of Cuba risked nuclear war. Instead the blockade would try to stop any Soviet ships from reaching Cuba.

The crisis

The USSR initially said that they would not respect the 'quarantine zone'. They said that any action towards their ships would provoke military action.
If the Soviet and American ships had engaged in any battles or conflict, it could have provoked a nuclear war.
On the 27th of October 1962, Krushchev and Kennedy compromise. The Soviet Union would not place any missiles on Cuba, if the USA removed its warheads (likely ICBMs) from its army bases in Europe (mainly in Italy and Turkey). This would mean that neither superpower had missiles within range of the opposition's territory.

The end of the crisis

The USA takes missiles out of Europe without telling the public (allowing Kennedy and the American hawks to save face).
On the 28th of October, Krushchev goes on television, agreeing not to send missiles to Cuba. Soviet ships never crossed the blockade and war was avoided.

Consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis

After the Cuban Missile Crisis, there was a move towards a detente (a relaxing of relationships between East and West).

Consequences for the USA

The Cuban Missile Crisis showed that there was no appetite for a war between the USA and USSR. This strengthened the doves' position politically in the USA.
A 'hotline' connecting the US President and Leader of the Soviet Union was created so that they could communicate immediately during a crisis.

Consequences for the USSR

Even after 1962, the Soviets accumulated more and more nuclear weapons. By the year 1965, the USA and USSR had the same number of nuclear missiles.
The USSR looked weaker than the USA. The USSR had changed its course in response to the blockade, and it was not public knowledge that American missiles had been removed in Europe.
Krushchev was removed as the leader of the Soviet Union 2 years later.

Consequences for Cuba

Relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union remained very strong.
Brezhnev would go on to visit Cuba in 1974 as the relationship blossomed.

Nuclear treaties

In August 1963, the Limited Test Ban Treaty was signed by the USA and USSR. Nuclear weapons could no longer be tested above ground.
The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 agreed not to use nuclear weapons in outer space. This seems like a patch to the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty. If nations could not test above the surface of the Earth, there was an incentive to test in space.
In 1968, both countries signed the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. This stopped the USA and USSR from sharing their nuclear missiles with other nations. People believe that Israel had secured nuclear weapons in 1967.

1Key Topics

1.1Conflict & Cooperation 1918-1939

1.1.1The Treaty of Versailles

1.1.2The Terms of Versailles 1

1.1.3The Terms of Versailles 2

1.1.4Versailles & the League of Nations

1.1.5LoN Successes & Failures

1.1.6LoN Failure - Upper Silesia

1.1.7LoN Failure - Corfu & Washington

1.1.8End of Topic Test - Treaties and Agreements

1.1.9The Great Depression

1.1.10Tension in Europe in the 1930s

1.1.11WWII & Failure of the League of Nations

1.1.12End of Topic Test - Tension in the 1930s

1.1.13Grade 9 - Conflict & Cooperation

1.2The Cold War 1945-c.1989

1.2.1Emerging US-Soviet Rivalry

1.2.2Communism in the 20th Century

1.2.3The Truman Doctrine & Marshall Plan

1.2.4East-West Alliances

1.2.5Berlin Crises

1.2.6The End of the Berlin Wall

1.2.7End of Topic Test - East & West

1.2.8Build-up to the Cuban Missile Crisis

1.2.9The Cuban Missile Crisis

1.2.10Cold War Conflict - Vietnam

1.2.11Cold War Conflict - Afghanistan

1.2.12End of Topic Test - The Cold War 1945-1989

1.2.13Grade 9 - The Cold War

1.3From the End of the Cold War to 9/11

1.3.1Reagan & Gorbachev

1.3.2Consequences of the Soviet War in Afghanistan

1.3.3End of Topic Test - End of the Cold War to 9/11

1.3.4Grade 9 - The End of the Cold War

2Changing Interpretations

2.1Changing Interpretations

2.1.1Appeasement

2.1.2The Responsibility for Cold War Tensions

2.1.3End of Topic Test - Appeasement

2.1.4Grade 9 - Changing Interpretations

Jump to other topics