cuban missile crisis

• The Cuban Missile Crisis was perhaps the closest the two superpowers (USA and USSR) came to a head-on war with each other
• Cuba


  Caribbean island, 90 miles off the Florida coast
• For most of the 20th century, Cuba had exported its main crop, sugar, to the USA, while American companies controlled most of the island's industry
• Fidel Castro


  Led Cuba since 1959, had overthrown the previous dictator Fulgencio Batista
• At first Castro was not a communist, but a nationalist who wished to ensure Cuba's independence from the influence of other countries
• Once in power, Castro began to nationalise industries, many of which were owned by US businesses, which upset the Americans
• As US hostility to Cuba grew, trade between the two nations declined. Castro turned elsewhere for assistance; in 1960 the USSR and Cuba agreed to trade oil and sugar for machinery
• In 1961, Castro announced that he had become a communist
• Bay of Pigs


  An invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro Cuban exiles, assisted by the CIA, which went totally wrong
• The invasion made Kennedy look inexperienced and turned Castro into a hero in Cuba
• Castro was deeply concerned by the American attempts to overthrow him and turned to the USSR for assistance. This resulted, in August 1962, in the arrival of equipment required to establish nuclear missile bases in Cuba
• Missiles in Cuba would be able to reach most US cities and would provide a match for the American missiles that had been installed in countries such as Turkey
• The US intelligence services obtained convincing proof of the missile bases by 14 October 1962. It also revealed that Soviet ships were en route to Cuba with further supplies
• Kennedy was determined that he would not be made to look foolish again; he would stand firm against the threat being posed by the USSR
• Options considered by ExComm (Kennedy's advisory committee)

  • Invasion of Cuba
  • Naval blockade of Cuba
  • Air attacks on the missile bases
  • Nuclear attack on Cuba
  • Allowing the missile bases to be erected
• Kennedy decided on a naval blockade of Cuba
• On 26 October, Kennedy received a telegram from Khrushchev, which stated that the USSR would remove the missiles if the USA agreed to end the blockade and undertook not to invade Cuba
• On 27 October, a second telegram arrived from Khrushchev, which stated that the USSR would only remove its missiles from Cuba if the USA removed its missiles from Turkey
• Against a background of advisers recommending an air strike, Kennedy took his brother's advice and decided to ignore Khrushchev's second telegram and instead send a reply to the first telegram, agreeing to remove the blockade and not invade the island in return for the removal of Soviet missiles
• On 28 October, Khrushchev agreed to Kennedy's offer and the removal of the missiles began
• In publicity, the Cuban Missile Crisis looked like a great victory for Kennedy; in reality, however, the result was not so clear-cut. Kennedy had agreed secretly, on 27 October, to remove the missiles in Turkey
• Shortly after the crisis ended, the USA began to dismantle some of its missiles from various bases in Europe, including Turkey. Within six months the US missiles were gone; Castro, however, remained in power
• Both leaders (Kennedy and Khrushchev) seemed to have reached an understanding that might have led to a better future. However, within two years both were gone: Kennedy had been assassinated and Khrushchev overthrown