In late October of 1962, the world almost came to an end. What has come to be know as the Cuban missile crisis began when the the United States discovered that The Soviet Union was installing nuclear missiles just 90 miles away from their territory, in Cuba. The United States and The Soviet Union were in the middle of a Cold War, which had included many political and economic, but not yet any major violent conflicts. The Soviets took this immense step in an attempt to level the playing field of Nuclear strike capabilities between them and the U.S. The United States had several launch stations in Turkey and Western Europe, which gave them the ability to target many major Soviet cities. If they succeeded in installing nuclear missiles in Cuba, the Soviets would have been able to launch a strike on any city on the eastern seaboard.
The crisis began two days after a high altitude surveillance plane photographed the missiles being assembled. President John F. Kennedy was informed of their existence on October 16, 1962. The young president was reportedly accused the Soviet president Nikita Khrushchev of a double cross, saying, “He can’t do this to me,” and immediately called together a meeting with his advisors and officials. They knew that if they allowed the missiles to become operational, they would no longer dominate the nuclear rivalry between them and the Soviets. At the time, the US had 3,500 nuclear warheads capable of reaching the Soviet Union, giving them a 10-1 advantage over the Soviets. If Khrushchev succeeded in building missile bases in Cuba, he would gain an additional 60 warheads capable of hitting the US. Some have also theorized that Khrushchev had other, more personal reasons for trying to get even with Kennedy, whom he considered to be, “an inexperienced leader young enough to be his son.” He also was reportedly upset that America had missiles stationed across the Black Sea at his “Dacha” in Sochi, and thought that it was, “high time America learned what it feels like to have her own land and her own people threatened.” Khrushchev however maintained that his only motivation was to defend the Cuban revolution, and his ally Fidel Castro.
The challenging part for the US was orchestrating the removal of the missiles without initiating a larger conflict, possibly a nuclear war. The planning lasted almost a week. Kennedy initially supported the plan put forward by Air Force General Curtis LeMay, who wanted to attack the missile sites with air strikes, and follow up with a full scale ground invasion. What the United States did not know was that Soviet forces in Cuba were equipped with nearly 100 tactical nuclear weapons. The Soviets would have been able to wipe out any invading force with ease. the use of these weapons would have likely caused an all out war. Kennedy changed his shifted his support when he was informed that air strikes did not guarantee success. President Kennedy eventually decided to establish a naval blockade to prevent more missiles from being delivered to Cuba, and to demand that the existing missiles be removed. This plan demonstrated American resolve, but still allowed time for negotiations with Khrushchev and the Soviets.
President Kennedy notified the American people of the missiles in a televised broadcast on October 22. He explained in a stern manner, his plan to enact blockade, or “quarantine” as it was labeled to sound less threatening, and made it clear that he was willing to use military force to neutralize the threat if necessary. He called on Khrushchev to join him in the pursuit of world peace, saying, “ I call upon Chairman Khrushchev to halt and eliminate this clandestine, reckless and provocative threat to world peace and to stable relations between our two nations. I call upon him further to abandon this course of world domination, and to join in an historic effort to end the perilous arms race and to transform the history of man.” He also warned them that, “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.” Following Kennedy's public declaration, people around the world waited for the Soviet response. Some began hoarding gas and water, fearing nuclear armageddon. Troops prepared for what they were certain would be their last battle. They all knew that they might be living the last day of their lives.
Much like Kennedy, Khrushchev took on an aggressive demeanor when he learned of the American actions. He made adresses about using tactical nuclear weapons against potential invasions, and completely wiping out the American naval base in Guantanamo, however he took steps to avoid confrontation as well. On October 24, Soviet Ships approached the American blockade, but stopped short of it, and began to return home. It is believed that any attempt by the Soviets would have sparked a conflict that would have quickly escalated to nuclear war. Some thought that the conflict was close to over, including the US Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, who supposedly said, “We’re eyeball to eyeball, and the other side just blinked.” The worst however, was still to come.
Three days after Soviet Ships stopped short of the blockade, the crisis began to truly spiral out of control. It has been nicknamed “Black Saturday” for the events that occurred. It began with two incidents involving American U2 spy planes, one flying over Cuba on a reconnaissance mission, and the other accidentally over the Soviet Union. The Soviets sent MIG fighters after the plane over their skies in an attempt to shoot down the intruder, which prompted the Alaska Air Defense Command to scramble nuclear armed fighters to defend the helpless spy plane. The plane flying over Cuba was not nearly as lucky. Soviet forces in Cuba launched surface to air missiles at the pilot Rudolf Anderson, who was killed instantly. This father of three is considered the sole casualty of crisis. This event caused both sides to realize that they were beginning to lose their control over the conflict. Khrushchev's son Sergei would later write about the moment when his father received news that an American spy plane had been shot down, saying that, “It was at that very moment—not before or after—that father felt the situation was slipping out of his control.” Kennedy’s advisors urged him to launch air strikes against Cuban defenses in response to the downing of the plane, but he suspected correctly that Khrushchev had not authorized downings of unarmed reconnaissance planes, and was not willing to abandon democracy quite yet.
Despite the incredible tension that had mounted, American and Soviet leaders managed to find a way out of the crisis. The night of Black Saturday, President Kennedy sent his brother Robert to the Soviet embassy in Washington D.C. to offer the Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin a deal. He him a pledge that the US would not invade Cuba, and without the knowledge of many top government officials, offered to withdraw missiles from Turkey within five months if the Soviets withdrew their missiles from Cuba. Kennedy, much like Khrushchev had realized he was losing control over the situation, and wanted to bring it to a close as soon as possible. Khrushchev agreed, and announced the withdrawal of Soviet missiles over Radio Moscow at 9 a.m. Washington time on Oct. 28.
Sadly, this crisis did little to slow the progress of the Cold War. It did sober both countries involved, prompting them to install a direct communication line between Moscow and Washington, but it also convinced the Soviets and Americans to increase their investments in arsenals of ICBMs, or intercontinental ballistic missiles, which were capable of reaching from one country's territory into the other's. This crisis is still considered today to be the closest we ever came to nuclear war, and total annihilation of the human race.
The crisis began two days after a high altitude surveillance plane photographed the missiles being assembled. President John F. Kennedy was informed of their existence on October 16, 1962. The young president was reportedly accused the Soviet president Nikita Khrushchev of a double cross, saying, “He can’t do this to me,” and immediately called together a meeting with his advisors and officials. They knew that if they allowed the missiles to become operational, they would no longer dominate the nuclear rivalry between them and the Soviets. At the time, the US had 3,500 nuclear warheads capable of reaching the Soviet Union, giving them a 10-1 advantage over the Soviets. If Khrushchev succeeded in building missile bases in Cuba, he would gain an additional 60 warheads capable of hitting the US. Some have also theorized that Khrushchev had other, more personal reasons for trying to get even with Kennedy, whom he considered to be, “an inexperienced leader young enough to be his son.” He also was reportedly upset that America had missiles stationed across the Black Sea at his “Dacha” in Sochi, and thought that it was, “high time America learned what it feels like to have her own land and her own people threatened.” Khrushchev however maintained that his only motivation was to defend the Cuban revolution, and his ally Fidel Castro.
The challenging part for the US was orchestrating the removal of the missiles without initiating a larger conflict, possibly a nuclear war. The planning lasted almost a week. Kennedy initially supported the plan put forward by Air Force General Curtis LeMay, who wanted to attack the missile sites with air strikes, and follow up with a full scale ground invasion. What the United States did not know was that Soviet forces in Cuba were equipped with nearly 100 tactical nuclear weapons. The Soviets would have been able to wipe out any invading force with ease. the use of these weapons would have likely caused an all out war. Kennedy changed his shifted his support when he was informed that air strikes did not guarantee success. President Kennedy eventually decided to establish a naval blockade to prevent more missiles from being delivered to Cuba, and to demand that the existing missiles be removed. This plan demonstrated American resolve, but still allowed time for negotiations with Khrushchev and the Soviets.
President Kennedy notified the American people of the missiles in a televised broadcast on October 22. He explained in a stern manner, his plan to enact blockade, or “quarantine” as it was labeled to sound less threatening, and made it clear that he was willing to use military force to neutralize the threat if necessary. He called on Khrushchev to join him in the pursuit of world peace, saying, “ I call upon Chairman Khrushchev to halt and eliminate this clandestine, reckless and provocative threat to world peace and to stable relations between our two nations. I call upon him further to abandon this course of world domination, and to join in an historic effort to end the perilous arms race and to transform the history of man.” He also warned them that, “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.” Following Kennedy's public declaration, people around the world waited for the Soviet response. Some began hoarding gas and water, fearing nuclear armageddon. Troops prepared for what they were certain would be their last battle. They all knew that they might be living the last day of their lives.
Much like Kennedy, Khrushchev took on an aggressive demeanor when he learned of the American actions. He made adresses about using tactical nuclear weapons against potential invasions, and completely wiping out the American naval base in Guantanamo, however he took steps to avoid confrontation as well. On October 24, Soviet Ships approached the American blockade, but stopped short of it, and began to return home. It is believed that any attempt by the Soviets would have sparked a conflict that would have quickly escalated to nuclear war. Some thought that the conflict was close to over, including the US Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, who supposedly said, “We’re eyeball to eyeball, and the other side just blinked.” The worst however, was still to come.
Three days after Soviet Ships stopped short of the blockade, the crisis began to truly spiral out of control. It has been nicknamed “Black Saturday” for the events that occurred. It began with two incidents involving American U2 spy planes, one flying over Cuba on a reconnaissance mission, and the other accidentally over the Soviet Union. The Soviets sent MIG fighters after the plane over their skies in an attempt to shoot down the intruder, which prompted the Alaska Air Defense Command to scramble nuclear armed fighters to defend the helpless spy plane. The plane flying over Cuba was not nearly as lucky. Soviet forces in Cuba launched surface to air missiles at the pilot Rudolf Anderson, who was killed instantly. This father of three is considered the sole casualty of crisis. This event caused both sides to realize that they were beginning to lose their control over the conflict. Khrushchev's son Sergei would later write about the moment when his father received news that an American spy plane had been shot down, saying that, “It was at that very moment—not before or after—that father felt the situation was slipping out of his control.” Kennedy’s advisors urged him to launch air strikes against Cuban defenses in response to the downing of the plane, but he suspected correctly that Khrushchev had not authorized downings of unarmed reconnaissance planes, and was not willing to abandon democracy quite yet.
Despite the incredible tension that had mounted, American and Soviet leaders managed to find a way out of the crisis. The night of Black Saturday, President Kennedy sent his brother Robert to the Soviet embassy in Washington D.C. to offer the Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin a deal. He him a pledge that the US would not invade Cuba, and without the knowledge of many top government officials, offered to withdraw missiles from Turkey within five months if the Soviets withdrew their missiles from Cuba. Kennedy, much like Khrushchev had realized he was losing control over the situation, and wanted to bring it to a close as soon as possible. Khrushchev agreed, and announced the withdrawal of Soviet missiles over Radio Moscow at 9 a.m. Washington time on Oct. 28.
Sadly, this crisis did little to slow the progress of the Cold War. It did sober both countries involved, prompting them to install a direct communication line between Moscow and Washington, but it also convinced the Soviets and Americans to increase their investments in arsenals of ICBMs, or intercontinental ballistic missiles, which were capable of reaching from one country's territory into the other's. This crisis is still considered today to be the closest we ever came to nuclear war, and total annihilation of the human race.
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