Causes Of The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Soviets shipped sixty medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) along with their warheads, launch equipment, and necessary operating personnel to Cuba. When United States President, John F. Kennedy discovered the presence of these offensive weapons, he immediately organized EX-COMM, a group of his twelve most important advisors. They spent the next couple of days discussing different possible plans of action and finally decided to remove the US missiles from Turkey and promise not to invade Cuba in exchange for the removal of all offensive weapons in Cuba. On October 28, Khrushchev sent Kennedy a letter stating that he agreed to the terms Kennedy stated, and the crisis ended. The Cuban Missile Crisis can be blamed on the insecurity of Cuba and the Soviet Union.

A plane was shot down over Cuba and another letter arrived from Khrushchev. This time the Soviet Premier asked for more in return for the removal of arms from Cuba. Khrushchev now asked that the United States remove all missiles from Turkey in return for the Soviet missiles in Cuba. Attorney General Robert Kennedy suggested that the government ignore the new letter and agree only to the first. On the twenty-eighth tensions began to ease when Khrushchev agreed to remove the missile installations in Cuba confiding in the United States' assurance that they would not attack Cuba.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world has ever been to a nuclear war which would have doomed the human race. For thirteen days the world was scared to death of what could happen. In a nutshell, the Soviet Union under leadership of Nikita Khrushchev tried to counter the lead of the United States in developing and deploying strategic missiles. The Soviet Union or USSR knew of the missiles the United States had set up in Turkey. (Garthoff) To gain first strike capabilities they reached an agreement with Cuba under the leadership of Fidel Castro set up missiles in Cuba.

Cuban Missile Crisis Analysis Works Cited Missing The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the most important events in United States history; it’s even easy to say world history because of what some possible outcomes could have been from it. The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 was a major Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the Bay of Pigs Invasion the USSR increased its support of Fidel Castro's Cuban regime, and in the summer of 1962, Nikita Khrushchev secretly decided to install ballistic missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy and the other leaders of our country were faced with a horrible dilemma where a decision had to be made. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara outlined three possible courses of action for the president: "The political course of action" of openly approaching Castro, Khrushchev, and U.S. allies in a gambit to resolve the crisis diplomatically, an option that McNamara and others considered unlikely to succeed; "a course of action that would involve declaration of open surveillance" coupled with "a blockade against offensive weapons entering Cuba"; and "military action directed against Cuba, starting with an air attack against the missiles" (Chang, 2).

The Cuban Missile Crisis John F. Kennedy's greatest triumph as President of the United States came in 1962, as the world's two largest superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States, edged closer and closer to nuclear war. The Soviet premier of Russia was caught arming Fidel Castro with nuclear weapons. The confrontation left the world in fear for thirteen long days, with the life of the world on the line. In 1962, Nikita Khrushchev, Premier of the Soviet Union, employed a daring gambit. He secretly ordered the placement of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba.

It also seemed as if the Russian's were constructing a large naval shipyard and a base for submarines. The two Kennedy's at first thought it was just a football field, but when U-2 planes got more detailed pictures the two were outraged! The photos indicated that the missiles were being directed at certain American cities. It was estimated that within five minutes of them being fired, eighty million Americans would be dead! RFK later finds out that Russia sent these weapons to Cuba because they thought the U.S. was interested in overthrowing the Cuban government.

Each was trying to spread their form of government throughout the world. In October 1962, a U.S. spy plane caught the Soviet Union attempting to' sneak nuclear-tipped missiles into Cuba, 90 miles off the United States' coast. Kennedy determined at the outset that this could not stand. After a week of secret deliberations with his most trusted advisers, he announced the discovery to the world and... ... middle of paper ... ...own). Now that the blockade had proven efficient in stopping new materials from coming in, one question still stood; how do we get the Russians to withdraw their missiles from Cuba?

This made him very bitter toward the U.S and made him close to the Soviet Union (Swift) . Then on January 1960, when President John F. Kennedy was elected, Castor thought that these threats would stop but he thought wrong. President Kennedy still attempted to destroy Castor but after many fail attempts like the Bay of Pigs and Operation Mongoose, the Kennedy administration was humiliated. Things got heated on April 1962, the Soviet Union began to station... ... middle of paper ... ...he Cuban missiles in exchange for a promise by U.S. leaders not to invade Cuba. The following day, the Soviet leader sent a letter proposing that the USSR would dismantle its missiles in Cuba if the Americans removed their missile installations in Turkey."

Kennedy had recently placed bombs in Turkey, Russia’s neighbor probably leading the soviets to place some of theirs in Cuba, because of how close it was to America; one nuclear bomb could reach Washington D.C. in 30 minutes. When President Kennedy asks the Soviets about the missiles, they say the Americans shouldn’t see them as a threat because they were strictly defensive bombs. Clearly lying to the President, Kennedy calls for a meeting were they discuss two possible courses of action: an airstrike and invasion of Cuba and the Russian freighters; a naval blockade. On the fifth day after learning about the nuclear bombs headed towards Cuba, Kennedy decides that the best plan would be to set up naval block around Cuba, to prevent Russian ships to reach the shores. At 7:00 p.m., as the President is giving his speech to the people revealing that there were missiles being constructed by the Soviets in Cuba, the naval fleet is preparing for their mission to prevent the Russians from reaching Cuba.

(Goldman, Stein p. 3) On October 28, the Russian Premier conceded to President Kennedy's demands by ordering all Soviet supply ships away from Cuban waters and agreeing to remove the missiles from Cuba's mainland, and the world breathed a sigh of relief. Looking back on the crisis, Robert McNamara believed the world was one step away from nuclear war. That step would be the President ordering invasion of Cuba. What was not known at the time was the presence of 43,000 combat-ready Soviet soldiers in Cuba, or the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons along Cuba's shore. Khrushchev had also given a standing order to his generals that if he couldn't be reached in the event of an invasion, they had authority to launch battlefield nuclear weapons.