National Curriculum Learning Pack Cuban Missile Crisis

Bay of Pigs In 1961, the new US President, J.F. Kennedy supported an invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro supporters. The American government were hopeful that this invasion would lead to an uprising against Castro. The Bay of Pigs invasion consisted of fewer than 1,500 Cuban exiles, supported by the CIA. This invasion was a complete disaster and the invaders never got further than the beach. The whole episode was an embarrassment for Kennedy. It was impossible to hide the fact that the US government was involved and was forced to pay $53 million in food and medical supplied to have the captured invaders returned to the United States.

From Castro’s view point this invasion was evidence that the USA was working actively to overthrow his government.

Background For many people the twelve days of the Cuban missile crisis were the most frightening of their lives. The Berlin Wall had been built by the Russians the previous year. Kennedy had been elected as United States president by promising to get tough with the communists. In April 1962, America had placed nuclear missiles in Turkey. In 1959, Fidel Castro had taken power in Cuba, he soon took actions to nationalise American companies. In response to this the U.S stopped buying Cuban sugar and refused to supply Cuba with oil. The U.S government became increasingly concerned about the new Cuban government, this led to a fear that the U.S might intervene against the Cuban government. This fear materialised when in 1961, Cuban exiles trained by the U.S staged an invasion of Cuban territory at the Bay of Pigs, although the invasion was quickly repulsed. Castro soon became convinced that the U.S was serious about invading Cuba. Shortly after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, Castro declared Cuba as a socialist republic, entering into close ties with the Soviet Union. This led to a major upgrade of Cuban military defence. In February 1962, the U.S began an economic embargo against Cuba.

US Advantage The United States had a decided advantage over the Soviet Union in the period leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Americans had a greater nuclear power with more than 300 land based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and a fleet of Polaris submarines. The Soviet Union had only 4 to 6 land based ICBMs and around 100 short range primitive V1 type cruise missiles that could only be launched from surfaced submarines. Few in Washington, DC seriously believed that the Soviet ballistic missiles in Cuba could seriously change the strategic balance of power. The United States had around 10 times as many nuclear weapons as the Soviets.

In 1961, the US started deploying 15 Jupiter intermediate-range ballistic missiles

(IRBM) in Turkey. These directly threatened cities in the western parts of the Soviet

Union.

Soviet premier Khrushchev publicly expressed his anger at this missile deployment. He regarded the missiles as a personal affront. Therefore the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba; the first time they moved missiles out of the USSR, can be seen as Khrushchev’s direct response to the US missiles in Turkey. Having medium range ballistic missiles on Cuban land meant that the Soviet Union had the capacity to threaten Washington DC with a flight time of less than twenty minutes. This development also gave the American radar warning systems little warning of an attack from Cuba, as they were all orientated towards the USSR.

Deployment of Missiles Khrushchev planned the deployment in May 1962 and by late July over sixty Soviet ships were en route to Cuba, some already carrying military material. Director of the CIA John McCone, was told by French intelligence that the Soviets were planning to place missiles in Cuba, therefore he warned President Kennedy. However, the President together with the Attorney General; the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defence concluded that the Soviet Union would try such a thing! Kennedy’s administration team had received repeated claims from Soviet diplomats that there were no missiles in Cuba and that no plans had been made to deploy any and that they were not interested in starting an international crisis. It was a U-2 flight in late august 1962 that photographed surface to air missile sites being constructed. On September 4 1962 Kennedy told congress that there were no offensive missiles in Cuba.

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September 8 1962 saw the first consignment of SS-4 MRBMs unloaded in Havana, with a second shipload arriving on September 16. The Cuban population noticed what was happening and hundreds of reports reached Miami, all of which were considered false by US intelligence. The missiles were not discovered by the US until a U-2 flight photographed images showing the construction of an SS-4 site near San Cristobal. These photographs were shown to Kennedy on 16 October 1962. Within days the U- 2 flights had discovered four sites were operational.

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Initially the US government kept the information secret, only telling a small number of key officials. The United Kingdom was not informed until October 21. President Kennedy announced the discovery of the installations in a televised address on October 22. He proclaimed that any nuclear attack from Cuba would be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union, and America would respond accordingly. Kennedy placed a naval quarantine on Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments arriving there. International law dictated that the word quarantine was used rather than blockade. Establishing a blockade would have been classed as an act of war and war had not been declared between the US and Cuba.

Response by US After the photographic evidence showing Soviet missiles deployed in Cuba had been confirmed, President Kennedy organised a secret meeting of senior advisors at the White House. These advisors were known as ExComm (Executive Committee of the National Security Council). The group met frequently from 16 October to decide how to respond to the threat. They had several responses to consider. An immediate bombing strike was disregarded straight away as was an appeal to the United Nations- this was felt to be to time consuming.

Eventually they decide to use diplomacy. This narrowed the choice to a naval blockade and ultimatum of a full scale invasion. Finally the blockade was chosen although some members of the group were requesting tougher action. There were a number of issues surrounding a naval blockade. There was nothing illegal about the missile installations, although they were a threat to the Us, similar missiles were paced in Europe aimed at the USSR. The Americans had concerns that the soviet’s reaction to the blockade may turn into escalating retaliation. Kennedy spoke to the American public and to the Soviet government in a televised address on October 22. He confirmed the presence of missiles in Cuba and announced the decision for a naval blockade as a quarantine zone of five hundred nautical miles (926km) around the Cuban coast. He also warned that the military were prepared for any eventualities, and accused the Soviet union of secrecy and deception. The US received solid support from its European allies although the British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, could not understand why a diplomatic solution could not be considered.

Khrushchev sent letters to Kennedy on October 23 and 24. in these he claimed the deterrent nature of the missiles in Cuba and the Soviet Union had peaceful intentions. The Soviets had two different deals delivered to the American government. On October 26, they offered to withdraw the missiles if the US could guarantee they would not invade Cuba or support any invasion. Following this, the next day October 27, the Soviets broadcast on public radio for the withdrawal of the US missiles in Turkey in addition in addition to the demands of the day before. The crisis peaked on the 27 October when a U-2 aircraft was shot down over Cuba. At the same time Soviet merchant ships were nearing the quarantine zone. Kennedy responded by publicly agreeing to the first Soviet deal and sending his brother Robert F Kennedy to the Soviet embassy to privately agree to the removal of the missiles in turkey. Kennedy requested that Khrushchev keep this second compromise out of the public domain.

The Soviet ships turned back and on October 28, Khrushchev announced that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missiles from Cuba. Satisfied that these missiles had been removed, President Kennedy ended the quarantine on 20 November 1962.

After the Crisis The compromise reached satisfied no one, it was a particular embarrassment for Khrushchev and the Soviet Union who had not made public the withdrawal of the missiles in Turkey. The Soviets were portrayed as retreating from circumstances they had started, although they could have made this look just the opposite and positioned themselves as the USSR saving the world from nuclear war by not insisting on restoring the nuclear balance. Khrushchev fell from power two years later.

US military commanders were also not happy with the result. General LeMay told the president that it was ‘the greatest defeat in our history’ and that the US should invade immediately. Cuban people felt they had been betrayed by the Soviets in whom they had trusted, with all the decisions being made by Kennedy and Khrushchev. The Cuban Missile Crisis spurred the creation of the Hot Line. This is a direct communication link between Moscow and Washington DC. The purpose was to create a way that the leaders of the two major Cold War countries could communicate directly to solve any future crisis.