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Truman replaced by Eisenhower and Stalin replaced by Khrushchev

Technology played an important role in raising tension

In 1957, the Soviet put the rst satellite (Sputnik) into space and they developed long-range nuclear missiles. In 1959 USA developed Polaris
missiles, so they both possessed atomic bomb and nuclear weapons.
MAD: Mutually Assured Destruction, neither side would risk war due to inevitable death and destruction for all.

THE USA’s REACTION TO THE CUBAN REVOLUTION, 1959-1961

The USA in 1898 defeated the Spanish in a war that gave them control of Cuba, since then American owned much of the land and natural
wealth. From 1933 they supported the corrupt dictator Batista that was overthrown in 1959 by Fidel Castro. Fidel came to power with his
brother Raul and the revolutionary Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara. Castro’s followers were a mixture of communists and Cuban nationalists, they
were all hostile to American in uence on Cuba. The revolution was troubling for the USA’s economy. Castro let the USA keep its base at
Guantanamo Bay and guaranteed the safety of American in Cuba. In 1960 he signed a trade agreement with Moscow and he received
weapons as well to show Cuba’s freedom from American Control.
The CIA’s response was to train a group of 1,400 Cuban exiles t
invade the island and overthrow Castro.

fl
The 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful attempt at invasion following the Cuban Revolution that saw Fidel Castro come to
powe
It was planned and funded by the United State
The invasion was carried out by armed Cuban exiles in southwest Cuba
This action accelerated a rapid deterioration in Cuban-American relations worsened by the Cuban Missile Crisis the following year.

CAUSES OF THE MISSILE CRISIS

As part of NATO, the USA had put strategic nuclear weapons in Italy and Turkey. Khrushchev wanted to counter this threat by placing nuclear
missiles on Cuba, over summer CheGuevara and Raul Castro met with Soviet leaders to arrange for the shipment and installation of the
missiles. In September 1962, Kennedy warned the USSR that he would prevent 'by whatever means necessary' the placement of nuclear
weapons on Cuba. Khrushchev gave his word that this would not happen. On 14 October, a U2 spy plane ew over Cuba and took pictures
of missile silos. Two days later Kennedy was shown the conclusive proof that Khrushchev had broken his word. After the Bay of Pigs
embarrassment, Kennedy was reluctant to rely on his military chiefs alone so he formed a special team called Ex-Comm to provide him with
advice. He knew that 20 Soviet ships carrying nuclear missiles were on the way to Cuba.

THE CRUCIAL WEEK

USA informed Britain about the discovery of missile silos. Kennedy broke the news in a TV address to the nation.

Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba. Khrushchev publicly denied that there were missiles on Cuba
Khrushchev sent a letter stating that Soviet ships would attempt to sail through the USA blockade

Soviet ships carrying warheads turned back before the USA blockade. However, some missiles and warheads made it
to Cuba before the blockade was in place. The USA threatened an invasion; Castro called for a nuclear strike from the
USSR.
 there was a clash in the UN between Adlai Stevenson and Valerian Zorin. The USA provided photographic
evidence of the missile sites

Khrushchev's rst offer was made in a letter to Kennedy: the missiles would be withdrawn if the USA promised not to
invade Cuba. This was the rst Soviet admission that missiles actually existed on Cuba.
a U2 spy plane was shot down over Cuba and the pilot killed. Kennedy was urged to start an invasion but he delayed.
Khrushchev made a second offer in another letter to Kennedy: he demanded that the USA remove missiles from Turkey in
exchange for removal of the Cuban missiles. Kennedy responded to Khrushchev’s offer, ignoring the second. Robert
Kennedy met with USSR ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. No of cial deal would be done, but the USA would guarantee not
to invade Cuba again and remove Turkish missiles in the 'near future'. The USSR couldn't reveal that this was done in
exchange for the removal of Cuban missiles.
Khrushchev accepted these terms, ending the crisis.

5 OPTIONS OF KENNEDY:

DON’T REACT: the USA had more nuclear weapons and the Turkish site gave them the same advantage. MAD meant that nothing
essentially had changed. However, this would be a sign of weakness after the Bay of Pigs

SURGICAL AIR ATTACK: the aerial destruction of all the missile silos. However, Soviet engineers would be killed and if one silo remained
it could still be used to counter-attack.
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INVASION BY THE US ARMY: this would remove the missiles, and communism, altogether, However, a similar Soviet response (for
example in Berlin) might be expected.

USE DIPLOMACY: the UN could provide a forum for discussions but Khrushchev still denied that the missiles existed. Again, it might look
like weakness.

BLOCKADE: it could prevent warheads arriving, and avoid hot war. However, it might trigger a similar Soviet response.Also, some missiles
were already in Cuba and could be working within a week.

Kennedy chose a blockade (publicly called a 'quarantine' to make it sound healthy and less tike an act of aggression) as this struck a
balance between appearing to be weak and using violence. This option was still not guaranteed to work.
Ultimately Khrushchev backed down, even though he later claimed it was a triumph for him personally, and for Cuba. Others in Moscow
did not share this view-he was deposed by Leonid Brezhnev in 1964. Kennedy managed to resist his military advisers, who called for air
strikes and invasion, but took a huge risk in doing so. The nal settlement terms looked much better for him, though in reality the USA had
a less powerful position than before the crisis: Castro was still in power and they lost their Turkish missile sites. Yet to US and world
opinion, he successfully stood up to Khrushchev and saved everyone from a nuclear war.
On 24 October Castro told Khrushchev to launch a nuclear attack so he was kept out of decision-making afterwards.

THE AFTERMATH OF THE CRISIS

The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest that two superpowers came to a nuclear war. In August 1963 the White House and
the Kremlin signed the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty where both promised not to test any more nuclear weapons. Fidel Castro
only stepped down as Cuba’s leader in 2008 and was succeeded by Raul Castro. Kennedy was assassinated in November
1963 and his successor was the Vice-President Lyndon Baines Johnson.