Cuban Missile Crisis

I

Introduction

Cuban Missile Crisis, major confrontation during the Cold War between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) that occurred in 1962 over the issue of Soviet-supplied missile installations in Cuba. Regarded by many as the closest the world has approached to nuclear war, the crisis began when the United States discovered that Cuba had secretly installed Soviet missiles able to carry nuclear weapons. These missiles were capable of hitting targets across most of the United States. The discovery led to a tense stand-off over several days as the United States imposed a naval blockade of Cuba and demanded that the USSR remove the missiles.

II

Background

The crisis was the culmination of growing tension between the United States and Cuba following the Cuban Revolution of 1959. The revolution ousted Cuba’s US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista and brought to power a government headed by the revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.

Prior to the revolution, the United States had had significant influence in Cuba’s economic and political affairs, but the Castro government resisted the hegemony of the United States. Castro also caused concern in the United States when he confiscated property belonging to wealthy Cubans and foreigners in an attempt to implement policies to improve conditions for poor and working-class Cubans. Many of these properties belonged to businesses owned by US companies.

Fearing that Castro would establish a Communist regime in Cuba, the United States applied economic pressure, and in 1960 implemented an embargo that cut off trade between the United States and Cuba. Castro responded by establishing closer relations with the Communist government of the USSR.

In an effort to topple Castro’s government, the United States trained and armed anti-Castro Cuban exiles living in the United States. The exiles invaded Cuba in 1961, with a landing at the Bay of Pigs. Castro’s army easily defeated the exiles, and his victory solidified his control over Cuba. Most Cubans resented US intervention in Cuban affairs and they rallied behind Castro, who declared that Cuba was a Communist nation.

III

The Crisis Emerges

In 1960, as tensions mounted between Cuba and the United States, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev began planning to secretly supply Cuba with missiles that could deliver nuclear warheads to most parts of the United States. Khrushchev mistakenly assumed that the United States would take no action.

By 1962, however, concern was growing in the United States over reports that the USSR was channelling weapons to Cuba. In September, US president John Fitzgerald Kennedy warned the Soviets that “the gravest issues would arise” should they place offensive weapons (a phrase widely understood to mean nuclear weapons) in Cuba.

On October 14 US spy planes flying over Cuba spotted the first ballistic missile. On October 16 US intelligence officials presented Kennedy with photographs showing nuclear missile bases under construction in Cuba. The photos suggested preparations for two types of missiles: medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) able to travel about 1,100 nautical miles (about 2,000 km, or 1,300 mi) and intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBM) able to reach targets at a distance of about 2,200 nautical miles (about 4,100 km, or 2,500 mi). These missiles placed most major US cities—including Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City—within range of nuclear attack. Kennedy also saw evidence of nuclear-capable bombers.

Kennedy now faced a situation with potentially grave consequences. However, he had no clear choice on the actions to take against the Cubans and Soviets. He knew that an attack on Soviet installations in Cuba risked touching off a global nuclear war that would result in the loss of millions of lives. At the same time, he thought, and repeatedly said, that he also risked war by doing nothing. If he ignored Soviet defiance of his pledge in September to oppose offensive weapons in Cuba, then all US pledges might become suspect.

A US promise to defend West Berlin was already under severe pressure. Earlier in the year Khrushchev had threatened to take over West Berlin and told Kennedy he was willing to bring the matter to the point of war. Khrushchev set a deadline of November 1962 for the resolution of the issue. Before the Cuban missile crisis began, Kennedy and his advisers believed US nuclear superiority would deter any aggressive Soviet moves. But when the photographs of the missiles arrived, Kennedy and his experts agreed that the weapons might have been placed in Cuba to keep the United States from going to war over West Berlin. For Kennedy, doing nothing about the missiles would only increase the danger in another war-threatening crisis later in the year, this time over Berlin. The dilemma, as Kennedy understood it, was acute.

IV

Debating the Options

Kennedy quickly assembled a small circle of advisers, including both national security officials and others whose judgement Kennedy valued. On October 16, the first day of the crisis, Kennedy and many of his advisers agreed that a surprise air attack against Cuba—followed, perhaps, by a blockade and an invasion—would be the only effective response to the threat posed by the Soviet missiles.

On October 18, however, former US Ambassador to the Soviet Union Llewellyn Thompson suggested that Kennedy announce a blockade as a prelude to an air strike. Kennedy’s advisers supported a blockade, but not all for the same reasons. One group saw the blockade as a form of ultimatum. Unless Khrushchev announced he would pull the missiles out of Cuba, the blockade would be followed very shortly by some kind of military action. Another group saw the blockade as an opening to negotiation. After his advisers debated the options, Kennedy decided to go ahead with the blockade. At the same time, the US military began moving soldiers and equipment into position for a possible invasion of Cuba.

Before Kennedy publicly announced the blockade, he wanted to prepare both military and congressional leaders. On October 19 he met with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and he met with congressional leaders on October 22. Following these meetings, Kennedy went on radio and television and announced the discovery of the missiles. He demanded that Khrushchev withdraw them and said that as a first step he was initiating a naval quarantine zone around Cuba, within which US naval forces would intercept and inspect ships to determine whether they were carrying weapons. Kennedy warned that if Khrushchev fired missiles from Cuba, the result would be “a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.” Because international law defines a blockade as an act of war, Kennedy and his advisers decided to refer to the blockade as quarantine.