Cuban Missile Crisis

I

Introduction

Cuban Missile Crisis, major confrontation 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 world's closest approach to nuclear war, the crisis began when the United States discovered that Cuba had secretly installed Soviet missiles able to carry nuclear weapons. The missiles were capable of hitting targets across most of the United States. The discovery led to a tense stand-off of 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 dictator, Fulgencio Batista and brought to power a government headed by Cuban 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 refused to be influenced by 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 U.S. 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 refused to give in to the pressure. He responded by establishing closer relations with the Communist government of the USSR. At the time, the USSR and the United States were engaged in the Cold War—an economic, military, and diplomatic struggle between Communist and capitalist nations.

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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. His victory during the Bay of Pigs Invasion solidified Castro’s control over Cuba. Most Cubans resented U.S. 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 channeling weapons to Cuba. In September, U.S. 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 U.S. spy planes flying over Cuba spotted the first ballistic missile. On October 16 U.S. 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 1100 nautical miles (about 2000 km, or 1300 mi) and intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBM) able to reach targets at a distance of about 2200 nautical miles (about 4100 km, or 2500 mi). These missiles placed most major U.S. 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 U.S. pledges might become suspect.

A U.S. promise to defend the beleaguered city of West Berlin in Germany was already under severe pressure. Following the allied victory in World War II (1939-1945), Berlin had been divided into East Berlin, controlled by Communist East Germany, and West Berlin, governed by capitalist West Germany. 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 U.S. 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 judgment Kennedy prized. On October 16, the first day of the crisis, Kennedy and almost all of his advisers agreed that a surprise air attack against Cuba—followed, perhaps, by a blockade and an invasion—was the only reasonable response.

On October 18, however, former U.S. 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 U.S. 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 in the Cabinet Room with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the president’s military advisory group. The Joint Chiefs favored an air strike and an invasion, but Kennedy rejected their proposal, stating that an invasion could escalate into a nuclear war. Kennedy met with congressional leaders on October 22. The legislators' opinions mirrored those held by Kennedy and the majority of his advisers.

Following the meeting with congressional leaders, Kennedy went on worldwide 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 U.S. 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 a quarantine. The United States was supported by other members of the Organization of American States, an organization of nations in the western hemisphere that seek to cooperate on matters of security and economic and social development.

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