The Cuban Missile Crisis

In 1961 The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba and was in the act of preparing for an invasion. A few advisors and other state departments assured President Kennedy that Fidel Castro was not a threat at all. President Kennedy did not agree and saw Fidel Castro as a mastermind. He believed that the taking down of Fidel Castro would show Russia, China, and fellow Americans that President Kennedy was serious about winning the Cold War and was willing to fight to prove so.
Kennedy began to create a plan to invade Cuba. Coming into office President Kennedy picked up former president Dwight Eisenhower’s CIA campaign to train and equip guerilla army of Cuban exiles. While preparing for the invasion the last thing President Kennedy
wanted was direct, overt. He believed that known presence of military in Cuba would catch the Soviet Union’s attention and they would see that as an act of war and would retaliate. The decision was made to make and keep this invasion a secret military mission.
President Kennedy set his sights to begin the invasion. On April 15th, 1961 He sent out a few Cuban exiles piloting B-26 bombers from Nicaragua with their sights set on Cuban airfields in an attempt to disable Castro’s army’s air force. Unfortunately for President Kennedy and the United States army this attempt was a failure because it is believed that Castro was aware of the incoming invasion and moved his air force bases to a different location.
It was too late to turn back, on April 17th, 1961 they arrived at their target. A beach by the name of Bay of Pigs. As soon as the invasion began it was already practically over. Radio broadcast were sent out to all of Cuba about the incoming invasion, American ships were sunk by unexpected coral reefs, and paratroops landed in the wrong location. The invasion was a disaster from the start. 114 soldiers were killed and over 1,100 soldiers were taken prisoners in less than a day of fighting.
On October 14, 1962, a U2 spy plane flying over Cuba discovered nuclear missile sites under construction. The missiles were capable of easily reaching the US due to the close proximity of Cuba to the US. President John f. Kennedy quickly assembled a group of senior advisors to help discuss this crisis. The group was split between those who wanted a military solution, such as an invasion or air strikes, and those who sought a diplomatic solution to remove the missiles. About a week later President Kennedy ordered a naval blockade of Cuba and the US military forces to DEFCON 3. DEFCON is a series of five levels used by the U.S armed forces and the lower it gets the more severe the situation is. The assembly of military and political advisors would later be referred to as the ExComm, or executive committee.
October of 1962, President John F.
Kennedy addresses to the nation that the United States is quarantining Cuba until the Soviet Union missiles are gone and warned that if missiles were fired from Cuba than the United States would retaliate. This caused for the citizens around the world to fear even more. The rest of the world sat there watching first hand as we inch by inch stepped closer to the start of a nuclear war. They sat there very nervous and worried that this may be the start of a possible world war III. The other countries of the world feared that if this war began that they would be dragged into it due to being allies with the other countries already in it. If this war happened it would terribly damage the economy of the world, negatively impact the trade market, and cause the world’s death poll to rise. The Soviet Union responds by proclaiming that the missile sites are placed in Cuba solely to protect them against any attackers. A few days later Soviet ships headed to Cuba but were forced to turn around due to the quarantine zone that the United States put up around
Cuba.
This does not stop the Soviet Union from arming themselves and protecting Cuba with the help of nuclear missiles. They still continue to construct missile bases, the United States threatens to invade Cuba if the Soviet Union continued to build missile bases. The Soviet Union says that they’ll deconstruct the missile sites if the United States choose to lift their Navy blockade. As a result the United States did not take down their Navy blockade, the Soviet Union did not deconstruct their missile bases, and the United States chose not to invade Cuba. The next day tension between the two countries rose even higher when Cuba shot down a passing American U2 spy plane, killing an American soldier. War looks as if it is going to happen and cannot be avoided. ICBMs, an ICBM is an intercontinental ballistic missile that is specifically designed for nuclear warfare, began preparing to launch. Polaris submarines were dispatched, and B-52 bombers were placed on alert. The world watched as tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union increased. Khrushchev put Warsaw Pact forces on alert. Later, United States forces were placed on DEFCON 2. Later that night President Kennedy sends Khrushchev a letter offering to end the blockade and not invade the Cuba if the Soviets remove their missile bases. President Kennedy also agreed to take down missile sites in Turkey.
Finally on October 28, Khrushchev agrees to remove the war missiles in Cuba announced that they were withdrawing the missiles from Cuba.
In December of 1962 President Kennedy decided to send Cuba care packages filled with medicine, food, and supplies in exchange for the Cuban exiles that were captured in the terribly failed invasion of Boy of Pigs.
In the spring of 1963, the United States quietly removed the missiles from Turkey that equally threatened the Soviet Union and agreed not to invade Cuba. Though the missiles were removed they were done so very secretly, the rest of the United States wasn’t aware of the placement or removal of these missiles until nearly 20 years later at the end of 1980.
This crisis is regarded as the closest the world has come to a nuclear exchange. Soon after this incident, the famous "hotline" was installed between the United States and the Soviet Union to help resolve future conflicts. The hotline is used for direct communication between the United States and the United Nations. This was a very important installment because it made it made it easier for the United States and the Soviet Union to stay in contact and to make sure that everything stays under control so that there is no potential war that breaks
out.