IB Docs (2) Team
3. The Cuban Missile Crisis
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The culmination of superpower tensions, the US reaction to the Cuban Revolution and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev’s decision to deploy nuclear weapons in Cuba led to what some historians have seen as the most dangerous crisis of the Cold War – the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the 13 days of the crisis in October 1962, the United States and the Soviet Union came close to a direct military showdown for the first time.
The Cuban Missile Crisis (Americas)
The origins of the Cuban Missile Crisis can be traced back to the overthrow of the pro-USA Cuban government of General Fulgencio Batista by Fidel Castro in 1959. The proximity of Cuba to mainland America, and the suspicion of the US that Castro was a Communist, meant growing tension between Cuba and the US. This resulted in the botched Bay of Pigs invasion by the US in an attempt to overthrow Castro and, as relations worsened between Cuba and the US, increased friendship between the USSR and Cuba.
Note that an alternative video to the one below is the Timewatch 'Defying Uncle Sam' video which is also excellent. See this page: 4. The Cold War: Videos and activities
Task One
ATL: Thinking skills
Watch the following CNN Cold War video on the Cuban Crisis up to 22 minutes which can be found on YouTube e.g. here. Click on the eye for questions.
It is not totally clear why Khrushchev put missiles in Cuba. Khrushchev wrote in his memoirs that the reason was to protect Cuba and also because 'it was high time America learned what it feels like to have her own land and her own people threatened'. The United States had missiles in Turkey, which bordered the Soviet Union and putting missiles a similar distance away from the United States was seen as a way of redressing the balance. Equally important was Khrushchev's aim to seize a propaganda advantage after the humiliation of the Berlin Wall and to acquire a bargaining chip against the stationing of US nuclear missiles in Europe. John Lewis Gaddis, however, believes that Khrushchev put the missiles into Cuba mainly because he feared another invasion of Cuba - that he was determined to save the Cuban revolution.
Task Two
ATL: Thinking skills
Study the timeline below and answer the following questions:
- What actions would have convinced the US that Castro was a Communist?
- What actions taken by Castro indicated that he might not have been a Communist in 1959?
- What evidence is there to suggest that the US helped to push Castro into a relationship with the US?
Timeline on relations between Cuba, the USA and USSRHere is another timeline from Council of Foreign Relations of US-Cuba relations from 1959 up to 2018; the conflict between the two countries has continued...
Task Three
ATL: Thinking skills
The impact of the Berlin crisis on the Cuba Crisis
Read the following extract which comes from Tony Judt's Post War Europe.
- What point is Judt making regarding the impact of Berlin on Cuba?
- How do you think this might have affected the actions of the Americans with regard to the Cuban crisis?
Just as Truman and Acheson had seen the Korean incursion as a possible prelude to a Soviet probe across the divided frontier of Germany, so Kennedy and his colleagues saw in the missile emplacements in Cuba a Soviet device to blackmail a vulnerable America into giving way over Berlin. Hardly an hour passed during the first ten days of the Cuba crisis without American leaders reverting to the subject of West Berlin, and the need to 'neutralise' Khrushchev's anticipated countermove in the divided city. As Kennedy explained on October 22nd 1962 to British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan: 'I need not point out to you the possible relation of this secret and dangerous move on the part of Khrushchev to Berlin'.
As you have seen from the video, ExComm considered several options in dealing with the Soviets and Cuba. Kennedy rejected calls from the military for an immediate air strike followed by an invasion of Cuba and ordered instead a naval blockade of the island. The President went on television to announce the establishment of the 'quarantine' around uba to prevent the delivery of any nuclear warheads to the island. Although the Soviet ships initially continued to head to Cuba, on 24 October, six ships turned back. At this point Dean Rusk, the US Secretary State, commented, 'We're eyeball to eyeball and i think the other fellow just blinked.' Nevertheless the crisis continued as the missiles sites still remained on Cuba.
Task Four
ATL: Thinking skills
Now watch this excerpt from Robert McNamara's excellent Fog of War documentary.
What are your reactions to the discussions that took place in ExComm?
How was the crisis resolved according to McNamara?
Who should get the credit for the resolution of this crisis?
What are your thoughts about the first telegram that Khrushchev sent to Kennedy?
Task Four
ATL: Thinking skills
In pairs discuss the roles of Kennedy and Khrushchev in the crisis.
- Who was most to blame for the crisis?
- Who played the most significant role in the defusion of the crisis?
Consider McNamara's video, the quote above from Judt and the historiography on this issue (below) in your discussions. Also note McNamara's comments on the resolution of the crisis in the video at the top of this page on nuclear weapons.
Traditional interpretations of JFK's actions in the Cuban crisis stress his statesmanlike approach; this view is supported by Robert Kennedy's account of the crisis in Thirteen Days and by historians Theodore C. Sorensen and Richard E Neustadt. The Revisionist view (put forward by historians Roger Hagman and David Horowitz) argues that Kennedy, through his actions, unnecessarily raised the Cuban episode to the level of a crisis. Recent interpretations are closer to the traditional interpretation; the tape recordings of the ExComm meetings at the time show Kennedy pushing for compromise and anxious to avoid a nuclear showdown.
The Cuban missile crisis had significant consequences for both Kennedy and Khrushchev. It can also be seen as a turning point in the relations between the USSR and Cuba and between the USSR and the USA (see also Sewell on this below):
- The outcome was a personal triumph for Kennedy; his prestige soared nationally and internationally
- The crisis was a humiliation for Khrushchev; he was deposed in 1964 and this was a key factor in his removal
- Both sides realised the danger of nuclear war; the Limited Test-Ban Treaty was signed in August 1963 and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was signed in 1968
- Cuba no longer faced the threat of an invasion as the USA had promised it would not invade Cuba as part of the final deal
- The arms race continued unabated as the Soviets attempted to reach parity with the USA - but it was carried out within an increasingly precise set of rules.
- Neither side would challenge each other's sphere of influence
- Castro was furious that he had not been consulted in the negotiations; Cuba now pursued a more independent foreign policy
- China saw the outcome as a sign that the Soviet Union had ceased to be a revolutionary state; its relationship with the USSR worsened considerably
- A hotline was established between the USA and USSR to make immediate communication easier and avoid another confrontation such as this happening again
Task Five
ATL: Thinking skills
According to Mike Sewell, what was the signficance of the Cuban Missile Crisis?
Source C
The significance of the crisis lies in the fact that the world has never been closer to a nuclear exchange. It was also a hinge, or a turning point, in the history of the Cold War. Among the experiences that shaped policy makers’ approaches to any issue in the post -1962 period was a memory of the way in which crisis management was not crucial to the very survival of life on earth. As Defence Secretary McNamara later put it, the very idea of crisis management was shown to be a dangerous misperception. Crises, by their nature are unmanageable.... the outcome of the crisis, cemented the position of Cuba and West Berlin as outposts of their respective blocs and changed both sides’ negotiating styles..the crisis bred new perspectives in both superpower capitals and helped contribute to the rise of détente. Although it changed the cold war confrontation, it did not end it…’.
Sewell, The Cold war, CUP, 2002, pg 88
Task Six
ATL: Thinking and self-management skills
Organise the bullet points above into a mind map to show the impact of the Cuban Missile crisis on the different countries involved and on the international situation in general.
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