Cuban Missile Crisis Done by: Alvin Leow 4P101 Cai Qizheng 4P102 Keifer Lim 4P1

Contents  Basic Information (Summary of the crisis)  Background Information  The Cuban Missile Crisis  The impacts on US-USSR relations

Basic Information  Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as October Crisis or Caribbean Crisis  Was a confrontation between the United States, Soviet Union and Cuba  October 1962  Soviet governments secretly began to build bases in Cuba for a number of medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles (MRBMs and IRBMs) with the ability to strike most of the continental United States.

Basic Information  In the end…  Soviets dismantled their offensive weapons in Cuba and returned them to the Soviet Union, subject to United Nations verification  U.S. publicly declared and agreed never to invade Cuba.  Secretly, the U.S. agreed that it would dismantle all U.S.-built Thor and Jupiter IRBMs deployed in Europe and Turkey.

So what happened?

Background Information (USSR)  In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the arms race.  Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe but U.S. missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union.  In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate- range missiles in Cuba.  A deployment in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union.

Background Information (Cuba)  Meanwhile, Fidel Castro, who assumed power in Cuba after the Cuban Revolution, was looking for a way to defend his island nation from an attack by the U.S.  Ever since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Castro felt a second attack was inevitable.  Consequently, he approved of Khrushchev's plan to place missiles on the island. In the summer of 1962 the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build its missile installations in Cuba.

Background Information (United States)  After the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro Cuba allied with the USSR. However, US would not allow a Latin American country to ally openly with the USSR.  This defied the Monroe Doctrine; a United States policy which, originally conceived to limit European power's involvement in the Western Hemisphere, expanded to include all other major powers.  The aim of the doctrine is to make sure the United States is the only hegemonic power in the Americas and keeping all others out of its "backyard".

Background Information  Bay of Pigs Invasion was launched in April 1961 under President John F. Kennedy by Central Intelligence Agency- trained forces of Cuban exiles but the invasion failed and the United States were embarrassed publicly.  Afterward, former President Dwight D. Eisenhower told Kennedy that “the failure of the Bay of Pigs will embolden the Soviets to do something that they would otherwise not do.”  The half-hearted invasion left Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and his advisers with the impression that Kennedy was indecisive and, as one Soviet adviser wrote, "too young, intellectual, not prepared well for decision making in crisis situations... too intelligent and too weak."  U.S. covert operations continued in 1961 with the unsuccessful Operation Mongoose

The Crisis starts…

Beginning of the Crisis  For the United States, the crisis began on October 15, 1962 when reconnaissance photographs revealed Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba.  Early the next day, President John Kennedy was informed of the missile installations. Kennedy immediately organized the EX-COMM (A group of his twelve most important advisors) to handle the crisis.

 The U.S. had no plan in place because U.S. intelligence had been convinced that the Soviets would never install nuclear missiles in Cuba. The EXCOMM quickly discussed several possible courses of action, including:  No action.  Diplomacy: Use diplomatic pressure to get the Soviet Union to remove the missiles.  Warning: Send a message to Castro to warn him of the grave danger he, and Cuba were in.  Blockade: Use the U.S. Navy to block any missiles from arriving in Cuba.  Air strike: Use the U.S. Air Force to attack all known missile sites.  Invasion: Full force invasion of Cuba and overthrow of Castro.  The Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously agreed that a full-scale attack and invasion was the only solution. They believed that the Soviets would not attempt to stop the U.S. from conquering Cuba.  Kennedy was skeptical.

Beginning of the Crisis  After seven days of guarded and intense debate within the upper echelons of government, Kennedy concluded to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba. He wished to prevent the arrival of more Soviet offensive weapons on the island.  On October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery of the missile installations to the public and his decision to quarantine the island. He also proclaimed that any nuclear missile launched from Cuba would be regarded as an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union and demanded that the Soviets remove all of their offensive weapons from Cuba.

The Crisis Deepens  During the public phase of the Crisis, tensions began to build on both sides. Kennedy eventually ordered low-level reconnaissance missions once every two hours.  On the 25th Kennedy pulled the quarantine line back and raised military readiness to DEFCON 2. Then on the 26th EX- COMM heard from Khrushchev in an impassioned letter.  He proposed removing Soviet missiles and personnel if the U.S. would guarantee not to invade Cuba. October 27 was the worst day of the crisis. A U-2 was shot down over Cuba and EX-COMM received a second letter from Khrushchev demanding the removal of U.S. missiles in Turkey in exchange for Soviet missiles in Cuba.  Attorney General Robert Kennedy suggested ignoring the second letter and contacted Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin to tell him of the U.S. agreement with the first.

Easing of tensions  Tensions finally began to ease on October 28 when Khrushchev announced that he would dismantle the installations and return the missiles to the Soviet Union, expressing his trust that the United States would not invade Cuba.  Further negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light bombers be removed from Cuba, and specifying the exact form and conditions of United States assurances not to invade Cuba.

The End of the Crisis  Two weeks after the agreement, the Soviets had removed the missile systems and their support equipment, loading them onto eight Soviet ships from November 5–9.  A month later, on December 5 and 6, the Soviet Il-28 bombers were loaded onto three Soviet ships and shipped back to Russia.  The quarantine was formally ended at 6:45 pm EDT on November 20, 1962.

The End of the Crisis  Eleven months after the agreement, all American weapons were deactivated (by September 1963).  An additional outcome of the negotiations was the creation of the Hotline Agreement and the Moscow– Washington hotline, a direct communications link between Moscow and Washington, D.C.

Let us go through some pictures to gain a better understanding of the Cuban Missile Crisis…

This area shows the two different types of aircraft that were used for low- level recon. The top plane is the Navy F-8 Crusader, while the bottom is a Air Force RF-101. These planes were used in crucial low-level missions on October 23, 27 and in others throughout the crisis. They were outfitted with special KA-18A stereo strip camera that was designed for high- speed, low-level, reconnaissance.

This picture is of the most common high-level recon aircraft used before, during, and after the crisis. The U- 2 was the most used recon aircraft in service before being retired for the SR-71 Blackbird.

The SS-4 "Sandal" is an intermediate range missile that can destroy targets up to 1000 km from its launch site. This liquid fuelled, relatively vulnerable and inaccurate missile, was first deployed in The SS-5 "Skean" followed it in 1961 and has a similar sized warhead but double the range. Some 275 SS-4s remained until 1982 in the Soviet Union's arsenal along with a handful of SS-5s. Both of these missiles can carry a wide variety of warheads including chemical, nuclear, and conventional. The SS-4 and SS-5 missiles were the primary Soviet missile systems based in Cuba. Together, they had a range capable of reaching most of the continental United States. An American operative took the top picture of an SS-4 while it was on parade in Moscow. It is the only close up picture of the missile system that I have ever seen.

Ships with Missiles These ships were photographed in port with missile parts being unloaded. This was further proof of the increased military build up on the island of Cuba.

Communication  The Cuban Missile Crisis highlighted the importance of a clear and direct system of communication between Moscow and Washington.  During the crisis, the two leaders communicated with each other through letter writing, which proved to be a very slow form of communication, particularly in such a tense time.  So, in 1963, an agreement was reached, the Hot-line Treaty, initially using teletype, telegraph and radio-telegraph communication links. Of course with the development of new technologies, these communication links have been upgraded.  These communication tools provided a way for the two countries to connect, and thus boosted their friendship.

Public Opinion  The compromise was a particularly sharp embarrassment for Khrushchev and the Soviet Union because the withdrawal of U.S. missiles from Italy and Turkey was not made public—it was a secret deal between Kennedy and Khrushchev.  The Soviets were seen as retreating from circumstances that they had started  Khrushchev's fall from power two years later can be partially linked to Politburo embarrassment at both Khrushchev's eventual concessions to the U.S. and his ineptitude in precipitating the crisis in the first place.

The arms race  USSR has caught up, to a certain extent, with the US in the arms race.  The United States could no longer be considered pre-eminent  Soviet Union has proved itself to be a major power in terms of military  In matters of arms control, the USSR could now negotiate from positions of equality.

Prevention of war  Both countries realised the threat of MAD (mutually assured destruction)  This crisis was resolved rather successfully  This ‘thawed’ the cold war – the relations between the two countries

Bibliography   personal.arts.usyd.edu.au/sterobrt/hsty3080/3rdYr3 080/Cuban/indexi.html personal.arts.usyd.edu.au/sterobrt/hsty3080/3rdYr3 080/Cuban/indexi.html  of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi- studies/studies/vol46no1/article06.html of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi- studies/studies/vol46no1/article06.html    om.html om.html  And many other sites