Cuban Missle Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis

In October 1962 the world came closest to a nuclear holocaust than it has ever done before or since in a critical standoff between the two major nuclear powers (the U.S. And the U.S.S.R.) over the deployment of missiles in Cuba by the Soviet Union. This paper discusses the causes and consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis and assesses President Kennedy's handling of the crisis.

Causes

After the Spanish-American War of 1898 that ended the Spanish Empire and Spain's control of Cuba, the United States had given itself the right to intervene in the internal affairs of Cuba and U.S. businesses established extensive interests on the island. All of this ended with the Cuban Revolution under Fidel Castro in 1959. The U.S. was not prepared to accept a leftist revolution so close to its borders and the CIA carried out several covert and overt attempts to dislodge Castro, which culminated in the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961. The failure of the invasion did not deter the U.S. And it continued to threaten the Cuban regime with covert operations and hostile acts and the Cubans feared another imminent invasion by the U.S.

The other reason for the crisis was the build-up of U.S. strategic forces by the Kennedy administration that the Soviet Union was unable to match due to the costs involved but felt obliged to counter because of the Cold War imperatives. Subsequent release of classified documents indicate that one of the five approved strategic plans at the time based on the U.S. military build-up at the time called for a nuclear first-strike against the Soviet Union. (Brenner) Khrushchev reacted in an admittedly risky venture by secretly deploying nuclear missiles in Cuba to discourage U.S. aggression against Cuba and prevent a nuclear first strike on the Soviet Union.

Consequences

The Cuban Missile Crisis is considered to be the high point of the Cold War after which the confrontation between the two military super powers began to subside and led to the signing of the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963. The reason for the relative decrease in tensions was the realization by the two countries of the dangerous consequences of brinkmanship in such a high-stakes game. Following the crisis, there was a temporary strain in relations between Cuba and the U.S.S.R. As Castro felt that had been unfairly excluded from missile negotiations despite Cuba's direct stakes in the consequences. The more direct result of the crisis was the fall of Khrushchev from power in 1964. The perception that he had capitulated in the face of American threats and had shown weaknesses and indecision during the crisis led to his removal from power. ("Cuban Missile Crisis"-Encarta)

President Kennedy's Handling of the Crisis