Cuban Missile Crisis: Dual Perspectives on a Cold War Standoff

Introduction

There are two views — as with any conflict or issue — on the reasons and reactions of the major players in the Cuban Missile Crisis that took place at the end of October 1962. The crisis pitted two world powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, against each other in what many describe as the closest the world has come to World War III and a nuclear holocaust.

In order to understand the crisis, it is important to first understand the events leading up to it. This paper examines the background of the crisis from the Cuban and Soviet point of view in depth. Toward the end of the paper, the United States' perspective is discussed with regard to what is described previously from the perspective of supporters of the Castro regime and the now-collapsed Soviet Union.

Background: U.S. and Soviet Nuclear Buildup

After the devastation that the atomic bombs left in Japan at the end of World War II, the Japanese vowed never to become a nuclear state. However, because the United States occupied Japan, it was able to secretly stockpile atomic bombs on the Japanese island of Okinawa as early as July 1954. The reason for the move was not to use the bombs against Japan but to use them against the Soviet Union, whose mainland is less than 400 miles away. In 1956 the United States began stockpiling nuclear bombs and sending ballistic missiles to other Japanese islands — the reasoning being that in the event of a nuclear war, Okinawa would be an obvious target. In the same year, the United States deployed nuclear bombs to Puerto Rico, 150 miles from Cuba.

During this time, the Soviet Union was also stockpiling nuclear missiles. The trend continued as the United States began placing intermediate nuclear weapons, capable of reaching the Soviet Union's major western cities, in the Philippines, Greenland, France, and Turkey — which borders the Soviet Union — as well as in Korea and Taiwan. By 1959 the United States government was denying to the public and to the United Nations any accusations that it was deploying nuclear weapons worldwide. At this point the Soviet Union was surrounded on all borders.

In 1959 the Soviet Union deployed the missile it intended to send to Cuba, and during the same period it deployed the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile — one with sufficient range to be launched from northern Russia and reach the northern United States.

Upheaval in Cuba and the Bay of Pigs

On New Year's Day 1959, the revolutionary Fidel Castro led his soldiers into a Santiago de Cuba barracks. The 5,000 soldiers garrisoned there surrendered without a shot being fired. General Fulgencio Batista — a man who had murdered over 20,000 workers and peasants — fled Cuba, leading his supporters to Miami, Florida, while Cubans imprisoned and deported by Batista were welcomed home. Construction on a new Cuban state began, aimed at providing better rights for peasants and workers, though it was not declared a socialist state. The new state was also committed to agrarian reform. With this, the United States and Cuba established diplomatic relations; however, two U.S. Congressmen attacked the new Cuban government for trying and executing war criminals. By January 21, 1959, Castro took to the streets condemning U.S. policy and its financial support for — and political non-interference with — General Batista, Cuba's now-deposed dictator. Castro accused the United States of supporting a campaign against the people of Cuba, who desired economic and political freedom, and vowed to cancel the foreign monopolies that Batista had brought into the country.

By February 1959, Castro became Prime Minister of Cuba. In March he made good on his promise to rid Cuba of monopolies and nationalized the Cuban Telephone Company, an affiliate of ITT. Within two days, Cuba demanded that the United States leave its military base at Guantánamo. The United States refused, forcibly leasing the 116-square-kilometer piece of land for $2,000. Meanwhile, Castro reduced rates on rent, telephone service, and medicine, making life easier for ordinary Cubans.

In April 1959, Castro visited the United States on behalf of the new Cuban Republic with the intent of meeting President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower refused the meeting; however, Vice President Richard M. Nixon met with Castro. After the meeting, Nixon reported that he believed Castro was a Communist. Despite this, the United States Senate and the majority of the American public believed that Castro was good for Cuba, and the U.S. signed an agreement offering technical cooperation for Cuba's agrarian reform. Castro quickly removed foreign landowners and transferred the land to Cubans who could not otherwise own it. Other countries' landowners agreed to settlements, while American landowners refused any negotiations.

In July 1959, amid diplomatic chaos, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) put a contract on Castro's life. Though Castro was aware of this, he continued to seek a peaceful settlement with the United States. In October of that year, three U.S. covert raids attacked sugar mills in the Pinar del Río and Camagüey provinces. Cuba attempted to buy airplanes to defend itself; Britain initially agreed to sell them but withdrew the offer once the United States discovered the agreement and warned Britain against it.

In January 1960, Cuba reclaimed 70,000 acres of land owned by U.S. sugar companies. The United States responded by sending military bombers camouflaged as counterrevolutionary Cuban aircraft. These bombers dropped napalm on oil refineries and sugar cane fields, followed by bombings of Havana. The damage was intense. The bombings continued even as Castro and Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Anastas Mikoyan signed trade and loan agreements, and as Cuban authorities continued to seek peaceful solutions with the United States. The United States refused to enter negotiations and instead began planning to invade and overthrow the Cuban government.

In May 1960, Cuba and the Soviet Union re-established normal diplomatic relations — a relationship severed after General Batista's coup in 1952. Part of the trade agreement included Soviet oil; however, when the first shipment arrived, the Soviet Union found that all of Cuba's oil refineries were owned by U.S. companies and were under orders not to process Soviet oil. The act paralyzed Cuba. In addition, the U.S. Congress terminated oil sales to Cuba and eliminated Cuba's sugar quota. In response, Cuba nationalized the Texaco, Esso, and Shell refineries as well as all American commercial property. President Eisenhower threatened military action. The Soviet Union not only agreed to defend Cuba but also agreed to purchase the sugar the United States had cut off. China agreed to help Cuba, and later Czechoslovakia sent assistance as well.

In the meantime, the new Cuban government converted army barracks into more than 10,000 new schools, and a program of urban reform guaranteed Cuban workers home ownership. In addition, the Cubans universally armed all workers, including women, to defend the country. Rumors of an impending American attack were rampant, as were denials by the Eisenhower administration. Assassination attempts against Castro continued as President John F. Kennedy took office.

A white paper was issued declaring Cuba a Soviet satellite and promising that, should Cuba break off ties with the Soviet Union, the United States would aid Cuba's "free" government.

The invasion of Cuba began in April 1961 in direct violation of the Charter of the United Nations, the Charter of the Organization of American States, and the Rio Treaty. Though the invasion was obvious, U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk gave an emphatic "no" to the question of whether the United States was attacking or had plans to attack Cuba.

On April 18, Kennedy received a letter from Soviet Premier Khrushchev advising that it was not too late to avoid the irreparable, and that the Soviet Union would render Cuba all the help necessary. Kennedy called off the attack while still denying U.S. involvement.

Following the Bay of Pigs incident and Cuba's victory, Castro again attempted to make peace with America — to no avail. In the meantime, relations between the United States and the Soviet Union remained strained over the divided city of Berlin.

The Cuban Missile Crisis Unfolds

On New Year's Day 1962, Cuba provided U.S. intelligence with reliable information on the extent of Soviet defense deliveries. The missiles the United States had deployed to Turkey became operational; the projected fatality count per missile was one million civilians. Khrushchev, realizing these missiles were pointed at the Soviet Union, considered deploying nuclear weapons to Cuba as a counterbalance. He discussed the idea and was met with internal opposition, yet he sent a mission to Cuba to determine whether Castro would agree.

Throughout May 1962, the U.S. military conducted an exercise designed to intimidate Cuba and to practice for a full military invasion. In June, deliberations between Cuba and Moscow began over the deployment of Soviet missiles. The Soviets proposed a force of 24 medium-range ballistic missiles and 16 intermediate-range launchers, each equipped with two missiles and a single nuclear warhead. In addition, the Soviets offered four elite regiments, twenty-four advanced SA-2 surface-to-air missile batteries, 42 MiG-21 interceptors, 42 IL-28 bombers, 12 Komar-class missile boats, and coastal defense cruise missiles. Castro agreed in July 1962. The formal agreement was renewable every five years, and maintenance of the missiles was left to the Soviets.

In mid-July 1962, Soviet cargo ships began moving out of the Black Sea toward Cuba and were spotted by American aerial reconnaissance. Meanwhile, 11 CIA terrorist teams infiltrated Cuba. Up until this point, the United States had been hopeful that the Castro regime would crumble from within; however, intelligence suggested otherwise. The Special Group Augmented (SGA) advised President Kennedy that there was little possibility of overthrowing the Cuban government through internal dissent — only direct U.S. military intervention could succeed. Kennedy authorized development of aggressive plans but stipulated that no open military involvement could take place.

In August, Cuba's Minister of Industries Che Guevara and a close associate of Castro, Emilio Navarro, met with Khrushchev and urged him to go public about the missile deployment. He refused.

On August 29, 1962, a U-2 surveillance flight revealed air defense missiles at eight sites within Cuba. In the first week of September 1962, Kennedy announced that he was not in favor of invading Cuba at that time. Unknown to the United States, Soviet troops arrived in Cuba during that same week. Three weeks later, Attorney General Robert Kennedy met with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. The Soviet ambassador assured Kennedy that the Soviet Union had no intention of installing surface-to-surface missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy warned that doing so would violate the United States' position that it was the sole foreign government permitted to have military forces inside Cuba at Guantánamo.

Around that time, the first missiles arrived in Cuba and the first missile site was erected at San Cristóbal. The United States became aware of the shipments. Citing the threat of Cuban aggression, on September 20, 1962, the United States Senate approved the use of military force against Cuba. Congress also approved a bill to cut off aid to any country allowing merchant ships to transport goods to Cuba. In response, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko accused the United States of creating "war hysteria" in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, arguing that any "sober-minded" person understood that Cuba could not possibly invade the United States. Gromyko made clear, however, that should the United States attempt to invade Cuba again or destroy ships traveling to Cuba, the Soviet Union would stand solidly in Cuba's defense.

Conclusion

In the end, whichever perspective a person believes or is inclined to believe, the relatively peaceful solution — relative, that is, to a full-blown nuclear war — brought stability to the region. The result was two leaders, Kennedy and Khrushchev, who were determined not to allow the world to suffer a crisis like the Cuban Missile Crisis again. The fact remains that catastrophe was avoided and that, as of the time of writing, Castro continued as the leader of Cuba and the Cold War was over. That said, to omit or skim over any of the major players or the events leading up to the crisis leaves a historical void and lessens our understanding of the importance — and the ongoing lessons — of the Cuban Missile Crisis.