Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was the
closest the world ever came to
full-scale nuclear war. When the Soviet Union
placed offensive nuclear missiles
in Cuba, President Kennedy interpreted the
act as one of hostility that would
not be tolerated. However, the situation
was blown way out or proportion by the
president, American media, and
ultimately the citizens of the United States. The
Soviet Premier, Nikita
Khrushchev, was reacting to the Bay of Pigs Invasion of
Cuba, US Missile
installations along the Turkey/Soviet border, and the clear
anti-Communist
policy of the United States. Khrushchev was born in Kalinovka in
southwestern
Russia. He was raised in a poor family whose income depended solely
on the
coal mining job of his father. In 1918 he joined the Bolsheviks and
attended
a Communist school the following year. He moved to Moscow in 1929 and
began
working for the Communist government. He gained much praise and
advanced
quickly. By 1939, he was a member of the Politburo. He became
Secretary of the
of the Central Committee in 1951. After Stalin died in 1953,
the USSR went
through two more premiers before Khrushchev came to power in
1958. As Premier,
Khrushchev publicly condemned the terror filled reign
of Stalin. Stalin
continually pushed for domination. Several Eastern European
countries united
with the USSR under Stalin’s reign and millions of innocent
people were slain.
Stalin also restricted Soviet citizens personal
liberties to previously unheard
of measures. Khrushchev was a completely
different ruler. He acridly criticized
Stalin’s crimes against humanity
and began a rapid process known as
destalinization. This entailed destroying
statues, pictures, or images of Stalin
and renaming most things previously
named for Stalin. Khrushchev also restored
many of the personal liberties
that Stalin had taken away. He let political
prisoners free, restored much
freedom of thought, and restored freedom of the
press. He increased
production in factories and placed a strong emphasis on the
Soviet space
program. Although he had little pity for small, weak Europe and
Asian
countries, he worked to avoid war with Western nations. He even called for
a
"peaceful coexistence" with the United States. Khrushchev, despite
being
communist, was concerned for the welfare of his country and did not
want war
with the United States. Despite his desire to avoid conflict with
the western
world, Khrushchev was faced with an aggressive United States
government, and had
to act accordingly. The Bay of Pigs invasion was a prime
example. This overt
military action took place when the CIA funded a
paramilitary force of rebel
Cubans to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro.
Kennedy refused to give the invasion
strong American military force so it
ultimately failed, thus becoming a great
embarrassment to the United States.
Not only was it an incredible failure and
embarrassment, but it was also a US
sponsored military offensive against Cuba, a
communist country and Soviet
ally. It was a challenge to the governments of both
the Soviet Union and
Cuba. In addition to the attack on Cuba, Khrushchev was
also faced with US
missile installations in Turkey and Italy that posed a
serious threat to the
Soviet Union. The installations in Turkey were less than
150 miles from
the Soviet border. The installations here were MRBMs,
Medium-Range
Ballistic Missiles, and were nearly identical to the missiles
Khrushchev
had installed in Cuba. He was merely trying to prevent the US from
gaining
the upper hand in a power struggle, which could have meant serious
disaster
for the Soviets. Khrushchev, just like Kennedy and the rest of
the
United States, didn’t want the enemy to gain a nuclear advantage. He
was
trying to protect his country and prevent nuclear disaster. The hysteria
created
in the United States as a result of the Soviet installations was
immense. The US
media was calling Khrushchev’s actions aggressive and people
began to panic.
Kennedy and his advisors were debating whether or not to
invade Cuba to destroy
the missiles (which would have meant war), or to
negotiate with Khrushchev. The
situation was turned into a crisis. Khrushchev
sent his first of two letters to
Kennedy on October 24, 1962 in which he
explained his reasons for installing the
missiles. He said that the action
was not aggressive, and that they would remove
them immediately if the US
missiles in Turkey were dismantled and Kennedy
publicly promised not to
invade Cuba. The fact that Khrushchev wanted the Turkey
missiles dismantled
was hidden from the American public for several years,
making Khrushchev look
much more militant than he truly was. Kennedy still
debated with his brother,
Robert, and Vice President Johnson for a few days.
They decided not to
heed to the Soviet demands and waited instead. In the
meantime a U-2 plane
was shot down over Cuba as it was surveying the missiles,
suggesting that
Khrushchev might be aggressive. However, planes were continually
flying over
Cuba, posing a threat to the Cubans and Soviets. Kennedy decided not
to
retaliate but voiced that if another plane was shot down, we would
invade
Cuba. Khrushchev wrote another letter on October 26 reiterating
that they would
quickly dismantle the Cuban Missiles if the US would publicly
promise not to
invade Cuba and if they would dismantle their missiles in
Turkey. Again, Kennedy
delayed and did not respond to Khrushchev. Kennedy
merely said that the US
blockade would be lifted if the missiles were taken
out. On October 28,
Khrushchev agreed and ordered the missiles to be
removed. The Cuban Missile
Crisis was over. What happened here is easily
understood in retrospect. The US
had outlined a clear Anti-Communism policy
through the Korean War, Bay of Pigs
invasion, and missile installations in
Europe. Khrushchev didn’t want to
jeopardize the safety of his country so
decided to install missiles in Cuba to
protect the Cubans and the USSR The US
media along with the government, did not
inform the public of the
installations in Turkey or Khrushchev’s offer to
remove the missiles if the
US missiles were also removed. This created intense
public opposition to the
Soviet leader as he was made out to be much more
militant than he actually
was. He was simply fighting fire with fire, but the
government and media
prevented the public from having the truth. It looks almost
like a blatant
attempt to manipulate the American public by over-dramatizing a
situation for
which US government was predominately responsible. Kennedy
threatened
invasion and he would have had support of the entire nation if he
had
proceeded with this plan. Khrushchev obviously didn’t want war as
he
eventually agreed to remove the missiles and allow the US to have a
nuclear
advantage. Why would Khrushchev agree to remove the missiles without
any US
promise to remove their missiles or not to invade Cuba? The answer is
obvious.
Khrushchev did not want war with the United States. He was a
vast improvement
over Stalin as a Premier and had restored much freedom to
his country. He
wasn’t a mad killer like Stalin and simply wanted to protect
the citizens of
his country, unlike Stalin had. The US government, however,
wanted the media and
public to think otherwise. They succeeded.