Download Cuban Missile Crisis 2 - IB-History-of-the

By: Marthony Hobgood
 The
Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest
attempt to nuclear war that the world has
ever come to. The United States armed
forces were at their highest state of being
prepared for a nuclear war and Soviet field
commanders in Cuba were ready to use
battlefield nuclear weapons to defend the
island of Cuba if it was invaded. Luckily, war
was averted thanks to two men, President
John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita
Khrushchev.
"Nuclear catastrophe was hanging by a thread ... and we weren't
counting days or hours, but minutes.“
-Soviet General and Army Chief of Operations, Anatoly Gribkov
“We will not prematurely or unnecessarily risk the costs of a worldwide
nuclear war in which even the fruits of victory would be ashes in our
mouth — but neither shall we shrink from that risk any time it must be
faced.”
-President Kennedy

“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 intermediaterange 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.
Meanwhile, Fidel Castro 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.”
As stated directly from,
http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/index.html

This is the first day of
the Thirteen days of
The Cuban Missile
crisis. This day
included a U.S. aircraft
locating missiles in
Cuba. Such caused
panic to President
Kennedy, who at this
time was trying to find
a way to resolve the
situation


President Kennedy meets
to discuss U.S. actions. The
meeting included military
and diplomatic course of
action
Establishes Executive
Committee of the National
security Council
(EXCOMM)
U-2 flights find
the first of three
Soviet SS-5
Missile sites in
Cuba, that have
ranges up to
2200 nautical
miles
 Kennedy is told
of EX-COMM's
decision which
includes, the
Joint Chiefs of
Staff and the Air
Force strongly
arguing for an
air strike.


Quote
President Kennedy and the Soviet Foreign Minister,
Gromyko meet for two hours, within the meeting
“Only last Thursday, as evidence
Gromyko assures Kennedy that Soviet aid to Cuba has
of this rapid offensive buildup was
been only for the "defensive capabilities of Cuba."
already in my hand, Soviet Foreign
Minister Gromyko told me in my
office that he was instructed to
make it clear once again, as he
said his government had already
done, that Soviet assistance to
Cuba, and I quote, "pursued solely
for the purpose of contributing to
the defense capabilities of Cuba,"
that, and I quote him, "training by
Soviet specialists of Cuban
nationals in handling defensive
armaments was by no means
offensive, and if it were
otherwise," Mr. Gromyko went on,
"the Soviet Government would
never become involved in
rendering such assistance." That
statement also was false.
— John F. Kennedy
 Military
options are discussed.
President Kennedy meets with his
advisors and then orders a defensive
quarantine that will be instituted as soon
as possible
 The full operation is reviewed and
approved
 the President schedules a television
address for the next evening.

 Kennedy
makes a decision to implement a
naval blockade on Cuba for the time being
and the exchange of all offensive weapons
is prohibited
 Kennedy warns against soviet attack as, "I
don't know what the Soviets will do."
 Another U-2 flight that day reveals bombers
and Migs that are being rapidly assembled
 New cruise missile sites are also found
being built on Cuba's northern shore.



President Kennedy meets with congressional leaders at the
White House. Kennedy is shown the photographic evidence
of new Soviet missile installations in Cuba.
At 7:00 Kennedy addresses the American public,
announcing the presence of offensive missile sites in Cuba
and his plans to implement a naval blockade.
U.S. military forces go to DEFCON 3.
Quote
“It shall be the policy of this nation to regard any nuclear
missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the
Western Hemisphere as an attack on the United States,
requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.”
— John F. Kennedy
QUOTE





Kennedy orders six Crusader jets to fly
a low level reconnaissance mission.
Organization of American States (OAS)
unanimously supports the U.S.' decision
of the quarantine against Cuba. More
reconnaissance photos reveal that the
Soviet missiles in Cuba are ready to be
launched. The OAS then votes on
diplomatic options.
By the end of the day U.S. ships had
taken up position along the quarantine
line, 800 miles from Cuba.
Kennedy receives a letter from
Khrushchev in which Khrushchev
comments that there is a, "serious threat
to peace and security of peoples."
President Kennedy then decides to give
Khrushchev more time and pulls the
quarantine line back to 500 miles.
“I must say frankly, that the
measures indicated in your
statement constitute a serious
threat to peace and to the
security of nations. The United
States has openly taken the
path of grossly violating the
United Nations Charter, the
path of violating international
norms of freedom of
navigation on the high seas,
the path of aggressive actions
both against Cuba and against
the Soviet Union.”
— Nikita Khruschev
 Soviet
ships en route to Cuba with
questionable cargo either slow down or
reverse their course except for one.
 Military forces go to DEFCON 2 the highest
ever in U.S. history.
 Soviet ships reach the quarantine line. U.S.
vessels come extremely close to firing at
the vessels, but they turned away. Kennedy
believes that if an air attack is executed, the
Soviets will at least be able to launch a few
missiles.


Kennedy sends a letter to Khrushchev placing
accountability on him for the crisis on the
Soviet Union.
EX-COMM then discusses a proposal to
withdraw U.S. missiles from Turkey in exchange
for the withdrawal of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
“In presenting us with these
conditions, you, Mr. President, have
flung a challenge at us. Who asked
you to do this? By what right did you
do this? Our ties with the Republic
of Cuba, like our relations with other
states, regardless of what kind of
states they may be, concern only the
two countries between which these
relations exist. And if we now speak
of the quarantine to which your
letter refers, a quarantine may be
established, according to accepted
international practice, only by
agreement of states between
themselves, and not by, some third
party. Quarantines exist, for
example, on agricultural goods and
products. But in this case the
question in no way one of
quarantine, but rather of far more
serious things, and you yourself
understand this.”
— Nikita Khrushchev




During an EX-COMM meeting,
Kennedy states that he believes
the quarantine alone will not
force the Soviet government to
remove its offensive weapons
from Cuba.
A CIA report from that morning
states that the Soviets did not
stop their development of the
missile sites in Cuba
More reconnaissance flight
reveals the Soviets were also
attempting to camouflage the
missiles.
Khrushchev sends another
letter to President Kennedy with
a proposal to remove his
missiles if Kennedy publicly
announced never to invade
Cuba.
QUOTE
“I would like to briefly express
my own personal opinion.
If [an invasion of Cuba] takes
place and the imperialists
invade Cuba with the aim of
occupying it, the dangers of
their aggressive policy are so
great that after such an invasion
the Soviet Union must never
allow circumstances in which
the imperialists could carry out
a nuclear first strike against it.”
— Fidel Castro







A message from Khrushchev is received saying that they will remove their missiles from
Cuba if the U.S. guarantees that they will not attack Cuba.
The production of the missiles continues.
RFK discovers that the Soviets are willing to remove the missiles if the U.S. removes their
missiles from Turkey.
During this day Castro also presses Khrushchev to launch a nuclear missile if the U.S.
decides to invade Cuba.
An American U-2 is shot down over Cuba killing the pilot, Major Rudolf Anderson.
U-2 accidentally strays into Soviet airspace near Alaska nearly being intercepted by
Soviet fighters.
President Kennedy finally writes a letter to Khrushchev stating that he will make a
statement that the U.S. will not invade Cuba only if Khrushchev removes the missiles from
Cuba.
On October 27, Major Anderson took off in a U-2 from a forward operating location at
McCoy Air Force Base, Orlando, Florida, and was shot down by a Soviet-supplied S-75
Dvina (NATO designation SA-2 Guideline) surface-to-air missile near Banes, Cuba. "The
loss of the U-2 over Banes was probably caused by intercept by an SA-2 from the Banes
site, or pilot hypoxia, with the former appearing more likely on the basis of present
information," stated a CIA document dated 0200 hrs, 28 October 1962. Anderson was
killed when shrapnel from the exploding proximity warhead punctured his pressure suit,
causing it to decompress at high altitude. On October 31, Acting United Nations
Secretary U Thant, returning from a visit with Premier Fidel Castro, announced that Major
Anderson was dead.
October 28, 1962
 The crisis is over and
Khrushchev announces
over Radio Moscow, that
he agrees to remove the
missiles from Cuba and
the missiles will be
dismantled.
 Kennedy still continues
to enforce the quarantine
for one more month prior
to the end of the crisis.
Timelines
Cuban Missile Crisis Events." Timelines.com. Web. 29 Apr. 2012. <http://timelines.com/topics/cuban-missilecrisis>.
"The Cuban Missile Crisis: Thirteen Days." Timeline. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/57003>.
"Cuban Missile Crisis Timeline." History Timelines. Web. 29 Apr. 2012. <http://www.history-timelines.org.uk/eventstimelines/04-cuban-missile-crisis-timeline.htm>.
"Cuban Missile Crisis: Timeline." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.
<http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/timeline.html>.
Pictures
http://mitchellarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/cuban-missle-crisis-ff.jpg
http://www.wacona.com/promote/kennedy/77247A3DDCEB4E4B913DD6EE591033A8.jpg
Information
"Cuban Missile Crisis: Summary." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.
<http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/index.html>.
"The Cuban Missile Crisis: Causes." ThinkQuest. Oracle Foundation. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.
<http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/days/causes.html>.