Crisis of the missiles of Cuba

The crisis of Cuba (also called crisis of the missiles - or fused - nuclear of Cuba , business of the missiles / fused of Cuba , or simply crisis / business of the fused missiles / ) is a series of events which has occurred of the October 22nd to the October 31st 1962 and which, having opposed the the United States and the Soviet Union about the nuclear missiles Soviet pointed on the territory of the the United States from the island of Cuba, placed the world at the edge of the Guerre nuclear power. The Crisis of Cuba is a limit with the Peaceful coexistence. It is besides this crisis which will prove that the peaceful coexistence is not enough to guarantee peace.

Precursory events of the crisis

During the Years 1950, the the United States had a great influence on the policy of the Republic of Cuba, become independent with respect to the Spain in 1898. In January 1959, the dictator Fulgencio Batista is reversed by a Guérilla, carried out by Che Guevara and Fidel Castro and supported by the majority of the cuban people. Fidel Castro, arrived at the capacity, undertakes a land reform on May 17th, 1959, and drives out island all the American companies established in Cuba. Reprisals American, in particular with instigation and under pressure of United Fruit Co (undertaken banana which counts among the driven out companies of the island), five months start later: the 21, a twin-engine counter-revolutionary Havana grapeshot, causing 2 died and about fifty casualties, while an other small plane releases subversive propaganda, is followed, on April 17th, 1961, by an unloading of 1500 men supported by an air force, in the Baie of the Pigs. It acts, for the majority, of exiled cuban anti-castristes pulled by the CIA in a camp with the Guatemala, within the framework of an operation financed by the administration Eisenhower. Various cities are bombarded, but the forces castrists come to end from this invasion. Very few combatants were killed. The others, defined by Fidel Castro like gusanos (“vermin”), are done prisoners to be able to exchange their freedom against drugs.

Beginning of the crisis:

The Soviet operations Anadyr and Kama

In May 1962, Nikita Khrouchtchev starts the Opération Anadyr: it sends 50.000 nuclear soldiers, 36 missiles SS-4 and 2 SS-5 and 4 Sous-marin S in Cuba to defend the island of new potential invasions of the United States and to rebalance the nuclear forces.

This island, allied of the Soviet Union and considered by the Americans as enemy, is partially controlled by the army of the United States which has a base with Guantánamo. However, Cuba is with less than 200 km of the Florida, which makes the territory of the the United States vulnerable to these missiles, those not being able to be detected sufficiently in advance to guarantee the immediate response required by the policy of Dissuasion. Contrary, the United States is unable itself to invade the island with conventional methods.

October 2nd, 1962 begins the Opération Kama: four Sous-marin S of attack diesel-electric of Classe Foxtrot of the Soviet Marine installs Cola peninsula, with on their board nuclear torpedes (their use could have started an atomic conflict on the initiative of the USSR; to note that the nuclear nature of these torpedes was revealed only in 2001). The commanders Shumkov, Ketov, Savisky and Dubivko had the role of joining the convoy of Soviet cargo liners which travelled towards Cuba, with on their board the nuclear missiles intended to supplement the device already places from there on the island. They had the role of protecting the convoy, if need be at the price of the torpedoing of the ships which would try to interpose.

John McCone, director of the CIA, returns account to the Safety advice main road that, taking into account the bad conditions weather, the catches of sights by the reconnaissance aircraft U2 are impossible. October 13rd, the Soviet submarines cross the barrier the Azores - Newfoundland, after having wiped, on October 9th, a storm which because of the damages on board.

The discovery of the launching pads and blockade

October 14th, Major Enderson, on board sound U2 (a Reconnaissance aircraft), flies over the sites of installation of the missiles and takes air photographs. The following day, the reading of films reveals with the the United States that the the USSR is installing missiles SS-4 with nuclear warhead with Cuba. Launching pads, missiles, bomber S, rockets and advisers Soviet are located in Cuba. One also locates 26 Soviet ships transporting of the nuclear warheads (operational in 10 days) on the way towards the island.

October 16th, President informed Kennedy convenes the Safety advice main road. Kennedy preaches a direct military action. Robert McNamara proposes a maritime blockade of the island until the shrinking of the missiles of Cuba.

October 22nd, whereas the admiral Anderson announces that the installation of the maritime blockade will take approximately 14 days, McCone informs the President of the presence of four Soviet submarines. Kennedy requests from Khrouchtchev the stop operations in progress, announces to the American people the content the information revealed by the U2 plane and measurements of naval blockade decided. The following day, it signs the order of blockade. The Soviet submarines reach the line of blockade at the same time as the ships of the US fleet. Moscow cannot be informed about it because of the saturation of the communication networks. The finally restored connection, the commanders of the submarines receive from Moscow the order to carry on their road. Khrouchtchev informs Kennedy, by the means of an American business man of return to the United States following a voyage to Moscow, which it will continue his action: “If the United States wants the war, then we will find ourselves in hell”. Kennedy, obtains the promise to him that France, the United Kingdom and the other Western nations will support it in the event of war against the USSR. Canada is a little late because of animosity between the Prime Minister Diefenbaker and Kennedy, but the Minister for the Defense of Canada puts in state of alert the forces maritime, air and terrestrial Canadian without informing the Prime Minister.

October 24th, with 10:00, the blockade is in place. Thirty Soviet cargo liners are on the way. Among them, four have nuclear missiles in their compartments. Two arrive on the line of blockade: the Khemov and the Gagarine . With 10:25, the cargo liners stop. Khrouchtchev does not judge useful to break the blockade. The missiles already in place in Cuba are enough.

October 25th, twelve cargo liners turn back. The others carry on their road. October 26th, one of the submarines is detected with the sonar. Hunting is launched. October 27th, U2 of Major Enderson is cut down. Khrouchtchev had not given this order. It did not wish to achieve the first gesture. But the National council of Safety analyzes this action like a climbing. Kennedy gives the order in the event of new aggression to bombard the sites of missiles.

October 26th, letter (...) of Khrouchtchev which implies that it is ready to negotiate.

October 28th, the CIA announces that 24 missiles from now on operational and are pointed on precise points of the American ground.

Khrouchtchev announces on Radio Moscow that it gives the order to dismantle the sites of missiles. Hunting for the submarines beats full sound. Two of them make surface, batteries flat, to reload them. They make include/understand with the ships of Navy not to cause them. Dubivko , during an operation, is made tear off its chechmate of antenna by one of its prosecutors. It takes this action like a deliberated operation. Shumkov is always in diving. Three grenades of exercise are launched by its prosecutor to intimate the order to him to make surface. It chooses to plunge while launching a lure. The noise of this last is taken for a launching of torpedo, then its operation of escape is ventilated. With end of its oxygen reserves, Shumkov makes surface in the middle of four destroyers of Navy. Giving an account of the situation in Moscow, he sees himself intimating the order to be held able to react. A nuclear torpedo is inserted in the torpedo tube number 1.

October 29th, the USSR moves back and makes withdraw its ships. She also promises to remove all her installations. N the other hand, the USA commit themselves not to attack Cuba and dismounting their rockets installed in Turkey (and thus pointed towards the Russian block).

November 1st, three of the four submarines are detected. Ketov is always untraceable. The submarines are accompanied back in open sea. November 7th, Khrouchtchev accepts that the cargo liners are inspected by the ships of Navy. The crisis is avoided little. One will know only into 2001 that the Soviet submarines were armed with torpedes with nuclear warhead.

End of the crisis

The shrinking of the missiles was decided by Nikita Khrouchtchev on October 26th after written engagement of not-invasion of Cuba by president Kennedy. This clause of non-alignment is seen today like a very important point of the negotiation: it would have accelerated the way out of crisis while making it possible to the Soviets to avoid humiliation.

The Soviets withdraw their missiles of Cuba and the United States the missiles Jupiter of Turkey. The shrinking of Jupiter however had to remain secret. The USSR then believed to mark a point moreover with the withdrawal of Jupiter. But they were misled, because the shrinking of Jupiter had been decided by Kennedy before the crisis. Jupiter were withdrawn in 1963.

The two governments decide to set up the hot Line to have a direct relationship.

Assessment of the crisis

The withdrawal of the armaments of Cuba was presented by the Western mediums like a large personal success of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (construction of the myth). Its assassination in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963 will be also one of the outstanding points and most dramatic of the cold war. The crisis of Cuba was regarded in the West as a serious failure for Khrouchtchev, which made lose credit of the USSR in the Third world. The Chinese show the USSR of aventurists and capitularists. Within the USSR, loss of credit of Khrouchtchev which will accelerate its reference. The crisis of Cuba is the paroxysm of the Cold war. However, the concession of Khrouchtchev is one of the causes of the relaxation. It will be reversed in 1964.

The crisis of Cuba in game theory

The business of the missiles became since an academic case in Game theory with not-null sum. Each stage is thoroughly examined by it with inventory of the possible answers of each part, and of the associated risks. The study suggests that the crisis could not be solved in a rational way that as it was.

Chronology of the events

The United States which took part in the independence of Cuba with respect to Spain, kept control on the island until in 1902. They kept then an indirect control of the island, until the revolution castrist.

January 1959: Fidel Castro reverses the dictator Fulgencio Batista. The E. - U. is the second country of the world to recognize the new mode, just behind the the USSR.
May 17th 1959: a land reform drives out American companies, of which United Fruit Co, of Cuba.
October 21st 1959: of 2 planes of the United States on Havana
November 1961 attacks: installation of Jupiter American missiles in Turkey
January 3rd 1961: following seizures of private properties belonging to american companies (in particular some hotels), rupture of the diplomatic relations between the the United States and Cuba.
April 16th - April 20th 1961: American attempt at unloading anticastrist in Cuba in the Bay of the pigs. Failure.
May 1st 1961: Ernesto " Che" Guevara proclaims the socialist character of the cuban revolution.
February 14th 1962: exclusion of Cuba of the Organization of the American States (OAS).
September 2nd 1962: “reinforcement” of the Soviet assistance with Cuba.
September 13rd 1962: the the United States warn Moscow against the installation of Missile S at Cuba.
October 22nd 1962: televised speech of president Kennedy, revealing the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba and announcing forty. Beginning of the US naval blockade (until October 31st). The newspapers of the time mention a high risk of Guerre.
the Strategic Air Command is placed in Defcon 2, the 3 involved parts place their conventional forces in alarm.
October 25th 1962: the Soviet ships on the way for Cuba, blocked, make half-turn.
October 28th 1962: Nikita Khrouchtchev announces the dismantling of the offensive weapons installed in Cuba, n the other hand of the engagement of not-invasion of the island of John F. Kennedy and the dismantling of the Jupiter missiles in Turkey. This agreement engages the end of the crisis.
October 30th 1962: ultimate exchange of letters between Fidel Castro and Khrouchtchev.
November 20th 1962: Castro accepts the shrinking of the Soviet bombers and Kennedy the end of forty.
November 22nd 1963: Kennedy is assassinated with Dallas, causing amazement and mourning in the world.
October 14th 1964: Khrouchtchev is dismissed.

See too

Internal bond

External bonds

Texts of the two parts during the crisis of Cuba (Department of the state education, Geneva)
Site on the crisis of Cuba
'' Kennedy, Kroutchev and the missiles of Cuba rational Choice and individual responsibility (Left 1) '', Jean-Yves Hatred, Cultures & Conflicts n°36 (2000), file in 6 parts available on this Historical site
of the interventions from the United States to Cuba and the beginning of the crisis in '' the diplomatic World ''

Catalog of films

Thirteen days of Roger Donaldson, left in 2000

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