Beginning of The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was truly one of the world’s worst escalations of tension between two willing and able superpowers that could have resulted in damages both parties would still be recovering from today. Beginning with issues concerning Cuba, the crisis came to involve the United States president John F. Kennedy and the USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev. The United States involvement with Cuba came way before that of the USSR’s, though, once the USSR came into the picture the thirteen day crisis officially began. To what started as the U.S.’s attempt to overthrow Cuba’s corrupt government became a puzzling stalemate over nuclear warfare between two militarily strong world powers at the time. Serving as both a catalyst for future legislation and a reminder of how fragile international relations can become, the Cuban missile crisis was an event on one wishes to ever again come close to.

Before Cuba became the center of conflict during this thirteen day period, it was under the watch of the U.S. for almost a decade prior. The United States was one with Cuba at one point in time, prior to 1962 and then again after 2015. Trading and overall relations between the two were no different from that of your typical international relationship. Both benefited from the purchasing of each other’s goods economically, the U.S. enjoyed its investments, and a peaceful climate generally existed between the two. There was only one problem that occurred that unsettled this mutual relationship and that was the rise of Fidel Castro. Prior to his rising, Cuba was governed under the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. The U.S. backed Batista and his policies, in fact Batista himself, then in his second term, came to power in similar ways as did Castro. Though with a declining defense base and civil corruption, Batista was officially ousted in 1959. “He and his supporters then fled to the Dominican Republic”. Castro then took Batista’s position and began cutting and forming international relations one by one. The first on his list to go were those with the United States. ”U.S. businesses, oil refineries, factories and casinos were nationalized, prompting the U.S. to end diplomatic relations and impose a trade embargo that was lifted just recently in 2015. Concurrently, Cuba was developing relations with the Soviet Union, becoming increasingly dependent upon their support and resources. Castro himself then openly identified with the soviets and their command as being one who stood on their side, terming his platform a Marxist-Leninist. By 1961, not only was the U.S. concerned with the communist expansion of the far east, but now with a satellite just 90 miles east of their coastline.

U.S. officials were not happy with the events that transpired leading to Castro’s assumption of power. In fact they tried over a dozen times to take him out using clever ways to do so. “From poisonous cigars, to the infamous Bay of Pigs invasion, all failed and Castro continued with his plans of action unbothered”. All the while, Cuba was benefiting greatly from the military support and resources delivered by the Soviet Union. They would also help out other countries within the Latin Americas later on by providing similar aid. Nonetheless, products ranging from daily necessities to firearms and ammunition were being sent to Cuba by the boatload. At the time, Castro and Khrushtev, then of the Soviet Union, developed relations so strong that the USSR and Cuba secretly agreed for the soviet union to deploy “short range missiles” in Cuba. This at first went undiscovered by the U.S. until images from their U-2 spy plane revealed the sights of soon to be missile plants. Just a few days into October of 1962, the U.S. government was in shambles as not only were there campaigns taking place but now they were under threat by their close (in proximity) neighbor.

The day was October 14th, 1962 and what came to be termed the Cuban Missile Crisis had officially begun. Watching from a distance, the U.S knew about Cuba’s diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, though, it was not until the missiles were detected that affirmative action needed to be taken place. “Krushchev, the supplier of said missiles, and the inner circle of soviet policy-makers fully realized the probability that their missiles in Cuba, if discovered, would provoke a crisis with the United States. They accepted this risk because they expected to reap considerable political and strategic gains if the missiles were not detected until they became operational” (Picture on phone from teacher resource). President Kennedy of the U.S. began by establishing assemblies or specific groups to discuss the measures that would need to be taken, they would be called the security council or X-CON. Various ideas ranging from throwing the first missile, invasions, air striking the missile plant and many many more ideas were discussed, however, Kennedy wanted chose a calm approach to settling this issue, by talking it out.