Gourt > Society > History > By Time Period > Twentieth Century > 1960s > Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States regarding the Soviet deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba in retaliation to the United States placing deployable nuclear warheads in the United Kingdom, Italy and most significantly, Turkey. The crisis started on October 16, 1962, when U.S. reconnaissance was shown to U.S. President John F. Kennedy revealing Soviet nuclear missile installations on the island, and ended twelve days later on October 28, 1962, when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announced that the installations would be dismantled. The Cuban Missile Crisis is regarded as the moment when the Cold War came closest to escalating into a nuclear war. Russians refer to the event as the "Caribbean Crisis," while Cubans refer to it as the "October Crisis."
Background
Fidel Castro took power in Cuba after the Cuban revolution of 1959 and soon took actions inimical to American trade interests on the island. In response, the U.S. stopped buying Cuban sugar and refused to supply its former trading partner with much needed oil. The U.S. government became increasingly concerned about the new regime and this became a major focus of the new Kennedy administration when it took office in January 1961. In Havana, one of the consequences of this was the fear that the United States might intervene against the Cuban government. This fear materialized in later 1961 when Cuban exiles, trained by America's CIA, staged an invasion of Cuban territory at the Bay of Pigs. Although the invasion was quickly repulsed, it intensified a buildup of Cuban defense that was already under way. U.S. armed forces then staged a mock invasion of a Caribbean island in 1962 called Operation Ortsac. The purpose of the invasion was to overthrow a leader whose name was in fact Castro spelled backwards. Although Ortsac was a fictitious name, Castro soon became convinced that the U.S. was serious about invading Cuba. Shortly after the bay of pigs invasion Castro declared Cuba to be a socialist republic and entered close ties with the Soviet Union leading to a major upgrade of Cuban military defence.
U.S. nuclear advantage
The U.S. had a decided advantage over the Soviet Union in the period leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis. For the Soviet leaders, the deployment was a necessary response to desperate military situations into which the Soviets had been cornered by a series of remarkable American successes with military equipment and military intelligence. For example, by the close of 1962 the United States had a dramatic advantage in nuclear weapons with more than 300 land-based intercontinental missiles and a fleet of Polaris missile submarines. The Soviet Union for its part had only four to six land-based ICBMs in 1962, and about 100 short-range V-1 type missiles that could be launched from surface submarines. More on [ Cuban Missile Crisis ]
Khrushchev, Nikita :: Personalities
Cuba :: Caribbean
Kennedy, John Fitzgerald :: Presidents
Atomic Age :: Twentieth Century
Cold War :: Twentieth Century
Cuba :: Regional
@alexandrakor Umm...Cuban Missile Crisis. Calm and strength under extreme pressure of nuclear war. Go watch Thirteen Days ull change ur mind
nitinchitkara (Nitin Chitkara) Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:12:21 -0000
@alexandrakor Umm...Cuban Missile Crisis. Calm and strength under extreme pressure of nuclear war. Go watch Thirteen Days ull change ur mind
Worth reviewing are d Bay of Pigs invasion, Cuban missile crisis, 1899-1902 Phil-Am war, bombing of Japan &Korean war. What REALLY happened?
beatrixpg (beatrix guilas) Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:44:04 -0000
Worth reviewing are d Bay of Pigs invasion, Cuban missile crisis, 1899-1902 Phil-Am war, bombing of Japan &Korean war. What REALLY happened?
Iranian Forces Take #Iraq #Oil Well- US, Iraqi Officials http://bit.ly/6FtPAE www.rich.co.ke Cuban Missile Crisis Redux www.rich.co.ke
alykhansatchu (Aly-Khan Satchu) Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:34:12 -0000
Iranian Forces Take #Iraq #Oil Well- US, Iraqi Officials http://bit.ly/6FtPAE www.rich.co.ke Cuban Missile Crisis Redux www.rich.co.ke
Re Armaggedon: I was 13 when the Cuban missile crisis struck. Hearing the gospel passages about the second coming then... @HalSparks
tominwindsor (tom hebert) Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:34:02 -0000
Re Armaggedon: I was 13 when the Cuban missile crisis struck. Hearing the gospel passages about the second coming then... @HalSparks
'Thirteen Days' today on Starz. Tense drama recounting the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis inside the White House http://short.to/10y39
Sgt_Hulka (r...) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:01:36 -0000
'Thirteen Days' today on Starz. Tense drama recounting the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis inside the White House http://short.to/10y39
Watching 13 Days. It was cool to see MGS3 play with the facts from the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was all for Sokolov and the Shagohod:)
Cronotriggers (Matthew LoPresti) Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:30:26 -0000
Watching 13 Days. It was cool to see MGS3 play with the facts from the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was all for Sokolov and the Shagohod:)
1961-1963 Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath - Extensive collection of U.S. government documents from the period, including list of key players, glossary of abbreviations, and sources.
Meta Description: [ Diplomatic Papers of the United States dealing with relations with the Soviet Union particularly with the Cuban Missile Crisis ]
Address on the Cuban Crisis - Speech given by John F. Kennedy on October 22, 1962.
Cuban History: Missile Crisis - Timeline and commentary on the missile crisis, from a Marxist perspective.
Meta Description: [ History of the Cuban missile crisis, revised with the most recent information (yr. 2000) released from U.S. and Russian secret archives ]
Cuban Missile Crisis - Copies and translation of letters exchanged between Premier Khrushchev and President Kennedy during the crisis.
Cuban Missile Crisis--Military Operations - An overview, plus links, of the military operations aspects of the crisis.
Meta Description: [ GlobalSecurity.org is the leading source for reliable military news and military information, directed by John Pike ]
Documents Relating to American Foreign Policy - Cuban Missile Crisis - List of links to documents on Cuba, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Fourteen Days in October - This Thinkquest site (geared to high school students) gives an overview of the Cuban Missile Crisis and includes documents, images, history, and analysis.
Intelligence Imagery and the Cuban Missiles Crisis - Illustrated site from the Federation of American Scientists focuses on the role of overhead photography in identifying the missile sites in Cuba. Site also includes edited CIA documents and links to other sites.
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Learning from the Missile Crisis - Max Frankel, a reporter for the New York Times in 1963, gives a brisk tour of the crisis.
Meta Description: [ Articles from the Smithsonian Institution's award-winning, monthly general interest magazine, plus exclusive Web articles, videos, blogs, photographs and more. ]
Moscow's Betrayal of the Cuban Revolution - US socialist analysis of Kennedy-Khrushchev agreement's detrimental effect on world workers' movements.
NSA and the Cuban Missile Crisis--Document archive - Archive of National Security Agency documents during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Meta Description: [ History General Template Page ]
NSA and the Cuban Missile Crisis--Overview - Brief official overview of the role of the National Security Agency in the crisis.
Meta Description: [ History General Template Page ]
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Radio and Television Report to the American People on the Soviet Arms Buildup in Cuba - Text of President Kennedy's October 22, 1962 speech about the events.
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Reconnaissance and the Cuban Missile Crisis - US Air Force Museum discusses the use of U-2 and RF-101 reconaissance aircraft during the missile crisis. Includes information on the camera systems.
Meta Description: [ Cuban Missile Crisis information from the US Air Force Museum Cold War History Gallery ]
Soviet Deception in the Cuban Missile Crisis - US CIA analysis of denial and deception efforts, beginning in the spring of 1962.
State Department Documents: Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath - US Department of State documents on the Cuban Missile Crisis and after.
The Cuban Missile Crisis - A virtual exhibit from Le Mémorial de Caen, includes timeline, text, photos, and a newspaper archive.
Meta Description: [ A survey of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis through first-hand oral or written accounts, aerial photography, diplomatic records and contemporary international Press archives shows that the world hovered on the brink of nuclear war ]
The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962: The 40th Anniversary - Comprehensive account of the events from the US National Security Archive. Includes declassified documents, audio files, photographs, and commentary.
Meta Description: [ The Hidden History of the Cuban Missile Crisis ]
The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 18-29, 1962 - RealAudio files of recordings made in Kennedy's Oval Office during the crisis, includes extensive notes on each recording.
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The World On the Brink: John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis - Site for the 40th anniversary exhibit at the John F. Kennedy Library has a chronology and extensive links to documents and audio files.
United Nations - Cuban Missile Crisis Debate - Transcript of the famous debate between U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Adlai E. Stevenson and Soviet representative Valerian A. Zorin in the U.N. Security Council.
US Naval Historical Center Frequently Asked Questions - Extracts from Naval Secretary's reports, participating ships and units, operational overview, and bibliography.
Meta Description: [ Information, including list of participating ships and units, documents, bibliography, on the Cuban Missile Crisis ]
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