The Cuban Missile Crisis 1962

Location

Trinity and Beyond Chronology of First Five Nations With Nuclear Weapons 1945 July 16 U.S. U.S. explodes the world's first atomic bomb, the Trinity Test, at Alamogordo, New Mexico August 29 U.S.S.R. Soviet Union detonates its first atomic bomb, Joe 1, at Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. Its a copy of the Fat Man bomb and had a yield of 21 kilotons October 3 UK First British atomic bomb, Hurricane, was tested at Monte Bello Islands, Australia, with a yield of 25 kilotons February 13 FRANCE First French nuclear test occurs at Reganne, Algeria, in the Sahara Desert.Gerboise Bleue had a yield of kilotons. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1964 October 16 CHINA China explodes its first atomic bomb at the Lop Nor test site on the northeastern edge of the Tarim Basin in the XinJiang Province. It was an uranium 235 implosion fission device named 596 and had a yield of 22 kilotons.

Players: Soviet Side Nikita Khrushchev Soviet Premier Anatoly Dobrynin Ambassador to the U.S. Fidel Castro Premier of Cuba Andrei Gromyko, Minister of Foreign Affairs Raul Castro Head of Military Deputy Foreign Minister

John Kennedy U.S. President Robert McNamara Secretary of Defense Robert Kennedy Attorney General Dean Rusk Secretary of State Players: American Side

Causes – Soviet Insecurity Missile capability NOT balanced. – Cuban Invasion Bay-of-Pigs-1961, Operation Mongoose Castro nervous. – Build-up April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba to provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union or Cuba.

Missiles & Machines of War USN F-8 Crusader USAF RF-101 USAF U2 SS-4 "Sandal" 1000 km SS-5 "Skean" 2000 km

The Missiles: Locations

The Missiles: Aerial Photo 1

The Missiles: Aerial Photo 2

The Missiles: Aerial Photo 3

Blockade: Close-up 250,000 Marines and ground troops 1,000 planes 250 naval vessels.

Warning Signs May, 1962: Khrushchev makes veiled references to a plot (How would the U.S. feel having missiles pointing at them, as they have missiles pointed at us?) September: JFK and Congress issue warnings to USSR that US will deal harshly with any threats to national security October 14: U2 recon. flight over Cuba spots sites installing nuclear missiles…Major Richard S. Heyser October 15: Presence of missiles is confirmed

13 Days Begin October 16: President Kennedy notified October 16-22: Secret deliberations on what should be done October 22: Kennedy tells nation his plan for blockade and quarantine October 23: OAS endorses naval quarantine October 24: Naval quarantine begins and successfully changes course of many Soviet ships

13 Days cont. October 25: One Soviet ship challenges naval quarantine; Kennedy lets it pass October 25: At the UN, Adlai Stevenson directly challenges the Soviet ambassador to admit to the existence of missiles, when the ambassador refuses, Stevenson wheels out pictures of the missile sites October 26: Soviets raise possibility for a deal: if we withdraw missiles will America promise not to invade Cuba?

13 Days -- closure October 27: Soviets demand that Americans also withdraw missiles from Turkey; – Major Rudolf Andersons plane shot down…tensions high – Kennedy tells Khrushchev that he will accept the proposal of the 26 th, Kennedy tells his brother to tell the Soviet Ambassador that though the Turkey missiles would not be part of the bargain, they would be removed in time October 28: USSR agrees to withdraw missiles

Soviet Decisions & Motivations 1.Close the Missile Gap Currently far behind U.S. in terms of number of missiles Verbal threats no longer effective with overwhelming evidence of U.S. superiority 2.Protect Cuba 3.Reciprocity The U.S. has missiles pointing at us, lets see how they feel now 4.Inability to Use the Missiles If fired a missile, repercussions would be severe

Why Khrushchev Settled Effectiveness of naval quarantine Conventional inferiority in the Caribbean No possible countermove Overwhelming world support for the U.S. Other possible reasons – Got what he wanted? No U.S. invasion of Cuba U.S. missiles withdrawn from Turkey

Castros Role No real role in decision making Apparently out of touch with the situation – Oct. 26: Aggression imminent/imperialists disregarding world opinionClearly not the case – Khrushchev plays along to some extent but it is clear he disagrees with him… (your suggestion would have started a thermonuclear world war)

The American Decision In September Kennedy had stated and Congress had passed a resolution saying that if the Soviet Union placed offensive weapons in Cuba we would not tolerate it. – Could we then rely solely on diplomacy? Both Kennedy brothers thought that John could be impeached if he didnt act in accordance with his prior warnings Determined in first 48 hours of crisis that the removal of missiles was the primary objective Many options were considered

The American Decision: Considerations (1) Air Strike – On October 17 th, President Kennedy considered that there would be an air strike, at least against the missile sites, and perhaps against wider targets – Reservations from others: air strike may be using a sledgehammer to kill a fly – Later that day Robert McNamara suggests policy in between diplomacy and an air strike (2) Blockade – Advocated by McNamara and Robert Kennedy – Critics feared it would allow Soviets time – 10/19, Kennedy accepted plan

(3) Do Nothing – Ignore missiles in Cuba. – U.S. had military bases in 127 different countries including Cuba. – U.S. had nuclear missiles in several countries close to the Soviet Union. – Therefore, only right that the Soviet Union should be allowed to place missiles in Cuba. (4) Negotiate – U.S. should offer the Soviet Union a deal. – USSR remove missiles in Cuba U.S. withdraw her nuclear missiles from Turkey and Italy. The American Decision: Considerations

(5) Invasion – Send U.S. troops to Cuba to overthrow Castro's government. – Missiles could then be put out of action and the Soviet Union could no longer use Cuba as a military base. (6) Nuclear Weapons – Use nuclear weapons against Cuba and/or the Soviet Union. The American Decision: Considerations

Activity 1 As teams, please respond to the following Cuban Missile Crisis prompts, with clearly written, detailed discussions. Premier Khrushchevs Letter: 1.Discuss the underlying tone of Khrushchevs letter. 2.Describe the line of logic that Khrushchev used in making his case. 3.Ultimately, what was the Soviet commitment toward the crisis? Identify and discuss.

Consequences of Cuban Missile Crisis Some of the direct consequences of the crisis include the following: (1)HOT LINE The two sides established a direct communications link that became known as the Hot Line. It was hoped that this would help prevent dangerous confrontations such as the Cuban Missile Crisis arising again. (2) U.S. REMOVES MISSILES Three months after the Cuban Missile Crisis the United States secretly removed all its nuclear missiles from Turkey and Italy.

(3) TEST BAN TREATY A Test Ban Treaty was signed between the two countries in August The treaty prohibited the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere. (4)PRISONERS RELEASED The 1,113 prisoners captured during the Bay of Pigs invasion were exchanged by Castro for $50 million in food, drugs, medicine and cash. (5) USSR RESOLVE The Soviet Union became determined to have a nuclear capability that was equal to the United States. This was achieved by Consequences of Cuban Missile Crisis

(6) STRAIN ON SOVIET ALLIES China accused the Soviet Union of being a 'paper-tiger' and claimed to be the true leader of the Communist movement. The split between the Soviet Union and China became wider. (7) U.S. RESOLVE The United States became convinced that the Soviet Union would not go to war over another communist country. It has been argued that this encouraged the United States to help attempts to overthrow socialist and communist governments in Vietnam, Nicaragua and Grenada. Consequences of Cuban Missile Crisis

Activity 1 As teams, please respond to the following Cuban Missile Crisis prompts, with clearly written, detailed discussions. President Kennedys Address: 1.Discuss the evidence of Cubas capabilities and President Kennedys general/specific concerns. 2.Describe the essential element(s) re. each of Kennedys Seven-Points. 3.What are the critical messages the president directed toward Cubans and Americans at the close of his address?

Activity 2 As teams, please respond to the following Cuban Missile Crisis prompts, with clearly written, detailed discussions. Premier Khrushchevs Letter: 1.Discuss the underlying tone of Khrushchevs letter. 2.Describe the line of logic that Khrushchev used in making his case. 3.Ultimately, what was the Soviet commitment toward the crisis? Identify and discuss.

Activity 3 As teams, please respond to the following Cuban Missile Crisis prompts, with clearly written, detailed discussions. 1.Were Castro and Khrushchev justified in placing nuclear missiles in Cuba? Defend. 2.Were the actions taken by Kennedy and the U.S. appropriate? Defend. 3.HYPOTHETICAL: If Venezuela (which, under President Chavez, has been outspoken in its/his criticism of the U.S.) began receiving nuclear warheads and missile shipments (capable of reaching U.S. soil), what would you recommend as an effective response? Defend.

JOURNAL 1 What might have happened differently if… …the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. shared an equal number of nuclear weapons before/during the Cuban Missile Crisis?

JOURNAL 2 As an individual, please respond to the followingFog of War prompts, with a clearly written, detailed Journal entry. 1.Evaluate former Defense Secretary Robert McNamaras perspective on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Do you agree or disagree with his points? Defend. 2.What observations does he make about Empathy…about Rationality?

CONTENT/SOURCES: Text, handouts, PPT Notes –Soviet Losses in WWII –Yalta –Potsdam Declaration –Truman Doctrine –Marshall Plan –Berlin Blockade/Airlift –NATO –Korean War –McCarthy Era –Bay-of-Pigs FORMAT: –Multiple choice All content –Matching People/Events UNIT REVIEW

BONUS Write responses at the bottom of last page, according to the numbers below; Accuracy is non-negotiable. Each item is worth ½ pt. 4 points possible 1)Identify four key characteristics/points of significance of Sputnik: A.__ B.__ C.__ D.__ 2) Name Four SPECIFIC ways the U.S. controlled Cuban capital…AND the percentage of control: A.__ B.__ C.__ D.__