Social 20

Isherwood

Unilateralism & the Cold War

Cuban Missile Crisis: World War III Narrowly Averted

Name: _______________
Outcomes:

20-1
Explore understandings of
internationalism
Analyze how internationalism can
be promoted by foreign policy . . .
Appreciate that nations and
states engage in regional and
global affairs for a variety of
reasons

20-2
Explore understandings of
internationalism
Analyze how internationalism can be
promoted by foreign policy . . .
Appreciate that nations and states
engage in regional and global affairs
for a variety of reasons

Part 1: Cold War Backdrop

The Cuban Missile Crisis took the
world to the brink of nuclear war in
an intense diplomatic struggle
during a couple of weeks in October
1962.
The Crisis had its origins in the Cold
War, the struggle between Western
and Eastern powers that dominated
the second half of the 20th Century.
After the end of World War II, many
of the world's most populous
nations divided themselves up into
two camps: Communist and not
Communist.
The United States was the prime
mover in the non-Communist sphere. To counter the spread of Communism, the
U.S. joined with countries of Western Europe to form the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization. Members of NATO agreed to support one another if attacked.
The Soviet Union was the prime mover in the Communist sphere, also having a
controlling interest in most nations in Eastern Europe. In response to the
formation of NATO, the U.S.S.R. and its Eastern European allies formed a similar
mutual support strategy called the Warsaw Pact.

Source:
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/cubanmissilecrisis2.htm

Social 20

Isherwood

The Cold War played out largely far from the U.S. (including crises in Berlin and
the Korean Peninsula) until Fidel Castro became the leader of Cuba, an island
nation 90 miles off the coast of Florida. As the result of a revolution in 1959,
Castro was in charge in Cuba. He made no secret of his distaste for the U.S. and
its leaders, and the two countries became locked into a trade dispute. Among the
particulars of this trade dispute were a refusal of American markets to buy Cuban
sugar and a refusal of American suppliers to sell oil to Cuba. Castro's purchase of
military equipment and weapons from Eastern European nations didn't endear
him to Western leaders, either.
American leaders, including newly elected President John F. Kennedy, made no
secret of their dislike of Castro, especially his preference for Communism. Castro
became an ally of the Soviet Union, and the Cold War came closer to the U.S.
mainland.
In early 1961, the American Central Intelligence Agency trained a group of Cuban
exiles with the express purpose of invading Cuba and overthrowing Castro. In
1961, the Cuban military easily repelled the invasion, which came to be known as
the Bay of Pigs invasion because of its location. The U.S. government could claim
that it did not participate directly in the invasion attempt, but the Cuban exiles
weren't given much training or support in the end, and so the island remained
firmly in Castro's hands. Understandably, Cuba and the Soviet Union cried foul.
Later that year, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev hinted at a takeover of West
Berlin, which was the only part of the former German capital city not occupied by
Communist forces. More broadly, Khrushchev made it known that he intended for
Soviet forces to permanently occupy East Berlin. At a meeting in Vienna, Kennedy
ostensibly agreed to the
permanent occupation but
made it clear that Western
nations would continue to
assert their right to occupy
West Berlin.
The result was the Berlin Wall.
On August 13, 1961,
fortifications divided the city,
creating two cities and a longterm division between East
and West.
The combination of the U.S.'s
poorly supported invasion at
the Bay of Pigs and Kennedy's refusal to insist on a full-throated defense of Berlin
emboldened Khrushchev to support Castro more militarily. Thinking that Kennedy
Source:
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/cubanmissilecrisis2.htm

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Isherwood

wouldn't object, Khrushchev convinced Castro to allow Soviet missiles onto Cuban
soil.
In September, Soviet ships carrying nuclear missiles began arriving in Cuba. The
Soviet Union at the time had very few intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)
but had a large number of medium- or intermediate-range ballistic missiles
(IRBMs). Placing IRBMs in Cuba would enable the Soviet Union to target the
entirety of the U.S. with nuclear warheads. (This was already the case in reverse,
since the U.S. had already deployed nuclear missiles in Turkey that could strike
just about anywhere in the U.S.S.R.)
American U-2 spy planes had flown secret missions over Cuba and had taken
pictures that confirmed the existence of surface-to-air missiles at eight locations
in Cuba. Soviet officials, when confronted with intelligence to this effect, insisted
that the missiles were for defensive purposes only. Further investigation of the
photos convinced American intelligence and military experts that the missiles
were, in fact, nuclear in nature.
On October 19, President Kennedy created a group called the Executive
Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOMM) to discuss the American
response. All nine members of the Security Council, plus five other key advisers,
were on this group. Strategies discussed ranged from ignoring the situation
entirely to full-scale invasion of
Cuba. Kennedy chose a blockade.
The president made a nationwide
address on television on October
22, announcing the presence of the
nuclear missiles in Cuba and calling
for the Soviet Union to remove
them. He then announced the
blockade (calling it a "quarantine"),
promising that ships found to be
approaching Cuba and carrying
offensive weapons would be forced
to turn back.
Cuban and Soviet leaders continued
to deny the existence of offensive
missiles and threatened retaliation
if Soviet ships were fired on or if
Cuba were invaded. Responses
flooded in from other countries, with China expressing full support Cuba and
Western nations supporting the U.S. but worrying that the Soviet response might
involve a takeover of Berlin. Khrushchev, meanwhile, warned of war.
Source:
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/cubanmissilecrisis2.htm

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Isherwood

On October 25, in an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council,

U.S. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson revealed spy photos that proved the existence
of the nuclear missiles in Cuba. The response from Soviet Ambassador Valerian
Zorin was by no means a concession. In fact, neither country was budging in
public.
Behind the scenes, however, officials of both the U.S. and U.S.S.R. were
negotiating a non-military resolution to the crisis. Through various back channels,
the two countries agreed to end the standoff with a tradeoff the Soviet Union
would remove its missiles from Cuba, and the U.S. would remove its missiles from
Turkey.
On October 28, Kennedy and Khrushchev announced that the Soviet missiles
would leave Cuba. But no mention was made of the American missiles in Turkey.
The only public announcement of missiles being removed was from the Soviet
Union.
The U.S. "quarantine" continued, turning into a verification mission that the
Soviet Union was keeping its promise to remove the missiles. The "quarantine"
ended on November 20. The dismantling of the American missiles in Turkey began
as well, and the missiles were removed a few months later.
No missiles were fired in the end, from any country. Estimates at the time of
casualties had the two nations traded nuclear missiles were in the hundreds of
millions. The fear factor was definitely high, especially in the U.S.
The only leader to survive in power for more than two years was Castro. Kennedy
was assassinated in 1963, and Khrushchev was ousted as Soviet leader the
following year. Castro relinquished power to his brother only in 2008.
One of the lasting results of the Cuban Missile Crisis (called the October Crisis in
Cuba and the Caribbean Crisis in the Soviet Union) was the creation of the
Hotline, a direct phone line from Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, to
Washington, D.C.

Questions:

During the Cold War, why would some people argue that the USA &
USSR should disarm unilaterally without an international agreementas the best way to protect the planet from destruction?

Source:
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/cubanmissilecrisis2.htm