Cuban Missile Crisis - Essay Example

Cuban Missile Crisis Introduction Countries and kingdoms around the world have encountered hostilities since the time immemorial. Hostilities have led to signing of many conventions that are meant to ensure that the signatory party exists in peace. Despite these conventions, the world superpowers have devised new technology for making weapons of mass destruction. During the World War 1, the major superpowers in the world conflicted in one of the most deadly conflicts. In the conflict that lasted for five years, the warring countries used their sophisticated weaponry and machines to thrive over the enemy. It is estimated that about 9 million combatants were killed during the war (Garthoff 89). The end of World War one paved way for World War two which began in the year 1939. This is termed as the most deadly war in the world. It was during this war that the atomic bombing was used in Nagasaki and Hiroshima towns by the United States against the Japan Empire. It was the first historic time when the atomic bombs were used. The war ended after the Japan surrendered to its allies (Munton and David 56). Despite the end of the war, many countries developed hostilities with their enemies and designed new ways of attacking them. This study analyses the Cuban Missile crisis, which is termed as the crisis that almost sparked a nuclear war in the world. The Cuban missile crisis was thirteen days military and political standoff between US and the Soviet Union. The crisis occurred in the year 1962 when John F. Kennedy was the president of the United States. Soviet Union had installed nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba. The move by the Soviet Union was intended to counter the emerging leadership of the United States as a leader in missile development and deployment. The Soviet Union used Cuba, which was its closest ally, to install missiles, before the United States intelligence officer detected it (Munton and David 56). After realizing the threat that was posed by the Soviet Union to its security, the United States developed a scheme to attack the region with the missiles. They also developed a splendid plan in which they would counteract the transportation of the missiles from Soviet Union to Cuba. This led to a military and political standoff, between the two states. Finally, they reached an agreement where Soviet Union agreed to remove its missiles from Cuba while the US agreed to withdraw of its threat to Cuba. This paper shall analyses the background of the crisis, how the crisis transpired and how the crisis ended. The Cuba missile led to an international discussion on mutual assured destruction (Garthoff 99). The crisis developed as a cold war which nearly resulted into a nuclear war between United States on one side and Soviet Union and Cuba on the other side. Background to the Crisis The World War two brought about by a developing enmity between the US and the Soviet Union. In the war, the Soviet Union was fighting as an ally to US, France and UK against the axis that was led by Germany. After the war, the United States started to develop arising concern on the communism expansion and collaboration between the USSR and the Latin American countries US regarded the collaboration with Soviet Union as unacceptable given that the two countries had developed enmity from the World War 2 (Mikoi︠a︡n and Savranskaya 112). Collaboration of USSR with the Latin American was contravening the United State policy (Monroe Doctrine). The policy limited US from involving with European affairs and colonies but also stated that the European Union should not involve themselves with the affairs of the western hemisphere. President John F. Kennedy initiated an Invasion to Cuba with the intention of overthrowing the left wing government of Fidel Castro which was regarded as revolutionists in the yaer 1961. The invasion was conducted by Brigade 2506 (counter-revolutionist movement) and was funded and trained by us government and CIA. Under the command of the Prime Minister Castro, the Cuban Armed Forces overcame the US funded group in what came to be referred to us Bay of Pigs Invasion. Following the defeat, US were very embarrassed, and President Kennedy was seen as indecisive and weak (Mikoi︠a︡n and Svetlana 38). The failure of Cuba invasion sent a perception to Nikita Khrushchev, the premier of Soviet Union, that President John Kennedy was weak in making decision. To further confirm the impression of Khrushchev that President Kennedy was weak, Kennedy responded very softly to the Berlin crisis of the year 1961, especially the Berlin wall construction. In the year 1962, US plotted to overthrow the government of Cuba. The sabotage was plotted to be carried out by CIA agents in a campaign that would have included radio broadcast. In preparation for the operation, US launched an embargo against Cuba government. The operation was referred to as Operation Mongoose, and it failed. During the year 1960, John Kennedy had campaigned for a presidential position emphasising g on the need for widening of the gap between the United States missiles and the Soviet Union’s missiles. During the campaign time, the United States had 170 ICBM’s (intercontinental ballistic missiles) while Soviet Union had around 70 missiles (Garthoff 81). On his side, Khrushchev increased the production rate of missiles in order to seal the gap. 3.0 Deployment of Missiles in Cuba by Soviet Union In the year, 1962 soviet decided to reduce the power of United States in deploying and developing more missiles. In this year, America had missiles that could be launched to Soviet Union using the United States as a base. This placed United State was at an advantage. On the other hand, Soviet Union had only 20 missiles that could be launched from Soviet Union to the United States. Building on the enmity that had developed between Cuba and United States, Nikita Khrushchev, the soviet premier installed missiles in Cuba. The missiles that Soviet Union had could only cover Alaska and some parts of the United States when launched from Soviet Union (Munton and David 56). Placing the missiles at Cuba was initiated by the urge to have a central location where it can launch its missiles to all states of the United States. The major triggering reason that leads to the deployment of the missiles by the Soviet Union was the need to bring the West Berlin (US, French and British) zones into the control of the Soviet Union. Soviet was acting in collaboration with East Germany where they considered the western control on a small Berlin portion as a major threat to East Germany. Using this as a reason, Soviet Union based their cold war in central Berlin. Soviet intended to use the missiles in Cuba to deter the west from Berlin. There were two options to this step. The first option was that should the America not interfere with the missiles, Soviet will use it to scare the west from Berlin. The second option was to trade the missiles removal with the exit of west from Berlin (Mikoi︠a︡n and Svetlana 40). On top of Berlin agenda, another reason why the Soviet Union deployed the missiles was to retaliate the actions of the United States to deploy missiles in Turkey. Fidel Castro approved the idea of Soviet Union installing its mission in Cuba fearing that the United States might invade Cuba. Castro was against missile deployment that would portray him as a Soviet Union puppet, but he preferred the soviet idea that the mission will only be used to deter the United States which would be for the interests of Cuba (Mikoi︠a︡n and Svetlana 42). The missiles were also to provide a shield against nuclear weapons by including the short-range tactical weapons. Castro agreed to the deployment of the missiles buying to the idea of Soviet Union that the attack to the Cuba will be a great loose to the communist. The especially who were camouflaging as irrigation and machine specialists deployed the missiles. Cuba believed that US would invade it following the declaration by US that it will initiate a military operation in the Caribbean. In order to conceal their operations Cuba, Soviet Union went on with its Maskirovka program. On the political arena, Soviet continually denied that it is deploying harmful weapon to Cuba, therefore, they continued to plant the missiles without the knowledge of USA (Garthoff 94). USA Detection of Missiles A US U-2 spy plane took the photographs of the areas that the missiles were deployed in by the Soviet Union in October 1962, on the Cuba Island. President Kennedy secretly investigated the matter without making his operations noticeable by the Soviet Union. After the analysis of the intensity of the situation, United States decided to place a naval blockade around the Cuba Island. They decided to use naval ships to surround the Island of Cuba. This aimed at preventing the Soviet Union from bringing more missiles into the Cuba Island. US demanded the destruction of the areas with the missiles as well as the removal of the already in-deployed missiles. President Kennedy addressed US public through a television address about the crisis on 22nd October. He stated that United States was dedicated to defending itself and if soviet do not stop its actions, US will use military force to eliminate the threat (Munton and David 56). The conflict between the two superpowers threatens the peace of the world, and it was perceived that if the conflict were not solved wisely it would result into nuclear war between the two countries. During the time of the conflict, the two states exchanged a number of communications. On 23rd October Khrushchev sent a letter to US declaring that Soviet did not want to disrupt US an and that it intended to use missiles as a deter to prevent US from attacking Cuba. On October 26, Khrushchev informed the United States that it has the intention to resolve the conflict by removing the missiles if the United States desists from threatening Cuba (Munton and David 56). In order to resolve the stalemate United States signed an agreement pack with Soviet Union. In the agreement, the United States agreed not to invade Cuba on condition that Soviet Union removes all the missiles in Cuba. They also signed a secret agreement where the United States was required to remove its nuclear missiles from Turkey. However, despite the agreement and the removal of the missiles from the Cuba Island, Soviet Union went on with is development of military arsenals (Garthoff 97). This move was intended to maintain its supremacy and compete with the United States which was perceived as a great threat to the communism and pro-Soviet countries. The Tension between the Soviet Union and the United States was abating in the year 1963. America advocated demystification of cold war theories and called for an initiative that would ensure that the peace of the world is restored and sustained. In the year 1963, Soviet Union and the United states established a teletype hotline which facilitated sharing of information between the two countries. In the same year, USSR and US signed the ban on limited nuclear test. This treaty required the signally countries to desist from using nuclear weapons against their enemies (Mikoi︠a︡n and Svetlana 45). Conclusion The Cuba missile crisis was termed as the closest time when the two superpowers would have used atomic bombs against each other. The conflict was initiated by Soviet Union implantation of the missiles in Cuba Island. Despite the tension that lasted for 13 days, solution was reached by signing in agreement. The agreement helped to prevent war that would have been deadliest and most harmful if the results of the Japan atomic attack in anything to go by. In conclusion, the Cuba crisis was a short-lived conflict that would have threatened the peace of the world. Works Cited Garthoff, Raymond. Reflections on the Cuban missile crisis. Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution, 1989. Print. Munton, Don, and David A. Welch. The Cuban Missile Crisis: a concise history. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print Mikoi︠a︡n, Simpson, and Svetlana Savranskaya. The Soviet Cuban Missile Crisis : Castro, Mikoyan, Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the missiles of November. Washington, D.C. Stanford, California: Woodrow Wilson Center Press Stanford University Press, 2012. Print. Read More