The Cuban Missile Crisis

Thèmes abordés

Cuban Missile Crisis Kennedy nuclear war Khrushchev letters Robert Kennedy Bay of Pigs lesson history

Résumé du document

Cours très complet et structuré sur la crise des Missiles de Cuba d'octobre 1962.

The Soviet theory of peaceful coexistence asserted that the United States and the Soviet Union, and their respective political ideologies, could coexist together rather than fighting one another, and Khrushchev tried to demonstrate his commitment to peaceful coexistence by attending international peace conferences, such as the Geneva Summit, and by traveling internationally.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, for fourteen days during October 1962, the world held its breath as Kennedy and Khrushchev tried to reach a compromise and avoid nuclear war.

Extraits

[...] Cuba's strategy was to support revolutionary movements throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America, to develop a coalition of like-minded Third World nations. In fact, crisis prevention is essential and Great powers must learn to respect the sovereignty of small countries, and to avoid intimidation. [...]

[...] The US choices and decisions A naval blockade or “quarantine”, to prevent shipment of more missiles. A “surgical” air strike to wipe out the missiles already installed, perhaps followed by an invasion of the island. On October 22, Kennedy announced to the world that the United States was imposing a naval blockade around the island of Cuba. He also demanded that the Soviets pull out all of their offensive weapons from Cuba. On October 24, the quarantine went in effect. [...]

[...] nuclear missiles placed in Turkey. Soviet credibility would suffer significantly if it permitted Cuba to be invaded by the United States. The lack of Soviet strategic capability gave the United States significant power in the world. By placing missiles in Cuba, the Soviet Union enhanced its capability of striking the United States. Missiles in Cuba would double the number of warheads that the Soviet Union could use directly against the United States. The missiles also would deter the United States from invading Cuba. [...]

[...] On October 27, another letter to Kennedy arrived from Khrushchev, suggesting that missile installations in Cuba would be dismantled if the US also removed Jupiter missiles from Turkey. The American administration decided to ignore this second letter and to accept the offer in the letter of October 26. The role of Robert Kennedy and the outcome October 27 was a day that was particularly anxiety-filled, because in the morning a U-2 plane was shot down by a Soviet surface-to-air missile (SAM). That evening, Attorney General Robert Kennedy gave Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin an ultimatum: get the missiles out in 48 hours or the U.S. will attack Cuba. [...]

[...] The United States had many more missiles than the Soviet Union. By the end of 1962, the United States had ten times more missiles and warheads than the Soviet Union. It is called the arms race. The Soviet worries and the lack of Soviet strategic capability Soviet analysts believed the U.S. military build-up was the preparation for a nuclear attack against the Soviet Union, and at least an effort to intimidate the Soviet Union. The Soviets were worried about another invasion of Cuba and U.S. [...]