16.16 The Cold War and the Cuba Missile Crisis, 1962
The Postwar Situation
The Western democracies and the Soviet Union discussed the progress of World War II and the nature of the postwar settlement at conferences in Tehran (1943), Yalta (February 1945), and Potsdam (July-August 1945). After the war, disputes between the Soviet Union and the Western democracies, particularly over the Soviet takeover of East European states, led Winston Churchill to warn in 1946 that an "iron curtain" was descending through the middle of Europe. For his part, Joseph Stalin deepened the estrangement between the United States and the Soviet Union when he asserted in 1946 that World War II was an unavoidable and inevitable consequence of "capitalist imperialism" and implied that such a war might reoccur.
John's Perspective
John was enraged by such a suggestion, because he saw WWII as he saw an episode of "The Lone Ranger". That is, that some evil individual (Nazis) behaves criminally, and an outsider (in this case North America) unselfishly enters the fight to put things right.
The Cold War
The Cold War was a period of East-West competition, arms race, tension, and conflict short of full-scale war, characterized by mutual perceptions of hostile intention between military-political alliances or blocs. There were real wars, sometimes called "proxy wars" because they were fought by Soviet allies rather than the USSR itself -- along with competition for influence in the Third World, and a major superpower arms race. Since 1949, the USSR had nuclear weapons.
Two Camps
Increasingly, the world began to be divided into two opposing and highly militarized camps: imperialist and capitalist regimes on the one hand, and the state capialist (so-called "Communist") regimes on the other. John saw the former as "free democracies" and the latter as evil collectivizers. John placed individual freedom above all else.
Peaceful Co-existance and MAD
Khrushchev had stated in 1956 that the USSR could coexist with imperialism-capitalism without war because the Communist system had become stronger. Both sides now used deteranced as their main defence: each threatened the other with "Mutually Assured Destruction" (MAD). Summits in 1955 and 1959 had raised hopes of a more cooperative spirit between East and West, but interspersed with such moves toward cooperation, however, were situations, such as in Turkey and Cuba.
Missiles for Cuba
While the U.S. was placing nuclear missiles in Turkey, Europe, and other locations, the USSR responded by placing nuclear missiles in Cuba. He also presented the scheme as a means of protecting Cuba from another United States-sponsored invasion, such as the failed attempt at the Bay of Pigs in 1961.
Missiles Discovered
After obtaining Fidel Castro's approval, the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build missile installations in Cuba. On October 16, President John Kennedy was shown reconnaissance photographs of Soviet missile installations under construction in Cuba. After seven days of guarded and intense debate in the United States administration, during which Soviet diplomats denied that installations for offensive missiles were being built in Cuba, President Kennedy, in a televised address on October 22, announced the discovery of the installations and proclaimed that any nuclear missile attack from Cuba would be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union and would be responded to accordingly. He also imposed a naval quarantine on Cuba to prevent further Soviet shipments of offensive military weapons from arriving there.
Ultimatums
During the crisis, the two sides exchanged many letters and other communications, both formal and "back channel." Khrushchev sent letters to Kennedy on October 23 and 24 indicating the deterrent nature of the missiles in Cuba and the peaceful intentions of the Soviet Union. On October 26, Khrushchev sent Kennedy a long rambling letter seemingly proposing that the missile installations would be dismantled and personnel removed in exchange for United States assurances that it or its proxies would not invade Cuba. On October 27, another letter to Kennedy arrived from Khrushchev, suggesting that missile installations in Cuba would be dismantled if the United States dismantled its missile installations in Turkey. The American administration decided to ignore this second letter and to accept the offer outlined in the letter of October 26.
Resolution
Khrushchev then announced on October 28 that he would dismantle the installations and return them to the Soviet Union, expressing his trust that the United States would not invade Cuba. Further negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light bombers also be removed from Cuba, and to specify the exact form and conditions of United States assurances not to invade Cuba.
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