THIRTEEN DAYS
ABSTRACT – THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS
For thirteen extraordinary days in October 1962, the world stood on the brink of an unthinkable catastrophe. Across the globe, people anxiously awaited the outcome of a harrowing political, diplomatic and military confrontation that threatened to end in a nuclear exchange between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the closest the world ever came to nuclear war. The United States armed forces were at their highest state of readiness ever and Soviet field commanders in Cuba were prepared to use battlefield nuclear weapons to defend the island if it was invaded. Luckily, thanks to two men, President John F Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, war was averted. In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe. US missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba. A deployment in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential US attack against the Soviet Union or Cuba. In mid-July of 1962 the Soviet Union began its buildup of offensive weapons in Cuba. Fidel Castro was looking for a way to defend his island nation from an attack by the US.The most important feature of the Cuban Missile Crisis is the first direct encounter of the two superpower with nuclear weapons in the world. Another characteristic of the crisis is that both the peak of the cold war and slowly after 1962; But it is the basis of the detente phenomenon that begins to settle in a stable tempoda.
INTRODUCTION
The Cuban Missile Crisis was an event occurred in October 1962 when the USA detected that the USSR had deployed medium range missiles in Cuba, which was ninety miles away from Florida. It was the period that the cold war reached its peak because of the possible confrontation between the two superpowers, the US and the USSR, at the time. The Cuban Missiles Crisis was a very important part of the world history because of the risk of nuclear war that could lead to the destruction of the world. Therefore, it is very fascinating to identify what happen before the crisis, the causes, the actual events in the crisis, and the impacts of the crisis At a time when the electoral struggle was accelerating in the United States, US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara showed to the of U-2 aerial surveillance photos President Kennedy on October 1962. According to information from the photographs, the Soviet Union is in the process of placing intermediate-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) carrying nuclear weapons in Cuba. With this incident, the United States begins to think about what to do.
RESOLUTION
The US intelligent informed the President on October 17 .After the President was informed, there was a meeting between President John F. Kennedy and the EXCOMM, the Committee of the national Security. Many plans were proposed during the meeting. One of the most obvious plans was the scheme to use air strike to remove missiles from Cuba. However, Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedy’s younger brother, advised the President not to use air strike because there was no way to guarantee that the air strike could remove all of the missiles from Cuba. If the air strike could not remove all missiles from Cuba, it would give the Cubans time to deploy missiles against the USA. Similarly to the air strike, any military strikes against the Cuban could lead the Cubans to deploy missiles against the USA. President Kennedy is visited by Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, who asserts that Soviet aid to Cuba is purely defensive and does not represent a threat to the United States in Thursday,October18th. There are ”Bilateral diplomacy” and ”Track-1” diplomacy .
Therefore, President Kennedy and his advisors came up with the naval blockade method as a way to deal with the Cubans.There are Soviet Union ships going to Cuba. United States naval forces will stop those ships and return them if they carry weapons. This blockade will prevent more weapons from being introduced.
Despite the decision to blockade, President Kennedy is looking for otheroptions because he does not want to enter the nuclear warAnother option is to think about offering a deal. We can guarantee that we will withdraw our refunds in Guantanamo and in Turkey.
Minister Kennedy is giving a speech on 22 October. The island of Cuba will be blockade to ensure that all attack vehicles, ammunition and relief sent to Cuba are stopped. Secondly, we will increase the intensity of intelligence units over Cuba. Thirdly, it is the policy of this country to prevent any nuclear attack from Cuba, which will be carried out in the West Hemisphere. If this is not taken into consideration by the Soviets, they will be repatriated to the Soviet of the United States.After President Kennedy spoke, the Soviets responded: ‘The Ulus Committee has the right to travel around the territory’ … It clearly states that the defeat will be the blockade.
President Kennedy, his brother R. F. Kennedy and his special assistant Kenny O’Donnel are struggling to avoid the nuclear war in this process. The Pentagon wants Cuban U-2 planes to re-flight. Kenny does not want it done. Pentagon wants the United States to enter the war. U-2 is flying again over Cuba. Kenny Pilota says if you fire, you should notify Pentagon. The United States will attack Cuba if it is learned that a fire has opened. It appears here that the statesmen within the United States are in great discretion.Organization of America States were accepted as a blockade to be implemented unanimously. There is multi-lateral diplomacy here.
At the United Nations meeting, the United States showed photographs of Soviet nuclear activities in Cuba. The United States has been using international diplomacy with very good diplomacy.
President Kennedy’s brother R. F. Kennedy told Walter Lippmann that if the Russians withdraw from Cuba, they will leak information about the jupiter in Turkey. Media is the most important means of diplomcy. John F. Kennedy announced to the media that the Cubans had deployed missiles against the USA with the aid from the USSR. He informed the media of the quarantine, naval blockade, as a mean to bloc USSR ship that carried missile to Cuba, and if the USSR did not turn or stop its cargo ships from entering Cuba, there would be consequences. However, the USSR’s cargo ships did not turn back, but its cargo ships did not break the USA quarantine. It seemed that the confrontation between the USSR and the US could happen anytime. Nevertheless, from October 22 to 28, President JFK and Chairman Khrushchev exchanged several letters. Kennedy received Khrushchev’s second letter on October 26. The letter proposed that the USSR would remove missiles from Cuba if the USA removed the Jupiter missiles from Turkey and, and that JFK must make a promise in front of the public that the USA would never invade Cuba . On October 27, one day after Khrushchev second letter was sent, the US’s U-2 plane was shot down in Cuba. This act was seen by some of American politician as an invitation to start war. This is the quote from Secretary of Defense McNamara `This means war with the Soviet Union.” However, because of the secret meeting between Robert Kennedy and Soviet ambassador Dobrynin, the situation was able to cool down. Robert Kennedy assured that the President would remove the missiles in Turkey On October 28, JFK sent Khrushchev another letter proposed that in exchange for the USSR to uninstall missiles from Cuban soil within the UN inspection, the USA would never invade Cuba, and secretly uninstall missiles from Turkey. Khrushchev accepted the proposal from President Kenndy; thus, both countries were able to resolve their conflicts. In essence, the Cuban Missile Crisis was able to resolve because the USA accepted the USSR proposal. It removed missiles from Turkey, and made a public announcement that it would never invade Cuba. On the same hand, Khrushchev accepted the USA proposal, and uninstalled missiles from Cuba within inspectors from UN observation.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the main causes of the crisis were the Soviet Union hidden agendas and the Cuban insecurity, which was caused by the United States of America. During the crisis, President John F. Kennedy and Chairman Khrushchev exchanged many letters before the resolution could be made. The period of the crisis was the period that the cold war reached its peak because both superpowers almost confront each other. If they had confronted each other, the use of nuclear weapons could have happened. After the crisis, the USSR removed missiles from Cuba under the UN supervision in exchanged for the USA to remove the Jupiter missiles in Turkey, and to never invade Cuba. The impacts of the Cuban Missile Crisis were the improvement in communication between the USA and the USSR. A hot line was established between both countries’ leaders. Moreover, President Kennedy began to view the USA relationship with the USSR in terms of coexistence.
Cuban Missile Crisis solved with soft power, not with hard power. The blockade of economic diplomacy tools will be used by the United States, but not by the two heads of state solving the problem.
The Soviet ambassador Dobrynin played an important role. The diplomatic mission was important in solving the problem between the two countries.
160202085 ,International University of Sarajevo, 2017
