Cuba-The USA90 Miles Estranged

Review

• Cuban Independence (Spanish-American War 1898)

• Platt Amendment

• Fulgencio Batista

• Fidel Castro

• Che Guevara

• 1959 Cuban Revolution

A Crisis Coming

• Covert Ops – (Covert Operations) – military actions that are done in secret, away from public view

• U2 Planes-Fly 75,000 ft high and take images in enemy territory

The “U2” Spy Planes

• On May 1, 1960 American spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union.

• At first USA claimed it is a weather plane

Cause & EffectCause & Effect

Khrushchev becomes head of Soviet Union; Stalin Dies is willing to deal with United States

U2 spy plane shot Khrushchev breaks down over Soviet off peace talks with air space Eisenhower

How successful were early attempts at ‘containment’?

• Castro takes over US businesses

• January 1961, US breaks off diplomatic relations

• April, 1961, Bay of Pigs – 1,400 anti-Cuban exiles attempted to overthrow Castro

• Autumn 1962, Cuba has received 1000s of USSR missiles, jets, boats & personnel

The US committed $100 million to overthrowing Castro, the

CIA tried to sabotage the economy, they even planned to send him an exploding cigar!

Why did they go to such lengths after April 1961?

Why was the USSR interested in helping Cuba?

• Cuba was a new Communist state• Cuba provided a launch base for USSR inter-continental

missiles (ICMs)• Khrushchev wanted to test strength of new US president, JFK• Khrushchev wanted to force JFK into bargaining over US

missile in Europe

Why does this cartoonist think that Khrushchev was interested in

Cuba?

Chronology of Events• May, 1962: Khrushchev makes veiled references to

a plot (How would the U.S. feel to have missiles pointing at them, as they have missiles pointed at us?)

• September: JFK and Congress issue warnings to USSR that US will deal harshly with any threats to national security

• October 14: U2 recon. flight over Cuba spots sites installing nuclear missiles

• October 15: Presence of missiles is confirmed

The Missile Sites

Chronology Continued• October 16: President Kennedy notified• October 16-22: Secret deliberations on what should be

done• October 22: Kennedy tells nation his plan for blockade

and quarantine• October 23: OAS endorses naval quarantine• October 24: Naval quarantine begins and successfully

changes course of many Soviet ships

• October 25: One Soviet ship challenges naval quarantine; Kennedy lets it pass

• October 25: At the UN, Adlai Stevenson directly challenges the Soviet ambassador to admit to the existence of missiles, when the ambassador refuses, Stevenson wheels out pictures of the missile sites

• October 26: Soviets raise possibility for a deal: if we withdraw missiles will America promise not to invade Cuba?

Chronology…• October 27: Soviets demand that Americans also

withdraw missiles from Turkey; Major Anderson’s plane is missing over Cuba, presumably shot down; U.S. recon plane strays over Soviet airspace…high tensions

• Kennedy tells Khrushchev that he will accept the proposal of the 26th, Kennedy tells his brother to tell the Soviet Ambassador that though the Turkey missiles would not be part of the bargain, they would be removed in time

• October 28: USSR agrees to withdraw missiles

Motivations

Reciprocity:

• Close the missile gap—Currently far behind U.S. in terms of number of missiles

• Verbal threats no longer effective with overwhelming evidence of U.S. superiority

• Protect Cuba

• The U.S. has missiles pointing at us, let’s see how they feel now

SOVIET DECISIONSSOVIET DECISIONS

• If fired a missile, repercussions would be severe

SOVIET DECISIONS-ContinuedSOVIET DECISIONS-Continued

Why no Why no missile usemissile use

The US Strategy

• September: Kennedy said if the Soviet Union placed weapons in Cuba we would not tolerate it.

• First 48 hours USA decided removal of missiles was the primary objective– This objective effectively

ruled out isolated diplomacy, and left two options…

USA DECISIONSUSA DECISIONS

Option 1 - Air Strike

– On October 17th, President Kennedy “made the flat statement that there would definitely be an air strike, at least against the missile sites, and perhaps against wider targets” (Bundy 394)

– Reservations from others, airstrike may be using a “sledgehammer” to kill a “fly

– Later that day Robert McNamara suggests policy in between diplomacy and an air strike

USA DECISIONS ContinuedUSA DECISIONS Continued

Option 2 – Blockade

• Blockade would not require instant killing,

• Critics feared it would not remove the missiles and allow Soviets time to complete what they already had in Cuba

USA DECISIONS ContinuedUSA DECISIONS Continued

Could America have acted differently?

• Could we have used the crisis to remove Castro?– Our warnings all along had been against offensive

weapons so once that warning is tested if we use it to attack Castro are we sticking to our word?

• Could we have tried diplomacy before resorting to the quarantine?– If we didn’t keep secrecy, Khrushchev could have

proclaimed defiance, or denounced quarantine…then both countries would be in positions where they’re heading straight for each other and can’t just turn back