Soviet deception in the cuban missile crisis central. The military base was built near havana in 1962, the year of the cuban missile crisis, and was moscows largest foreign facility of its kind. The cuban missile crisis was an escalation in the tensions between the two superpowers, which one historian called the most dangerous crisis of the cold war. The cuban missile crisis module prepared for ciao by richard ned lebow august 2000 the cuban missile crisis of october 1962 is generally regarded as the most serious military confrontation of the cold war. Semyonivanov, chief of the general staffs chief oper ations directorate, was in overall charge. During the conflict the united states discovered that cuba had begun building missile bases on the island of cuba, just to the south of the united states.
Kennedys victory in the messy and inconclusive cold war naturally came to dominate the politics of u. The cuban missile crisis the belfer center for science and. The north korea standoff, like the cuban missile crisis. I see the possibility in the 1970s of the president of the united states having to face a world in which 15 or 20 or 25. The cuban missile crisis was perhaps the greatest test of john f.
Kennedy john swift examines the events that led the world to the brink of nuclear catastrophe. Cuban missile crisis joint crisis committee umass mun 2012. It closed in 2002, 11 years after the collapse of the. Gcse history, edexcel a syllabus, international relations, section 5 three cold war crises. Fidel castro and the communist party take over in 1959 bay of pigs invasion1961 now back to. The craft of denying the united states information on the deployment of the missiles and deceiving us policymakers about the soviet unions intent was the foundation of nikita khrushchevs audacious cuban venture. Seven lessons of the cuban missile crisis for the karabakh conflict the harvard community has made this article openly available. So far as the world believes, the cuban missile crisis is over. Learning from soviet the past deception in the cuban missile crisis james h. A history of the cuban missile crisis during the cold war. Designed to help policymakers, students, and interested citizens draw lessons from these critical events half a century ago, this site not only provides background on the crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear disaster in october 1962 but also offers tools to understand how.
Drawing on previously undiscovered archival materials and interviews with soviet and american veterans of the crisis, michael dobbs has. Soviet intelligence and the cuban missile crisis belfer center for. The cuban missile crisis began for the united states on the morning of october 16, when president kennedy was informed of the discovery of missile sites in cuba by u2 surveillance aircraft. Moscows surreptitious dispatch of nuclearcapable ss4 and ss5 surfacetosurface missiles to cuba in 1962 upset the strategic balance in an alarming way.
From its inception, the soviet missile operation entailed elaborate denial and. These historical documents are pdf images of formerly classified carbon paper and reports that have been declassified. The cuban missile crisis preted by americans as a direct challenge to their strategic preeminence in the western hemisphere, but this apprehension was likely balanced by the fact that the united states had already deployed jupiter irbms along the soviet border in turkey, thereby posing a. The cuban missile crisis international strategic and. Soviet deception in the cuban missile crisis central intelligence.
We were in our third year, none of us 15 yet, and we were walking in the valley of the. But a soviet desire to be found out hardly squares with the extensive and effective camouflage and deception that shielded the transport of the missiles to cuba. Revision cards for chapter 4, the cuban missile crisis from aqa unit his3n. Kennedy demanded that all nuclear missiles be removed from cuba and blockaded the island to prevent further deliveries of nuclear warheads. But for the soviets, reality is that they have one heck of a mess on their hands. The people involved in the cuban missile crisis understood that one of the main lessons was that as long as there are nuclear weapons, the danger of them being fired, even in accident, is real. But the cuban missile crisis did not replicate on the beach, and so thoughts about a cuban missile war passed unobtrusively into history. President kennedy and secretary of defense mcnamara in an excomm meeting. Moscows surreptitious dispatch of nuclearcapable ss4 and ss5 surfacetosurface missiles to cuba in 1962 upset the strategic balance in an. Cuban missile crisis legal definition of cuban missile crisis. In a clandestine operation unprecedented in military history, the ussr moved a whole army around the globe and deployed the most sophisticated weapons of its time right under the nose. The secret compromise that ended the cuban missile crisis. An analysis of the three main foreign affairs during john f. Cuban missile crisis the closest the world ever came to a nuclear war 1962 the players.
To strengthen the concealment, manyunits were outfitted with grihkov and smith, p 24. These prior events helped shape the different points of view regarding the soviet unions building of missile bases. Dod, transcripts, secret, notes taken from transcripts of meetings of the joint chiefs of staff, octobernovember 1962. Learning objective h, wor theme read about the tense 1962 standoff between the united states and. Why we should still study the cuban missile crisis united states. As tensions rose, cuban missile crisis newspaper accounts described how peace talks were going nowhere. George washington universitys national security archive, in partnership with brown universitys watson institute for international affairs, generated worldwide headlines by gathering u.
Kennedys administration prevented the installation of soviet nuclear missiles in cuba, just 90 miles from florida. The pentagon, opposed to any film that might undermine public enthusiasm for nuclear weapons, refused to cooperate. Missile crisis tostrengthenthe concealment, many decided to emplace the missiles in cuba in the spring of 1962. Soviet deception in the cuban missile crisis james h hansen on. American destroyers deployed along a picket line to intercept soviet ships transporting missiles and nuclear warheads to cuba while american air.
Comparing perspectives of the cuban missile crisis learn it. Those needing more precise instnic dons, such as missile engineers, were informed that they would he taking icbms to a site on novaya zemlya, a large island in the arc tic where nuclear weapons had long been tested. Both cuba and the soviet union wanted to prevent the u. What if rather than quarantining cuba, president kennedy issued an air strike on the island. Your story matters citation saradzhyan, simon and artur saradzhyan. Earlier in 1962 on february 20, a topsecret administration document discussed a plan called operation mongoose. In the case of the cuban missile crisis, at the very least, the kgb. Learning from the missile crisis what really happened on those thirteen fateful days in october during the cuban missile crisis, soviet warheads on cuban soil could have attacked many major u. The united states, referred to as military help from nations outside, would work with cuban dissidents, referred. In accordance with section 504 of the rehabilitation act. T he m ost anxious w eek of the c old w ar the crisis began on 22 o ctober 1962 w hen america announced that spy flights over c u b a h a d revea led th e co n stru ctio n o f b a ses for soviet m edium range m issiles, and that a m erica w ould im pose a naval blockade on cuba to prevent the delivery of further missiles. While on the other hand the united states government is elected by free elections of its citizens.
Cia special national intelligence estimate, major consequences of certain u. Collapse of global nuclear order cuban missile crisis. Speech by nikita khrushchev on the cuban crisis 23 may. These would house nuclear missiles transferred to the island from the soviet union. This extract focuses on the impact the cuban missile crisis had on khrushchevs political career. However, the soviet and the cuban leadership knew that the most dangerous weapons of the crisistactical lunas and. Taken from the cuban missile crisis by j griffiths. Explain the effects of the cuban missile crisis of 1962. Washington, dc, october 10, 2012 in november 1962, cuba was preparing to become the first nuclear power in latin americaat the time when the kennedy administration thought that the cuban missile crisis was long resolved and the soviet missiles were out. Nikita khrushchev, the cuban missile crisis, and the aftermath. They do not enjoy right of assembly, speech, or press. The soviet union was a communist nation, which means that their people have no right to form their own political parties. An american spy plane eventually discovered the existence of missile sites off the coast of cuba, sparking what would come to be known as the cuban missile crisis.
The missile sites were dismantled and with them went khrushchevs prestige in the soviet union. The 1962 cuban missile crisis was a dangerous moment in the cold war between the united states and the soviet union. Ironically enough, the major impact of the cuban missile crisis was to lower tensions between the united states and the soviet union. Effects in the long run the immediate effects the island of cuba and anything in a 90 mile radius would be destroyed, including florida.
Is this a good thesis statement for the cuban missile crisis. Cuban missile crisis newspaper reports from october 1962 debated whether the u. The cuban missile crisis was a severe test for the soviet leadership. Kennedys presidency, and while he and khrushchev were able to achieve a peaceful resolution, the crisis had a number of farreaching historical consequences. The resulting show downwhich the russians call the caribbean crisis and the cubans call the october crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.
The event known as the cuban missile crisis, the greatest of all cold war crises, is a milestone in the history of the cold war. Cuba and the missile crisis article pdf available in journal of latin american studies 2212. Moscows surreptitious dispatch of nuclearcapable ss4 and ss5 surfaceto surface missiles to cuba in 1962 upset the strategic balance in an. Seven lessons of the cuban missile crisis for the karabakh. Numerous tactical nuclear weaponsnot known to the u. Harvard kennedy schools belfer center has created this site as a resource for the cuban missile crisis. Kennedy convened an informal group of cabinet officials and top civilian and military advisors the ex comm to consider and plan an appropriate response.
Russian military deception, sometimes known as maskirovka is a military doctrine developed. The last of the four ways that kennedy could have responded to the cuban missile crisis. Due to the age and poor quality of some of the pdf images, a screen reader may not be able to process the images into word documents. The cuban missile crisis was a day conflict between the united states of america, cuba, and the ussr. The program uses documentary footage to reconstruct step by stepthe events which brought the united states and the soviet union to the brink of nuclear war in. On 23 may 1963, at a meeting marking the friendship between the peoples of the soviet union and the republic of cuba, nikita khrushchev, first secretary of the communist party of the soviet union, summarises the cuban crisis. Media depictions of nuclear crises cuban missile crisis.
Hansen, soviet deception in the cuban missile crisis. Eisenhowers administration welcomed the cuban revolution, for batista had long been an embarrassing ally, and a friendly, democratic government in cuba. Seven lessons of the cuban missile crisis for the karabakh conflict. True test of a leader how well does he perform in a crisis cuban missile 2. For others, the most vivid images may be from the film thirteen days, starring kevin. It deified military power and willpower and denigrated the giveandtake of diplomacy. The cuban revolution in january 1959, fulgencio batista, the brutal, americanbacked cuban dictator, was overthrown by the guerrilla army of fidel castro. While participants and historians of the crisis never tire of recalling its details and its dangers, the majority of the generation that lived. Learning from the missile crisis history smithsonian. Ussr, draft directive, directive to the commander of soviet forces in cuba on transfer of il28s and luna missiles, and authority on use of tactical nuclear weapons, september 8, 1962.
The crisis for the united states from the cuban missile in the time of the cold war. There were other relatively minor impacts, but this was the. In october 1964, nikita khrushchev the missile man as he was popularly known was deposed removed. I believe the underlying cause that led up to the cuban missile crisis is the difference in political government. Nikita khrushchev, the cuban missile crisis, and the aftermath abstract through the use of primary and secondary sources, this essay seeks to define the role of soviet premier nikita khrushchev during the cuban missile crisis of october 1962, which was essential to avoiding nuclear devastation between the soviet union and the united states. In the aftermath of the cuban missile crisis, president kennedy concluded that the nuclear order of the time posed unacceptable risks to mankind.