27 thoughts on “Political Geography Blog – Assignment #3 – 2016”
The Cuban Missile Crisis was likely the closest mankind has ever gotten to total nuclear annihilation. The lead-up to the Crisis began in the 1950s with the Cuban Revolution, where Fidel Castro and his comrades in the 26th of July Movement moved across the island from the east, eventually capturing Havana and forcing Batista to flee to Spain. Initially, Castro wanted to maintain economic ties with the United States through trade, as much of the island’s income came from its closest neighbor, through tourism and sales of cigars, rum, etc. Unsurprisingly, the United States in 1959 was not too fond of maintaining ties with the communist regime that had toppled the pro-US dictator, and instead began a trade embargo that is still in effect nearly sixty years later.
At the height of the domino theory, the Central Intelligence Agency attempted to overthrow the Castro regime and replace it with a more right-wing, pro-U.S. one, as it did successfully in several Latin American countries. However, the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion failed miserably, much to the chagrin of American businesses like the United Fruit Company, which so desperately wanted the Castro regime to fall that it supplied transport to Cuba for the individuals involved.
In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the United States installed missiles in Italy and Turkey that had sufficient range to strike Moscow, provoking the Soviet Union. The next year, when Fidel Castro requested aid from the Soviet Union, Moscow was pleased to offer him a missile defense system for the island. As shown in the middle left image, these missiles had sufficient range to reach most major American cities, including Washington, DC. The missiles made their way to Cuba in the early fall, seen in the upper right image. Shortly thereafter, American reconnaissance flights over Cuba captured photographic evidence of the missile sites, like the one in the top left image. The United States quickly instituted a military blockade of Cuba, reflected in the newspaper in the bottom right image, in order to prevent any more missiles from reaching the island.
The near-miss of nuclear war occurred when a U.S. Navy ship dropped depth charges near a Soviet sub, causing those on the sub to seriously consider launching a nuclear weapon. However, one of the officers on the ship, Vasili Arkhipov, would not give the go-ahead for the launch. After this incident, the United States and the Soviet Union ended the situation quite quickly, with the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, and the U.S. agreeing to remove its missiles from Turkey. Although this seemed like a generally fair and balanced resolution on the surface, the U.S. still had many more missiles pointed at Moscow than the Soviets had pointed at Washington.
Although the Cuban Missile Crisis was a near-apocalyptic situation, there was at least one positive outcome. After the Crisis was over, the Soviets and the Americans realized the importance of having an open line of communications between the White House and the Kremlin, leading to the creation of the “red phone” hotline between the two, allowing for quick communication in future crisis situations.
Immediately after the conclusion of World War II, the two surviving and increasingly powerful superpowers, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R (the Soviet Union), found each other in rival ideological and economic camps. One leading a capitalistic system and the other a communist market system. This ideological opposition led to the advent of Cold War era that lasted until the collapse of the U.S.S.R in 1989. During these four decades of hostility, one of the most dangerous confrontations between the two superpowers that could potentially lead to a nuclear war occurred when the Soviets started building up a military and nuclear armed ballistic missile base in Cuba in October 1962. This became famously known as the Cuban Missile Crisis which was the sum of a series of tense political and military standoffs of 13 days between the two superpowers.
The crisis started when the pilot of a U-2 spy plane making a high-altitude passed over Cuba on October 14, photographed a Soviet ballistic missile being assembled for installation (Picture to the top left). Following this, President Kennedy was briefed on the developments and findings of the spy planes. President Kennedy summoned a high level meeting to decide how to address the situation. After a week of deliberations, President Kennedy addressed the American nation on radio and TV to inform the American public of the recent developments in the crisis and announced that his administration had opted for a complete blockade that he called ‘quarantine’ of the sea routes to Cuba. He announced, “To halt this offensive buildup, a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba from whatever nation or port will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back.” He also warned that “This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers.”
The blockade was put into effect immediately by the U.S. navy and the surveillance of the island nation was increased. This situation was widely covered by national and international media. For example, news publications resonated with the government produced maps, also depicted here, showing ranges of the soviet missiles being installed in Cuba.
American officials were perplexed by these developments also because this was the first time that the U.S. mainland was being targeted by another nation in 5 decades and for the first time through a country located in the western hemisphere where the American hegemony had ensured sustained cooperation and obedience.
Why did it happen at all? There are at least two evident reasons for this:
1. The Soviets were perturbed for a long time by the US’s aggressive deployment of nuclear armed missiles in Western Europe and Turkey.
2. A CIA led invasion and plan to overthrow the communist government of Fidel Castro in Cuba had failed in 1961 and Fidel Castro had explicitly requested Soviet help. Therefore, the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev saw an opportunity to meet two objectives by deploying the soviet missiles in Cuba:
1. Deterrence against any U.S. invasion of Cuba.
2. Play tit-for-tat against US’s missile deployments in Western Europe and Turkey.
As the events were unfolding, a skeptical American and world public kept following the news and developments anxiously. Not everyone was in favor of a nuclear war. People took to the streets to express their desire for peace and diplomacy as seen in the bottom left picture here. The crisis finally came to an end when the Soviet leader Khrushchev offered to remove the missiles in exchange for a guarantee by U.S. leaders not to invade Cuba. The Soviet leader also proposed that the USSR would dismantle its missiles in Cuba if the Americans removed their missile installations in Turkey. The American administration agreed to the proposal presented by the Soviet leader and thus the crisis came to an end through the engagements of the top officials of the two superpowers.
The creation and usage of nuclear weapons during World War II by the US established itself as a world superpower and created global fear of these weapons of mass destruction. The Soviet Union, shortly after the war, were able to produce their own nuclear weapons, establishing themselves as the US’s counter and the world’s second superpower.
Meanwhile, Cuba was undergoing drastic reform in the 1950s during the Cuban Revolution. Fidel Castro, one of the revolutionary leaders, took power from Batista. The US, wanted to continue economic relations with Cuba, but was forced to place an embargo due to its heavy communist influence. The Soviet Union, however, sought to use this to their advantage.
In 1961, the US CIA launched the Bay of Pigs Operation in effort to overthrow Castro, and in turn remove the influence of communism. Although US interference among several Latin countries proved successful in the purging of communism, the Bay of Pigs backfired drastically. In 1962, the Soviet Union conceded to Castro’s request for protection and decided to plant missiles in Cuba. The image on the middle-left, is a propaganda tool demonstrating the severity of the situation. Cuba, being the US’ closest neighbor, not only is heavily influenced by communism, has an alliance with the Soviet Union, has an embargo placed upon it, but will also have the potential to launch missiles onto American soil, including cities such as D.C., Chicago, and New York. The image on the bottom left, is the response of the American people, giving the warning to President Kennedy to tread carefully, in fear of provoking and escalating tensions into an all out war. The US, however, already had various missiles in Italy as well as Turkey that were within strike distance of the Soviet Union. The image on the top right shows one of the Russian carriers that was bound for Cuba carrying the destructive cargo. In response, the US established a blockade, which can be seen in the bottom right image. The US declared that if the Russian ships continued any further or passed the blockade, it would be considered an act of war and they would be forced to retaliate. Vasili Arkhipov, a Russian officer aboard the ship refused to give the order to launch this missiles.
October 16-28, 1962 was the closest the world had come to nuclear war since the weapons’ creation. The destruction and power of these weapons instilled fear into the hearts of everyone around the globe. This scare was so powerful that it forced the creation of fallout bunkers as well as nuclear safety and awareness to be promoted in schools. After the crisis, the Soviet Union and the US came to an agreement. The Russians removed their missiles from Cuba and the US removed their missiles from Italy and Turkey.
At the end of World War II, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. emerged as the only two super powers. With this emergence came conflicting ideologies, eventually leading into the Cold War. Both countries developed, produced, and created defense systems using nuclear weapons and the constant threat of nuclear war loomed over each nation. The closest these two powers came to mutually assured destruction was in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
From 1953-1959, Cuba was undergoing a revolution led by Fidel Castro. The ideological conflict was for social change and was allied to the communist party in Havana with students, intellectuals, and peasants. Their goal was to overthrow the regime currently in power that was thought to be corrupt, brutal, and externally controlled. In 1958 Castro asks for the support of the U.S. but due to the revolution’s ties to communism, the U.S. rejected Castro and by 1959 had placed an embargo on Cuba. In 1961 the CIA attempted an invasion of Cuba with Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs which resulted in failure. Also, during the same year the U.S. installed Jupiter missiles in Italy and Turkey putting a threat to the U.S.S.R. in range of Moscow. These events in 1961 led to Castro requesting aid from the U.S.S.R. in 1962 in which the U.S.S.R. agreed due to the strategic location of Cuba to place a missile defense system.
The images above all represent the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The top left image is the picture taken by U.S. reconnaissance flights over Cuba which confirmed the construction of missile silos. The U.S. immediately implemented a military blockade of Cuba, as seen in the bottom right image, to prevent anymore U.S.S.R. ships carrying missiles, seen in the top right image, from reaching Cuba. As a result of this crisis, nuclear war/fallout education in the U.S. would begin to be taught. An example of this is seen in the middle left image which illustrates the locations within the U.S. that would most likely be targeted by the nuclear missiles from Cuba. The last image represents the voice of the American people showing that the utmost caution was to be taken by President Kennedy when dealing with negotiations.
Eventually an agreement was met between the two powers. This resulted in the U.S.S.R removing their missiles from Cuba and the U.S. removing their missiles from Italy and Turkey.
All of these images collude into one term for me: “mutually assured destruction.” The protester in the lower left image holding a sign that says “Peace of Perish” has the right idea. The Cuban Missile Crisis was truly the closest the First and Second Worlds ever got to blowing each other up into oblivion. It was also a major demonstration of just how far the Cold War had advanced military technology. Once the Soviets had achieved nuclear technology on par with the US in the 50s, the Cold War began heating up exponentially with both sides vying for a dip in the Balance of Power. The first image in the upper left of the collage is an aerial photograph obtained by a U-2 spy plane that displays clear evidence of a Soviet missile establishment in Cuba. During the Cold War, the use of spy photographs and remotely sensed evidence became very prevalent to the point that Kennedy was making difficult calls based on the evidence and opinions of photograph analysts.
Clockwise, the next image is an aerial photograph of a Russian vessel carrying missiles en route to be stored in Cuba. After the Bay of Pigs catastrophe, the Cuban government sought support from the Soviets which came in the form of housing long-range missiles in communist Cuba just 90 miles from the coast of Florida. The Soviets were more than willing to take this risk as the United States had recently began storing Jupiter missiles in Turkey and Italy within range of Moscow. The United States responded accordingly to this shift of weapons to Cuba by establishing a naval blockade off the coast to prevent any more missiles from making it to the country. This move left every American on the edge of their seats. This was almost direct conflict between Soviets and Americans and it was happening frightfully close to the southeastern border of the nation. From Cuba, as shown in the map image, the Soviets could attack any or every major city in the country.
“President Kennedy Be Careful” is a very tame poster message for just how tense and layered this entire situation was. If I was in charge of making a demonstration sign at the time, I probably would’ve included a few more expletives and exclamation points. But that’s just me. There were many occasions during the Cold War where the two world superpowers were much closer to blowing each other up than anybody realized. Scarily, most close calls were based entirely on miscommunications or misunderstandings. Which is horrifying considering nuclear holocaust would’ve been the result. But like the Cuban missile crisis, they were handled effectively by both superpowers and would lead to de-escalations and compromises like the Soviets removing all missiles from Cuba and the United States dismantling some establishments in Europe and promising not to provoke Cuba any further.
In the midst of the Cold War, the US was vehemently rejecting and opposing any communist-affiliated nations. This was in part due to the Domino Theory, or the understanding that if one country falls to communism, all of the countries in question would fall to communism. And so began the Cold War, which was predominately an ideological conflict between capitalistic societies and communist societies. In Cuba, political instability influenced the faith of the people in their government. Batista was president for a second term in 1952 by seizing power during a governmental coup and by rigging the elections in 1955. Throughout his term he aggravated the Cuban people by allowing American companies to take over the economy, pictured in the middle left. America took advantage of this opportunity, and there was active trade between the two countries. As the infrastructure of Cuba continued to deteriorate, civil unrest grew more and more. The social and economic conditions of the country made allowed for a revolution to occur. 55 percent of the land in Cuba was externally owned, but 80 percent of the population lived in rural areas. There was a desire for change in the public sphere. In 1959, Castro and his allies overthrew Batista’s position and established a socialist government in what came to be known as the Cuban Revolution. This transfer of power affected the relationship between the US and Cuba, and the US established a financial, commercial, and economic embargo on all trade from Cuba.
In 1962, a 13-day event known as the Cuban Missile Crisis took place as what was perhaps the height of Cold War paranoia of nuclear warfare. The unrest in Cuba was heightened by the failed attempt of a military invasion by the US in 1961, known as the Bay of Pigs. This failed mission, combined with the presence of American missiles in Italy and Turkey which were aimed towards the Soviet Union, led to a secret agreement between Castro and Soviet leader Khrushchev in 1962. Nuclear missiles were established in Cuba in the hopes that they would deter US involvement in Cuba and keep the US from firing missiles into the Soviet Union. When an American Air Force aircraft confirmed the construction of missile launching bases in Cuba, pictured in the top left, the US halted all trade of offensive weaponry with Cuba. This confirmation initiated the 13-day terror of potential nuclear warfare. President Kennedy and Khrushchev negotiated an agreement that Cuban missiles would be dismantled if the US publicly declared that they would not invade Cuba ever again unless directly provoked. The US also secretly agreed to dismantle their missiles in Turkey and Italy.
When all of the weapons had been dismantled and withdrawn from Cuba, the blockade was formally lifted and the scare ended on November 20, 1962. US relations with Cuba have been improving since the crisis. This conflict reveals the power and impact that ideological conflict can carry. Throughout the 13-day crisis, there was very little action but quite a bit of negotiating. The risk of impact from nuclear warfare pushed both sides towards negotiations, and the conflict was able to dissolve without any massive-scale missile attacks.
The images shown above portray a brief summary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis was a result of tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States in the midst of the Cold War. Communists began to gain power in Cuba in the late 1950s and continued to hold power in Cuba when President Kennedy came into office in 1961. Cuba, having lost support from America, switched tactics and sought help from communist countries. Thus, the Soviet Union comes into the fold. The Soviet Union granted Cuba protection, and they gained an array of arsenals. Unfortunately for the United States, this threatened their power. This is exactly what the Soviet Union had been hoping for. They now had an area where the United States was in their range of attack. This is somewhat shown in the first two images.
Image one shows a mapping of missile sites within Cuba whereas the second image depicts a Soviet ship en route to Cuba. President Kennedy, had of course been worried about these missiles. The problem regarding the missiles were their capability of hitting key capital states in America as shown by the third image. Knowing this, President Kennedy decided to issue an order to prevent Cuba from receiving any more missiles from the Soviets. This is shown on the bottom right image. A newspaper clipping informing the public of Kennedy’s choice of action. Soviet ships would either face a search for missiles or they would be sunk. A blockade was ordered rather than retaliate against the missile sites in Cuba. A sentiment the public shared. This relates to the bottom left image. As you can see from the image, there are protesters holding signs that display their reaction to the crisis.
The sign ‘Peace or Perish’ is just one example of what American citizens felt. The Cuban Missile Crisis is an important part of history not only because it affected the two superpowers at that time, but because of the impact it could have had, had the missiles launched. During this time, American citizens were feeling unease, as were other countries that were witnessing the crisis unfold on a television screen. Imagine living in a time when you constantly worried for your life because it could end with a flip of a switch. It would only take a launch of a missile to bring an all-out nuclear war. Commercials would even advise as to what to do in the case of a nuclear attack. In this case, the only option for some people would be for the two superpowers to make peace or perish.
Though the Cuban Missile Crisis almost escalated into nuclear war, the actual crisis only lasted about two weeks. The Soviets and President Kennedy ended up coming to an agreement regarding the missile sites and Cuba. In the case of the United States, we agreed to not cause another Bay of Pigs incident in regards to Cuba and the Soviet Union would dismantle the missile sites they created in Cuba.
Well thank God that the X-men put a stop to the Cuban Missile Crisis before Sebastian Shaw and his gang started WWIII. Wait that is the wrong universe. The image on the left has that comic book feel that war propaganda often takes on. I am surprised that there did not include a miles to seconds conversion on the picture just so that you would know how many seconds you have to kiss your butt goodbye. The features labeled in the high-altitude photo might not be obvious to the common person without the labels, Dr. Tullis uses an example of the photos shown to Kennedy and without an explanation it would be hard to interpret as a missile installation. The Soviets are not mentioned in these images but the external influence they are adding to this “crisis” by supplying the arms is a very important component. Cuba was only three years old as a Socialist state under Fidel Castro and had already thwarted one invasion attempt sponsored by the US. This was the incident that inspired the creation of the Hot Line between the White House and the Kremlin.
The picture of Kennedy below the abbreviated headline reveals a different image or face than what actually took place in the negotiations. He looks defiant, and the use of the term REDS helps to emphasize that he means business. The bluff and the blockade worked and it did not require an elaborate battle with mutants to save the day. The accidental discovery of the missile installations by spy plane reveal something which was probably quite a shock. This especially true if you consider the recent history: the US should have been monitoring the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution in ’59 and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in ‘61.
The peace protesters look so nice; it is hard to say anything bad about these well-dressed ladies with signs. I am not sure if the be careful is in response to the blockade or the entire incident. What is intriguing is that these women feel strongly enough to protest in the streets. The missiles could have reached anywhere in the US if the plans had been completed and would have changed the face of the world today.
The lone ship in the image that is bringing more missiles is probably a part of the larger convoy that the Soviets sent to make the delivery. Unlike the movie where the ships get into visual range and the Russians need convincing not to make the delivery, the real convoy stopped short of the quarantine area. The newspaper headline does not cover how the US used the names of other countries to justify a quarantine because an actual blockade is an act of war. Was the entire incident presented to the American public as the good US against the evil invading USSR? This was a few years before I was born and do not remember how it was perceived as we had the end of the Vietnam “police action” influencing the populace’s opinion on war.
The 1960s were a very unique time in America. Those who lived through them would likely recall a seemingly odd mixture of events and cultures such as Sputnik, going to the moon, the Andy Griffith show, Elvis, Ray Charles, JFK and his assassination, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Strangely enough most of them emerged from a similar origin, the Cold War and Red Scare. With the Warsaw Pact countering the weight of NATO, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics began to rival the United States technologically and militarily (with a nuclear emphasis). A juxtaposing air came about that both paralyzed with fear and fueled the fires of progress and nationalism.
Every action had to be deliberated over and utmost caution taken not to upset the other superpower now that new missiles on the scene could devastate entire cities with the push of a button, silent armed submarines prowling about, and the threat of “star wars” developing weapons that could be fired from space. Since forces under either flag waging war would only escalate tempers, “peace or perish” as one sign puts it, proxy wars and spies were the only safe means of gaining ground or advantage. However this increased danger in turn brought about a national motivation; an ideological battle of “Us versus Them” that boosted patriotism for each sides’ national image and economic system. Some have claimed that Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) was achieved early on in the Cold War, and so much of our toil to get an edge on the USSR was pointless, but actually while the weapons existed for MAD, the means of actually delivering them to their would-be targets was another story. One piece of which was the Cuban Missile Crisis.
In early 1962 the United States had taken the lead militarily and therefore had the upper hand in most respects such as negotiations, resource claim and other international relations or matters. By planting nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey the United States had most of Russia under the gun, while the Soviets could only strike a few targets through great difficulty via submarine launch. When someone else is carrying the big stick, .44magnum, or in this case PGM-19 Jupiter your say in matters that concern you are limited to say the least. As one can imagine Khrushchev quickly grew tired of this and so devised a means to wield his own big stick. At the same time his friend Castro was displeased with the Bay of Pigs invasion and wished to cease harassment by the U.S., so a plan and agreement were made to give each what they wanted. Castro requested that Khrushchev plant ballistic missiles in Cuba, thus giving Russia the ability to strike any and all cities in America and preventing any thoughts of a second invasion of Cuba. When news and aerial photograph confirmation reached the White House a naval blockade was sent to intercept any ships passing between the two countries with authorization to destroy vessels that denied a board and search order. This was a time when stakes were at an all-time high and many answers and options an all-time low. Operations were carried out in complete secrecy by individual presidential and military orders. The only U.S. combat death in the entire conflict was Rudolf Anderson Jr., an unarmed spy plane pilot who took the first undeniable photographs of Soviet nukes in Cuba before being shot down by a surface to air missile.
This combat engagement brought the conflict to a critical crossroads, now that blood had been shed, the options were to retaliate with force and risk quick escalation that could result in missile launch and tens of millions dead on both sides or diffuse the situation at all costs. It is fortunate that the United States was willing to give up attack power in return for the USSR giving up their position (now less often the route taken by our administrations) because we know that Vasili Arkhipov was one “OK” away from a nuclear strike to the U.S. mainland, how many others occurred that didn’t reach the public? So to diffuse nuclear hostilities both nations agreed to evacuate their strategic positions. The U.S. disbanded the blockade, agreed to cease invasions of Cuba, and removed their missiles from Turkey. Russia removed their weapons from Cuba and installed a direct line of communication between the Kremlin and White House to prevent any future lags in communication. What might the result of the Cold War have looked like if the Russian missile were all intercepted before reaching Cuba while the U.S. retained their Turkish position?
Good discussion, although I doubt history would have looked much different if the US had retained those Turkish missiles, they were obsolete and we had plenty of others scattered around the boundaries of the USSR.
Ian Mcmahen:
The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 stirred the pot of the cold war in many different ways. This 13 day confrontation was due to the United States’ ballistic missile presence in Italy and Turkey. After WWII the world was turned into a Bipolar world meaning that there were two major superpowers that erected from the wreckage of the war, Soviet Union and the United States. As the United States started placing these ballistic missiles closer and closer to Russia, the country became more and more uncomfortable of the situation and started seeking territories close to the United States to place their own warheads in case of another world war. It just so happened that Cuba was seeking protection from the U.S and immediately gained the USSR’s attention.
Before Fidel Castro overthrew the government in 1959 the U.S and Cuba had a descent business relationship with all the American casinos and resorts. Once Fidel Castro came into power, it gave way to the Communistic ideologies that were shared among other countries such as the Soviet Union. After Castro took over the government, the United States CIA decided to send a paramilitary group to invade the Bay of Pigs on the western side of the island. This attempt to invade the island did not succeed, but it made the United States an intimidating factor to the new founded dictatorship. As Castro’s fame grew he grew worrisome about the United States presence and relayed a message to the Soviet Union asking for protection. The Soviet Union gladly agreed to help Cuba if the United States ever invaded again, in exchange for the use of Cuba to store ballistic missile on the island.
Since the island is so close the United States, the military started doing secret recon missions around the island due to the recent presence of the Soviet Union. The United States started flying the U2 spy plane over Soviet occupied areas of the island and with remote sensing cameras they were able to visually interpret the images and noticed the multiple missile silos being built on the island. This became a public threat once the media caught wind of the images and President Kennedy gave a press conference about the subject at hand. As the tension grew between the two countries the public was not aware of how close the world was to a nuclear war.
A Soviet naval officer named Vasili Arkhipov was given the order to fire nuclear torpedoes at a United States navy fleet but refused to go through with the orders because he knew it was from false information. This decision inadvertently prevent a nuclear war. As the crisis came to a climax the lead of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev met with President Kennedy to discuss a better solution for the two countries. The Soviet Union decided to withdraw their presence in Cuba with promises that the United States wouldn’t invade Cuba once they left and that the United States with draw their missiles from Italy and Turkey which they agreed to both terms.
The ideological war between the USSR and the U.S. arose from the United States feelings of animosity towards communism. With democracy being fluid with capitalism, the west began containing any spread of communism by the Soviet Union. The fear was adopted from the Domino Theory, which was the assumption that when one countries adheres to communism, they all will continue to adopt it. The huge sphere of influence was aimed at U.S. military expansion to ensure the most power as a global force. In reaction to the U.S. expansion, nuclear war missiles were created not only in the west, but in spite of by the Soviet Union. This created a great divide between the West and East on a huge scale.
In the 1950s, the arms race began where the Soviets matched the U.S. nuclear technology. Because of this advancement from the Soviets, there was an increase in balance of power between both two major superpowers. This affected many that continued to follow the ripple effect of communism. With Fidel Castro’s rise to power from the old U.S. propped dictator Batista, the Kennedy Administration worried his about his gains.
President Kennedy, pictured on the bottom left, continued as major player in the containment of communism and his influence grew in opposition to the Soviet Union and their allies. Batista had been put in power in favor of a U.S. Fruit Company that affected a lot of corporate American industries. Because of their need to control the region and their resources, they worked with C.I.A. to ensure that the U.S. chosen dictator was suffice in Cuba. All the while in 1959, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred where the United States rejected the rise of Castro and held the arms embargo. This ultimately affected much of the industry and security of Cuba, so Castro sought help from the Soviet Union, which you can see in the top left photo. Their response was at a disadvantage to the United States, because it followed with a deal to place missiles in Cuba under the Soviet Union pointed in direction of many American cities, like in the middle left picture above. The United States then installed Jupiter missiles in Italy and Turkey in direction to Moscow.
In 1962, we see the significance in the top right picture, where US flight confirmed missile silos. Vasili Arkhipov, a soviet Navy officer, refused to fire missiles at the United States preventing an all out nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The Cuban Missile Crisis took place from October 16 to 28, 1962. It refers to the nuclear standoff between the United States and Soviet Union which resulted from a US blockade of Cuba. The blockade, in turn, was instigated based on evidence of the Soviet Union accumulating missiles in Cuba capable of reaching US cities. The top left and right pictures depict such evidence. The top right is imagery of a Soviet ship, the Kasimov, with fuselage crates headed to Cuba. This picture was captured roughly a month before the beginning of the blockade, raising US suspicion and concern about Soviet actions in Cuba, despite denials of the Soviet government that offensive missiles were being shipped in. The top left image was taken in October, and was significantly more damning. It is an aerial view of a Cuban missile base with missile transporters, heavy equipment, and other items labeled. This and other aerial images ultimately convinced President Kennedy and co. that action was necessary to prevent the arrival of further weapons.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a frightening uptick in tensions that had already been brewing between the US and SU in the previous decade of the Cold War. Cuba, with its recent communist revolution under the leadership of Fidel Castro, was not the first stage on which the battle between capitalism and communism played out but it was the closest to the US, lying less than 500 miles from Florida. The United States’ refusal to support Cuba and embargo implementation, and its more active attempt to invade and overthrow Castro during the failed Bay of Pigs incident, contributed to a strengthening of ties between Cuba and the Soviet Union (and, unsurprisingly, Cuban concerns regarding safety). This, along with the previous positioning of US missiles in Italy and Turkey able in range of Moscow, cumulatively set the stage for the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Though intelligence was gathered October 16, it was the 22nd before President Kennedy gave a televised speech outlining the situation and the responding blockade for the public. The bottom right picture shows the front page of the Daily News newspaper published the following day. The remaining two pictures perhaps speak to the reaction of the US public. The map in the middle left is from a newspaper and shows major cities in the United States and Mexico; arrows originating from Cuba show the distance between the island and each of the cities, amplifying the perception of proximity and threat. The bottom left picture, meanwhile, shows protesters with signs urging restraint by Kennedy and the US in handling the Cuban missile crisis, reminding of the need for peace.
Ultimately, any protest or perception of danger was likely insufficient in comparison to the actual threat level. During the less than 2 weeks of the Cuban Missile Crisis, on multiple occasions the world hovered on the brink of nuclear war, stopped at various times only by the reluctance of two world leaders and a Russian submarine officer. The crisis was resolved by a partially public, partially secret agreement between the United States and Soviet Union and the dismantling of missiles by both sides.
One of the many reasons the Cuban Missile Crisis took place was because of the Bay of Pigs Invasion. This event took place because of a revolution that occurred in Cuba in 1959. Fidel Castro travels to Havana with his allied troops to overthrow General Fulgencio Batista. Fulgencio has been largely sponsored and backed by the United States. The United Sates thinks that the things that were happening in Cuba through Castro’s revolution were not right. The United States decided to launch an Invasion in Cuba with a 1400 troop. The invasion did no go well, since the invaders were highly outnumbered by the troop that Castro had formed. It did not take 24 hours for the invasion troops to surrender.
Castro requests help from the USSR through a letter that was written to Nikita Khrushchev. In this letter, Castro motivates the Soviets to attack the Americans if an invasions takes place. Castro makes emphasis on his commitment to help fight the Americans. He would call the Americans the “imperialists” and he referred to them as “extremely dangerous”. In the letter, Castro also refers to how the United States had violated Cuba’s sea and air space without taking into consideration international laws and the world opinion.
On October 16, 1962, president Ronald Reagan is informed that an international conflict was about to start. A military surveillance plane had taken several aerial photographs of Cuba. Through the analysis of these pictures, CIA personal had arrived to the conclusion that a missile base was being under construction in San Cristobal in Cuba. San Cristobal was only 90 miles away from Florida.
A lot of discussion took place in the United States about the missile base that was in Cuba by the Soviets facing major cities in the United States. At that time, England’s Prime Minister was informed about the soviet plans. There was a lot of arguing at the UN security council between the Soviet and the American representatives. The American side showed evidence (aerial photos) of the missile base that had just been built in Cuba.
At the thirteenth day, after a long series of negotiations between the Soviets and the Americans, the soviets confirmed that the missiles were going to be removed if the United States pledged to not invade the island.
The distorted map that shows the Soviets’ intentions of attacking the United States with missiles is a clear example of the propaganda that was used by the United States to justify their invasion to Cuba. Their main objective was to make everyone in the international community and nationals in the United States to think that actions such as the aircraft invading sovereign Cuban air and their seas was right.
The sign that says “President Kennedy Be Careful” seem to represent what some people in the United States thought about president Kennedy’s plan to go through the Missile Crisis. Some might have thought that the measures taken by President Kennedy were too drastic that he put at risk the well-being of Americans.
One of the many reasons the Cuban Missile Crisis took place was because of the Bay of Pigs Invasion. This event took place because of a revolution that occurred in Cuba in 1959. Fidel Castro travels to Havana with his allied troops to overthrow General Fulgencio Batista. Fulgencio has been largely sponsored and backed by the United States. The United Sates thinks that the things that were happening in Cuba through Castro’s revolution were not right. The United States decided to launch an Invasion in Cuba with a 1400 troop. The invasion did no go well, since the invaders were highly outnumbered by the troop that Castro had formed. It did not take 24 hours for the invasion troops to surrender.
Castro requests help from the USSR through a letter that was written to Nikita Khrushchev. In this letter, Castro motivates the Soviets to attack the Americans if an invasions takes place. Castro makes emphasis on his commitment to help fight the Americans. He would call the Americans the “imperialists” and he referred to them as “extremely dangerous”. In the letter, Castro also refers to how the United States had violated Cuba’s sea and air space without taking into consideration international laws and the world opinion.
On October 16, 1962, president Ronald Reagan is informed that an international conflict was about to start. A military surveillance plane had taken several aerial photographs of Cuba. Through the analysis of these pictures, CIA personal had arrived to the conclusion that a missile base was being under construction in San Cristobal in Cuba. San Cristobal was only 90 miles away from Florida.
A lot of discussion took place in the United States about the missile base that was in Cuba by the Soviets facing major cities in the United States. At that time, England’s Prime Minister was informed about the soviet plans. There was a lot of arguing at the UN security council between the Soviet and the American representatives. The American side showed evidence (aerial photos) of the missile base that had just been built in Cuba.
At the thirteenth day, after a long series of negotiations between the Soviets and the Americans, the soviets confirmed that the missiles were going to be removed if the United States pledged to not invade the island.
The distorted map that shows the Soviets’ intentions of attacking the United States with missiles is a clear example of the propaganda that was used by the United States to justify their invasion to Cuba. Their main objective was to make everyone in the international community and nationals in the United States to think that actions such as the aircraft invading sovereign Cuban air and their seas was right.
The sign that says “President Kennedy Be Careful” seem to represent what some people in the United States thought about president Kennedy’s plan to go through the Missile Crisis. Some might have thought that the measures taken by President Kennedy were too drastic that he put at risk the well-being of Americans.
All the bairns o' Adam 
The Cuban Missile Crisis was likely the closest mankind has ever gotten to total nuclear annihilation. The lead-up to the Crisis began in the 1950s with the Cuban Revolution, where Fidel Castro and his comrades in the 26th of July Movement moved across the island from the east, eventually capturing Havana and forcing Batista to flee to Spain. Initially, Castro wanted to maintain economic ties with the United States through trade, as much of the island’s income came from its closest neighbor, through tourism and sales of cigars, rum, etc. Unsurprisingly, the United States in 1959 was not too fond of maintaining ties with the communist regime that had toppled the pro-US dictator, and instead began a trade embargo that is still in effect nearly sixty years later.
At the height of the domino theory, the Central Intelligence Agency attempted to overthrow the Castro regime and replace it with a more right-wing, pro-U.S. one, as it did successfully in several Latin American countries. However, the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion failed miserably, much to the chagrin of American businesses like the United Fruit Company, which so desperately wanted the Castro regime to fall that it supplied transport to Cuba for the individuals involved.
In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the United States installed missiles in Italy and Turkey that had sufficient range to strike Moscow, provoking the Soviet Union. The next year, when Fidel Castro requested aid from the Soviet Union, Moscow was pleased to offer him a missile defense system for the island. As shown in the middle left image, these missiles had sufficient range to reach most major American cities, including Washington, DC. The missiles made their way to Cuba in the early fall, seen in the upper right image. Shortly thereafter, American reconnaissance flights over Cuba captured photographic evidence of the missile sites, like the one in the top left image. The United States quickly instituted a military blockade of Cuba, reflected in the newspaper in the bottom right image, in order to prevent any more missiles from reaching the island.
The near-miss of nuclear war occurred when a U.S. Navy ship dropped depth charges near a Soviet sub, causing those on the sub to seriously consider launching a nuclear weapon. However, one of the officers on the ship, Vasili Arkhipov, would not give the go-ahead for the launch. After this incident, the United States and the Soviet Union ended the situation quite quickly, with the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, and the U.S. agreeing to remove its missiles from Turkey. Although this seemed like a generally fair and balanced resolution on the surface, the U.S. still had many more missiles pointed at Moscow than the Soviets had pointed at Washington.
Although the Cuban Missile Crisis was a near-apocalyptic situation, there was at least one positive outcome. After the Crisis was over, the Soviets and the Americans realized the importance of having an open line of communications between the White House and the Kremlin, leading to the creation of the “red phone” hotline between the two, allowing for quick communication in future crisis situations.
Excellent
Cuban Missile Crisis Oct 3-16, 1962
Immediately after the conclusion of World War II, the two surviving and increasingly powerful superpowers, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R (the Soviet Union), found each other in rival ideological and economic camps. One leading a capitalistic system and the other a communist market system. This ideological opposition led to the advent of Cold War era that lasted until the collapse of the U.S.S.R in 1989. During these four decades of hostility, one of the most dangerous confrontations between the two superpowers that could potentially lead to a nuclear war occurred when the Soviets started building up a military and nuclear armed ballistic missile base in Cuba in October 1962. This became famously known as the Cuban Missile Crisis which was the sum of a series of tense political and military standoffs of 13 days between the two superpowers.
The crisis started when the pilot of a U-2 spy plane making a high-altitude passed over Cuba on October 14, photographed a Soviet ballistic missile being assembled for installation (Picture to the top left). Following this, President Kennedy was briefed on the developments and findings of the spy planes. President Kennedy summoned a high level meeting to decide how to address the situation. After a week of deliberations, President Kennedy addressed the American nation on radio and TV to inform the American public of the recent developments in the crisis and announced that his administration had opted for a complete blockade that he called ‘quarantine’ of the sea routes to Cuba. He announced, “To halt this offensive buildup, a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba is being initiated. All ships of any kind bound for Cuba from whatever nation or port will, if found to contain cargoes of offensive weapons, be turned back.” He also warned that “This quarantine will be extended, if needed, to other types of cargo and carriers.”
The blockade was put into effect immediately by the U.S. navy and the surveillance of the island nation was increased. This situation was widely covered by national and international media. For example, news publications resonated with the government produced maps, also depicted here, showing ranges of the soviet missiles being installed in Cuba.
American officials were perplexed by these developments also because this was the first time that the U.S. mainland was being targeted by another nation in 5 decades and for the first time through a country located in the western hemisphere where the American hegemony had ensured sustained cooperation and obedience.
Why did it happen at all? There are at least two evident reasons for this:
1. The Soviets were perturbed for a long time by the US’s aggressive deployment of nuclear armed missiles in Western Europe and Turkey.
2. A CIA led invasion and plan to overthrow the communist government of Fidel Castro in Cuba had failed in 1961 and Fidel Castro had explicitly requested Soviet help. Therefore, the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev saw an opportunity to meet two objectives by deploying the soviet missiles in Cuba:
1. Deterrence against any U.S. invasion of Cuba.
2. Play tit-for-tat against US’s missile deployments in Western Europe and Turkey.
As the events were unfolding, a skeptical American and world public kept following the news and developments anxiously. Not everyone was in favor of a nuclear war. People took to the streets to express their desire for peace and diplomacy as seen in the bottom left picture here. The crisis finally came to an end when the Soviet leader Khrushchev offered to remove the missiles in exchange for a guarantee by U.S. leaders not to invade Cuba. The Soviet leader also proposed that the USSR would dismantle its missiles in Cuba if the Americans removed their missile installations in Turkey. The American administration agreed to the proposal presented by the Soviet leader and thus the crisis came to an end through the engagements of the top officials of the two superpowers.
My apologies! The title should be Cuban Missile Crisis October 16-28, 1962
Excellent work, very good discussion.
The creation and usage of nuclear weapons during World War II by the US established itself as a world superpower and created global fear of these weapons of mass destruction. The Soviet Union, shortly after the war, were able to produce their own nuclear weapons, establishing themselves as the US’s counter and the world’s second superpower.
Meanwhile, Cuba was undergoing drastic reform in the 1950s during the Cuban Revolution. Fidel Castro, one of the revolutionary leaders, took power from Batista. The US, wanted to continue economic relations with Cuba, but was forced to place an embargo due to its heavy communist influence. The Soviet Union, however, sought to use this to their advantage.
In 1961, the US CIA launched the Bay of Pigs Operation in effort to overthrow Castro, and in turn remove the influence of communism. Although US interference among several Latin countries proved successful in the purging of communism, the Bay of Pigs backfired drastically. In 1962, the Soviet Union conceded to Castro’s request for protection and decided to plant missiles in Cuba. The image on the middle-left, is a propaganda tool demonstrating the severity of the situation. Cuba, being the US’ closest neighbor, not only is heavily influenced by communism, has an alliance with the Soviet Union, has an embargo placed upon it, but will also have the potential to launch missiles onto American soil, including cities such as D.C., Chicago, and New York. The image on the bottom left, is the response of the American people, giving the warning to President Kennedy to tread carefully, in fear of provoking and escalating tensions into an all out war. The US, however, already had various missiles in Italy as well as Turkey that were within strike distance of the Soviet Union. The image on the top right shows one of the Russian carriers that was bound for Cuba carrying the destructive cargo. In response, the US established a blockade, which can be seen in the bottom right image. The US declared that if the Russian ships continued any further or passed the blockade, it would be considered an act of war and they would be forced to retaliate. Vasili Arkhipov, a Russian officer aboard the ship refused to give the order to launch this missiles.
October 16-28, 1962 was the closest the world had come to nuclear war since the weapons’ creation. The destruction and power of these weapons instilled fear into the hearts of everyone around the globe. This scare was so powerful that it forced the creation of fallout bunkers as well as nuclear safety and awareness to be promoted in schools. After the crisis, the Soviet Union and the US came to an agreement. The Russians removed their missiles from Cuba and the US removed their missiles from Italy and Turkey.
Good points.
At the end of World War II, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. emerged as the only two super powers. With this emergence came conflicting ideologies, eventually leading into the Cold War. Both countries developed, produced, and created defense systems using nuclear weapons and the constant threat of nuclear war loomed over each nation. The closest these two powers came to mutually assured destruction was in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
From 1953-1959, Cuba was undergoing a revolution led by Fidel Castro. The ideological conflict was for social change and was allied to the communist party in Havana with students, intellectuals, and peasants. Their goal was to overthrow the regime currently in power that was thought to be corrupt, brutal, and externally controlled. In 1958 Castro asks for the support of the U.S. but due to the revolution’s ties to communism, the U.S. rejected Castro and by 1959 had placed an embargo on Cuba. In 1961 the CIA attempted an invasion of Cuba with Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs which resulted in failure. Also, during the same year the U.S. installed Jupiter missiles in Italy and Turkey putting a threat to the U.S.S.R. in range of Moscow. These events in 1961 led to Castro requesting aid from the U.S.S.R. in 1962 in which the U.S.S.R. agreed due to the strategic location of Cuba to place a missile defense system.
The images above all represent the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The top left image is the picture taken by U.S. reconnaissance flights over Cuba which confirmed the construction of missile silos. The U.S. immediately implemented a military blockade of Cuba, as seen in the bottom right image, to prevent anymore U.S.S.R. ships carrying missiles, seen in the top right image, from reaching Cuba. As a result of this crisis, nuclear war/fallout education in the U.S. would begin to be taught. An example of this is seen in the middle left image which illustrates the locations within the U.S. that would most likely be targeted by the nuclear missiles from Cuba. The last image represents the voice of the American people showing that the utmost caution was to be taken by President Kennedy when dealing with negotiations.
Eventually an agreement was met between the two powers. This resulted in the U.S.S.R removing their missiles from Cuba and the U.S. removing their missiles from Italy and Turkey.
Good if a little brief.
All of these images collude into one term for me: “mutually assured destruction.” The protester in the lower left image holding a sign that says “Peace of Perish” has the right idea. The Cuban Missile Crisis was truly the closest the First and Second Worlds ever got to blowing each other up into oblivion. It was also a major demonstration of just how far the Cold War had advanced military technology. Once the Soviets had achieved nuclear technology on par with the US in the 50s, the Cold War began heating up exponentially with both sides vying for a dip in the Balance of Power. The first image in the upper left of the collage is an aerial photograph obtained by a U-2 spy plane that displays clear evidence of a Soviet missile establishment in Cuba. During the Cold War, the use of spy photographs and remotely sensed evidence became very prevalent to the point that Kennedy was making difficult calls based on the evidence and opinions of photograph analysts.
Clockwise, the next image is an aerial photograph of a Russian vessel carrying missiles en route to be stored in Cuba. After the Bay of Pigs catastrophe, the Cuban government sought support from the Soviets which came in the form of housing long-range missiles in communist Cuba just 90 miles from the coast of Florida. The Soviets were more than willing to take this risk as the United States had recently began storing Jupiter missiles in Turkey and Italy within range of Moscow. The United States responded accordingly to this shift of weapons to Cuba by establishing a naval blockade off the coast to prevent any more missiles from making it to the country. This move left every American on the edge of their seats. This was almost direct conflict between Soviets and Americans and it was happening frightfully close to the southeastern border of the nation. From Cuba, as shown in the map image, the Soviets could attack any or every major city in the country.
“President Kennedy Be Careful” is a very tame poster message for just how tense and layered this entire situation was. If I was in charge of making a demonstration sign at the time, I probably would’ve included a few more expletives and exclamation points. But that’s just me. There were many occasions during the Cold War where the two world superpowers were much closer to blowing each other up than anybody realized. Scarily, most close calls were based entirely on miscommunications or misunderstandings. Which is horrifying considering nuclear holocaust would’ve been the result. But like the Cuban missile crisis, they were handled effectively by both superpowers and would lead to de-escalations and compromises like the Soviets removing all missiles from Cuba and the United States dismantling some establishments in Europe and promising not to provoke Cuba any further.
Very nice discussion.
In the midst of the Cold War, the US was vehemently rejecting and opposing any communist-affiliated nations. This was in part due to the Domino Theory, or the understanding that if one country falls to communism, all of the countries in question would fall to communism. And so began the Cold War, which was predominately an ideological conflict between capitalistic societies and communist societies. In Cuba, political instability influenced the faith of the people in their government. Batista was president for a second term in 1952 by seizing power during a governmental coup and by rigging the elections in 1955. Throughout his term he aggravated the Cuban people by allowing American companies to take over the economy, pictured in the middle left. America took advantage of this opportunity, and there was active trade between the two countries. As the infrastructure of Cuba continued to deteriorate, civil unrest grew more and more. The social and economic conditions of the country made allowed for a revolution to occur. 55 percent of the land in Cuba was externally owned, but 80 percent of the population lived in rural areas. There was a desire for change in the public sphere. In 1959, Castro and his allies overthrew Batista’s position and established a socialist government in what came to be known as the Cuban Revolution. This transfer of power affected the relationship between the US and Cuba, and the US established a financial, commercial, and economic embargo on all trade from Cuba.
In 1962, a 13-day event known as the Cuban Missile Crisis took place as what was perhaps the height of Cold War paranoia of nuclear warfare. The unrest in Cuba was heightened by the failed attempt of a military invasion by the US in 1961, known as the Bay of Pigs. This failed mission, combined with the presence of American missiles in Italy and Turkey which were aimed towards the Soviet Union, led to a secret agreement between Castro and Soviet leader Khrushchev in 1962. Nuclear missiles were established in Cuba in the hopes that they would deter US involvement in Cuba and keep the US from firing missiles into the Soviet Union. When an American Air Force aircraft confirmed the construction of missile launching bases in Cuba, pictured in the top left, the US halted all trade of offensive weaponry with Cuba. This confirmation initiated the 13-day terror of potential nuclear warfare. President Kennedy and Khrushchev negotiated an agreement that Cuban missiles would be dismantled if the US publicly declared that they would not invade Cuba ever again unless directly provoked. The US also secretly agreed to dismantle their missiles in Turkey and Italy.
When all of the weapons had been dismantled and withdrawn from Cuba, the blockade was formally lifted and the scare ended on November 20, 1962. US relations with Cuba have been improving since the crisis. This conflict reveals the power and impact that ideological conflict can carry. Throughout the 13-day crisis, there was very little action but quite a bit of negotiating. The risk of impact from nuclear warfare pushed both sides towards negotiations, and the conflict was able to dissolve without any massive-scale missile attacks.
Excellent discussion.
The images shown above portray a brief summary of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis was a result of tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States in the midst of the Cold War. Communists began to gain power in Cuba in the late 1950s and continued to hold power in Cuba when President Kennedy came into office in 1961. Cuba, having lost support from America, switched tactics and sought help from communist countries. Thus, the Soviet Union comes into the fold. The Soviet Union granted Cuba protection, and they gained an array of arsenals. Unfortunately for the United States, this threatened their power. This is exactly what the Soviet Union had been hoping for. They now had an area where the United States was in their range of attack. This is somewhat shown in the first two images.
Image one shows a mapping of missile sites within Cuba whereas the second image depicts a Soviet ship en route to Cuba. President Kennedy, had of course been worried about these missiles. The problem regarding the missiles were their capability of hitting key capital states in America as shown by the third image. Knowing this, President Kennedy decided to issue an order to prevent Cuba from receiving any more missiles from the Soviets. This is shown on the bottom right image. A newspaper clipping informing the public of Kennedy’s choice of action. Soviet ships would either face a search for missiles or they would be sunk. A blockade was ordered rather than retaliate against the missile sites in Cuba. A sentiment the public shared. This relates to the bottom left image. As you can see from the image, there are protesters holding signs that display their reaction to the crisis.
The sign ‘Peace or Perish’ is just one example of what American citizens felt. The Cuban Missile Crisis is an important part of history not only because it affected the two superpowers at that time, but because of the impact it could have had, had the missiles launched. During this time, American citizens were feeling unease, as were other countries that were witnessing the crisis unfold on a television screen. Imagine living in a time when you constantly worried for your life because it could end with a flip of a switch. It would only take a launch of a missile to bring an all-out nuclear war. Commercials would even advise as to what to do in the case of a nuclear attack. In this case, the only option for some people would be for the two superpowers to make peace or perish.
Though the Cuban Missile Crisis almost escalated into nuclear war, the actual crisis only lasted about two weeks. The Soviets and President Kennedy ended up coming to an agreement regarding the missile sites and Cuba. In the case of the United States, we agreed to not cause another Bay of Pigs incident in regards to Cuba and the Soviet Union would dismantle the missile sites they created in Cuba.
Very nice discussion
Well thank God that the X-men put a stop to the Cuban Missile Crisis before Sebastian Shaw and his gang started WWIII. Wait that is the wrong universe. The image on the left has that comic book feel that war propaganda often takes on. I am surprised that there did not include a miles to seconds conversion on the picture just so that you would know how many seconds you have to kiss your butt goodbye. The features labeled in the high-altitude photo might not be obvious to the common person without the labels, Dr. Tullis uses an example of the photos shown to Kennedy and without an explanation it would be hard to interpret as a missile installation. The Soviets are not mentioned in these images but the external influence they are adding to this “crisis” by supplying the arms is a very important component. Cuba was only three years old as a Socialist state under Fidel Castro and had already thwarted one invasion attempt sponsored by the US. This was the incident that inspired the creation of the Hot Line between the White House and the Kremlin.
The picture of Kennedy below the abbreviated headline reveals a different image or face than what actually took place in the negotiations. He looks defiant, and the use of the term REDS helps to emphasize that he means business. The bluff and the blockade worked and it did not require an elaborate battle with mutants to save the day. The accidental discovery of the missile installations by spy plane reveal something which was probably quite a shock. This especially true if you consider the recent history: the US should have been monitoring the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution in ’59 and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in ‘61.
The peace protesters look so nice; it is hard to say anything bad about these well-dressed ladies with signs. I am not sure if the be careful is in response to the blockade or the entire incident. What is intriguing is that these women feel strongly enough to protest in the streets. The missiles could have reached anywhere in the US if the plans had been completed and would have changed the face of the world today.
The lone ship in the image that is bringing more missiles is probably a part of the larger convoy that the Soviets sent to make the delivery. Unlike the movie where the ships get into visual range and the Russians need convincing not to make the delivery, the real convoy stopped short of the quarantine area. The newspaper headline does not cover how the US used the names of other countries to justify a quarantine because an actual blockade is an act of war. Was the entire incident presented to the American public as the good US against the evil invading USSR? This was a few years before I was born and do not remember how it was perceived as we had the end of the Vietnam “police action” influencing the populace’s opinion on war.
The 1960s were a very unique time in America. Those who lived through them would likely recall a seemingly odd mixture of events and cultures such as Sputnik, going to the moon, the Andy Griffith show, Elvis, Ray Charles, JFK and his assassination, and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Strangely enough most of them emerged from a similar origin, the Cold War and Red Scare. With the Warsaw Pact countering the weight of NATO, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics began to rival the United States technologically and militarily (with a nuclear emphasis). A juxtaposing air came about that both paralyzed with fear and fueled the fires of progress and nationalism.
Every action had to be deliberated over and utmost caution taken not to upset the other superpower now that new missiles on the scene could devastate entire cities with the push of a button, silent armed submarines prowling about, and the threat of “star wars” developing weapons that could be fired from space. Since forces under either flag waging war would only escalate tempers, “peace or perish” as one sign puts it, proxy wars and spies were the only safe means of gaining ground or advantage. However this increased danger in turn brought about a national motivation; an ideological battle of “Us versus Them” that boosted patriotism for each sides’ national image and economic system. Some have claimed that Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) was achieved early on in the Cold War, and so much of our toil to get an edge on the USSR was pointless, but actually while the weapons existed for MAD, the means of actually delivering them to their would-be targets was another story. One piece of which was the Cuban Missile Crisis.
In early 1962 the United States had taken the lead militarily and therefore had the upper hand in most respects such as negotiations, resource claim and other international relations or matters. By planting nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey the United States had most of Russia under the gun, while the Soviets could only strike a few targets through great difficulty via submarine launch. When someone else is carrying the big stick, .44magnum, or in this case PGM-19 Jupiter your say in matters that concern you are limited to say the least. As one can imagine Khrushchev quickly grew tired of this and so devised a means to wield his own big stick. At the same time his friend Castro was displeased with the Bay of Pigs invasion and wished to cease harassment by the U.S., so a plan and agreement were made to give each what they wanted. Castro requested that Khrushchev plant ballistic missiles in Cuba, thus giving Russia the ability to strike any and all cities in America and preventing any thoughts of a second invasion of Cuba. When news and aerial photograph confirmation reached the White House a naval blockade was sent to intercept any ships passing between the two countries with authorization to destroy vessels that denied a board and search order. This was a time when stakes were at an all-time high and many answers and options an all-time low. Operations were carried out in complete secrecy by individual presidential and military orders. The only U.S. combat death in the entire conflict was Rudolf Anderson Jr., an unarmed spy plane pilot who took the first undeniable photographs of Soviet nukes in Cuba before being shot down by a surface to air missile.
This combat engagement brought the conflict to a critical crossroads, now that blood had been shed, the options were to retaliate with force and risk quick escalation that could result in missile launch and tens of millions dead on both sides or diffuse the situation at all costs. It is fortunate that the United States was willing to give up attack power in return for the USSR giving up their position (now less often the route taken by our administrations) because we know that Vasili Arkhipov was one “OK” away from a nuclear strike to the U.S. mainland, how many others occurred that didn’t reach the public? So to diffuse nuclear hostilities both nations agreed to evacuate their strategic positions. The U.S. disbanded the blockade, agreed to cease invasions of Cuba, and removed their missiles from Turkey. Russia removed their weapons from Cuba and installed a direct line of communication between the Kremlin and White House to prevent any future lags in communication. What might the result of the Cold War have looked like if the Russian missile were all intercepted before reaching Cuba while the U.S. retained their Turkish position?
Good discussion, although I doubt history would have looked much different if the US had retained those Turkish missiles, they were obsolete and we had plenty of others scattered around the boundaries of the USSR.
Ian Mcmahen:
The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 stirred the pot of the cold war in many different ways. This 13 day confrontation was due to the United States’ ballistic missile presence in Italy and Turkey. After WWII the world was turned into a Bipolar world meaning that there were two major superpowers that erected from the wreckage of the war, Soviet Union and the United States. As the United States started placing these ballistic missiles closer and closer to Russia, the country became more and more uncomfortable of the situation and started seeking territories close to the United States to place their own warheads in case of another world war. It just so happened that Cuba was seeking protection from the U.S and immediately gained the USSR’s attention.
Before Fidel Castro overthrew the government in 1959 the U.S and Cuba had a descent business relationship with all the American casinos and resorts. Once Fidel Castro came into power, it gave way to the Communistic ideologies that were shared among other countries such as the Soviet Union. After Castro took over the government, the United States CIA decided to send a paramilitary group to invade the Bay of Pigs on the western side of the island. This attempt to invade the island did not succeed, but it made the United States an intimidating factor to the new founded dictatorship. As Castro’s fame grew he grew worrisome about the United States presence and relayed a message to the Soviet Union asking for protection. The Soviet Union gladly agreed to help Cuba if the United States ever invaded again, in exchange for the use of Cuba to store ballistic missile on the island.
Since the island is so close the United States, the military started doing secret recon missions around the island due to the recent presence of the Soviet Union. The United States started flying the U2 spy plane over Soviet occupied areas of the island and with remote sensing cameras they were able to visually interpret the images and noticed the multiple missile silos being built on the island. This became a public threat once the media caught wind of the images and President Kennedy gave a press conference about the subject at hand. As the tension grew between the two countries the public was not aware of how close the world was to a nuclear war.
A Soviet naval officer named Vasili Arkhipov was given the order to fire nuclear torpedoes at a United States navy fleet but refused to go through with the orders because he knew it was from false information. This decision inadvertently prevent a nuclear war. As the crisis came to a climax the lead of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev met with President Kennedy to discuss a better solution for the two countries. The Soviet Union decided to withdraw their presence in Cuba with promises that the United States wouldn’t invade Cuba once they left and that the United States with draw their missiles from Italy and Turkey which they agreed to both terms.
Very nice discussion
The ideological war between the USSR and the U.S. arose from the United States feelings of animosity towards communism. With democracy being fluid with capitalism, the west began containing any spread of communism by the Soviet Union. The fear was adopted from the Domino Theory, which was the assumption that when one countries adheres to communism, they all will continue to adopt it. The huge sphere of influence was aimed at U.S. military expansion to ensure the most power as a global force. In reaction to the U.S. expansion, nuclear war missiles were created not only in the west, but in spite of by the Soviet Union. This created a great divide between the West and East on a huge scale.
In the 1950s, the arms race began where the Soviets matched the U.S. nuclear technology. Because of this advancement from the Soviets, there was an increase in balance of power between both two major superpowers. This affected many that continued to follow the ripple effect of communism. With Fidel Castro’s rise to power from the old U.S. propped dictator Batista, the Kennedy Administration worried his about his gains.
President Kennedy, pictured on the bottom left, continued as major player in the containment of communism and his influence grew in opposition to the Soviet Union and their allies. Batista had been put in power in favor of a U.S. Fruit Company that affected a lot of corporate American industries. Because of their need to control the region and their resources, they worked with C.I.A. to ensure that the U.S. chosen dictator was suffice in Cuba. All the while in 1959, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred where the United States rejected the rise of Castro and held the arms embargo. This ultimately affected much of the industry and security of Cuba, so Castro sought help from the Soviet Union, which you can see in the top left photo. Their response was at a disadvantage to the United States, because it followed with a deal to place missiles in Cuba under the Soviet Union pointed in direction of many American cities, like in the middle left picture above. The United States then installed Jupiter missiles in Italy and Turkey in direction to Moscow.
In 1962, we see the significance in the top right picture, where US flight confirmed missile silos. Vasili Arkhipov, a soviet Navy officer, refused to fire missiles at the United States preventing an all out nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Good discussion
The Cuban Missile Crisis took place from October 16 to 28, 1962. It refers to the nuclear standoff between the United States and Soviet Union which resulted from a US blockade of Cuba. The blockade, in turn, was instigated based on evidence of the Soviet Union accumulating missiles in Cuba capable of reaching US cities. The top left and right pictures depict such evidence. The top right is imagery of a Soviet ship, the Kasimov, with fuselage crates headed to Cuba. This picture was captured roughly a month before the beginning of the blockade, raising US suspicion and concern about Soviet actions in Cuba, despite denials of the Soviet government that offensive missiles were being shipped in. The top left image was taken in October, and was significantly more damning. It is an aerial view of a Cuban missile base with missile transporters, heavy equipment, and other items labeled. This and other aerial images ultimately convinced President Kennedy and co. that action was necessary to prevent the arrival of further weapons.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a frightening uptick in tensions that had already been brewing between the US and SU in the previous decade of the Cold War. Cuba, with its recent communist revolution under the leadership of Fidel Castro, was not the first stage on which the battle between capitalism and communism played out but it was the closest to the US, lying less than 500 miles from Florida. The United States’ refusal to support Cuba and embargo implementation, and its more active attempt to invade and overthrow Castro during the failed Bay of Pigs incident, contributed to a strengthening of ties between Cuba and the Soviet Union (and, unsurprisingly, Cuban concerns regarding safety). This, along with the previous positioning of US missiles in Italy and Turkey able in range of Moscow, cumulatively set the stage for the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Though intelligence was gathered October 16, it was the 22nd before President Kennedy gave a televised speech outlining the situation and the responding blockade for the public. The bottom right picture shows the front page of the Daily News newspaper published the following day. The remaining two pictures perhaps speak to the reaction of the US public. The map in the middle left is from a newspaper and shows major cities in the United States and Mexico; arrows originating from Cuba show the distance between the island and each of the cities, amplifying the perception of proximity and threat. The bottom left picture, meanwhile, shows protesters with signs urging restraint by Kennedy and the US in handling the Cuban missile crisis, reminding of the need for peace.
Ultimately, any protest or perception of danger was likely insufficient in comparison to the actual threat level. During the less than 2 weeks of the Cuban Missile Crisis, on multiple occasions the world hovered on the brink of nuclear war, stopped at various times only by the reluctance of two world leaders and a Russian submarine officer. The crisis was resolved by a partially public, partially secret agreement between the United States and Soviet Union and the dismantling of missiles by both sides.
Excellent
One of the many reasons the Cuban Missile Crisis took place was because of the Bay of Pigs Invasion. This event took place because of a revolution that occurred in Cuba in 1959. Fidel Castro travels to Havana with his allied troops to overthrow General Fulgencio Batista. Fulgencio has been largely sponsored and backed by the United States. The United Sates thinks that the things that were happening in Cuba through Castro’s revolution were not right. The United States decided to launch an Invasion in Cuba with a 1400 troop. The invasion did no go well, since the invaders were highly outnumbered by the troop that Castro had formed. It did not take 24 hours for the invasion troops to surrender.
Castro requests help from the USSR through a letter that was written to Nikita Khrushchev. In this letter, Castro motivates the Soviets to attack the Americans if an invasions takes place. Castro makes emphasis on his commitment to help fight the Americans. He would call the Americans the “imperialists” and he referred to them as “extremely dangerous”. In the letter, Castro also refers to how the United States had violated Cuba’s sea and air space without taking into consideration international laws and the world opinion.
On October 16, 1962, president Ronald Reagan is informed that an international conflict was about to start. A military surveillance plane had taken several aerial photographs of Cuba. Through the analysis of these pictures, CIA personal had arrived to the conclusion that a missile base was being under construction in San Cristobal in Cuba. San Cristobal was only 90 miles away from Florida.
A lot of discussion took place in the United States about the missile base that was in Cuba by the Soviets facing major cities in the United States. At that time, England’s Prime Minister was informed about the soviet plans. There was a lot of arguing at the UN security council between the Soviet and the American representatives. The American side showed evidence (aerial photos) of the missile base that had just been built in Cuba.
At the thirteenth day, after a long series of negotiations between the Soviets and the Americans, the soviets confirmed that the missiles were going to be removed if the United States pledged to not invade the island.
The distorted map that shows the Soviets’ intentions of attacking the United States with missiles is a clear example of the propaganda that was used by the United States to justify their invasion to Cuba. Their main objective was to make everyone in the international community and nationals in the United States to think that actions such as the aircraft invading sovereign Cuban air and their seas was right.
The sign that says “President Kennedy Be Careful” seem to represent what some people in the United States thought about president Kennedy’s plan to go through the Missile Crisis. Some might have thought that the measures taken by President Kennedy were too drastic that he put at risk the well-being of Americans.
Very nice discussion
One of the many reasons the Cuban Missile Crisis took place was because of the Bay of Pigs Invasion. This event took place because of a revolution that occurred in Cuba in 1959. Fidel Castro travels to Havana with his allied troops to overthrow General Fulgencio Batista. Fulgencio has been largely sponsored and backed by the United States. The United Sates thinks that the things that were happening in Cuba through Castro’s revolution were not right. The United States decided to launch an Invasion in Cuba with a 1400 troop. The invasion did no go well, since the invaders were highly outnumbered by the troop that Castro had formed. It did not take 24 hours for the invasion troops to surrender.
Castro requests help from the USSR through a letter that was written to Nikita Khrushchev. In this letter, Castro motivates the Soviets to attack the Americans if an invasions takes place. Castro makes emphasis on his commitment to help fight the Americans. He would call the Americans the “imperialists” and he referred to them as “extremely dangerous”. In the letter, Castro also refers to how the United States had violated Cuba’s sea and air space without taking into consideration international laws and the world opinion.
On October 16, 1962, president Ronald Reagan is informed that an international conflict was about to start. A military surveillance plane had taken several aerial photographs of Cuba. Through the analysis of these pictures, CIA personal had arrived to the conclusion that a missile base was being under construction in San Cristobal in Cuba. San Cristobal was only 90 miles away from Florida.
A lot of discussion took place in the United States about the missile base that was in Cuba by the Soviets facing major cities in the United States. At that time, England’s Prime Minister was informed about the soviet plans. There was a lot of arguing at the UN security council between the Soviet and the American representatives. The American side showed evidence (aerial photos) of the missile base that had just been built in Cuba.
At the thirteenth day, after a long series of negotiations between the Soviets and the Americans, the soviets confirmed that the missiles were going to be removed if the United States pledged to not invade the island.
The distorted map that shows the Soviets’ intentions of attacking the United States with missiles is a clear example of the propaganda that was used by the United States to justify their invasion to Cuba. Their main objective was to make everyone in the international community and nationals in the United States to think that actions such as the aircraft invading sovereign Cuban air and their seas was right.
The sign that says “President Kennedy Be Careful” seem to represent what some people in the United States thought about president Kennedy’s plan to go through the Missile Crisis. Some might have thought that the measures taken by President Kennedy were too drastic that he put at risk the well-being of Americans.