After Kennedy’s attempted invasion, the USSR flooded Cuba with arms, informing the world of this in May 1962. By September, Cuba had a plethora of military equipment at its disposal, easily making it the best-equipped army in Latin America. The Americans seemed prepared to tolerate conventional arms, but they lay in anticipation, asking themselves whether the USSR would dare to put missiles on Cuba. It would be a daring move which the Russians had never risked performing. After a threat from Kennedy on 11 September, they assured the Americans that they had no intention of placing nuclear missiles on Cuba.
Photo reconnaissance throughout October established the situation to be far from what the USSR had made it out as. Detailed phototography showed missile sites in Cuba which were both finished and being built. The Americans discovered that some sites would be able to launch missiles within a week, and spy planes reported that 18 Soviet ships were carrying missiles to Cuba.
Kennedy decided on a blockade of Cuba on 20 October, calling for the Russians to withdraw their missiles. Khrushchev refused to acknowledge the presence of missiles on Cuba, and said Soviet ships would not observe the blockade. Despite some Russian withdrawal of missile carrying ships, aerial photography revealed work on the missile site to be progressing rapidly.
On the 26th and 27th of October, Khrushchev sent two letters in which he admitted to the presence of missiles (although for defensive reasons) and asked for various American concessions, such as American withdrawal of missiles from Turkey. On the day of Khrushchev’s second letter, an American plane was shot down over Cuba, and the pilot killed. Kennedy replied to Khrushchev, accepting the terms of his first letter, but the stating an attack would follow if the USSR failed to withdraw. On the 28th of October, Khrushchev conceded and had all missiles withdrawn from Cuba.
The Soviets must have known placing missiles on Cuba would cause a crisis, and made no attempt to camouflage their presence. Historians think that Khrushchev may have done this to test American wills, and see whether Kennedy responded of backed down. The missiles may also have been a trap, designed to draw America into a nuclear war, a theory strengthened by his failure to hide them. They may have been a convenient method of bargaining as the Russians could attempt to ask for American concessions in return for their removal. Placing missiles on Cuba would close in on the gap between America and the USSR, thus deterring Kennedy from launching a nuclear strike on Russia. Perhaps the missiles were genuinely intended to defend Cuba.
Although the missiles were withdrawn under stringent supervision, Cuba remained Communist and highly
armed. Both leaders benefited in some way from the crisis, as while Khrushchev was able to claim a personal triumph, Kennedy’s reputation as a leader was greatly improved. Cold war relations were definitely thawed, and both countries took genuine steps ensuring against nuclear war. Both leaders had seen the crisis close to ending in nuclear chaos, and this realization was a definite step forward for their countries, who did not want to risk the end of civilization.