Khrushchev ordered missiles to be installed in Cuba; he hoped this would allow Cuba to gain an advantage within the East-West balance of power and a strong position concerning negotiations in Berlin. Khruchev was convinced that if he was able to install the missiles before the United States became aware of them, it would enable him to have a strong position within the American sphere of influence, which would allow him to have great influence concerning removing the Western powers from the Soviet dominated area in Berlin. The following quote explains NIkita Khruschev’s reasoning concerning the installation of the missiles: “My thinking went like this: if we installed the missiles secretly and then... the United States discovered them, the Americans would think twice before trying to liquidate our installations...I knew the United States could knock out some of our installations, but not all of them. If a quarter or even a tenth of our missiles survived...we could still hit New York and there wouldn’t be much of New York left.”
Following the Bay of Pigs invasion Fidel Castro believed the United States was planning another attack , and on this suspicion requested aid from the USSR. On October 14th 1962 an American U2 that was flying over Cuba, photographed an area near San Cristobal, this photograph proved to be evidence to the United States that Cuba was harboring ballistic missile sites. This was of significance because although the Soviet Union was providing arms to Cuba, it assured the Kennedy administration that it intended no harm to the United States. For the next thirteen days the Soviet Union and the United States were on the verge of nuclear war. Once the missile sites were discovered the United States had to decide how to handle the problem, however, differing opinions concerning this led to problems. The opinions in the US department of state seemed to be either favoring direct action, which would involve air strikes or an invasion, or the diplomatic solution involving the US removal of American Jupiter missiles in Turkey, if the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles in Cuba. There was also another option; the use of mild military force, which would take place near Cuba and close to the Soviet Ships.
On the 22nd of October President Kennedy informed the American public that missiles had been discovered in Cuba and that the United States had made the decision to impose an air and navel quoentine of Cuba. The follwing quote is derived from Kennedy's broadcast concerning the crisis: “This secret, swift and extraordinary buildup of Communist missiles in an area well known to have special and historical relationship to the United States... is a deliberately provocative change in the status quo which cannot be excepted by this country...To halt this offensive buildup a strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment under shipment to cuba ia being initiated” Nikita Khrushchev agreed to suspend arms shipment to Cuba, as the UN requested, however Kennedy refused to suspend the quarantine. NIkita responded to Kennedy's refusal with this statement, “ Your rockets are in Turkey. You are worried by Cuba. You say that it worries you bec ause it is 90 miles [144.8km] from the American coast. But Turkey is next to us!”
During this time Soviet ships were moving towards Cuba, which made the fear of nuclear war greater. However, Khrushchev, once realizing Kennedy seemed to be willing to risk Nuclear war, agreed to remove the missiles in Cuba. In return Kennedy agreed to not attack Cuba. It seemed that the fear of nuclear war was diminished, and the first serious nuclear crisis had been avoided.
The results of the Cuban Missile crisis involved both positive and negative consequences, both sides learned that diplomacy was a valuable tool in resolving crisis. It was also understood by the West that the Western position in Berlin needed to be strengthened as well as the American commitment to NATO. The Cuban Missile Crisis also made America and the Soviet Union realize the realities of nuclear war, and the possible horrific results of nuclear weaponry. Following the crisis, nuclear testing was banned as a result of the Partial Test Ban Treaty. The treaty was signed by Great Britain, the Soviet Union and the United states in 1963 and would later involve more then 100 nations.
I believe that the Cuban Missile crisis, although horrific, provided the Western and Eastern powers with a realization that problems could be resolved through diplomacy .
