The Cuban Missile Crisis

      The Arms Race: America was the clear winner of this race in the 1940s and 1950s. America had an early lead and was the first country to develop an atomic bomb. By 1961, America had almost 20 times as many nuclear missiles as the USSR.  What is more, America had specially equipped B52 bombers that were capable of dropping nuclear weapons on the Soviet Union.  USSR, had relatively few missiles and no way of dropping them on the US soil. But the US was still very worried about the USSR’s nuclear capabilities. In 1957, the USSR launched Sputnik 1 the first man made satellite. By 1960, the Russians had even landed a robotic spacecraft on the moon. Khrushchev boasted that the Americans were sleeping under a red moon. This suggested that they could possibly launch nuclear missiles to America. The USSR was simply not wealthy enough to mass produce missiles and Khrushchev’s claim that the USSR was ‘producing missiles like the US produce sausages was an empty boast.

      The Cuban Revolution: Cuba had been an ally of the USA. American presidents believed Cuba’s friendship was important because it was only 145 kilometres away and therefore part of America’s sphere of influence. The Cuban Revolution of 1959 overthrew Cuba’s pro-American govt. The new revolutionary regime, led by Fidel Castro, wanted greater independence from the United States. Castro’s new government took over American property located in Cuba. In response, America banned the import of Cuban sugar. This threatened to bankrupt the Cuban economy.

      The Bay of Pigs Incident: Eisenhower had believed that the best way to solve the Cuban problem was for the Central Intelligence Agency, to assassinate Castro. Kennedy who took over, hatched a new plan for a CIA backed revolution to over throw Cuba’s communist government and replace it with a capitalist government sympathetic to America. Kennedy believed that Castro’s government was very unpopular and therefore assumed that when this small, well-trained force attacked the Cuban people would join the revolution and overthrow Castro. Kennedy instructed the CIA to train and equip a group of Cuban refugees. They invaded the Bay of Pigs, in April 1961. However Kennedy had miscalculated: the people of Cuba fought bravely in support of Castro’s govt. The American-backed force was defeated within two days.

      Missile Bases: Despite emerging victorious, Castro felt vulnerable and feared another American attack. He asked Khrushchev to help him defend Cuba. In August 1961, Khrushchev devised a plan that would solve the problems of both Cuba and Russia. He chose to place Russian nuclear weapons in Cuba. This would deter America from invading again. It would also place Russian nuclear missiles within striking range of America. This meant that Khrushchev could attack America without spending large amounts of money developing inter-continental ballistic missiles.