Cuban Missile Crisis - Term Paper Example

The Cold war that lasted for over five decades had events in between that brought the two super powers on to the verge of war. Given the fact that the both parties were equipped with nuclear weapons, it would have possibly led to the outbreak of a nuclear war. This threat was faced on number of occasions. The Cuban Missile Crises were one similar account of vulnerable state of affairs between these two parties where the world was nearly on the brink of a nuclear war and possibly the Third World War. The real nature of crisis on ground: The Cuban Missile crisis as famously known was a result of the detection of missiles being installed in Cuba by the Soviet Union. Since the entire war consisted of establishing proxies and allies, Cuba thereby was under the influence of Union of Soviet Socialist Republic. U.S.S.R had installed missiles in order to keep a check and keep U.S.A in control in case of any emergency situation. This was detected by the U.S satellite. When this secret was revealed early in the morning, the news was not broken out to the public initially yet it created a stir in the corridors of decision making and Washington (May & Zelikow). The top heads sat together in order to determine the future strategy and the subsequent course of action that was needed to be taken in response to such fragile state of affairs (Stern,p. xvi). With the enemy virtually at the gate and having installed such a sensitive war material on the border regions, it was a state of panic within. These missiles were in a range of mere 90 kilometers from Florida coast and they could easily penetrate into the states of America on any given day (Hallock, p 83). The social and political effects: The social effects were the fact that the world war against at the disposal of a potential nuclear war. The Cubans had been used to advantage by the Russians against their own neighbors United States of America. A constant state of fear prevailed in the minds and hearts of the people all around. The political effect was the stirring up of the political activities, initially within the White House, and later on, when the news was made public and announced to the American citizens as to the highest level of threat that was faced by them, this created havoc in the ranks. J.F. Kennedy addressed the nation on 22nd October 1962(Becker, 122). The following is the except from the speech delivered by J.F. Kennedy “This Government as promised, has maintained closest surveillance of Soviet Military buildup……..”(Israel, 239) Other political effects were the sidelining of all other activities and focus fell on resolution of this issue. The U.S counter parts were brought into contact; they were conveyed of the American grievances and were told of the overall fragile state of affairs. As a result of this, a Hot Line was established for the first time since the initiation of the Cold War at the end of Second World War (Phillips, 114). The initial approval and agreement with regard to Hot line established came about on 20th June 1963(Sterling, p 221). This Hot Line was established in bid to create direct means of contact between the two heads of states in case of any emergency situation prevailing. This was one desperate move from both ends to prevent any possible war outbreak as a consequence to the nuclear crisis within. United States of America prepared a multi option strategy, one was to engage the U.S.S.R into diplomatic activity, the second was the possible unleashing of the war against Cuba and invading it as a result of the overall onslaught and activity that had unfolded without the knowledge of U.S.A. These facts came forth from the stories told by the diplomats and other close circle individuals who were associated with decision making at that time. Counter action by United States of America: United States of America, apart from contacting the U.S.S.R government and expressing their concerns about this fact, they also imposed blockade of the Cuban shores. This was done so to prevent any further military equipment being flown or shipped into Cuba by U.S.S.R, as a result all ways leading to Cuba were held in check and further supply was stopped from reaching Cuba. The Defcon level 5 was alerted to Level 3. The number of troops and Marine Corps were increased by double amount in Guantanamo. The Army head quarters operated on twenty four hours duty services (George) The second side of the story: Although initially the Cuban Missile crisis came forth as an installation of the missiles by U.S.S.R, it was later on revealed and stressed upon by U.S.S.R that United States of America had installed same kind of military equipment in Turkey as an element of surveillance and defense purpose equipment against U.S.S.R Although United States of America denied this for a long time, yet it was established later on that missiles were actually installed in Turkey against U.S.S.R. When U.S.S.R was contacted for the removal of the equipment from Cuba, it put forth this demand of removing the missiles from Turkey ((Carter and Clifton, p.214) Span of crisis and entire episode: The entire episode of uncertainty and dark clouds prevailed for over two weeks. This lasted between 14th October and 28th October. This was period of intense diplomatic activities, intense preparation within and intensive actions possibility and a possible bleak future that would be marred by the war between two nuclear super powers. Despite the intense tension within, the news was not broken out immediately to the masses and it was later in the course in October that the incumbent president, President J.F. Kennedy declared upon the public the news of the crisis that had unfolded in form of the missiles installation in Cuba (Brune, p 53). The period from here on for another couple of days was a total nerve wrecking one. Direct contacts were made between the heads of states and the deputies at different levels. Diplomatic levels of activities were initiated and the foreign offices came into action. Another dimension to the conflict: Since U.S.A did not want a pro socialist state in its neighborhood, therefore U.S.A could little afford or absorb the presence of a pro socialist government. Subject to this , U.S.S.R established its missile system and support in that region with regard to the equipment installation and preventing Cuba from being invaded by U.S.A. United States of America directly warned U.S.S.R of possible invasion into Cuba in case the missiles were not removed. This put U.S.S.R on the back foot and forced to remove the missiles (Ringer, p .324 ).(what source was this from?) “On 26th October as a result of the discussions and conversation between the two heads of the states, J.F. Kennedy and Khrushchev, it was concluded and decided upon that diplomacy and peace would be given a chance”(Marková and Gillespie, p.147) .A mid way retreat was agreed upon by the two powers. United States of America assured U.S.S.R of not invading into Cuba, provided those missiles were removed that had Washington, Florida and other major cities of U.S.A in its target, United States of America was also bound to remove the missiles that it had installed n Turkey earlier. Hence at this point, the world, and the two countries took a sigh of relive and a possible nuclear war was reverted. The end of the crisis: The crisis came to an end on the 28th October after intense diplomatic channel activation. The settlement came about when United States of America agreed to with drawl of missiles from Turkey that it had recently installed against U.S.S.R. Critical review of the entire episode: Another angle that is often associated with the entire debacle and episode has come forth in the post 1997 literature work that has become available to the people in the form of memoirs and other works coming straight from the people who were closely associated with J.F. Kennedy and the entire conundrum of Cuban Missile crisis. Sheldon M. Stern is one of the many who have come up and have aimed at giving a different perspective of the accounts than what is usually believed to be in existence and has been in place and books since the times it took place in 1962 (Chomsky). Once the crisis was over, the C.I.A and Pentagon acted more effectively and it took the necessary steps that it had previously failed doing so (what steps/programs this I a very open ended statement…). In the wake of this action, necessary measures amounting to military exercises, establishing surveillance system and various other means were established in order to protect U.S sovereignty in future (Roberts, p 120).(also, from what source did you read of these steps taken?) The Missile Gap: The book and the notable dignitary and official of those days have put the onus of blame and short coming upon the J.F. Kennedy. Their lack of diplomatic insight and lack of secret information sharing and being not able to detect these missiles and other similar activities of the U.S.S.R count as the failure of the J.F. Kennedy administration collectively. In other words, the possible outbreak of the war, which was nearly missed and avoided, could have occurred due to the ineffective actions of J.F. Kennedy. The occurrence of the Cuban missile crisis was the failure and the future preventive measures taken in the light of these crisis was a success. This had come despite the actions and the manifesto undertaken by J.F. Kennedy in the pre electoral campaign where he had to contest Richard Nixon and the two in a debate and discussion regarding the U.S.S.R curtailment of its military and nuclear expeditions, J.F. Kennedy had lambasted the Richard Nixon administration for having let the U.S.S.R build on the strength and put the U.S.A in a tight spot. However, in less than three years time, J.F. Kennedy found himself in the same situation or perhaps a more tightly knitted situation where there was no easy escape from the overall situation and the salvation came about only through the extensive diplomatic activities in bid to save the world from Nuclear Confrontation. There also prevailed a school of thought that believed that the overall incident and episode was a political maneuver and an event that was based on internal intrigues. The advocates of this move and concept establish this based on the fact that J.F. Kennedy’s past and other affiliated elements of his presence as the President were relatively different as compared to the previous Presidents of the country. In this regard, the Cuban missiles crises may had been the creation of the internal sources who possibly kept the information away from the President and White House till a point when the situation grew extremely grave and there was need for political intervention on highest level. There were events and incidents reported which were stated for that as a result of these, The rivalry between Richard Nixon and J.F. Kennedy was believed to be the internal element which led to artificial creation of these crisis (Schwarz) it can be argued that the overall episode was created artificially rather than being created naturally through lack of insight. However there is little official record or statement in the support of this statement and little can be found in the official context about this event. It is also being said that the Emergency Command Center was not brought into force or action, meaning that the country was still away from the potential actual nuclear war outbreak or potentially invading into Cuba and destroying the missiles that had been installed there (MGFR). The arms race: The early 60s decade was one marked by a continuous build up towards arms and nuclear weapons possession. However United States was by far ahead of the rivals and its possessions numbered in thousands against U.S.S.R’s hundreds of nuclear warheads and other major missiles and defense equipment. Prior to the occurrence of the Cuban Crisis, both the super powers had equipped themselves sufficient enough to put everything and the entire global peace on stake. Given the fact that each of the super power had its allies and its places of strong hold, therefore incase the war had broken out; it would have taken in to its fire the regions that would constitute over multiple continents. In this case, the war would not be limited to United States or U.S.S.R only ,rather parts of Europe and Asian continent would also get a blazed and come in the fold of fire in reaction to it. Each of the super power was equipped with hydrogen bomb and state of the art technological missiles that were strong enough to penetrate into the cities and towns of respective countries. Fact-File of the armory: U.S.S.R had a meager of 36 Intercontinental Missiles in bag, while United States of America on the other hand had a total of 203 Intercontinental Missiles in store. On other accounts of various weapons possessed, U.S.A had an edge, for example in the case of warheads; U.S.S.R had a total of 392 warheads while U.S.A in contrast had 3104 warheads. Overall U.S.A enjoyed an edge in the different domains of this race and this was used to advantage by U.S.A (SCHWARZ). General atmosphere: In the prevailing circumstances where the two sides were driven by desire and ambition to pile on the nuclear warheads and other intercontinental material, the outbreak of the Cuban Crisis, served as a positive and bliss in disguise. Although it brought the two states on to the brink of the war, yet it in other words and other context made the each side realize of the overall frail and fragile nature of the affairs. It was therefore brought into action to adopt a path way towards conciliation and putting the foot off the paddle that had been pressed for last few years in pursuit of the overall equipment and military might gaining against one another. The Cuban missile crises were not just the lone event of the entire Cold War, there were number of other tight situations where the diplomatic activity came into action and the atmosphere grew tense. Jupiter missile crisis was a similar account of affair where the situation was nearly on the verge of deterioration. It came about in response to the U.S’s installation of the armament in Italy. (Mindling and Bolton) A general sense of responsibility and necessity was felt with regard to curtailing on the adventures and ideas that the two sides had undertaken. It was therefore that number of agreements and accords were signed in times ahead with regard to restriction of the arms race. The SALT 1, SALT 2, and various other nuclear tests restriction treaties and agreements were brought into action with regard to the possible reduction of the pace that the two powers had taken upon in bid to outsmart one another in the arms race. SALT 2 was signed in 1979 (Duffy, p 250). The winners: There was no clear winner out of the situation, at the same time there was no defeat marked out of it. Each side had its positives to extract from the overall scenario. The true victory was of the global community and humanity as it had been saved from the catastrophic potential outcome of the war which may even had led to the outbreak of Third World War. The rule of diplomacy and mutual understanding towards reducing the arms race was the final outcome and the winner out of this entire scenario and situation. (I really like the phrasing of this section well done) Conclusion: The overall crisis had given the world community an important message. There was no place for complacency, war jingoism (this term was never previously used in the paper… perhaps use a different phrase/descriptor or mentionit in another section) or war adventurism. Doing so, would put the entire community at stake with regard to its wellbeing, its future and its tomorrow. Their messages that were sent to their families reflected the overall thought and the highly fragile nature of the events that were at hand (Fidgen). The Cuban missile crisis brought the realization of the fact that the Cold war was in no way in the favor of either state and therefore each needed to curtail upon its activities of war jingoism. Hence a general sense prevailed with regard to the overall casual approach of the J.F Kennedy government and his predecessors with regard to handling the nuclear episode and making the world a more peaceful place to live. In the post Cuban Missile crisis scenario, the future foreign policies from both ends were relatively held back in their outlook. They were not based on aggression and counteracting the strategies rather a general sense of peace and reducing the arms race was on display from both ends. The agreement by the two sides not to harm the environment any further by experimenting and testing the nuclear material in the open atmosphere was an evidence of the general mood that was reflected upon the welfare of the humanity and the good relationship building. The establishment of Hot Line was another move that can be attributed to the overall episode of Cuban Missile crisis gifting the two with a medium to be in touch at earliest possible time in case of scenarios such as the Cuban missile Crisis. References: Becker, Don. The JFK Assassination: A Researchers Guide. AuthorHouse, 2010 Brune, Lester H. The missile crisis of October 1962: a review of issues and references. Regina Books, 1985 Carter, Dale and Robin Clifton. War and Cold War in American Foreign Policy, 1942-62. Palgrave Macmillan, 2001 Chomsky, Noam. Cuban missile crisis: how the US played Russian roulette with nuclear war. 15 OCt 2012. 17 April 2014 Fidgen, Jo. Cuba missile crisis: When nuclear war seemed inevitable. 24 OCt 2012. 17 April 2014 http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20068265 George, Alice L. Awaiting Armageddon: How Americans Faced the Cuban Missile Crisis: How Americans Faced the Cuban Missile Crisis. UNC Press Books, 2004 George, Alice. The Cuban Missile Crisis: The Threshold of Nuclear War. Routledge, 2013. Hallock, Steven M. Reporters Who Made History: Great American Journalists on the Issues and Crises of the Late 20th Century: Great American Journalists on the Issues and Crises of the Late 20th Century. ABC-CLIO, 2009 Israel, Steve. Charge!: Historys Greatest Military Speeches. Naval Institute Press, 2007 Marková, Ivana and Alex Gillespie. Trust and Conflict: Representation, Culture and Dialogue. Routledge, 2011. May, Ernest R. and Philip D. Zelikow. "The National Security Archieve." Historic. 2007 Mindling, George and Robert Bolton. U.S. Air Force Tactical Missiles. Lulu.com, 2008 MGFR. The M+G+R Foundation : Was the Cuban Missile Crisis Real? 6 Feb 2012. 17 April 2014 http://www.mgr.org/sect10.html Phillips, Steve. The Cold War: Conflict in Europe and Asia. Heinemann, 2001 Ringer, Ronald E. Excel HSC Modern History. Pascal Press, 2006 Roberts, Priscilla. Cuban Missile Crisis: The Essential Reference Guide. ABC-CLIO,, 2012 SCHWARZ, BENJAMIN. The Real Cuban Missile Crisis. 2 Jan 2013. 17 April 2014 http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/01/the-real-cuban-missile-crisis/309190/ Stern, Sheldon M. Averting the Final Failure: John F. Kennedy and the Secret Cuban Missile Crisis Meetings. Stanford University Press, 2003 Sterling, Christopher H. Military Communications: From Ancient Times to the 21st Century. 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