How Did Bay of Pigs Lead To Cuban Missile Crisis - Research Paper Example

How Did Bay of Pigs Lead To Cuban Missile Crisis How Did Bay of Pigs Lead To Cuban Missile Crisis Introduction During the first and the Second World War both the USSR and US, Union of Soviet Socialist Republic were on the same side of alliance, the Triple Entente France and Britain also forming part of the alliance. The alliance was opposed to the Triple alliance, which constituted Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany as the de-facto leader. Immediately after the Second World War, two countries emerged super powers; the US and USSR (Jones, 2008). US apparently had used atomic bomb in two of the Japanese cities the Hiroshima and Nagasaki and USSR was determined to develop atomic bomb. The situation that followed the Second World War was the period of Cold war that lasted up to early 1990s and when the Soviet republic disintegrated. During the period of the Cold War, many political and economic developments were realized ideologically. Thought there were no direct military combat in the Cold War, the period was characterized by many serious allegation of the two blocs; the US and USSR. Propaganda was one of the weapons used during this period, this made tension to build up within the two countries and at one point during the cold war, it almost sparked to a direct military confrontation but this never was. This was the Invasion of the Bays of Pig and the subsequent Cuban Missile crisis. Scholars and policy makers undoubtedly believe that the occurrence of the two scenarios in the 1961-62 constituted cold war peak since US and USSR almost faced one another in what could easily turn to be Third World War (Jones, 2008). I. How did the Bay of Pigs lead to the Cuban missile crisis Bay of Pigs is situated in the South Cost of Cuba; the development that took place in the coastal part of Cuba necessitated the missile crisis. A military revolution took place in Cuba in 1959 in which Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista and developed very close ties with the then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (Henriksen, 2006). During this time US was not in good books with USSR and the Cuban association with USSR alarmed US. The cause of the tension was all about the attempt of USSR to use Cuba as their proxy to propagate the socialism policy in the whole of Latin America. America was worried following this move and wanted to oust Fidel Castro in a military disguise. During the tenure of Eisenhower, a plan was hatched that accepted to train the Cuban exiles in the US to attack and overthrow Fidel’s administration through the support of the Cuban people that America thought were also anti the Fidel’ administration. The plan failed and Nikita having realized that his sympathizer was attacked, ordered the buildup of medium-range nuclear missiles in Cuba for counterattack plans. This information was picked by the CIA and sparked the crisis that was witnessed during the 1962. The need to train the Cuban exiles in America and to be used in disguise started during the tenure of Kennedy’s predecessor Eisenhower and Kennedy having been briefed of the same nodded about it and executed the plan (Henriksen, 2006). II. Where would the U.S be now if the Soviet missiles remained in Cuba This is a hypothetical question since the missiles through series of talks and political agreement were lifted out of Cuba. Notwithstanding, following the chronological event during the time of the crisis, it can as well be given a hypothetical response. In my view, if the Soviet would have proved adamant in rescinding on their nuclear build up in Cuba, chances are very high that they two world super powers would have confronted one another in an active military battle. The situation would have looked more or less the same given the permutation witness in the First and Second World War. The only difference would have been Soviet not in the Allies of the Triple Entente. In my view a gain, America would have triumph over the war given the strong economic base they were enjoying at the time and the robustness in military advancement they had achieved then. III. How was such a serious and deadly international crisis solved in only thirteen days It was not long after the world witness, participated on one of the most deadly, and long confrontation in the Second World War. Both the US and USSR were active participant in the war and most accurately were on the same front. During this time, they must have learnt the devastation nature of going the military option not only in rendering humanitarian crisis but also in siphoning the economic gains of a country. They must have realized the importance of peace and alternative dispute resolution at the expense of war. A vivid example of crestfallen Germany was still fresh in the minds of many and no one wanted to experience the same. Above all, USSR and US were both suspicious of one another and did not have accurate information about the opponent’s military capability more so on the nuclear weaponry. This uncertainty made them probably to hypothesize on the consequences of nuclear fights and in their own evaluation, they found it necessary to seize the opportunity and come out with amicable solution to the problem in the shortest time possible. In fact, the solution came after speedy negotiations that saw J.F Kennedy, the then American President consenting to remove the missiles in the South of Italy and in the republic of Turkey In direct exchange of the same to Nikita , the Soviet Union leader removing the missiles in Cuba. IV. How did the illusion of Kennedy’s weakness affect the Soviets initial response to the crisis The initial response by the Soviet was the shoot down of the Lockheed U-2 commonly referred to as “Dragon Lady.” This plane was synonymous with the CIA and they use it to spy countries that they suspected of involving in the development of lethal military arsenals. Lockheed U-2 was mainly used in China, North Vietnam, and Cuba to collect intelligence information. The plane was first introduced in the 1957 and was flown in high altitude that was presumed to be beyond the target of missiles and bombs. Following the American attack of Cuba in the Bay of pigs, The soviet retaliated by shooting the 27th October 1962. Literature Review The Vietnam War The ideological differences between the US and the USSR were manifested in different fronts of military confrontation. The US resented the Soviet policy of spreading communism policy to most of the countries around the world. This ideological difference was best manifested during the period of the cold war. One of the areas in which America took active involvement through military assistance during the period of the cold war was in the Vietnam War. The war was fought during the cold war era in an expansive period of 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975. The war was mostly felt in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos where millions of people were killed in the period of military action. The war involved the South and North Vietnam. The North Vietnam was Communist sympathizers and was supported by the Soviet Union while the South Soviet was anti-communism and was supported by the US. The US was against the spread of communism and felt threatened by it. They were then out to do all they could to contain the contagious spread of communism under the stewardship of the Soviet. This was one of the elaborate plans to not only curtail the spread of communism but also to assist countries that were opposed to the ideology from being forced into it. To the North Vietnam, the involvement of the US in the war was colonial in nature and analogous to that fought against France. The Vietnam War was one of the cold war era conflicts that were manifested between the US and the USSR on the uncontrolled spread of communism across the world. The Korean War Several wars were fought during the Cold War era between the communists and the democrats, USSR and the US respectively. Korean War was another military confrontation between USSR and the US through military assistance of the allies. The war was fought between the 25 June 1950 and 27 July 1953 an involved two groups; the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea. After the conclusion of the pacific war, following the end of the Second World War Korea Peninsula was divided into two, the Northern and the Southern side (Wright, 1998). The emperor of Japan that formerly ruled the region had surrendered after the world war and this necessitated the division of the region along the 38th parallel by the US and the Soviet forces in which the southern half was occupies by the US while the Northern half occupied by the Soviet. Following the failure to have successful election in the area in 1948, the North became exclusively communist while the South opted for the democratic government; this was following the ideology of their allies in the region. Tensions between the two states become palpable and this led to the Northern Communist attacking the Southern Democrats. The UN Security Council was scheduled in 1950, the soviet absconded it citing misrepresentation of China, and this was like giving a veto vote for the military assistance of the south as wanted by the US (Wright, 1998). Military assistance was ratified and US benevolently took about 88% by proportion of the approved 341, 000 military assistance. This was another manifestation of a proxy war between the USSR and the US during the cold war era. Other areas that witnessed military confrontation during the cold war and pulled allies to throw in their support for the respective communist and democratic government were; Greece, Germany, Afghanistan, and the Middle East (Wright, 1998). Because these conflicts occurred during the Cold War and both USSR and the US did not want to use direct military combats because of the Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), they disguised their involvement in the wars by giving financial and military support to the sides that shared their ideologies. This is what came to be known as the proxy wars. The proxy war involved using a third party to execute the interests of the masters in the war; they avoided direct military conflict due to the suspicion that either side had the same capability to retaliate in equal measure and following the MAD doctrine. Every side had to exercise the refrain to avoid a looming humanitarian crisis following the use of nuclear weapon (Wright, 1998). Methodology In understanding how the Bay of Pigs led to the Cuban Missile Crisis, there are many questioned that ought to be understood about the USSR and the US in different context. In understanding the contribution of the Bay to the crisis we have to look at the reason why the Americans decided to train, the Cuban exiles who were in their country to topple Fidel Castro’s administration. Castro had just ascended to power through a military revolution and the American s were not happy with his administration supposedly because he had links with the Soviet leaders and were sealing deals to spread the ideology of communism in the whole of Latin America. Americans felt threatened about the spread of communism in the neighboring countries and this was accentuated by the fact that Soviet, which was their archrival during the time, was at the helm of spearheading the ideology. After the American attack in the Costal Bay of Pigs, we are going to examine the outcome and its consequences. It is also imperative to examine the extent of American response in the aftermath of the war as well as USSR. In the methodology, we are also going to examine the role of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the crisis period. What was the intelligence information that they released and what was the extent of their efficacy. We are also looking at the accuracy of the information as far as their concern about the USSR involvement in Cuba was believed. Finally, were going to examine what took place during the Cuban missile crisis and the political concessions that followed and led to the end of the crisis without direct military combat in such a volatile situation. Data Analysis It obvious that Cuban missile crisis remain the closest the Cold War came to active military combat. The first US planned attack of the Bay of Pigs constituted a troop of about 1,400 and two military planes to strike the Bay but this did not materialize and the Americans and the Cuban exiles were crestfallen just 2 days after the attack (Taliaferro, 2004). The Cuban troops responded in a way that the Americans did not anticipate. The American were also riding on the fact that Castro’s regime was unpopular and that the civilian will give more support to the rejuvenated rebels but his did not take place as the civilians were contented then with the Castro’s administration. Americans use the obsolete planes they over used in the World War II, B-26 and disguised them as the Cuban planes by painting them similar to the Cuban planes. The planes missed most of the targeted areas and the mainstream targets were not touched (Taliaferro, 2004). Later the repainted photos of the American planes where shown and it made Cuba to believe that America was behind the attack. In 24 hours after the attack, Castro ordered about 20,000 soldiers to attend to the Bay attack while maintaining active vigil over the sky (Taliaferro, 2004). When Americans gave six more planes as back up for the attack, they arrived late because of the time confusion between Cuba and Nicaragua. This enable the Cubans solders to shoot them and this marked the end of the war in the bay. About 100 soldiers of the exile brigade were killed and over 1,200 surrendered. Castro then negotiated for a deal of $ 53 million in exchange of the prisoners with the US (Taliaferro, 2004). Conclusion Following the development that followed during the period of the Cold War, the Cuban Crisis included was majorly associating USSR and the US who both emerged as the world super powers soon after the end of the Second World War. Cold War having been instigated by many factors amongst them the need for arm race in which USSR was hell bent on developing nuclear weapon made suspicion about the two blocks USSR and the US and their allies much palpable. It is also evidenced that most of the proxy wars Cuban missile crisis included between USSR and the US were instigated much by the ideological differences between the USSR and the US where the former maintained communism and the latter democratic system. One would also be right to conclude the US was responsible for the Cuban missile crisis following their clandestine support to the exile brigades to topple the administration of Castro based on fears that he was in links with Soviet leader to spread communism in the entire Latin America. The intelligence information given by the Central Intelligence Information (CIA) then were not as accurate as has been believed and this made US to take military actions even at times they ought to have observed restrain. References Jones, D. T. (2008, September 30). Cuban Missile Crisis Address to the Nation.. American Diplomacy, 21, 44. Taliaferro, J. W. (2004, June 1). Averting the "Final Failure": John F. Kennedy and the Secret Cuban Missile Crisis Meetings.(Book Review). Presidential Studies Quarterly, 13, 52. Henriksen, M. A. (2006, March 22). Awaiting Armageddon: How Americans Faced the Cuban Missile Crisis.(Book review). The Historian, 12, 28. Wright, E. (1998, March 1). The Secret History of the Cuban Missile Crisis: One Hell of a Gamble.. Contemporary Review, 7, 43. Read More