Introduction
Although the US and the Soviet Union were allies in World War II, their alliance broke up soon after the victory over the Axis powers. The period of tensions between the US and the Soviet Union, lasting from 1947 to 1991, became known as the Cold War. This war was political as it involved the confrontation between communism and capitalism and the struggle of the two superpowers for global domination. This paper will focus on the Cuban Missile Crisis, which occurred during Kennedy’s presidency and marked the most intense period of the Cold War.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
In the early 1960s, the Cold War was worsening again after a period of a thaw. The aggravation of this crisis began after the US spy plane – the U-2 – was shot down over the Soviet Union (Newman & Schmalbach, 2020). The US used spy planes to collect intelligence about the enemy’s missile program. Eisenhower’s admitting his responsibility for the flights led Khrushchev to denounce the US and leave the Paris summit, thus ending a temporary thaw in the Cold War (Newman & Schmalbach, 2020). Moreover, in the early 1960s, the Soviet Union was leading the arms race after its successful launch of satellites called Sputnik I and Sputnik II in 1957 (Newman & Schmalbach, 2020). Framing this fact as the failure of Eisenhower’s administration, John F. Kennedy won the election and became the president in 1960.
Kennedy’s approach to the Cold War was similar to those of Truman and Eisenhower. All three presidents believed that the Soviet expansion should be prevented without starting a war. For example, Truman enacted a containment policy and adopted the Marshall plan to prevent the spreading of communism in new countries (Newman & Schmalbach, 2020). Eisenhower’s policy was focused on increasing the US nuclear superiority, and the fierce arms race between the two countries served as a deterrent against the war between superpowers (Newman & Schmalbach, 2020). Although Kennedy aimed to contain the spread of communism similarly to the previous presidents, he used a more flexible approach. For example, he increased spending on nonnuclear weapons and mobile military forces to reduce the risk of nuclear war (Newman & Schmalbach, 2020). He also set up the Peace Corps and the Alliance of Progress to aid developing countries.
During Kennedy’s presidency, the relationships between the US and Cuba became strained. The reason for this was Fidel Castro’s overthrowing the US-backed government in Havana. First, the US was not sure whether Castro would be better than the previous dictator Fulgencio Batista. However, when Castro nationalized American-owned businesses in Cuba, the US decided to retaliate since Castro was thought to be a communist agent (Newman & Schmalbach, 2020). Eisenhower cut off the US trade with Cuba; he also authorized the CIA to train Cuban exiles to enable them to invade the country and overthrow Castro’s regime (Newman & Schmalbach, 2020). However, it was Kennedy who approved this operation that became known as the Bay of Pigs invasion or Operation Mongoose. Cuban exiles trained by the US invaded Cuba at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961 but failed to raise a general revolt and surrendered (Newman & Schmalbach, 2020). Due to this defeat, Castro retained his power in Cuba, and the relationships between the US and Cuba remained strained.
Castro used Operation Mongoose as the reason for asking for the Soviet Union’s help. He requested the Soviets to establish underground missile sites so that Cuba could protect itself from potential US invasions. The Soviet Union agreed to provide military assistance to Cuba for several reasons. First, Castro’s government supported the communist ideology, so it was the Soviet Union’s ally in its ideological war with the US. Second, the Soviets were hoping to prevent the US invasion of Cuba and to urge the US to remove its missiles from Turkey. However, when the US planes discovered the missile sites under construction, it promptly led to the escalation of the US-Soviets confrontation that became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. In response to the Soviet Union’s building missile sites in Cuba, Kennedy launched the naval quarantine of Cuba. If Soviet ships violated the quarantine, it could result in a nuclear war (Newman & Schmalbach, 2020). Therefore, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world was on the brink of a war that would lead to massive destruction.
Yet, the US and the Soviet Union finally reached an agreement and resolved the crisis diplomatically. On October 26, the Soviet agent approached a correspondent John Scali and said that the Soviets were ready to remove the missiles from Cuba if the US promised not to invade Cuba (“The Cuban Missile Crisis,” n.d.). The same day, Khrushchev sent Kennedy a message expressing similar intentions. However, on October 27, Khrushchev sent another message saying that any deal with the US should include the clause about the US removal of its missiles from Turkey (“The Cuban Missile Crisis,” n.d.). Kennedy decided to ignore the second message and sent a response to the first one, agreeing to the Soviets’ proposition. Later, Attorney General Robert Kennedy met with Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin to let the Soviets know that the US was going to remove its missiles from Turkey but did not want to make this information public (“The Cuban Missile Crisis,” n.d.). On October 28, Khrushchev announced that its missiles would be withdrawn from Cuba.
Conclusion
Thus, the crisis was resolved since each country accomplished its objectives. The US got rid of the Soviet Union’s missiles near its borders, while the Soviets obtained the security assurance for Cuba and the removal of the US missiles from Turkey. After the crisis, the countries also established a direct telephone line between the White House and the Kremlin to avoid miscommunications in the future.
References
The Cuban missile crisis, October 1962. (n.d.). Office of the Historian. Web.
Newman, J. J., & Schmalbach, J. M. (2020). Advanced placement United States history (4th ed.). Perfection Learning.