Castro returns prisoners in 1962, in exchange for $53 million worth of baby food and medicine

Operation Mongoose - plan to sabotage and destabilize the Cuban government and economy
Included possibility of assassinating Castro

Curtis LeMay's Sunday Punch Strategy - A massive first strike on the Soviet Union. Groups of US planes fly with nuclear weapons onboard towards the Soviet Union

The air force initially dominated the defence budget/arms race with 47% of the defence budget

Creation of nuclear cannons, backpacks, bazookas, and other types of weapons

US would use nuclear strikes against USSR if they attacked Europe

Transition to defence policy dominated by investment in nuclear deterrence rather than high spending on conventional arms

Better than expensive long-term commitment of US land forces to regions threatened by Communism

Dien Bien Phu, 1954, did not help French; Eisenhower didn't want to use atomic bombs

Hence deterred each side from attacking

Economic - 1960 - Banned imports of Cuban sugar and other commodities

Diplomatic - Jan 1961, the US broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba

Military - April 1961, the US-backed Bay of Pigs Invasion happened

Cuba sold sugar to the USSR instead; the USSR sold oil and weapons to Cuba in return

Cuba was pushed closer to the USSR; became more openly associated with Communism

Bay of Pigs made Kennedy look weak to the world and especially the USSR
US appeared hostile and untrustworthy

14 October 1962 - American U2 spy plane flies over Cuba and photographs Soviet nuclear missile sites under construction

Creates a bargaining counter with the USA over missiles in Turkey
Missiles in Turkey were close to USSR and left USSR at a disadvantage
Missiles in Cuba could be used to remove missiles from Turkey in exchange from removal of Cuban missiles

Cheap way to close the "missile gap" - only need IRBMs (that would take 20 mins to reach their target) and MRBMs (that take only 10 mins) to threaten whole of USA, as opposed to ICBMs

Makes the US much less likely to launch a "first strike" nuclear attack against the USSR
Due to the concept of MAD
Thereby removing USSR's military disadvantage

Genuine desire to defend Cuba against US attack in light of the Bay of Pigs incident

Extending Communism - having a strong Communist state in USA's backyard was good propaganda and would help spread Communism in Latin America

Pushing against USA's containment policy

Extend power of the USSR - the USSR controlled the Eastern Bloc countries (verify this)

Khrushchev felt the need to assert himself in the Kremlin, where he was still in Stalin's shadow

Stalin himself died in 1953 from a stroke and was held in high regard

insert fact here

Making the USA seem week would improve his image

JFK was a new, inexperienced president - Khrushchev viewed him as weak and wanted to test him

To lure the USA into a nuclear war - no attempt was made to camouflage the missile sites

This is unlikely when considering the concept of MAD

Doing nothing - America has a greater nuclear arsenal anyway
But it would be another sign of weakness - the USSR had lied about the Cuban missiles

Surgical air attack - it would destroy the missiles before they were ready to use
BUT destruction of all sites could not be guaranteed
Even one left undamaged could launch a counterattack against the USA
The attack would inevitably kill Soviet soldiers - the USSR might retaliate at once
To attack without advance warning was seen as immoral

Invade Cuba - it would get rid of missiles and Castro, and American forces were already trained and available to do it
Yet this would almost certainly gain a response from the USSR to protect Cuba or to do something within the Soviet sphere of influence e.g. taking over Berlin

Diplomatic pressure - it would avoid conflict, but if the USA was forced to back down, it would be a sign of weakness

Naval Blockade
It would show that the USA is serious but not be a direct act of war.
It would put the burden on Khrushchev to decide what to do next.
The USA had a strong navy and could still take the other options if this one did not work
BUT it would not solve the main problem - the missiles were already on Cuba
They could be used within one week
The Soviet Union might retaliate by blockading Berlin as it had done in 1948

Tuesday 16th October - Kennedy is informed of missile build-up. Executive Committee of National Security Council formed

Saturday 20th October - Kennedy decides on a blockade (quarantine) of Cuba

Monday 22nd October - Kennedy declares blockade, openly addresses Khrushchev to remove the missiles

Tuesday 23rd October - Khrushchev's letter received by Kennedy - Khrushchev does not want to observe the blockade and denies the existence of Cuban missiles

24th October - First Soviet ships carrying missiles approach 800km exclusion zone.
10:32am - 20 Soviet ships stop and turn around

25th October - Aerial photos show continued construction of missiles sites on Cuba

26th October - New letter sent by K - offer to negotiate over missiles in Cuba if blockade is lifted and US does not invade Cuba. K ack's existence of Cuban missiles for the first time

27th October - Second letter from K - calls for withdrawal of US missiles in Turkey as further condition

U2 plane shot down over Cuba - pilot killed. Kennedy advised to retaliate, but stalls. Accepts the terms of first letter (not second). If USSR does not accept, US will attack

28th October - K agrees to dismantle Soviet missiles in Cuba

Sunday 14th October - American U2 planes discover missile sites on Cuba

Hostile policies towards Cuba that pushed Castro towards USSR

Bay of Pigs invasions, and Kennedy's desire to look strong at home afterwards

Kennedy rejects discreet diplomacy at the start of the crisis, goes public with naval blockade

Sent missiles to Cuba; highly provocative; unlikely to have stayed hidden for long
Moreover, conventional Soviet forces would probably have been enough to deter US invasion of Cuba

K saw JFK as weak for not responding to Berlin Wall 1961 - now testing further

K was keen to appear strong to critics at home after Berlin crisis

K denies missiles presence 23rd October, triggering the US further

25th October - USSR refuses to back down; missile sites work continues

27th Oct - K's second later pushes for Turkish missiles to be withdrawn - more demands

28th Oct - K accepts K's deal through both formal negotiations and secret meetings.

USSR remove Cuban missiles
US calls off blockade and does not invade Cuba
USA also agrees to secretly remove their missiles from Turkey in the coming months

Historians agree that the Crisis helped that USA-USSR relations

Sides realised brinkmanship brought world closer to nuclear war - did not want it to happen again

Hot Line - direct communications link between White House and the Kremlin, June 20, 1963

Three months later Turkey missiles removed

Nuclear Test Ban Treaty signed between two countries, August 1963, banned testing of nuclear weapons in atmosphere (but not making/keeping them)

For the rest of the Cold War, both sides avoided direct confrontation and instead fought proxy wars through allies where possible

Remains Communist state to this day, free from US control

Castro very upset by K's deal but needed support of USSR so could do little about it

Cuba remained an important military base for Communist supporters in South America

Cuba kept control of the US companies and assets he had nationalised during the revolution