Missiles To The Soviet Union example essay topic

The closest the world has come to nuclear war was the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. This was the tense cold war opposition between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had installed nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles off the coast of the United States The Cold War was the result of a clash between communism and capitalism, two opposing world-views. Another cause of the build up to the Cold War was the intransigent attitude of both sides.

The Soviet Union was extremely concerned about its security after having been invaded twice in the twentieth century. In 1945 America created and used the atomic bomb against Japan and the USSR was determined to create one of its own. Both the USSR and the USA built up huge arsenals of Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). The United States tested a hydrogen bomb in 1952 and in November 1955, the USSR developed one too.

After that the USA moved its bombers into Europe. In 1955 West Germany was allowed to re-arm and join NATO. Russia responded by forming the Warsaw Mutual Defense Pact with its buffer zone neighbors. In 1957 the Soviets used a missile to launch Sputnik 1 into orbit around the earth. The arms race evolved into a space race as the United States rushed to launch its own satellites. The space race was an opportunity for the two nations to show their technological superiority.

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first orbiting satellite, on October 4, 1957. On November 3, they launched Sputnik II with the first living creature, a dog, named Laika. On January 31, 1958 the United States launched Explorer I, its first satellite. The U.S. began its Mercury program with an 18-minute flight on January 31, 1961 that carried a chimpanzee. The Soviet Union, meanwhile, had its Vostok program and on April 12, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space and completed one orbit aboard Vostok 1. In June 1963 Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space.

The United States started to catch up on February 20, 1962 when John Glenn orbited the earth three times. The US Apollo 11 mission launched on July 16, 1969 and Neil Armstrong became the first person to step on the moon. The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 and brought more tension to the Cold War. The open border between East and West Berlin had permitted thousands of East Europeans to escape from Soviet rule. This had a negative economic impact on Eastern Europe and was as a political embarrassment for the Soviet Union. On Sunday, August 13, 1969 East Germany blocked off East Berlin from West Berlin with barbed wire.

A few days later the Berlin Wall was built to replace the barbed wire. From 1961 to 1981, there were 37,800 successful escapes across the Berlin wall from the East to the West. The reunification of Germany took place on October 3, 1990. In 1962, Cuba was convinced that the USA was planning to attack them and asked the Soviet Union for military assistance. The USSR sent Cuba materials to build missile bases and launch sites. When President Kennedy realized that Cuba could launch missiles into America, he demanded that the USSR remove its weapons and troops.

The Americans formed a naval blockade as the world stood nervously on the edge of a nuclear war. The USSR removed its weapons despite protests from Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The United States believed that the Soviet Union's expansion threatened the developing nations of the world. So, in 1949 President Truman and Congress approved nearly $400 million for technical development programs in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The goals of this Point Four Program were to modernize and strengthen developing nations and discourage the growth of communism. Gorbachev's policy of Glasnost eliminated the strict censorship practiced for hundreds of years.

Glasnost stands for openness, and Soviet citizens were now allowed to speak openly about their country's problems. Perestroika, or 'restructuring,' was Gorbachev's attempt to end the inefficiency and corruption in government. The United States and other Western nations decided to form alliances against possible Soviet attempts to extend their sphere of influence. In April 1949 the United States signed the North Atlantic Treaty.

Members agreed that an attack on one of them would be considered an attack on all of them. The Soviets later formed an opposing alliance known as The Warsaw Pact. Because of the arms race many countries in the world now own nuclear weapons. The effects of the Cold War spread throughout the globe like the radiation clouds from the atmospheric nuclear tests in the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. The ideologies on both sides included a vision of world dominance. In addition, the US military / industrial complex's 'Domino Theory'- the fear that if one country turned Communist it would lead to their neighbors to following suit and to increased regional instability- led to many military conflicts, including the Vietnam War, funded and aided by both Superpowers.

In the early morning of October 14, 1962, A U-2 spy aircraft flies over western Cuba, revealing miss le sites in Cuba. Two days later, on October 16th Kennedy learns about the data collected on the missile deployments. President Kennedy was shown photographs of Soviet SS-4 launching installations under construction in Cuba, taken two days earlier by an airplane. Looking over the photos Kennedy remarked, 'They look like footballs on a football field. ' The missiles he held in his sight had a range of 1,100 miles and threatened major population centers in the U.S. Thee missiles were not operational as of yet but Deputy Director of the CIA said "They soon would be". The president is briefed that should the United States aggressively attack Cuba, it would likely lead to World War.

Kennedy immediately organized a group of his most important advisors to handle the crisis also know as the Executive Committee or EX-COMM. First, they considered an air strike. This was impossible, however, because the government did not see this as a guaranteed success. They also considered doing nothing, but were afraid this could shorten U.S. credibility.

Seven days later Kennedy decided to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba, hoping to prevent the Soviets from bringing more weapons to the island, preventing anything or anyone coming to and from Cuba. As of yet, the Soviets didn't know the Americans knew of the missiles in Cuba. The American public didn't know yet either. If the Soviets found out, they might hide the missiles or launch them if they were ready.

If the public found out, the nation would panic. On October 22, Kennedy broadcast a speech informing the public about the missiles, and his plan to quarantine the island. He also announced publicly that any nuclear missile launched from Cuba would be viewed as an attack on the United States. He demanded that the Soviets remove all offensive weapons from Cuba. As tensions began to build Kennedy eventually ordered low-level reconnaissance missions once every two hours.

During the crisis, the two sides exchanged many letters and other communications; Khrushchev sent letters to Kennedy on October 23 and 24 indicating the disincentive nature of the missiles in Cuba and the peaceful intentions of the Soviet Union. On the 25th Kennedy pulled the quarantine line back and raised military readiness to DEFCON 2. On October 26, Khrushchev sent Kennedy a long rambling letter seemingly proposing that the missile installations would be dismantled and personnel removed in exchange for United States assurances that it would not invade Cuba. On October 27, another letter to Kennedy arrived from Khrushchev, suggesting that missile installations in Cuba would be dismantled if the United States dismantled its missile installations in Turkey. The American administration decided to ignore this second letter and to accept the offer outlined in the letter of October 26.

Tensions finally began to ease on October 28 when Khrushchev announced that he would dismantle and return the missiles to the Soviet Union. Further negotiations were held to implement the October 28 agreement, including a United States demand that Soviet light bombers be removed from Cuba. A new message from Khrushchev, broadcast on Radio Moscow, effectively ends the missile crisis. Dismantling of the missiles begins at 5: 00 PM. In Havana, Fidel Castro, who was not consulted or informed of the decision beforehand, is outraged. Khrushchev explains that not ending the crisis would have meant nuclear war, but that 'the Soviet government under no circumstances would refuse to fulfill its international duty to defend Cuba.

It may seem odd that an event, having such an impact on the world, could happen in only 13 days. Actually it is thought to have been a result of a longer process according to Jerry Goldman and Girl Stein. In June of 1961 President Kennedy attended a summit with Premier Khrushchev in Vienna to discuss cold war confrontations between the east and west, in particular the situation in Berlin. The failure of the two to resolve their differences during the summit led Khrushchev to look at Kennedy as a weak president, who lacked the power or support to negotiate a compromise in the arms race.

Worried that the United States had more nuclear missiles than the Soviet's and more importantly that some of the American missiles were based in Turkey, only 150 miles from the Soviet Union, Soviet leadership was desperate to increase their nuclear missiles. The showdown that happened in Cuba may well have been the result of an accumulating anxiety among the Soviet political leaders. When thinking back in history, it is not all that surprising that the Soviets chose Cuba to stage their operations against the United States. Since 1959, when Cuban Premier Fidel Castro took over power, the United States tried to "encourage" his political demise. When Castro came to power, the United States stopped buying Cuban sugar and refused to supply its former trading partner with much needed oil. To make matters worse, after the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion, Castro observed the United States armed forces stage a mock invasion of a Caribbean island in 1962.

The purpose of the invasion was to overthrow a leader by the name of Ortsac, which is Castro spelled backwards. Ortsac was a fictitious name, but Castro got the message and soon became convinced that the U.S. was serious about invading Cuba. Sensing he could gain a strategic foothold in our "backyard", Khrushchev eagerly extended an offer of assistance to the desperate Cuban leader. Khrushchev offered Castro new trade opportunities, easing the effects of the U.S. sanctions, and promised to protect them for a U.S. invasion. This alliance between Castro and Khrushchev was the groundwork for a Soviet missile base in Cuba, but ultimately ended in the Cuban missile crisis. It is hard to imagine the stress of those thirteen days, affecting the life of millions of Americans and Soviets in every move that was made.

It seems as though neither Kennedy nor Khrushchev wanted the nuclear disaster that was on the brink of happening, but neither wanted to back down to the other either. After reading the transcript of taped White House meetings during the missile crisis, President Kennedy seemed to have been cool, careful and patient as he tried to figure out how to handle the Soviet threat. It seemed as though the generals supported an invasion of Cuba. Only President Kennedy seemed to understand Khrushchev and the reasons they would risk the terrible consequences of a nuclear exchange. During one of the meetings, the President said, "What is the advantage? Must be that they " re not satisfied with their ICBM's.

It makes them look as if they " re co-equal with us... this is a political struggle as much as military". According to Richard Reeves, he was exactly right. The United States had surrounded the Soviet Union with medium-range missiles in Europe, capable of reaching important targets in only a few minutes. Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles, ICBM's, were thousands of miles from targets in the United States, and their guidance systems were primitive. As Reeves writes, "In effect, America held a loaded gun to the head of the Soviet Union". President Kennedy seemed to understand Khrushchev's thoughts; he was willing to gamble that he could match up against the United States.

The two leaders were obviously searching for a way out. Again and again, President Kennedy told his men that the tactical goal was to "give Khrushchev room. I don't want him put in a corner", Kennedy said. According to historians on the Soviet's side, Khrushchev said "We are face to face with the danger of war and nuclear catastrophe. In order to save the world we must retreat".

When it was over, Kennedy was surprised at how little Khrushchev settled for in exchange for the withdrawal of U. S missiles: an American pledge not to invade Cuba, allowing Khrushchev to claim he "saved" the island. So how close were we to a nuclear war? Someone who knows is Theodore C. Sorenson. He was the special counsel to President Kennedy and a member of the Executive Committee of the National Security Council that advised the President on the Cuban missile crisis. According to Sorenson, President Kennedy went to the United Nations to "put the Soviets on the defensive diplomatically for their sudden and surreptitious installation of strategic nuclear missiles 90 miles from our shores".

President Kennedy succeeded. The communications to both sides by U Thant, the Secretary General of the United Nations, and the world's condemnation of Khrushchev's action helped in the crucial days that followed. More important than from a legal stand point, Kennedy asked the Organization of American States (O.A.S.) to both authorize and participate in a United States naval blockade of Cuba. By doing this, it elevated the blockade to an act of regional self-defense under international law. Kennedy had already decided that he had no choice but to proceed with the blockade, with or without any endorsements from the international community.

So how would some of the other leaders of the time liked to have handle the crisis? Senator William Fulbright, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee thought that a naval blockade was "the worst alternative", because it could be deemed an act of war under international law. He thought it would be better to invade Cuba than to provoke Soviet's retaliation by stopping, or even worse firing upon, a Soviet vessel. Representative Carl Vinson, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, wanted to "strike with all the force and power [we possessed] and try to get it over with as quickly as possible". General Curtis Le May of the Air Force said, "This blockade and political action... will lead right into war.

It would be considered by a lot of our friends and neutrals as being a pretty weak response to this and I'm sure a lot of our citizens would feel that way too. You " re in a pretty bad fix, Mr. President". President Kennedy was indeed in a pretty bad fix! According to Sorenson, "He had no good choices, no options free from risk of either war or the erosion of our security and alliances, and no reliable forecasts on how Moscow would respond to our responses". He goes on to write, "Virtually all of us, including the President, initially believed that at the very least an air strike against the missile sites would be necessary. And we soon learned that the only safe and sure air strike would require such widespread bombardment of Cuba that an American invasion and occupation of that island would be an unavoidable next step.

It was with this contingency in mind that the Defense Department, at the President's instruction, began to assemble in Florida the largest American invasion force since World War II". From Soviet documents, we now know that an American military attack would have been met with a fierce resistance from local Soviet troops authorized to use nuclear weapons against American forces on the beaches, at sea and in the air. One can only imagine the devastation and number of deaths from a nuclear fallout in both American and Soviet cities. I feel that Sorenson tells the complete picture when he writes, "So we were all lucky that week, if luck it was. We were lucky that this nation had a conventional and nuclear superiority that made Khrushchev think twice about risking an armed clash in the Western Hemisphere; lucky that, through aerial photography and C.I.A. photo interpretation, we had enough early warning to devise in secret a response to Khrushchev's missiles that would give him an opportunity to think twice about such a clash; lucky that Kennedy had advisers like Llewellyn Thompson, the senior State Department Kremlinologist, who was quietly steadfast throughout in urging that we not force Khrushchev into a quick choice between humiliation and escalation.

We were lucky, too, that Khrushchev was a statesman enough to recognize that his bold gamble had failed. And lucky, finally, that during the world's first and only (I hope) nuclear confrontation, John F. Kennedy, whose cool, prudent, prodding leadership... , was President in October 1962. He had, after all, been elected in 1960 by only a tiny margin.

Bibliography

Goldman, J., Stein, G. (August 21 1997).
The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 18-29, 1962 [On-line].
Available: http: // / h pol. org / jfk /cuban / Reeves, Richard (October 8, 1997).
13 days in October. New York Times [On-line]. Available: web Sorenson, Theodore C. (October 18, 1997).
The Leader Who Led. Available: web Cuban Missile Crisis [On-line]. February 1, 2005 web 761579929/Cuban Missile Crisis.
html#end ads Cuban Missile Crisis [On-line]. February 1, 2005 Available web crisis.
html Cold War: Post Estrangement [On-line] printed February 1, 2005 Available web.