The Cuban Missile Crisis
October 1962
The missile deployment followed the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and continued American covert efforts to overthrow Fidel Castro. Cuba's leaders feared another attack, and Nikita Khrushchev agreed in July 1962 to place Soviet nuclear missiles on the island. American reconnaissance photographs in October exposed the construction of launch sites, confronting President John F. Kennedy with choices ranging from negotiation to air strikes and invasion. [3]
President John F. Kennedy announced on 22 October 1962 that the Soviet Union had placed nuclear missiles in Cuba and ordered a naval quarantine to stop further shipments of offensive weapons. Cuba had accepted the missiles; American and Soviet forces now confronted one another around the island. [5]
Five days later, an American reconnaissance aircraft was shot down over Cuba, killing its pilot. That evening Robert Kennedy met Soviet ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin in Washington and warned that the United States might destroy the missile sites unless Moscow agreed to remove them. [1]
The American offer coupled verified withdrawal with assurances against an invasion of Cuba. Washington also undertook to remove its missiles from Turkey within several months, on the condition that the promise remain secret. [6] [4]
Nikita Khrushchev announced the dismantling and withdrawal of the weapons on 28 October. Kennedy kept the quarantine in place until 20 November, after Moscow also agreed to remove its bombers. The immediate danger had receded, although inspection and the verification of the assurances the two sides had exchanged remained disputed. [7] [8]
Related Diplomats
Sources
- Robert Kennedy’s record of his meeting with Dobrynin
FRUS XI, document 96; account of 27 October meeting and reconnaissance aircraft loss
FRUS 1961–1963, volume XI, document 96, pp. 270–271, opening paragraphs, Turkey discussion, and editorial footnote 2
- Dobrynin to the Soviet Foreign Ministry, 27 October 1962, English translation
PDF pp. 1–3; p. 2 on the confidential Turkish missile assurance, and pp. 2–3 on the reply channel
- The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962
July Soviet–Cuban agreement, October reconnaissance, policy alternatives and direct/indirect communications; no reliance on its inaccurate description of the later hotline as a telephone link
- Khrushchev’s confidential message on missiles in Turkey
FRUS VI, document 70; four-to-five-month undertaking and secrecy
- Kennedy’s radio and television report on Cuba
Announcement and naval quarantine
- Kennedy’s public offer to Khrushchev
FRUS XI, document 95; withdrawal, verification and non-invasion assurances
- Khrushchev’s announcement of dismantling and withdrawal
FRUS XI, document 102
- Kennedy to Khrushchev on ending the quarantine
FRUS XI, document 202; 20 November termination, bombers and verification dispute
Related Reading
Cite This Article
The Cuban Missile Crisis. Chanceries Diplopedia. Record 3cb31bc13420b185530f. https://chanceries.org/research/history/cuba-missiles-67eff871f2/