Operation Zapata Cuban Missile Crisis Analysis

The Cuban Missile Crisis all started in October, 1962, when an American spy plane spotted and secretly photographed missile sites being built on the island of Cuba by the Soviet Union. President Kennedy did not tell the Soviet Union right away that we had found their nuclear missile site. But days later, President Kennedy meet secretly with his advisors to discuss the situation. President Kennedy and his advisors though long and hard about what to do and the finally came up with an idea. Kennedy decided to put a naval blockade around the island of Cuba. The purpose of this was so Cuba could not get anymore military supplies for the Soviet Union. President Kennedy demanded that the missiles that were already there be disabled and that the sit be destroyed. Later on, Kennedy told America what was happening on a televised address. Everyone was anxious about what the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, would say about the naval blockade. But both President Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev recognized that the devastation that a nuclear war will bring is too much.

The planning for the Bay of Pigs began under President Eisenhower’s administration. President Eisenhower approved the CIA’s Bay of Pigs plan to oust Fidel Castro and overthrow Cuba’s communist government on March 17, 1960. The planning and preparation continued throughout the rest of the year. On January 20, 1961, John F Kennedy became the President of the United States. He had learned of the Bay of Pigs plan months earlier, and now as President, after consulting with his advisors, also approved the CIA planned Bay of Pigs

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.

On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy “informed the world” that the Soviets were building secretive missile bases in Cuba, very close to Florida. President Kennedy decided to take the peaceful route in handling is major crisis. As

Kennedy had given a speech to the American people where he has said “We have unmistakable evidence that a series of offensive missile sites is now being built on that island … Cuba has been made into an important strategic base by the presence of these long-range offensive weapons of sudden mass destruction… Our objective must be to prevent the use of these missiles against this or any other country. We must secure their withdrawal from the Western Hemisphere” (Doc 6). President Kennedy was trying to calm the society by explaining they will be prevent the use of the missiles by withdrawing the Western Hemisphere. During the year of 1962, October 27 Premier Khrushchev stated in a message “Mr. President, the Soviet government decided to help Cuba with means of defense against outside attack. These weapons were only meant for defensive purposes. We have supplied them to prevent aggression against Cuba … With respect and confidence I accept the statement you set forth in your message of October 27, 1962. You said then that Cuba will not be attacked or invaded by any country of the Western Hemisphere … We have given the order to discontinue building the installations. We shall dismantle them and withdraw them to the Soviet Union” (Doc 8). This message was sent to the U.S after ordering a blockade of all offensive military equipment being sent into

This was a problem for Kennedy because Cuba was within a 90 mile radius from the United States, easy sticking distance. The United States had missiles in Turkey, which were in striking distance from the Soviet Union, which Khrushchev used as a weighing option when deciding to place missiles in Cuba. Kennedy saw the missiles that were being held in Cuba as almost an act of war from the Soviet Union. Khrushchev assured President Kennedy that the missiles were not an act of war, but yet only a defense for Cuba, who was feeling Having Soviet Union missiles this close to the mainland was a problem for the United States. Kennedy decided that the only way to stop the Soviet Union from fully equipping Cuba with enough missiles to destroy the United States, was to stop the missiles from getting to Cuba. To stop them Kennedy dispatched U.S. warships into the Atlantic, which was able to prevent the Soviet missile fleet from reaching Cuba. Unfortunately there were already missiles in Cuba from earlier fleets and they were

Most missile sites consisted of SA-2 SAMs and MRBMs; most of which were in North Cuba close to the U.S. Kennedy saw this as a threatening act and called in for a naval "quarantine" line of ships to block shipments of missiles. Kennedy did not call it a blockade as that sounded more or less like a term used in war. Kennedy then ordered for Krushchev to dismantle the sites and return all offense weapons. Krushchev did not stop but most ships either turned back or had nothing dangerous. On October 26, close to the missile sites being operational, Krushchev finally considered a deal with Kennedy to dismantle the sites, for he too feared nuclear confrontation. The deal was that if the U.S. did not invade Cuba and that they took their Jupiter missiles in Turkey back, the Soviets would take their missiles(Office of the Historian). A few days later the deal was made and nuclear war was averted. Through the whole solution, however, Castro was never regared and left as a pawn. Nevertheless, the world changing events of the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis brought three nations into conflict that ultimately Castro would see to wage war on one and ally with the

tried to attack, they used a quarantine line, and they faced missiles toward Turkey. The United States tried to attack Cuba called the Bay of Pigs. The U.S. knew that communism was spreading in that country by, Fidel Castro. This attack soon failed. Leaders of America were very disappointed at this action and we're ready to fight back again anytime. After this unsuccessful attack, the Soviets were secretly shipping in supplies and weapons to Cuba. Soon, the United States found out. The Americans decided to put a quarantine line around Cuba. The quarantine line meant that any ships that were sending offensive supplies to Cuba were going to be destroyed. That line sent a message to the Soviets, and many of the ships did not go in that area anymore. The Soviets and Cuba, shortly afterwards, started to face Nuclear missiles towards the United States. The U.S. then faced Nuclear missiles at Turkey. After moments of waiting, the Soviets removed their missiles and so did the United States. Everything was removed and nothing happened in this crisis (Doc

Kennedy had to deal with was another conflict with the Soviet Union. On April 17, 1961 the United States had another situation with the Soviet Union in the Bay of Pigs. President John F. Kennedy informed about a plan by the Central Intelligence Agency or the CIA. They wanted to train Cuban citizens for an invasion to their own homeland (JFK library). The main plan of this whole whole situation was to plan anticipate that all off the Cuban citizens and elements of Cuban military would support the idea of the invasion.(JFK library).

The Cuban Missile Crisis was one of the biggest results of the Cold War. According to Catherine Hester Gow, English professor and author of The Cuban Missile Crisis, the Cold War was a time of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II. After separating as allies, they sought to undermine each other due to their different ideas of government (14). Bruce W. MacDonald, Special Advisor of the Nonproliferation and Arms Control, states that after the U.S. failed attempt at invading the island of Cuba, Soviet

So, the Soviets decided to put nuclear weapons in Cuba, to counter the growing lead. On October 14, 1962, a pilot of an American U-2 spy plane was making a high-altitude pass over Cuba. What he saw was a Soviet SS-4 medium-range ballistic missile being assembled for installation. President Kennedy was briefed about the missiles on October 16. Kennedy didn’t want nuclear war, so he decided to establish a blockade.

On one of the following days, Kennedy asked if the Air Force could take out all of the missiles in Cuba. The Air Force then told the President that with that process there would be 10-20,000 civilian casualties. Kennedy then decided to set up a blockade around Cuba. US ships prepared for a quarantine. The press then learned about the nuclear missles and questioned them about it, the President asked the reporters not to reveal the news so he could announce it to the American people on TV. The Soviets had instrustion to launch the missiles within minutes of Kennedy’s speech. After Castro listened to the President’s speech he moblized all of Cuba’s military forces.

In order to understand the importance of the Cuban Missile Crisis in American history one must first understand the Cold War drama, Castro’s rise to power, and the American operations that set up the crisis. “The term Cold War refers

It is evident that the US had been flagrantly deceived. Then Kennedy called for a naval blockade of Cuba. Kennedy used political negotiations with Khrushchev to come to an agreement in the removal of the weapons. Throughout negotiations, there were incidents that occurred which amplified tensions. Such as on the noon of October 27th, a U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down over Cuba. In those moments, both the US and the Soviet Union assumed that it was Castro who commanded the fire of low-flying U.S. planes on October 27th. Although Castro had certainly commanded Cuban antiaircraft artillery to fire, there is no indication that he had also ordered Soviet artillery to fire. Another occurrence is Castro’s letter to Khrushchev insisting that the Soviet Union should launch a first-strike nuclear attack on the United States.

Soviet leader Krushchev quickly agreed to protect Cuba. Cuba was in a strategic location to place missile launch sites that could strike nearly all of the continental United States. During the Cold War the United States had many missile launch sites placed all over the world and pointed at the Soviet Union. The United States was allied with Turkey, so the American military had a base there to work their U-2 from and many missile sites pointed at the Soviet Union. These missiles in Turkey made Krushchev want to build surface to air missile sites on Cuba to balance the power and show his force. Krushchev would soon start sending ships and submarines loaded with equipment to start building medium and intermediate range ballistic missiles. In May 1962, Krushchev wrote in his memoirs: “This will be a means of protecting Cuba from another U.S. Invasion of Cuba like the Bay of Pigs in 1961, also to counter the U.S. emerging lead of deploying strategic missiles.”