History Brief: The Cuban Missile Crisis Explained

This video gives a brief description of the Cuban Missile Crisis. For a great piece of historical fiction

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Transcript:

In 1959, Fidel Castro took control of the island nation of Cuba, some 90 miles from the State of Florida. He established Cuba as a communist nation and began forging a close relationship with the Soviet Union, which concerned the United States.

In April of 1961, the US made an attempt to remove Castro from power. The US trained Cuban exiles who had escaped Castro by moving to Florida and supported them in an invasion of Cuba. This became known as “The Bay of Pigs Invasion”. The invasion failed, and Castro continued to tighten his grip over Cuba.

In August of 1962, the Cubans and Soviets began secretly establishing sites to launch nuclear missiles from Cuba. With the use of these missile bases, the Soviet Union could have first strike capability against the United States.

On October 15th, the United States discovered the existence of these missiles. President John F. Kennedy and his advisers considered several different strategies ranging from diplomacy (talking to the Soviets), to a blockade, or even a full scale invasion of Cuba.

President Kennedy eventually chose a blockade. The US Navy placed ships in the Caribbean Sea, surrounding Cuba, and would not allow any Soviet ships to reach Cuba. On October 22nd, Kennedy announced the threat to the nation, causing panic and turmoil across the country.

Throughout the next several days, the crisis continued to escalate as both sides refused to back down. The United States insisted that the missile bases be removed, while the Soviet Union and Cuba refused to admit that the bases even existed.

As the days continued, the Soviet Union remained diligent, and the Kennedy administration began preparing the early stages of an invasion plan. On October 25th, the blockade was challenged for the first time. Soviet ships approached the quarantine zone, but American ships held their ground. The Soviet vessels were forced to turn back, and the blockade continued.

On that same day, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Adlai Stevenson, confronted the Soviets in the UN assembly, revealing photographic evidence that forced the Soviet Union to admit the missile bases existed.

The crisis finally ended on October 28, 1962 when President Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reached a secret agreement. The Soviets would remove their missile bases in Cuba. In exchange, the US would remove missile bases in Turkey (near the Soviet Union's borders).

To this day, the Cuban Missile Crisis is regarded as the closest that the US has ever come to a nuclear war. The event was one of the most intense moments in the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union and one of the defining moments of the Cold War.