The Cuban Missile Crisis

Podcast Transcript

In October 1962, a U-2 spy aircraft found Soviet nuclear missile websites in Cuba.

The next 13 days have been a number of the tensest in human historical past.

The US and the Soviet Union got here nearer to nuclear struggle than at any level within the chilly struggle.

It was solely a last-minute cooling of tensions that prevented a world calamity.

Be taught extra concerning the Cuban Missile Disaster and the way it was resolved on this episode of Every part All over the place Each day.

The story of the Cuban Missile Disaster begins in 1959 with the Cuban Revolution.

For 5 years, communist revolutionaries in Cuba fought towards the federal government of the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

On January 1, 1959, the Batista authorities fell, the rebels have been in energy, and america discovered themselves with a communist nation 90 miles off their coast in the midst of the Chilly Warfare.

I’m radically simplifying every thing, and the Cuban Revolution would be the topic of a future episode, however this was the gist of it.

The US was none too completely happy about having a communist authorities so near their shore.

In 1961, the US supported a really half-hearted invasion of Cuba by Cuban exiles at a spot referred to as the Bay of Pigs. It failed miserably.

This solely drove the Cubans nearer to the Soviets for their very own safety from a future invasion by america.

There was one thing else that occurred in 1961 which arrange the occasions on this episode.

The US deployed nuclear-armed PGM-19 Jupiter missiles on the territory of its NATO allies, Italy and Turkey.

For essentially the most half, the Soviets had a big buffer area between themselves and NATO within the type of Jap European Warsaw Pact states.

Nonetheless, Turkey was a lot nearer than most different NATO international locations. It lay straight throughout the Black Sea from the Soviet Union. Such shut proximity, it might permit for a shock assault, which, for sure, upset the Soviets.

In July 1962, Soviet chief Nikita Kurschev and Cuban leaderField Castro had a secret assembly the place they discovered an answer to each of their issues. The Soviets agreed to put in nuclear-armed missiles in Cuba.

The missiles would deter any future American invasion of the island, and it might give the Soviets missiles of their very own which might be near American soil.

That summer season, rumors started to flow into within the US about Soviet missiles being deployed in Cuba, however there was no proof to assist this.

The proof got here in October.

On October 14, an American U2 spy aircraft flew over Cuba piloted by Maj. Richard Heyser, taking tons of of pictures over websites the place exercise was not too long ago noticed.

The subsequent day, October 15, the movie was processed by the CIA, which discovered clear proof of Soviet missile websites in Cuba. Given the vary of the missiles, there have been 90 million People who have been put in danger.

The intelligence was despatched to President John Kennedy, who convened a gathering of his nationwide safety advisors on October 16. His secretary of Protection, Robert McNamara, gave the president a number of choices for the best way to reply.

The primary possibility was to try to use diplomacy with Castro and Kruchev to get the missiles eliminated. This might take months or years and may not truly obtain something.

A second possibility was a naval quarantine of Cuba to stop any Soviet ships from getting into or leaving. They needed to name it a quarantine as a result of a blockade was thought-about an act of struggle.

A 3rd possibility was an airstrike towards the missiles. An airstrike would in all probability obtain the target of destroying the missiles, however it might additionally kill tons of of Soviets and Cubans and possibly begin a struggle.

Different choices thought-about have been an all-out invasion and simply doing nothing and dwelling with it.

Usually, Pentagon planners would have choices for such a situation able to go as a result of they have been already thought-about. Nonetheless, American intelligence by no means thought-about the Soviets placing missiles in Cuba to be an actual risk.

The unanimous suggestion of the Joint Chiefs of Workers was a full-scale invasion of the island.

On October 18, Kennedy met in particular person with the Soviet International Minister Andrei Gromyko. Gromyko advised Kennedy that any weapons in Cuba have been for defensive functions solely.

Though Gromyko didn’t understand it, Kennedy had the pictures which proved that he was mendacity.

There have been extra U2 missions despatched over Cuba to assemble extra proof of the Soviet missile websites.

On October 21, the nationwide safety advisors met once more, with a number of plans written up for the assorted choices beforehand introduced to the president.

Kennedy went with the quarantine of Cuba. This, he felt, would finest thread the needle of getting the missiles eliminated but not sparking a wider battle.

On October 22, President Kennedy gave an 18-minute, reside televised tackle to the American individuals, displaying the photographic proof of the missiles in Cuba.

Whereas Kennedy was on tv, the American ambassador to the Soviet Union, Foy Kohler, delivered a message from President Kennedy to Nikita Kruschev. It learn,

“the one factor that has most involved me has been the chance that your authorities wouldn’t accurately perceive the desire and dedication of america in any given state of affairs, since I’ve not assumed that you simply or every other sane man would, on this nuclear age, intentionally plunge the world into struggle which it’s crystal clear no nation may win and which may solely end in catastrophic penalties to the entire world, together with the aggressor.”

Letters with proof of the Soviet missiles have been additionally delivered to different US allies all over the world, and all US navy forces all over the world have been placed on DEFCON 3.

US Naval ships have been deployed round Cuba to stop any ship from delivering navy gear. Shipments of different merchandise have been allowed by, as Kennedy explicitly famous, not like what the Soviets did to Berlin in 1948.

The subsequent day, October 23, Kruschev replied to Kennedy, once more reiterating that the weapons in Cuba have been solely defensive.

In the meantime, in New York, UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson outlined the proof the US has gathered to the UN Safety Council.

Soviet submarines within the Atlantic have been now diverted to the Caribbean, and Soviet naval ships inbound sure to Cuba continued on their manner.

On October 24, tensions rose.

Kruschev despatched a message to Kennedy saying, “for those who weigh the current state of affairs with a cool head with out giving option to ardour, you’ll perceive that the Soviet Union can’t afford to not decline the despotic calls for of the USA.”

On October 25, issues obtained even worse.

The UN Safety Council met, and the Soviet UN Ambassador nonetheless refused to acknowledge the existence of the missiles in Cuba.

The US Strategic Air Command went to DEFCON 2, the very best degree US forces have ever been positioned. Strategic missiles have been positioned on full alert, and B-25 bombers have been within the air full time, circling in place in vary of the Soviet Union.

The Soviets, oddly sufficient, weren’t on alert. They didn’t improve the variety of flights of their bombers. One thing which high-ranking American navy officers took discover of.

The primary check of the quarantine additionally occurred. One Lebanese freighter was inspected and allowed to go, as was a Romanian oil tanker.

Soviet navy cargo ships stopped and didn’t problem the blockade.

That night, President Kennedy was notified that there had been no slowdown in exercise on the Cuban missile websites, and nothing had modified.

Right here I ought to be aware that whereas all of the political and navy maneuvering was going down, the remainder of the world was making ready for nuclear struggle. Panic shopping for was going down. Folks started making ready fall-out shelters.

Folks have been legitimately anxious that there may not be a tomorrow.

On October 26, unbeknownst to anybody on the time, Fidel Castro despatched a message to Nikita Kruschev encouraging a nuclear first strike towards america. It wasn’t till years later that the existence of this message turned public. Years later, Castro regretted the message based mostly on details about what was taking place that he was unaware of on the time.

Kruschev, fortunately, utterly dismissed it.

Kennedy, at this level, had come to the conclusion that the one factor which was going to take away the missiles was an invasion of Cuba. He ordered plans to be drawn up for an invasion and for a nuclear strike on the Soviet Union.

He didn’t make this a secret. He needed his intentions to be identified to interrupt the stalemate.

Kruschev despatched a message to Kennedy, which for the primary time, was not threatening, however slightly referred to as for cooler heads to prevail. He wrote:

Mr. President, we and also you ought not now to drag on the ends of the rope through which you might have tied the knot of struggle, as a result of the extra the 2 of us pull, the tighter that knot will likely be tied. And a second could come when that knot will likely be tied so tight that even he who tied it is not going to have the power to untie it, after which it is going to be mandatory to chop that knot, and what that will imply will not be for me to elucidate to you, since you your self perceive completely of what horrible forces our international locations dispose.

This was the primary glimmer of de-escalation.

Additionally, that day, low-level backdoor diplomacy started.

A former KGB station chief in Washington reached out to a journalist from ABC Information and requested him to achieve out to his contacts on the state division to see if they might be open to diplomacy.

The proposed answer can be the elimination of Soviet weapons in Cuba beneath UN supervision, the Cubans would agree to not host such weapons once more, and the US would agree to not invade Cuba.

The Cubans have been contacted about this by way of Brazil.

On the morning of October 27, issues took a flip for the more serious. Castro ordered Cuban protection forces to fireplace on any American plane over Cuba. The outcome was the downing of an American U2 spy aircraft and the demise of its pilot Main Rudolf Anderson.

At first, the People assumed that this was the beginning of the struggle. Blood had been shed, and the Soviets had fired first.

Nonetheless, the People quickly realized that the Soviets had nothing to do with this and didn’t order the aircraft to be shot down. It was utterly a choice made by Castro.

Kruschev then amended his message from the day before today, demanding that the People take away its missiles from Turkey.

That night, the president’s brother Robert Kennedy met with the Soviet ambassador to america, Anatoly Dobrynin. Kenney advised Dobrynin that the US had deliberate on eradicating missiles from Turkey earlier than all of this began however was not able to make it public but.

Nonetheless, he additionally advised Dobrynin that if there was one other assault on an American aircraft, it might end in all antiaircraft weapons in Cuba being taken out in an airstrike, which might in all probability then be adopted by an invasion.

This assembly occurred with out the data of anybody on the nationwide safety workforce or any NATO allies.

After conferences within the White Home, the President agreed to the elimination of missiles from Turkey in trade for the elimination of missiles from Cuba.

Kruschev permitted the settlement with out consulting the Politburo and had his acceptance broadcast on the radio in Moscow on the morning of October 28.

The People continued the quarantine of Cuba for a number of days as reconnaissance photographs confirmed the Soviets dismantling the missiles.

The American strategic forces stood down, they usually later eliminated missiles from each Turkey and Italy.

It was later found simply how shut either side have been to using nuclear weapons.

On the twenty seventh, an American ship was dropping depth prices when, unbeknownst to them, there was a Soviet submarine beneath them. The sub had standing orders to reply to any depth cost assaults with nuclear torpedoes they’d on board.

The captain of the submarine needed to launch a nuclear torpedo however was overruled by his superior, who simply occurred to be on board that day.

Likewise, the identical day, there was an unauthorized flight over Soviet airspace by the People. The Soviets scrambled their fighters, as did the People in response. The American Convair F-102’s that have been summoned have been armed with nuclear air-to-air missiles.

The Cuban Missile Disaster was a sobering expertise for each the People and the Soviets. One of many outcomes was the creation of a direct hotline between the Kremlin and the White Home. This could be sure that there can be no communication issues for any future crises.

Relations between the Soviets and the Cubans truly worsen. Castro was extra upset with Kruschev than he was with Kennedy as a result of Kruschev by no means consulted Castro concerning the elimination of the missiles.

The Cuban Missile Disaster stays the closest the world has ever come to nuclear struggle. There have been individuals on either side who needed struggle, and struggle may have simply unintentionally damaged out, however fortunately cooler heads prevailed.

The Govt Producer of Every part All over the place Each day is Charles Daniel.

The affiliate producers are Thor Thomsen and Peter Bennett.

Immediately’s assessment comes from listener DanielleH21984 over on Apple Podcasts in america. They write

Adore it

I really like this podcast! Generally I don’t need to hear for an hour about each historical past subject. This offers an informative and well-researched thorough overview of a subject. So nice!!

Thanks, Danielle! My unique concept for the present was to do 2-3 hour episodes each different week, so it seems I made the appropriate resolution.

I’d additionally prefer to remind everybody that I’ve a brand new podcast referred to as Every part All over the place Weekly.

This present format is me and a visitor speaking concerning the earlier week’s matters in a speedy hearth format, together with a number of matters from the backcatalog.

It’s at the moment obtainable for anybody who helps the present over on Patreon. This week’s visitor is my buddy Francis Tapon of the Wanderlearn Podcast. He joined me from Morocco.

Keep in mind, for those who go away a assessment or ship me a boostagram, you can also have it learn on the present,

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