FREE ESSAY ON CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

Nikita Khrushchev and the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was the closest the
world ever came to full-scale nuclear war. When the Soviet
Union placed offensive nuclear missiles in Cuba, President
Kennedy interpreted the act as one of hostility that would not
be tolerated. However, the situation was blown way out or
proportion by the president, American media, and ultimately
the citizens of the United States. The Soviet Premier, Nikita
Khrushchev, was reacting to the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba,
US Missile installations along the Turkey/Soviet border, and
the clear anti-Communist policy of the United States.
Khrushchev was born in Kalinovka in southwestern Russia. 
He was raised in a poor family whose income depended solely on
the coal mining job of his father. In 1918 he joined the
Bolsheviks and attended a Communist school the following year. 
He moved to Moscow in 1929 and began working for the Communist
government. He gained much praise and advanced quickly. By
1939, he was a member of the Politburo. He became Secretary
of the of the Central Committee in 1951. After Stalin died in
1953, the USSR went through two more premiers before
Khrushchev came to power in 1958.
As Premier, Khrushchev publicly condemned the terror
filled reign of Stalin. Stalin continually pushed for
domination. Several Eastern European countries united with
the USSR under Stalin's reign and millions of innocent people
were slain. Stalin also restricted Soviet citizens personal
liberties to previously unheard of measures. Khrushchev was a
completely different ruler. He acridly criticized Stalin's
crimes against humanity and began a rapid process known as
destalinization. This entailed destroying statues, pictures,
or images of Stalin and renaming most things previously named
for Stalin. Khrushchev also restored many of the personal
liberties that Stalin had taken away. He let political
prisoners free, restored much freedom of thought, and restored
freedom of the press. He increased production in factories
and placed a strong emphasis on the Soviet space program. 
Although he had little pity for small, weak Europe and Asian
countries, he worked to avoid war with Western nations. He
even called for a "peaceful coexistence" with the United
States. Khrushchev, despite being communist, was concerned
for the welfare of his country and did not want war with the
United States.
Despite his desire to avoid conflict with the western
world, Khrushchev was faced with an aggressive United States
government, and had to act accordingly. The Bay of Pigs
invasion was a prime example. This overt military action took
place when the CIA funded a paramilitary force of rebel Cubans
to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro. Kennedy refused to give
the invasion strong American military force so it ultimately
failed, thus becoming a great embarrassment to the United
States. Not only was it an incredible failure and
embarrassment, but it was also a US sponsored military
offensive against Cuba, a communist country and Soviet ally. 
It was a challenge to the governments of both the Soviet Union
and Cuba.
In addition to the attack on Cuba, Khrushchev was also
faced with US missile installations in Turkey and Italy that
posed a serious threat to the Soviet Union. The installations
in Turkey were less than 150 miles from the Soviet border. 
The installations here were MRBMs, Medium-Range Ballistic
Missiles, and were nearly identical to the missiles Khrushchev
had installed in Cuba. He was merely trying to prevent the US
from gaining the upper hand in a power struggle, which could
have meant serious disaster for the Soviets. Khrushchev, just
like Kennedy and the rest of the United States, didn't want
the enemy to gain a nuclear advantage. He was trying to
protect his country and prevent nuclear disaster. 
The hysteria created in the United States as a result of
the Soviet installations was immense. The US media was
calling Khrushchev's actions aggressive and people began to
panic. Kennedy and his advisors were debating whether or not
to invade Cuba to destroy the missiles (which would have meant
war), or to negotiate with Khrushchev. The situation was
turned into a crisis. Khrushchev sent his first of two
letters to Kennedy on October 24, 1962 in which he explained
his reasons for installing the missiles. He said that the
action was not aggressive, and that they would remove them
immediately if the US missiles in Turkey were dismantled and
Kennedy publicly promised not to invade Cuba. The fact that
Khrushchev wanted the Turkey missiles dismantled was hidden
from the American public for several years, making Khrushchev
look much more militant than he truly was. Kennedy still
debated with his brother, Robert, and Vice President Johnson
for a few days. They decided not to heed to the Soviet
demands and waited instead. In the meantime a U-2 plane was
shot down over Cuba as it was surveying the missiles,
suggesting that Khrushchev might be aggressive. However,
planes were continually flying over Cuba, posing a threat to
the Cubans and Soviets. Kennedy decided not to retaliate but
voiced that if another plane was shot down, we would invade
Cuba. Khrushchev wrote another letter on October 26
reiterating that they would quickly dismantle the Cuban
Missiles if the US would publicly promise not to invade Cuba
and if they would dismantle their missiles in Turkey. Again,
Kennedy delayed and did not respond to Khrushchev. Kennedy
merely said that the US blockade would be lifted if the
missiles were taken out. On October 28, Khrushchev agreed and
ordered the missiles to be removed. The Cuban Missile Crisis
was over.
What happened here is easily understood in retrospect. 
The US had outlined a clear Anti-Communism policy through the
Korean War, Bay of Pigs invasion, and missile installations in
Europe. Khrushchev didn't want to jeopardize the safety of
his country so decided to install missiles in Cuba to protect
the Cubans and the USSR The US media along with the
government, did not inform the public of the installations in
Turkey or Khrushchev's offer to remove the missiles if the US
missiles were also removed. This created intense public
opposition to the Soviet leader as he was made out to be much
more militant than he actually was. He was simply fighting
fire with fire, but the government and media prevented the
public from having the truth. It looks almost like a blatant
attempt to manipulate the American public by over-dramatizing
a situation for which US government was predominately
responsible. Kennedy threatened invasion and he would have
had support of the entire nation if he had proceeded with this
plan. Khrushchev obviously didn't want war as he eventually
agreed to remove the missiles and allow the US to have a
nuclear advantage.
Why would Khrushchev agree to remove the missiles
without any US promise to remove their missiles or not to
invade Cuba? The answer is obvious. Khrushchev did not want
war with the United States. He was a vast improvement over
Stalin as a Premier and had restored much freedom to his
country. He wasn't a mad killer like Stalin and simply wanted
to protect the citizens of his country, unlike Stalin had. 
The US government, however, wanted the media and public to
think otherwise. They succeeded.
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