It has already been 54 years since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 could have been the final chapter for mankind. Meanwhile, chronologists, analyzing the events of those days by the day, still find ambiguities and white spots in those distant and fateful events. But undoubtedly all historians agree that the crisis of man was mirrored in global problems humanity, which led to the circumstances that contributed to the development of the Caribbean nuclear missile crisis in 1962.

How coups are made: the US initiates the takeover of Cuba!

As a result of another revolutionary upheaval, with which the history of Latin America is full, Fidel Castro becomes the leader of the Cuban Republic in 1961. The appearance of this leader for American intelligence was a complete failure, because over time it turned out that the new ruler did not suit the States because of his completely “wrong” policy. Without focusing much attention on the policy of the new leader, the CIA in 1959 organized several conspiracies and rebellions in Cuba. At the same time, taking advantage of Cuba's complete economic dependence on America, the Americans began to put pressure on the state's economy, refusing to buy sugar and completely cutting off the supply of oil products to the island.

However, the government of Cuba was not afraid of the pressure of the superpower and turned to Russia. The USSR, having calculated the benefits from the current situation, concluded agreements with him for the purchase of sugar, the supply of petroleum products and weapons.

But the CIA was not bothered by the first failures in achieving the goal. After all, the euphoria from the victories in Guatemala and Iran has not yet passed, where the "objectionable" rulers of these states were easily overthrown. Therefore, it seemed that it would not be difficult to win a victory in a small republic.

In the spring of 1960, the Central Intelligence Agency worked out steps to overthrow F. Castro and Eisenhower (US President) approved them. The project to eliminate the leader involved the training in Florida of Cuban immigrants opposed to the policies of Fidel Castro, who would push popular unrest to overthrow the existing regime and triumphantly lead power in Cuba.

However, the Americans could not assume that the new leader of the state was not characterized by softness, and “non-resistance to evil by violence” was not acceptable to him. Therefore, the leader was not going to sit and wait for his overthrow, but actively strengthening his army, he turned to the Soviet Union so that he would provide some military assistance to the best of his ability.

To organize the assassination of Cuban leaders: Fidel Castro, Raul Castro and Che Guevara, American intelligence made an appeal to the Cuban mafia, which had a vested interest in overthrowing the ruler. Since with the advent of Fidel, all the mafiosi were left behind by the state, and their business (casino) was completely destroyed, the mafia clans happily agreed to help the CIA, in the hope of regaining their influence in the republic. However, with all the efforts of the CIA, it was not possible to overthrow the leader of Cuba.

During the period of preparation for the invasion, at the end of 1960, John F. Kennedy, who was opposed to an aggressive policy against Cuba, became president in the United States. However, having received disinformation from Dulles, this was confirmed by the documents that were subsequently opened, D. Kennedy initially approved the invasion of American troops, and rejected it a couple of days later. But this did not prevent the CIA from launching an invasion of Cuba on April 17th.

Hiding behind the slogan of "nationwide uprising", prepared extremists landed on the island, but unexpectedly received a strong rebuff from the local armed forces, who established strict control of their territory, both from the sky and on the ground. Within 72 hours, many extremists were captured, many were killed, and America's act was covered in indelible shame.

Caribbean Crisis 1962 - Operation Mongoose

The defeat of the American landing hit hard on the "greatness" of the superpower, so its government became even more determined to crush the recalcitrant Cuba. So, after 5 months, Kennedy signed a plan for covert sabotage, code-named "Mongoose". The plan called for information gathering, sabotage and invasion american army to carry out a popular uprising in the republic. American analysts relied on espionage, subversive propaganda and sabotage in the project, which were supposed to end with the "elimination of communist power."

The implementation of Operation Mongoose fell on a group of security officials from the CIA, code-named "Special Forces W", whose headquarters was on the island of Miami. The group was led by William Harvey.

The mistake of the CIA was that their calculations were based on the alleged desire of the Cubans to get rid of the existing communist government, for which a push was needed. After the victory, it was planned to form a new "compliant" regime.

However, the plan was thwarted for two reasons: firstly, for some reason, the people of Cuba could not understand why their happiness depended on the overthrow of the "Castro regime", and therefore they were in no hurry to do so. The second reason was the deployment of the nuclear potential and troops of the USSR on the territory of the island, which easily reached the territory of the United States.

Thus, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred for two international political reasons:

1st reason. The desire of the United States, the key initiator of the No. 1 crisis in Cuba, to seat its pro-American people in the government apparatus.

2nd reason. Placement on the island of the armed contingent of the USSR with nuclear weapons.

Chronology of the development of the Cuban Missile Crisis!

The long-term cold war of the two powerful powers of the USSR and America was not just about building up modern weapons, it also boiled down to a significant expansion of the zone of influence on weak states. Therefore, the USSR has always provided support for socialist revolutions, and in pro-Western states it has assisted in carrying out people's liberation movements, provided weapons, equipment, military specialists, instructors and a limited military contingent. When the revolution in the state was victorious, the authorities received patronage from the socialist camp. On its territory, the construction of army bases took place, and significant gratuitous aid was often invested in its development.

After the victory of the revolution in 1959, Fidel directed his first visit to the United States. But Eisenhower did not consider it necessary to personally meet with the new Cuban leader and refused due to employment. The arrogant refusal of the President of America prompted F. Castro to pursue an anti-American policy. He nationalized the telephone and electric companies, oil refineries and sugar refineries, as well as banks formerly owned by American citizens. In response, the United States began to put pressure on Cuba economically, stopping buying raw sugar from it and supplying oil products. The 1962 crisis was approaching.

The difficult economic situation and the constant desire of the States to “tear Cuba to pieces” prompted her government to develop diplomacy in relations with the USSR. The latter did not miss his chance, set up sugar purchases, tankers with oil began to visit Cuba regularly, and specialists in various fields helped to develop office work in a friendly country. At the same time, Fidel constantly petitioned the Kremlin to expand the Soviet nuclear potential, sensing the danger from the rulers of America.

Caribbean Crisis 1962 - Operation Anadyr

Recalling the events of those days, Nikita Khrushchev wrote in his memoirs that the desire to deploy weapons in Cuba appeared in the spring of 1962 at the time of his arrival in Bulgaria. While at the conference, Andrei Gromyko drew the First Secretary's attention to the fact that the United States had installed its missile warheads in nearby Turkey, which could reach Moscow in 15 minutes. Therefore, the answer came by itself - to strengthen the armed potential in Cuba.

At the end of May 1962, a government delegation flew out of Moscow to negotiate with Fidel Castro with certain proposals. After short negotiations with his colleagues and Ernesto Che Guevara, the leader made a positive decision to the diplomats of the USSR.

Thus, the complex complex operation "Anadyr" was developed to install ballistic missiles on the island. The operation provided for the armament of 60 missiles of 70 megatons with a repair and technical set of bases, their parts, as well as units that can provide work for military personnel of 45,000 people. It is noteworthy that so far no agreement has been found between the two countries, fixing the involvement of weapons and the army of the USSR in a foreign country.

The development and conduct of the operation fell on the shoulders of Marshal I. Kh. Baghramyan. The initial stage of the plan provided for the disorientation of the Americans in relation to the place and destination of the cargo. Even the Soviet military did not have true information about the trip, knowing only that they were carrying a "load" to Chukotka. For greater persuasiveness, the ports accepted entire echelons with winter clothes and sheepskin coats. But it was also weakness the operation is the inability to hide ballistic missiles from the gaze of reconnaissance aircraft, which regularly overflew Cuba. Therefore, the plan provided for the detection of Soviet launch missiles by American intelligence before they were installed, and the only diversionary way out of this situation was to place several anti-aircraft batteries at the place of their unloading.

In the first days of August, the first batches of cargo were delivered, and only on September 8, at nighttime, the first ballistic missiles were unloaded in the port of Havana. Then there were September 16 and October 14, the period when all the missiles and almost all the equipment were received by Cuba.

“Soviet specialists” in civilian clothes and missiles were transported by merchant ships heading towards Cuba, while they were always controlled by American ships, which by that time already held the blockade of the island. So, on September 1, V. Bakaev (Minister of the Navy) submitted a report to the Central Committee of the CPSU from the captain of the ship "Orenburg", which stated that at 18 o'clock a greeting passed over the ship American destroyer, farewell was with the signal "peace".

It seemed that nothing could provoke a conflict.

The US response is measures to contain the conflict!

Finding missile bases in photos taken from the destroyer U-2, Kennedy assembles a group of advisers who soon offer several options for resolving the conflict: destroying the installations with precision bombing, conducting full-scale operations in Cuba, or imposing a naval blockade.

When considering all options, the CIA was not even aware of the presence of nuclear facilities (referred to as "Moon"), so the choice was made on a military blockade with an ultimatum or a full-scale armed invasion. Of course, the fighting could provoke a major nuclear attack on the US military, with catastrophic consequences.

Kennedy, fearing Western condemnation of military aggression, is considering implementing a naval blockade. And only on October 20, having received photographs with established missile positions, the president signs sanctions against the Republic of Cuba, on the introduction of "quarantine", that is, the restriction of maritime traffic in relation to arms supplies, and bringing five divisions to absolute combat readiness.

So, on October 22, the Caribbean missile crisis begins to gain momentum. During this period, Kennedy announces on television the presence of anti-aircraft missiles on the island and the need for a military naval blockade. America was supported by all European allies, afraid of a nuclear threat from the Cuban authorities. On the other hand, Khrushchev expressed dissatisfaction with the illegal quarantine and said that Soviet ships would ignore it, and in the event of an attack on American ships, a lightning strike would be dealt in response.

Meanwhile, four more submarines delivered another batch of warheads and forty-four cruise missiles, that is, most of the cargo reached its location. The rest of the ships had to be returned home to avoid collisions with American ships.

The armed conflict is heating up, and all the countries of the Warsaw Pact are on alert.

Year 1962 crisis escalates!

October 23. Robert Kennedy arrives at the Soviet embassy and warns of the serious intentions of the United States to stop all ships in the island area.

October 24th. Kennedy sends a telegram to Khrushchev urging him to stop, "be reasonable" and not violate the terms of the blockade of Cuba. Khrushchev’s response accuses the United States of making demands an ultimatum and calls the quarantine an “act of aggression” that could lead humanity to a global catastrophe from a missile strike. At the same time, the First Secretary warns the President of the States that Soviet ships will not be subject to "pirate actions", and in case of danger, the USSR will take any measures to protect the ships.

the 25th of October. This date preserved the important events that took place in the UN. US official representative Stevenson demanded an explanation from Zorin (who had no information about the Anadyr operation) regarding the deployment of military installations on the island. Zorin categorically refused to explain, after which aerial photographs were brought into the hall, where close-up Soviet launchers were visible.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean Crisis develops. And Khrushchev receives a response from the President of America, with accusations of violating quarantine conditions. From that moment on, Khrushchev began to think about ways to resolve the existing confrontation, declaring to the members of the Presidium that the retention of nuclear weapons in the republic would lead to the development of war. At the meeting, a decision is made to dismantle the installations in exchange for the fact that the United States guarantees the preservation of the existing Castro regime on the island.

October 26th. Khrushchev responded by telephone to Kennedy, and the next day, over the radio broadcast, he appealed to the US government to dismantle the nuclear launchers in Turkey.

27th October. The day was called "Black Saturday" because Soviet air defenses shot down a U.S. U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, killing the pilot. In parallel with this event, a second reconnaissance aircraft was intercepted in Siberia. And two American "Crusaders" were shelled from the direction of Cuba during the flight over the territory of the island. These events frightened the military advisers of the President of the States, so he was required to urgently allow the invasion of the rebellious island.

Night from 27th to 28th October. The Cuban Missile Crisis has reached its peak. On behalf of the president, a secret meeting between his brother and A. Dobrynin took place at the Soviet embassy. At it, Robert Kennedy informed the Soviet ambassador that the situation could become uncontrollable at any moment, and the consequences would lead to terrible events. He also stressed that the president gives guarantees of non-aggression against Cuba, agrees to lift the blockade and remove nuclear warheads from Turkey. And already in the morning, the Kremlin received a transcript from the President of the States on the conditions for preventing the development of the conflict:

1. The consent of the USSR to withdraw weapons from Cuba under the strict control of the UN, and no longer attempt to supply nuclear weapons to the Cuban island.
2. On the other hand, the United States undertakes to remove the blockade from Cuba and give a guarantee of non-aggression against it.

Khrushchev, without delay, sends a message through the stenographer and radio broadcasting about consent to the settlement of the October Caribbean crisis.

Caribbean crisis of 1962 - the resolution of the international conflict!

Soviet weapons were loaded onto ships and taken out of Cuban territory within three weeks. After that, the President of the United States issued an order to end its blockade. A few months later, America withdrew its weapons from Turkey as obsolete systems, which, by that time, had already been replaced by advanced Polaris missiles.

The October Caribbean crisis was resolved peacefully, but this fact did not satisfy everyone. And later, when Khrushchev was removed, dissatisfaction was expressed by members of the Central Committee of the CPSU about concessions for the States and the inept conduct of the country's foreign policy, which led to a crisis.

The leadership of the Communist Party regarded the compromise solution as a betrayal of the interests of the USSR. Although, a few years later, the USSR already had intercontinental weapons capable of getting the States out of the territory of the Soviet Union.

A similar opinion was held by some military chiefs of the CIA. Thus, Lemay said that by refusing to attack Cuba, America admitted defeat.

Not happy with the outcome of the crisis and Fidel Castro, fearing an invasion from America. However, the guarantees of non-aggression were fulfilled and are still being observed. Although Operation Mongoose stopped, the idea of ​​overthrowing Fidel Castro did not go away, changing the methods for achieving this task to a systematic siege by starvation. But it is worth noting that the Castro regime is quite tenacious, as it was able to withstand the collapse of the Soviet Union and the cessation of aid supplies. Cuba is holding on today, despite the intrigues of the CIA. She survived despite the riots and the crisis. You can read about how to survive in a crisis today here:. And by subscribing to the newsletter, you can learn how to live comfortably in a crisis and never fall into it:

To sum up: the October crisis - historical meaning!

The October Caribbean Crisis marked the beginning of a turning point in the arms race.

After the hot events ended, the Caribbean missile crisis facilitated the establishment of a direct telephone line between the capitals of the two states, so that the leaders could quickly make emergency calls.

A détente began in the world, accompanied by an anti-war movement. Voices began to appear calling for restrictions on the production of nuclear weapons and public participation in world political life.

In 1963, representatives from Moscow, a delegation from the United States, and representatives of the British authorities signed a historically important treaty banning nuclear tests in water, air, and space.

In 1968, a new document was agreed between the countries of the anti-Hitler united coalition, prohibiting the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

In six years, Brezhnev and Nixon will put their signatures on a treaty preventing nuclear war.

A large amount of documentation on the development of the crisis, the adoption of various decisions in a very short period of thirteen days made it possible to analyze the processes in making state strategic decisions.

In 1962, the Caribbean crisis on the face were characteristic signs of stupid subordination of people to technology, spiritual degradation, priority in relation to material values. And today, several decades later, one can observe the deep imprint of the crisis on the development of civilization, which leads to frequent "demographic explosions", the globalization of the economy and the degradation of man.

With the last salvos of the Second World War, the world turned out to be imaginary. Yes, from that moment guns did not rumble, clouds of planes did not roar in the sky, and tank columns did not roll along the streets of cities. It seemed that after such a destructive and devastating war as the Second World War became, in all countries and on all continents they would finally understand how dangerous political games could become. However, this did not happen. The world plunged into a new confrontation, even more dangerous and large-scale, which was later given a very subtle and capacious name - the Cold War.

The confrontation between the main political centers of influence in the world has moved from battlefields to a confrontation between ideologies and economics. An unprecedented arms race began, which gave rise to a nuclear confrontation between the warring parties. The foreign political situation has again heated up to the limit, each time threatening to escalate into an armed conflict on a planetary scale. The first sign was the Korean War, which broke out five years after the end of World War II. Even then, the US and the USSR began to measure their strength behind the scenes and unofficially, participating in the conflict to varying degrees. The next peak of the confrontation between the two superpowers was the Caribbean crisis of 1962 - the aggravation of the international political situation, which threatened to plunge the planet into a nuclear apocalypse.

The events that took place during this period clearly showed mankind how shaky and fragile the world can be. The atomic monopoly of the United States ended in 1949 when the USSR tested its own atomic bomb. The military-political confrontation between the two countries has reached a qualitatively new level. Nuclear bombs, strategic aircraft and missiles leveled the chances of both sides, making them equally vulnerable to a retaliatory nuclear strike. Realizing the full danger and consequences of the use of nuclear weapons, the opposing sides switched to outright nuclear blackmail.

Now both the US and the USSR tried to use their own nuclear arsenals as an instrument of pressure, seeking to achieve big dividends for themselves in the political arena. An indirect cause of the Caribbean crisis can be considered attempts at nuclear blackmail, which was resorted to by the leadership of both the United States and the Soviet Union. The Americans, having installed their medium-range nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey, sought to put pressure on the USSR. The Soviet leadership, in response to these aggressive steps, tried to transfer the game to the field of their opponent by placing their own nuclear missiles at the side of the Americans. Cuba was chosen as the place for such a dangerous experiment, which in those days was in the center of attention of the whole world, becoming the key to Pandora's box.

The true causes of the crisis

Considering superficially the history of the most acute and bright period in the confrontation between the two world powers, various conclusions can be drawn. On the one hand, the events of 1962 showed how vulnerable human civilization is in the face of the threat of nuclear war. On the other hand, the whole world was shown how peaceful coexistence depends on the ambitions of a certain group of people, one or two people who make fatal decisions. Who did the right thing, who did not in this situation, time judged. The real confirmation of this is that we are now writing materials on this topic, analyzing the chronology of events, studying real reasons Caribbean crisis.

Presence or match various factors brought the world in 1962 to the brink of disaster. Here it would be appropriate to focus on the following aspects:

• the presence of objective factors;
• the action of subjective factors;
• time frame;
• planned results and goals.

Each of the proposed points reveals not only the presence of certain physical and psychological factors, but also sheds light on the very essence of the conflict. A thorough analysis of the current situation in the world in October 1962 is necessary, since for the first time humanity really felt the threat of complete annihilation. Neither before nor after, not a single armed conflict or military-political confrontation had such high stakes.

The objective reasons that explain the main essence of the crisis that has arisen are the attempts of the leadership of the Soviet Union, headed by N.S. Khrushchev to find ways out of the dense ring of encirclement in which the entire Soviet bloc found itself in the early 1960s. By this time, the United States and its NATO allies had managed to concentrate powerful strike groups along the entire perimeter of the USSR. In addition to strategic missiles deployed at missile bases in North America, the Americans had a fairly large air fleet of strategic bombers.

In addition to all this, the US deployed in Western Europe and on the southern borders of the Soviet Union, a whole armada of intermediate and shorter range missiles. And this despite the fact that the United States, Great Britain and France taken together, in terms of the number of warheads and carriers, were many times superior to the USSR. It was the deployment of Jupiter medium-range missiles in Italy and Turkey that was the last straw for the Soviet leadership, which decided to make a similar attack on the enemy.

The nuclear missile power of the USSR at that time could not be called a real counterbalance to American nuclear power. The flight range of Soviet missiles was limited, and submarines capable of carrying only three R-13 ballistic missiles did not differ in high tactical and technical data. There was only one way to make the Americans feel that they, too, were under a nuclear sight, by placing Soviet ground-based nuclear missiles at their side. Even under the condition that Soviet missiles did not differ in high flight characteristics and the relative paucity of warheads, such a threat could have a sobering effect on the Americans.

In other words, the essence of the Caribbean crisis lies in the natural desire of the USSR to equalize the chances in the mutual nuclear threat with their potential adversaries. How this was done is another question. We can say that the result exceeded the expectations of both one and the other side.

Prerequisites for the conflict and the goals of the parties

The subjective factor that played the main role in this conflict is post-revolutionary Cuba. After the victory of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Fidel Castro's regime followed in the wake of Soviet foreign policy, which greatly annoyed its mighty northern neighbor. After the failure to overthrow the revolutionary government in Cuba by force of arms, the Americans switched to a policy of economic and military pressure on the young regime. The US trade blockade against Cuba only accelerated the development of events that played into the hands of the Soviet leadership. Khrushchev, echoed by the military, gladly accepts Fidel Castro's proposal to send a Soviet military contingent to Liberty Island. In the strictest secrecy high level On May 21, 1962, a decision was made to send Soviet troops to Cuba, including missiles with nuclear warheads.

From that moment on, events begin to unfold at a rapid pace. Time limits are in effect. After the return of the Soviet military-diplomatic mission headed by Rashidov from the island of Freedom, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU meets in the Kremlin on June 10. At this meeting, the Minister of Defense of the USSR for the first time announced and submitted for consideration a draft plan for the transfer of Soviet troops and nuclear ICBMs to Cuba. The operation was codenamed Anadyr.

Rashidov, the head of the Soviet delegation, and Rashidov, who had returned from a trip to Liberty Island, decided that the faster and more discreetly the entire operation to transfer Soviet missile units to Cuba was carried out, the more unexpected this step would be for the United States. On the other hand, the current situation will force both sides to look for a way out of the current situation. Beginning in June 1962, the military-political situation took a menacing turn, pushing both sides towards an inevitable military-political clash.

The last aspect to be taken into account when considering the cause of the Cuban crisis in 1962 is a realistic assessment of the goals and objectives pursued by each of the parties. The United States, under President Kennedy, was at the height of its economic and military power. The appearance of a state of socialist orientation at the side of the world hegemon caused tangible damage to America's reputation as a world leader, therefore, in this context, the desire of the Americans to destroy the first socialist state in the Western Hemisphere by force of military, economic and political pressure is quite understandable. The American President and most of the American establishment were extremely determined in achieving their goals. And this despite the fact that the risk of a direct military clash with the USSR in the White House was estimated very highly.

The Soviet Union, led by the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, tried not to miss his chance by supporting the Castro regime in Cuba. The situation in which the young state found itself required the adoption of decisive measures and steps. The mosaic of world politics took shape in favor of the USSR. Using socialist Cuba, the USSR could create a threat to the territory of the United States, which, being overseas, considered themselves completely safe from Soviet missiles.

The Soviet leadership tried to squeeze the maximum out of the current situation. In addition, the Cuban government played in unison with the plans of the Soviets. You can not discount and personal factors. In the context of the intensified confrontation between the USSR and the USA over Cuba, the personal ambitions and charisma of the Soviet leader were clearly manifested. Khrushchev could go down in world history as a leader who dared to directly challenge a nuclear power. We should give credit to Khrushchev, he succeeded. Despite the fact that the world literally hung in the balance for two weeks, the parties managed to some extent achieve what they wanted.

The military component of the Caribbean crisis

The transfer of Soviet troops to Cuba, called Operation Anadyr, began at the end of June. Such an uncharacteristic name of the operation, which is associated with the delivery of secret cargo by sea to the southern latitudes, is explained by military-strategic plans. Loaded with troops, equipment and personnel, Soviet ships were to be sent to the North. The purpose of such a large-scale operation for the general public and foreign intelligence was banal and prosaic, providing economic cargo and personnel settlements along the Northern Sea Route.

Soviet ships left the ports of the Baltic, from Severomorsk and from the Black Sea, following their usual course to the north. Further, lost in high latitudes, they sharply changed course in the direction to the south, following the coast of Cuba. Such maneuvers were supposed to mislead not only the American fleet, which patrolled the entire North Atlantic, but also the American intelligence channels. It is important to note that the secrecy with which the operation was carried out gave a stunning effect. Careful camouflage of preparatory operations, transportation of missiles on ships and placement were carried out in complete secrecy from the Americans. In the same perspective, the equipment of launch positions and the deployment of missile divisions on the island took place.

Neither in the Soviet Union, nor in the United States, nor in any other country in the world, no one could even imagine what kind of short term an entire missile army will be deployed under the noses of the Americans. The flights of American spy planes did not provide accurate information about what was really going on in Cuba. In total, until October 14, when Soviet ballistic missiles were photographed during the flight of an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, the Soviet Union transferred and deployed 40 R-12 and R-14 medium and intermediate-range missiles on the island. In addition to everything, Soviet cruise missiles with nuclear warheads were deployed near the American naval base of Guantanamo Bay.

The photographs, which clearly showed the positions of Soviet missiles in Cuba, produced the effect of a bombshell. The news that the entire territory of the United States is now within the reach of Soviet nuclear missiles, the total equivalent of which was 70 megatons of TNT, shocked not only the highest echelons of the United States government, but also the bulk of the country's civilian population.

In total, 85 Soviet cargo ships took part in the Anadyr operation, which managed to covertly deliver not only missiles and launchers, but also a lot of other military and service equipment, service personnel and combatant army units. By October 1962, 40 thousand military contingents of the USSR Armed Forces were stationed in Cuba.

A game of nerves and a swift denouement

The reaction of the Americans to the situation was instantaneous. An Executive Committee was urgently created in the White House, headed by President John F. Kennedy. A variety of retaliatory options were considered, starting with a pinpoint strike on missile positions and ending with an armed invasion of American troops on the island. The most acceptable option was chosen - a complete naval blockade of Cuba and an ultimatum presented to the Soviet leadership. It should be noted that as early as September 27, 1962, Kennedy received carte blanche from Congress to use the armed forces to correct the situation in Cuba. The US President pursued a different strategy, tending to solve the problem through military-diplomatic means.

An open intervention could result in serious casualties among the personnel, besides, no one denied the possible use by the Soviet Union of larger countermeasures. An interesting fact is that in none of the official conversations at the highest level, the USSR did not admit that there were Soviet offensive missile weapons in Cuba. In this light, the United States had no choice but to act on its own, thinking less about world prestige and more concerned about its own national security.

You can talk and discuss all the vicissitudes of negotiations, meetings and meetings of the UN Security Council for a long time, but today it becomes clear that the political games of the leadership of the USA and the USSR in October 1962 led humanity to a dead end. No one could guarantee that each next day of global confrontation would not be the last day of peace. The results of the Caribbean crisis were acceptable to both sides. In the course of the agreements reached, the Soviet Union removed the missiles from the island of Freedom. Three weeks later, the last Soviet missile left Cuba. Literally the next day, November 20, the United States lifted the naval blockade of the island. The following year, Jupiter missile systems were phased out in Turkey.

In this context, the personalities of Khrushchev and Kennedy deserve special attention. Both leaders were under constant pressure from their own advisers and the military, who were already ready to unleash the Third World War. However, both were smart enough not to follow the hawks of world politics. Here, the speed of reaction of both leaders in making important decisions, as well as the presence of common sense, played an important role. Within two weeks, the whole world clearly saw how quickly the world's established order can be turned into chaos.

Cuban Missile Crisis- famous historical term, which defines tense relations between superstates in October 1962.

Answering the question, what is the Cuban Missile Crisis, it is impossible not to mention that it affected several spheres of confrontation between the two geopolitical blocs at once. Thus, he touched upon the military, political and diplomatic spheres of confrontation within the framework of cold war.

cold war– global economic, political, ideological, military, scientific and technical confrontation between the USA and the USSR in the second half of the twentieth century.

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Causes of the crisis

Causes of the Caribbean Crisis consist in the deployment by US military personnel of nuclear ballistic missiles in Turkey in 1961. The new Jupiter launch vehicles were capable of delivering a nuclear charge to Moscow and other major cities of the Union in a matter of minutes, because of which the USSR would not have a chance to respond to the threat.

Khrushchev had to react to such a gesture and, having agreed with the government of Cuba, stationed Soviet missiles in Cuba. Thus, located in close proximity to the US East Coast, missiles in Cuba were able to destroy key US cities faster than nuclear warheads launched from Turkey.

Interesting! The deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba caused panic among the US population, and the government regarded such actions as a direct act of aggression.

Considering Causes of the Caribbean Crisis, one cannot but mention the attempts of the USA and the USSR to establish control over Cuba. The parties tried to expand their influence in the third world countries, this process was called the cold war.

Caribbean Crisis - Deployment of Nuclear Ballistic Missiles

In response to the threatening deployment of weapons in Turkey Khrushchev convenes a conference in May 1962. He discusses possible solutions to the problem. After the revolution in Cuba, Fidel Castro repeatedly asked the USSR for help in order to strengthen its military presence on the island. Khrushchev decided to take advantage of the offer and decided to send not only people, but also nuclear warheads. With the consent of Castro, Soviet side began planning the secret transfer of nuclear weapons.

Operation Anadyr

Attention! The term "Anadyr" means a secret operation of the Soviet troops, which consisted in the covert delivery of nuclear weapons to the island of Cuba.

In September 1962, the first nuclear missiles were delivered to Cuba on civilian ships. Courts were covered diesel submarines. On September 25, the operation was completed. In addition to nuclear weapons, the USSR transferred about 50,000 soldiers and military equipment to Cuba. US intelligence could not fail to notice such a move, but it did not yet suspect the transfer of secret weapons.

Washington's reaction

In September, American reconnaissance aircraft spotted Soviet fighters in Cuba. This could not go unnoticed, and during another flight on October 14, the U-2 aircraft takes pictures of the location of Soviet ballistic missiles. With the assistance of a defector, US intelligence was able to determine that the image contained launch vehicles for nuclear warheads.

October 16 about photos, which confirm the deployment of Soviet missiles on the island of Cuba, report personally to President Kennedy. Having convened an emergency council, the president considered three ways to solve the problem:

• naval blockade of the island;
• pinpoint missile strike across Cuba;
• full-scale military operation.

The President's military advisers, having learned about the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba, said that it was necessary to start full-scale military operations. The president himself did not want to start a war, and therefore on October 20 he decided on a naval blockade.

Attention! A naval blockade is regarded in international relations as an act of war. Thus, the United States acts as an aggressor, and the USSR is only an injured party.

Because the United States presented its act not as military naval blockade but like quarantine. On October 22, Kennedy addressed the people of the United States. In the appeal, he said that the USSR secretly deployed nuclear missiles. Also he said, that the peaceful settlement of conflicts in Cuba- his the main objective. And yet he mentioned that launching missiles from the island towards the US would be perceived as the start of a war.

The Cold War on the island of Cuba could very soon turn into a nuclear war, as the situation between the parties was extremely tense. The military blockade began on 24 October.

The Peak of the Caribbean Crisis

On October 24, the parties exchanged messages. Kennedy urged that Khrushchev not exacerbate the Cuban Missile Crisis or try to bypass the blockade. The USSR, however, stated that they perceive such demands as aggression on the part of the States.

On October 25, at the UN Security Council, the ambassadors of the conflicting parties presented their demands to each other. The American representative demanded recognition from the USSR about the deployment of missiles in Cuba. Interesting, but the representative of the Union did not know about the missiles, since Khrushchev initiated very few people into the Anadyr operation. And so the representative of the Union evaded the answer.

Interesting! The results of the day - the United States announced increased military readiness - the only time in the history of the country's existence.

After Khrushchev writes another letter - now he does not consult with the ruling elite of the USSR. In him general secretary comes to a compromise. He gives his word to withdraw the missiles from Cuba, returning them to the Union, but in return, Khrushchev demands that the United States not undertake acts of military aggression against Cuba.

balance of power

Speaking of the Caribbean Crisis, one cannot deny the fact that October 1962 is the time when a nuclear war could really start, and therefore it is reasonable to briefly consider the balance of forces of the parties before its hypothetical start.

The United States had much more impressive weapons and air defense systems. The Americans also had more advanced aircraft, as well as launch vehicles for nuclear warheads. Soviet nuclear missiles were less reliable and would have taken longer to prepare for launch.

The US had about 310 nuclear ballistic missiles around the world, while the USSR could only launch 75 long-range ballistic missiles. Another 700 had an average range and could not reach strategic important US cities.

Aviation of the USSR was seriously inferior to the American- their fighters and bombers, although they were more numerous, lost in quality. Most of them could not reach the shores of the United States.

The main trump card of the USSR was the advantageous strategic location of missiles in Cuba, from where they would reach the shores of America and hit important cities in a matter of minutes.

"Black Saturday" and conflict resolution

On October 27, Castro writes a letter to Khrushchev, in which he claims that the Americans will begin hostilities in Cuba within 1-3 days. At the same time, Soviet intelligence reports on the activation of the US Air Force in the Caribbean, which confirms the words of the commandant of Cuba.

In the evening of the same day, another US reconnaissance aircraft flew over the territory of Cuba, which was shot down by Soviet air defense systems installed in Cuba, as a result of which an American pilot died.

On this day, two more US Air Force aircraft were damaged. Kennedy no longer denied the vast possibility of a declaration of war. Castro demanded nuclear strike in the USA and was ready to sacrifice for this all of Cuba and your life.

denouement

The settlement of the situation during the Caribbean crisis began on the night of October 27th. Kennedy was willing to lift the blockade and guarantee Cuban independence in exchange for the removal of missiles from Cuba.

On October 28, Khrushchev receives Kennedy's letter. After some thought, he writes a response message in which he goes to reconcile and resolve the situation.

Effects

The outcome of the situation, called the Cuban Missile Crisis, was of worldwide significance - nuclear war was cancelled.

Many were not satisfied with the outcome of the talks between Kennedy and Khrushchev. The ruling circles of the USA and the USSR accused their leaders of in softness towards the enemy They shouldn't have to make concessions.

After the settlement of the conflict, the leaders of the states found mutual language, which caused a thaw in relations between the parties. The Cuban Missile Crisis also showed the world that it is wise to stop using nuclear weapons.

The Caribbean Crisis is one of the key events of the 20th century, about which the following interesting facts can be cited:

• Khrushchev learned about American nuclear missiles in Turkey quite by accident during a peaceful visit to Bulgaria;
• the Americans were so afraid of a nuclear war that they launched the construction of fortified bunkers, and after the Caribbean crisis, the scale of construction increased significantly;
• the opposing sides had so many nuclear weapons in their arsenal that their launch would cause a nuclear apocalypse;
• On October 27, on Black Saturday, a wave of suicides swept across the United States;
• at the time of the Caribbean crisis, the United States in the history of its country declared the highest degree of combat readiness;
• Cuban nuclear crisis became a turning point in the Cold War, after which detente began between the parties.

Conclusion

Answering the question: when did the Caribbean crisis occur, we can say - October 16-28, 1962. These days have become for the whole world one of the darkest in the twentieth century. The planet watched the confrontation unfold around the island of Cuba.

A few weeks after October 28, the missiles were returned to the USSR. The United States still keeps the promise given to Kennedy not to interfere in the affairs of Cuba and does not send its military contingent into Turkish territory.

The Caribbean (Cuban) crisis of 1962 is an international conflict situation caused by the deployment of Soviet medium-range missiles in Cuba. Humanity has fully experienced the reality of the apocalypse. Fortunately, the mind then prevailed over the recklessness and the erupted emotions. The statesmen of the USSR, the USA and Cuba for the first time realized what a "nuclear impasse" meant, and, having shown the necessary realism in eliminating the crisis situation, they found the strength to embark on the path of solving the most acute international problems not by military, but by diplomatic means. And it would not be an exaggeration to say that the lessons of the crisis, warning against hasty, ill-considered actions, have become a serious contribution to the development of both new thinking and new approaches to events on the world stage.

The external outline of those long-standing events is well known: on October 14, 1962, US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft discovered Soviet missiles on the "Island of Freedom" - in the Republic of Cuba, which posed a real threat to US security. American President John F. Kennedy demanded that the Soviet government withdraw the missiles. These events could bring the world to the brink of a nuclear missile war.

This is the summary of that distant history behind which the cardinal turns of world politics are hidden.

The purpose of my essay: to show the causes of the conflict between the USSR and the USA in the post-war decades, to determine how serious and fruitful the steps to prevent them were, and to mention the lessons and consequences of the Caribbean crisis.

Chapter 1

1.1 Political causes of the crisis

RUSSIAN-CUBAN relations have deep historical roots. Suffice it to recall that the first honorary consul of Russia was accredited to Cuba as early as 1826.

In fairness, it must be said that, on the whole, until the early 1960s, bilateral relations with Cuba developed rather formally. Until the victory of the 1959 revolution, Cuba was steadily in the orbit of US geopolitical interests. This was primarily due to its favorable position in the center of the Caribbean and the significant resource potential of the island. Having the formal status of an independent state, ... Cuba from the beginning of the century, in fact, turned out to be cruelly oriented towards the United States. Under these conditions, the US managed to consolidate its influence through the so-called "Plath Amendment", included under pressure in the Cuban Constitution. According to the amendment, the United States received an unprecedented right to direct military intervention in the internal affairs of the Cuban state in the event that Washington considers that the country's stability is under threat.

Immediately after the revolution in Cuba in 1959, neither Fidel Castro nor his associates had not only no contacts either with the Soviet Union or with other socialist states, but even elementary knowledge about Marxism-Leninism, about communist doctrine.

During his fight against the regime in the 1950s, Castro approached Moscow several times for military assistance, but was refused. Moscow was skeptical about the leader of the Cuban revolutionaries and about the very prospects of a revolution in Cuba, believing that the influence of the United States was too great there.

The US government was openly hostile to the Cuban revolution:

In April 1961, detachments of counter-revolutionary mercenaries were landed on the territory of the Republic of Cuba in the Playa Giron area (they were defeated by decisive actions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba)

In February 1962, under US pressure, Cuba was expelled from the Organization American states(OAS)

· The United States constantly violated the borders of Cuba, invading its air and sea space, bombarded Cuban cities; a pirate raid was made on the seaside areas of Havana.

Fidel made his first foreign visit after the victory of the revolution to the United States, but President Eisenhower refused to meet him, citing his busy schedule. After this demonstration of an arrogant attitude towards Cuba, F. Castro carried out measures directed against the dominance of the Americans. Thus, the telephone and electric companies, oil refineries, 36 largest sugar factories owned by US citizens were nationalized; the former owners were offered the corresponding packages of securities. All branches of North American banks owned by US citizens were also nationalized. In response, the United States stopped supplying oil to Cuba and buying its sugar, although a long-term purchase agreement was in effect. Such moves put Cuba in a very plight. By that time, the Cuban government had already established diplomatic relations with the USSR, and it turned to Moscow for help. In response to a request, the USSR sent tankers with oil and organized the purchase of Cuban sugar.

It can be considered that Cuba was the first country to choose the communist path without significant military or political interference from the USSR. In this capacity, she was deeply symbolic to Soviet leaders, especially Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, who considered the defense of the island critical to the international reputation of the USSR and communist ideology.

1.2 Military causes of the crisis

The crisis was preceded by the 1961 deployment by the United States in Turkey of Jupiter medium-range missiles that directly threatened cities in the western part of the Soviet Union. This type of missile "reached" Moscow and the main industrial centers. Moreover, the United States planned to deploy strategic missiles in Japan and Italy, which was intended to change both the proportionality of nuclear charges and their carriers in relation to 17: 1 in favor of the United States, and reduce " flying time", which is an important strategic characteristic of nuclear deterrence. Let us also note the following important, but practically unknown to contemporaries circumstance. Based on its imaginary scientific and technical superiority, the United States believed that henceforth space and other reconnaissance technical means reliably guarantee the country's security and therefore decided to postpone severity of intelligence activity from undercover intelligence to technical intelligence From this premise, which later turned out to be false, by the way, a rather dubious conclusion was made that in intelligence confrontation the center of gravity should also be shifted from undercover protection of state secrets to technical, emphasizing the main focus on countering enemy technical reconnaissance.

Soviet strategists realized that some nuclear parity could be effectively achieved by deploying missiles in Cuba. Soviet medium-range missiles on Cuban territory, with a range of up to 4,000 km (P-14), could keep Washington and about half of the air bases of strategic nuclear bombers of the US Strategic Air Force at gunpoint, with a flight time of less than 20 minutes.

The head of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev, publicly expressed his indignation at the fact of the deployment of missiles in Turkey. He considered these rockets a personal affront. The deployment of missiles in Cuba - the first time that Soviet missiles left the territory of the USSR - is considered Khrushchev's direct response to American missiles in Turkey. In his memoirs, Khrushchev writes that the first time the idea to place missiles in Cuba came to him in 1962, when he led a delegation of the Soviet Union visiting Bulgaria at the invitation of the Bulgarian Central Committee of the Communist Party and the government. "There, one of his associates, pointing towards the Black Sea, said that on the opposite coast, in Turkey, there are missiles capable of striking the main industrial centers of the USSR within 15 minutes."

Thus, with such a balance of forces, the actions of the USSR for that period of time were really forced. The Soviet government needed to balance its military potential, if not by increasing the number of missiles, but by strategically placing them. The USSR began to view Cuba as a springboard for a "symmetrical response" to the threat posed by American missiles in Europe.

The United States, pursuing an aggressive policy against Cuba, not only did not achieve positive results, but also showed all mankind that their own national interests are more important for them than generally recognized norms. international law, whose defender they have always positioned themselves.

Chapter 2

2.1 Making a decision

"The idea of ​​installing missiles with atomic warheads in Cuba occurred to Khrushchev solely for the purpose of protecting Cuba. He was in Bulgaria in 1962, I think in the middle of May. He came and told me that he had been thinking all the time how to save Cuba from the invasion, which , as he believed, should inevitably be repeated, but by other forces, with the expectation of a complete victory for the Americans. “And the thought came to me,” he says, “that if we send our missiles there, quickly and imperceptibly install them there, then announce to the Americans, first by through diplomatic channels, and then publicly. This will immediately put them in their place. Any attack on Cuba will mean an attack directly on their territory. And this will lead them to the fact that they will have to abandon any plans to attack Cuba."

On May 20, 1962, Nikita Khrushchev had a conversation in the Kremlin with Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, Anastas Mikoyan and Defense Minister Rodion Malinovsky, during which he outlined his idea to them: in response to Fidel Castro's constant requests to increase the Soviet military presence in Cuba, deploy on the island nuclear weapon.

On May 21, at a meeting of the Defense Council, he supported the proposal of N.S. Khrushchev. The ministries of defense and foreign affairs were instructed to organize the covert movement of troops and military equipment by sea to Cuba.

On May 28, a Soviet delegation consisting of the USSR Ambassador Alekseev, Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces Marshal Sergei Biryuzov, Colonel General Semyon Pavlovich Ivanov, and Sharaf Rashidov flew from Moscow to Havana. On May 29, they met with Raul and Fidel Castro and outlined to them the proposal of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Fidel asked for a day to negotiate with his closest associates. On the same day, Castro gave a positive answer to the Soviet delegates. It was decided that Raul Castro would visit Moscow in July to clarify all the details.

2.2 Composition of the contingent

On June 10, at a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee, the results of the trip of the Soviet delegation to Cuba were discussed. After Rashidov's report, Malinovsky presented a preliminary draft of the missile transfer operation prepared at the General Staff. It was planned to deploy the 43rd Missile Division in Cuba, which was armed with R-12 and R-14 nuclear missiles with a range of up to 2.5 thousand and 5 thousand km, respectively, which made it possible to hit any targets on the continental United States up to Canadian border. In addition, it was planned to place cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, with a range of up to 60 km. It was planned ... also ... to deploy as auxiliary forces a naval (2 cruisers, 4 destroyers, 12 Komar missile boats, 11 submarines) and an aviation group (1 Mi-4 helicopter regiment, 4 motorized rifle regiments, two tank battalions, a squadron MiG-21, 42 Il-28 light bombers, 2 units of cruise missiles with 12 Kt nuclear warheads with a range of 160 km, several batteries of anti-aircraft guns, and 12 S-75 installations). In total, 50,874 military personnel were planned to be sent to the island. Later, on July 7, Khrushchev decided to appoint Issa Pliev as commander of the group. After listening to Malinovsky's report, the Presidium of the Central Committee voted unanimously in favor of carrying out the operation.

2.3 Anadyr

By June 1962, the General Staff had already developed a cover operation codenamed Anadyr. Marshal of the USSR Hovhannes Khachaturovich Bagramyan planned and directed the operation. According to the drafters of the plan, this was to mislead the Americans about the destination of the cargo. All Soviet servicemen, technical personnel and others who accompanied the "cargo" were also told that they were heading for Chukotka. But, despite such a large-scale cover, the operation had one significant flaw: it was impossible to hide the missiles from the American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft regularly flying around Cuba. Thus, the plan was developed in advance, taking into account the fact that the Americans would detect Soviet missiles before they were all mounted. The only way out that the military managed to find was to place several anti-aircraft batteries already in Cuba at the places of unloading.

85 ships were allocated for the transfer of troops. Not a single captain knew about the contents of the holds before sailing, as well as about the destination. Each captain was given a sealed package, which was to be opened at sea in the presence of the political officer. The envelopes contained instructions to go to Cuba and avoid contact with NATO ships.

In early August, the first ships arrived in Cuba. On the night of September 8, the first batch of medium-range ballistic missiles was unloaded in Havana, the second batch arrived on September 16. The headquarters of the Grouping of Soviet Forces in Cuba (GSVK) is located in Havana. The main troops were concentrated around the missiles in the western part of the island, but several cruise missiles and a motorized rifle regiment were transferred to the east of Cuba - a hundred kilometers from Guantanamo Bay and the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay. By October 14, 1962, all 40 missiles and most of the equipment had been delivered to Cuba.

It is worth noting that although the Americans practically from the very beginning had information about the provision of military assistance by the Soviet Union to Cuba and conducted intensive aerial photography of the island, they did not have concrete evidence of the deployment of Soviet offensive weapons here. The Soviet side explained the equipment of the sites and access roads on the island by the deployment of defensive air defense systems. In September-October 1962, dense clouds and successive hurricanes in the Caribbean Sea prevented the Americans from conducting regular photographic reconnaissance from the air. Thus, in the immediate vicinity of US territory, a military group was formed, from the possible strike of which, in the event of a conflict, the US was extremely difficult to evade.

Chapter 3 Escalation and Conflict Resolution

3.1 Operation Mongoose

The United States also carried out large-scale military measures: Washington developed a special plan to eliminate the government of Fidel Castro, code-named “Mongoose”. This plan included two phases:

August-September 1962 - preparation and start of the anti-Castro "rebel" movement in Cuba

October - the organization of a "popular uprising" with the support of American intelligence services and troops with a possible landing of American troops on the island

In preparation for the implementation of this plan, in August 1962, large-scale naval maneuvers were held off the coast of Cuba, in which 45 military and more than 100,000 marines participated.

On August 23, 1962, John F. Kennedy ordered the intensification of measures to "deliberately foment a full-scale uprising against Castro" . This act clearly testifies to the complete fiasco of American intelligence in obtaining objective information about the events taking place on the island.

3.2 U-2 flights

A U-2 flying out in late August photographed a number of anti-aircraft missile sites under construction, but on September 4, 1962, Kennedy told Congress that there were no "offensive" missiles in Cuba. In fact, at that time, Soviet specialists were already building nine positions - six for the R-12 and three for the R-14 with a range of 4,000 km. Until September 1962, US Air Force planes flew over Cuba twice a month. Flights were suspended from September 5 to October 14. On the one hand, because of bad weather, on the other hand, Kennedy banned them for fear of an escalation of the conflict if an American plane was shot down by a Soviet anti-aircraft missile.

It is worth noting that until September 5, the flights were carried out with the knowledge of the CIA. Now such flights have come under the control of the Air Force. The first flight took place on October 14, 1962. Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft of the 4080th strategic ... reconnaissance ... wing, ... manned. Major Richard Heizer, took off at about 3 am from Edwards Air Force Base in California. The flight to the Gulf of Mexico took him 5 hours. Heizer circled Cuba from the west. and crossed the coastline from the south at 7:31 am. The plane crossed the whole of Cuba almost exactly from south to north, flying over the cities of Taco-Taco, San Cristobal, Bahia Honda. Heizer covered these 52 kilometers in 12 minutes.

Landing at an air base in South Florida, Heizer handed the film to the CIA. On October 15, CIA analysts determined that the photographs were Soviet R-12 medium-range ballistic missiles ("SS-4" according to NATO classification). In the evening. the same day, this information was brought to the attention of the superior. military. US leadership. Morning.16. October at 8:45 the photos were shown to the president. After that, on the orders of Kennedy, flights over Cuba became 90 times more frequent: from two times a month to six times a day.

3.3 Designing responses

“By October 22, when US President John F. Kennedy spoke on American radio and television about the discovery of Soviet missiles in the cube, all 42 missiles and warheads for them, as well as military personnel, were already in place. Some missiles were put on alert. Some of our ships were still on the way, but they had auxiliary equipment and food for the military contingent, which could be dispensed with on occasion.

After receiving photographs showing Soviet missile bases in Cuba, President Kennedy called a special group of advisers to a secret meeting at the White House. This group, which included 14 people, later became known as “ Executive committee". It consisted of members of the US National Security Council and several specially invited advisers.

The committee soon offered the president three possible options for resolving the situation:

An immediate bombing strike was rejected immediately. To a direct question from the President, Secretary of Defense R. McNamara replied that. he cannot guarantee the absolute destruction of air defense batteries during an air strike.

Diplomatic methods, barely mentioned on the first day of work, were immediately rejected - even before the main discussion began. As a result, the choice was reduced to a naval blockade and an ultimatum, or to a full-scale invasion.

3.4 Quarantine and worsening crisis

President Kennedy addressed the American public (and the Soviet government) in a televised speech on October 22. By this time, all 42 missiles and their warheads, as well as military personnel, were already in place. Some missiles were put on alert. Part of the Soviet ships were still on the way, but they had auxiliary equipment and food for the military contingent, which could be dispensed with on occasion.

In his address, John F. Kennedy confirmed the presence of missiles in Cuba and declared a naval blockade of 500 nautical miles (926 km) around the coast of Cuba, warning that the armed forces were "ready for any development" and condemned the Soviet Union for "secrecy and misrepresentation".

Nikita Khrushchev declared that the blockade was illegal and that any ship under the Soviet flag would ignore it. He threatened that if the Soviet ships were attacked by the Americans, a retaliatory strike would follow immediately.

However, the blockade went into effect on October 24 at 10:00.180 US Navy ships surrounded Cuba with clear orders not to open fire on Soviet ships under any circumstances without a personal order from the president.

At the same time, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU decided to put the armed forces of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact countries on high alert. All layoffs have been cancelled. Conscripts preparing for demobilization are ordered to remain at their duty stations until further notice. Khrushchev sent an encouraging letter to Castro, assuring him of the unshakable position of the USSR under any circumstances. Moreover, he knew that a significant part of the Soviet weapons had already reached Cuba.

On the evening of October 23, Robert Kennedy went to the Soviet embassy in Washington. At a meeting with Ambassador Dobrynin, Kennedy found out that he had no idea about the Soviet military preparations in Cuba. However, Dobrynin informed him that he knew about the instructions received by the captains of the Soviet ships - not to comply with illegal requirements on the high seas. Before leaving, Kennedy said: "I don't know how it will all end, but we intend to stop your ships."

On October 24, Khrushchev received a short telegram from Kennedy, in which he called on the Soviet leader to show prudence and comply with the conditions of the blockade. The Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU gathered for a meeting to discuss the official response to the introduction of the blockade. On the same day, Khrushchev sent a letter to the President of the United States, in which he accused him of setting difficult conditions. Khrushchev called the blockade "an act of aggression pushing humanity towards the abyss of a world nuclear missile war." In a letter, the First Secretary warned Kennedy that the captains of Soviet ships would not comply with the instructions of the US Navy, and that if the United States continued its piracy, the Soviet government would take any measures to ensure the safety of ships.

In response to Khrushchev's message, the Kremlin received a letter from Kennedy, in which he pointed out that "the Soviet side violated its promises regarding Cuba and misled him." This time, Khrushchev decided not to go for a confrontation and began to look for possible ways out of the current situation. He told the members of the Presidium that it was practically impossible to keep missiles in Cuba without going to war with the United States. At the meeting, it was decided to offer the Americans to dismantle the missiles in exchange for US guarantees to stop trying to change state regime in Cuba. Brezhnev, Kosygin, Kozlov, Mikoyan, Ponomarev and Suslov supported Khrushchev. Gromyko and Malinovsky abstained from voting.

On the morning of October 26, Nikita Khrushchev began to compose a new, less militant message from Kennedy. In a letter, he offered the Americans the option of dismantling the installed missiles and returning them to the Soviet Union. In exchange, he demanded guarantees that the United States would not invade Cuba, nor would it support any other force that intended to invade Cuba. Another condition was aired in an open address over the radio on the morning of October 27, acknowledging the withdrawal of US missiles from Turkey, in addition to the requirements specified in the letter.

3.5 Black Saturday

Meanwhile, in Havana, the political situation escalated to the limit. Castro became aware of the new position of the Soviet Union, and he immediately went to the Soviet embassy. Fidel decided to write a letter to Khrushchev to push him to take more decisive action. Even before Castro finished the letter and sent it to the Kremlin, the head of the KGB station in Havana informed the First Secretary that, according to F. Castro, intervention. almost. is inevitable and will happen within the next 24-72 hours. At the same time, Malinovsky received a report from the commander of the Soviet troops in Cuba, General I.A. Pliev about the increased activity of American strategic aviation in the Caribbean. Both messages were delivered to Khrushchev's office in the Kremlin at 12 noon, Saturday, October 27th.

On the same day, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile during a reconnaissance flight. Its pilot Anderson was killed. Situation. in. USA. heated up. to the limit: Americans call that day "black ... Saturday." The President, who was...under the strongest...pressure of the "hawks" who demanded immediate retribution, regarded this event as the determination of the USSR not to back down from threats, even with the risk of starting a nuclear war. If before that he adhered to the arsenal of traditional military-diplomatic means, now he realized that only diplomacy, only equal negotiations and compromises can become effective means of resolving the crisis.

3.6 Resolution

On the night of October 27-28, on the instructions of the President, Robert Kennedy again met with the Soviet ambassador in the building of the Ministry of Justice. Kennedy shared with Dobrynin the president's fears that the situation might be about to get out of hand. Robert Kennedy said that his brother was ready to give guarantees of non-aggression and the speedy lifting of the blockade from Cuba. Dobrynin asked Kennedy about the missiles in Turkey. "If this is the only obstacle to reaching the settlement mentioned above, then the president sees no insurmountable difficulties in resolving the issue," Kennedy replied.

The next morning, a message came to the Kremlin from Kennedy stating: "1) You will agree to withdraw your weapons systems from Cuba under the appropriate supervision of UN representatives, and also take steps, subject to appropriate security measures, to stop the supply of such weapons systems to Cuba.2) We, for our part, will agree - provided that a system of adequate measures is created with the help of the UN to ensure the fulfillment of these obligations - a) quickly lift the blockade measures introduced at the moment and b) give guarantees of non-aggression against Cuba. I am sure that the rest of the states of the Western Hemisphere will be ready to do the same."

The Soviet leadership accepted these conditions. On the same day, Malinovsky sent Pliev an order to begin dismantling the R-12 launch pads. Dismantling of the Soviet rocket launchers, loading them onto ships and withdrawing from Cuba took 3 weeks. Convinced that the Soviet Union had removed the missiles, President Kennedy on November 20 gave the order to end the blockade of Cuba. A few months later, American missiles were also withdrawn from Turkey, as "obsolete."

Chapter 4

The crisis had multifaceted and far-reaching ... consequences, both positive and negative. Among the first are the following:

· Awareness by the superpowers of their own vulnerability and dependence on each other. It became obvious that a nuclear confrontation between the US and the USSR poses a threat to the existence of the entire world; some kind of “rules of conduct” were developed, which made it possible in the future to prevent the emergence of such acute crisis situations in relations between Moscow and Washington.

· Immediately after the end of the crisis, both sides undertook conditions aimed at consolidating the agreements reached and improving the security mechanism. A direct "hot" line was established between Washington and Moscow; in 1963 The Treaty on the cessation of nuclear tests in three environments (in the atmosphere, space and under water) was signed.

However, along with the positive ones, the Caribbean crisis also had negative consequences:

· failed to put a reliable barrier to the spread of nuclear weapons, as the technology of production of atomic bombs in the second half of the 70-ies mastered the Republic of South Africa and Israel.

· in the conditions of the Cold War, the struggle for dominance in the world between the USSR and the USA continued indirectly - as if moving from the global to other levels of the world order (conflicts and wars between the "vassals" of the two superpowers).

The Caribbean crisis, despite all its internal intensity and drama, allows us to draw a number of useful lessons that can be used in the future:

Lesson #1 Paradoxically, it was the presence of nuclear weapons that helped maintain the fragile peace on Earth for more than half a century. From this we can conclude that the need for self-preservation in humans is great enough to resist the temptation of a nuclear adventure.

Lesson number 2. Conflicts have existed in the past, and they will continue into the new millennium, as international relations are oversaturated with contradictions. Therefore, it is more rational not to deny their presence and not strive to get rid of them in one fell swoop, but to learn to get along with conflicts, control and regulate them.

Lesson number 3. " Especially for us: you can’t be weak, because the weak are pitied or despised, but not respected. Moreover, they are not taken into account." In order to reliably protect its national interests and make any encroachment on our country unprofitable, Russia must be able to inflict unacceptable damage on any potential aggressor.

Conclusion

So in the middle XX in. humanity, having passed along the edge of the nuclear abyss, has safely passed the third world war.

For the Soviet Union, perhaps, the end of the Caribbean crisis was more beneficial than for the Americans. The USSR achieved the withdrawal of missiles from Turkey and confirmed the strategic parity between the two great powers. True, this crisis did not benefit Khrushchev personally. He showed his mistakes, thoughtlessness of strategically important decisions, political short-sightedness. He was criticized both by fraternal parties and by party comrades for the decision to withdraw troops from Cuba, but from today's perspective it is clear that he was right. At that time, the world was saved by the mutual unwillingness of war, and a certain progressiveness of the "new" politicians then in power. Fear of nuclear war is stronger own desires as one, so they are the other side.

In my opinion, the Caribbean crisis was the same bitter but useful lesson for humanity as Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tens of thousands died then, but the whole world realized the horror of a nuclear catastrophe, and their death saved millions in the future.

List of used literature

1. Yu.V. Aksyutin “Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev. Materials for a biography”, POLITIZDAT, 1989.

2. Mikoyan S.A. "", Academy, 2006.

3. "State security from Alexander I to Putin", M., 2005.

4. Mikoyan S.A. "Jump across the ocean. Why rockets?" // Latin America, 2003 No. 1.

5. Vostikov S.V. "Equilibristics at the forefront of war" // Latin America, 2003 No. 1.

6. Morozov V., Korchagin Yu. "Centenary of Russian-Cuban diplomatic relations" // International life, 2002 No. 7.

7. Timofeev M.A., Fursenko A.A. "Mad risk", ROSSPEN, 2006.

8. Lavrenov S.Ya., Popov I.M. "The Soviet Union in Local Wars and Conflicts. Caribbean Crisis: The World on the Brink of Catastrophe".

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Photos of Soviet missiles stationed on the island. The White House discussed the "powerful" option for solving the problem, and his supporters convinced Kennedy to start a massive bombardment of Cuba as soon as possible, followed by landing of sea and air assault forces on the island.

critical phase. World on the brink of nuclear war

As Commander-in-Chief, President John F. Kennedy, under pressure from the military, ordered DEFCON-2 to put the U.S. Armed Forces on "Combat Readiness #2". This meant that his next order would begin full-scale hostilities or war with the USSR and its allies. On the evening of October 22, the President of the United States made a televised "Address to the American People." He stated that 250,000 ground troops, 90,000 marines and paratroopers are being prepared for the invasion of Cuba, and a strike force has been created air force, capable of making 2,000 sorties per day of invasion, the navy pulls more than 100 ships for various purposes to the island.

Panic began among the civilian population of the United States: people urgently bought food and bottled water, went on vacation and left American cities with their families. In rural areas, residents equipped basements and cellars in case of an atomic war, stocking food, water and basic necessities. Many American families left their homes and moved into basements, cellars and hastily made dugouts and dugouts. Schools, colleges and universities routinely conducted exercises on the topic: "How to behave in the event of an atomic explosion."

The Pentagon created a "ring" of blockade around the island of Cuba, which was formed by 25 destroyers, 2 cruisers, aircraft carriers, submarines and auxiliary vessels. Aircraft were constantly loitering in the air, including bombers with atomic bombs on board. American high-altitude U-2 reconnaissance aircraft continuously conducted photographic reconnaissance of the island and the adjacent water area Atlantic Ocean. All Soviet ships were escorted by surface ships, submarines and subjected to systematic overflights by helicopters and aircraft of the air force.

Such US actions did not go unnoticed by Soviet intelligence. Already on October 21, the GRU officer, the military attache in Washington, at a meeting with Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, announced that the units of the US armed forces stationed in the southern and southwestern states were put on high alert. Neither the attaché nor the ambassador were informed that the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces had deployed ballistic and tactical missiles and atomic warheads for them in Cuba.

From the evening of October 22, all members of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were transferred to the "barracks position" and were in the Kremlin in Moscow without a break.

With the sanction of Nikita Khrushchev and by order of the Minister of Defense, the Armed Forces of the USSR were also put on full alert: servicemen were raised on alert, regular weapons and ammunition were issued, equipment and weapons were brought to combat positions and dispersed, nuclear warheads were attached to missiles and torpedoes , atomic bombs were suspended from aircraft, atomic shells were taken out of warehouses to artillery positions in the Western direction. The USSR Navy began tracking American submarines and aircraft carrier formations in the waters of the World Ocean adjacent to the territory of the USSR. According to the previously developed plans of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR, atomic strike forces were advanced to the shores of the United States - bombers and submarines with atomic weapons on board. All connections Missile troops strategic purpose were put on high alert to immediately deliver an atomic strike against predetermined targets in the United States, large American military bases, sea and land groups located in other countries. The strike forces of the armored forces, motorized infantry units and aviation of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany were to carry out an offensive from the territory of the GDR to West Berlin with the aim of occupying it within 2-4 hours.

Cuban Revolution

During the Cold War, the confrontation between the two superpowers, the USSR and the USA, was expressed not only in direct military threat and the arms race, but also in an effort to expand their zones of influence. The Soviet Union sought to organize and support the so-called "liberation" socialist revolutions in various parts of the world. In pro-Western countries, support was provided to "people's liberation movements" of various kinds, often with weapons and sending military specialists, instructors and limited military contingents. In the event of the victory of the "revolution", the country became a "member of the socialist camp", military bases were built there, and significant resources were invested. The help of the Soviet Union was often gratuitous, which caused additional sympathy for him from the poorest countries in Africa and Latin America.

The United States, in turn, followed similar tactics, also stimulating "revolutions" to establish democracy and supporting pro-American regimes. Usually, the preponderance of forces was on the side of the United States - they were supported by Western Europe, Turkey, some Asian and African countries, such as South Africa.

Initially, after the victory of the revolution in Cuba in 1959, its leader Fidel Castro did not have close relations with the Soviet Union. During his fight against the regime of Fulgencio Batista in the 1950s, Castro approached Moscow several times for military assistance, but was refused. Moscow was skeptical about the leader of the Cuban revolutionaries and about the very prospects of a revolution in Cuba, believing that the influence of the United States was too great there. Fidel made his first foreign visit after the victory of the revolution to the United States, but President Eisenhower refused to meet him, citing his busy schedule. After this demonstration of an arrogant attitude towards Cuba, F. Castro carried out measures directed against the dominance of the Americans. Thus, the telephone and electric companies, oil refineries, 36 largest sugar factories owned by US citizens were nationalized; the former owners were offered the corresponding packages of securities. All branches of North American banks owned by US citizens were also nationalized. In response, the United States stopped supplying oil to Cuba and buying its sugar. Such steps put Cuba in a very difficult position. By that time, the Cuban government had already established diplomatic relations with the USSR, and it turned to Moscow for help. In response to a request, the USSR sent oil tankers and organized the purchase of Cuban sugar and raw sugar. Experts from various sectors of the national economy of the USSR went to Cuba on long business trips to create similar industries, as well as office work on the Island of Freedom. Soviet specialists built various facilities, for example, according to a special project, they made steam power plants with boilers using “sugar cane waste” fuel.

As an illustration, we can recall why one of the types of Cuban mineral water is called Tipaborjomi. Before the arrival of L. I. Brezhnev, another well was drilled, and a new drink was presented to the distinguished guest. He tried it and said: "Like Borjomi." That is, similar to such water from Georgia.

It can be considered that Cuba was the first country to choose the communist path without significant military or political interference from the USSR. In this capacity, she was deeply symbolic for Soviet leaders, especially for Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, who considered the defense of the island critical to the international reputation of the USSR and communist ideology.

Khrushchev probably believed that placing missiles in Cuba would protect the island from a second American invasion, which he considered inevitable after the failure of the landing attempt in the Bay of Pigs. The militarily significant deployment of a critical weapon in Cuba would also demonstrate the importance of the Soviet-Cuban alliance to Fidel Castro, who demanded material confirmation of Soviet support for the island.

US missile positions in Turkey

Number of US and USSR nuclear warheads without deployed

By 1960, the United States had a significant advantage in strategic nuclear forces. For comparison: the Americans were armed with about 6,000 warheads, and in the USSR there were only about 300. By 1962, the United States was armed with more than 1,300 bombers capable of delivering about 3,000 nuclear charges to the USSR. In addition, 183 Atlas and Titan ICBMs were in service with the United States. (English) Russian and 144 Polaris missiles on nine George Washington and Ethen Allen-class nuclear submarines. The Soviet Union was able to deliver about 300 warheads to the United States, mainly with the help of strategic aviation and R-7 and R-16 ICBMs, which had a low degree of combat readiness and the high cost of creating launch complexes, which did not allow for large-scale deployment of these systems.

It was supposed to send a group of Soviet troops to Liberty Island, which should concentrate around five divisions of nuclear missiles (three R-12s and two R-14s). In addition to missiles, the group also included 1 Mi-4 helicopter regiment, 4 motorized rifle regiments, two tank battalions, a MiG-21 squadron, 42 Il-28 light bombers, 2 units of cruise missiles with 12 Kt nuclear warheads with a range of 160 km, several batteries of anti-aircraft guns, as well as 12 S-75 installations (144 missiles). Each motorized rifle regiment consisted of 2500 people, tank battalions were equipped the latest tanks T-55. It is worth noting that the Group of Soviet Forces in Cuba (GSVK) became the first army group in the history of the USSR, which included ballistic missiles.

In addition, an impressive grouping of the Navy was also heading to Cuba: 2 cruisers, 4 destroyers, 12 Komar missile boats, 11 submarines (of which 7 were from nuclear missiles). In total, 50,874 military personnel were planned to be sent to the island. Later, on July 7, Khrushchev decided to appoint Issa Pliev as commander of the group.

After listening to Malinovsky's report, the Presidium of the Central Committee voted unanimously in favor of carrying out the operation.

Operation Anadyr

After landing at an air base in south Florida, Heizer handed the film to the CIA. On October 15, CIA analysts determined that the photographs were of Soviet R-12 medium-range ballistic missiles ("SS-4" according to NATO classification). In the evening of the same day, this information was brought to the attention of the top military leadership of the United States. On the morning of October 16 at 8:45 a.m., the photographs were shown to the President. After that, on the orders of Kennedy, flights over Cuba became 90 times more frequent: from two times a month to six times a day.

US reaction

Development of possible countermeasures

After receiving photographs showing Soviet missile bases in Cuba, President Kennedy called a special group of advisers to a secret meeting at the White House. This 14-member group, which later became known as the "Executive Committee" (EXCOMM (English) Russian ), consisted of members of the US National Security Council and several specially invited advisers. Soon, the committee offered the president three possible options for resolving the situation: destroy the missiles with pinpoint strikes, conduct a full-scale military operation in Cuba, or impose a naval blockade of the island.

An immediate bombing attack was rejected out of hand, as was an appeal to the UN that promised a long delay. The real options considered by the committee were only military measures. Diplomatic, barely touched upon on the first day of the work, were immediately rejected - even before the main discussion began. As a result, the choice was reduced to a naval blockade and an ultimatum, or to a full-scale invasion.

However, on October 19, another U-2 flight revealed several more mounted missile sites, an Ilyushin Il-28 squadron off the northern coast of Cuba, and a battalion of cruise missiles aimed at Florida.

The decision to impose a blockade was made at the final vote on the evening of October 20: President Kennedy himself, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and US Ambassador to the UN Adlai Stevenson voted for the blockade.

Quarantine

There were many problems with the naval blockade. There was a question of legality - as Fidel Castro pointed out, there was nothing illegal about planting rockets. They were certainly a threat to the US, but similar missiles were deployed in Europe aimed at the USSR: sixty Thor missiles in four squadrons near Nottingham in the UK; thirty medium-range Jupiter rockets in two squadrons near Gioia del Colle in Italy; and fifteen Jupiter missiles in one squadron near Izmir in Turkey. Then there was the problem of the Soviet reaction to the blockade - whether armed conflict with an escalation in response?

President Kennedy addressed the American public (and the Soviet government) in an October 22 televised speech. He confirmed the presence of missiles in Cuba and declared a naval blockade of 500 nautical miles (926 km) of quarantine around the coast of Cuba, warning that the armed forces were "ready for any eventuality" and denouncing the Soviet Union for "secrecy and misleading." Kennedy noted that any missile launch from Cuban territory against any of the American allies in the Western Hemisphere would be regarded as an act of war against the United States.

The Americans had strong support from their European allies. The Organization of American States also voted unanimously in favor of a resolution in support of the lockdown. Nikita Khrushchev declared that the blockade was illegal and that any ship under the Soviet flag would ignore it. He threatened that if the Soviet ships were attacked by the Americans, a retaliatory strike would follow immediately.

However, the blockade went into effect on 24 October at 10:00 am. 180 ships of the US Navy surrounded Cuba with clear orders not to open fire on Soviet ships in any case without a personal order from the president. By this time, 30 ships and vessels were going to Cuba, including Aleksandrovsk with a cargo of nuclear warheads and 4 ships carrying missiles for two IRBM divisions. In addition, 4 diesel submarines were approaching the Island of Freedom, accompanying the ships. On board the "Alexandrovsk" were 24 warheads for the IRBM and 44 for cruise missiles. Khrushchev decided that the submarines and four ships with R-14 missiles - Artemyevsk, Nikolaev, Dubna and Divnogorsk - should continue on their previous course. In an effort to minimize the possibility of a collision of Soviet ships with American ones, the Soviet leadership decided to deploy the rest of the ships that did not have time to reach Cuba home.

Meanwhile, in response to Khrushchev's message, the Kremlin received a letter from Kennedy, in which he pointed out that "the Soviet side broke its promises regarding Cuba and misled him." This time, Khrushchev decided not to go for a confrontation and began to look for possible ways out of the current situation. He announced to the members of the Presidium that "it is impossible to store missiles in Cuba without going to war with the United States." At the meeting, it was decided to offer the Americans to dismantle the missiles in exchange for US guarantees to stop trying to change the state regime in Cuba. Brezhnev, Kosygin, Kozlov, Mikoyan, Ponomarev and Suslov supported Khrushchev. Gromyko and Malinovsky abstained from voting. After the meeting, Khrushchev suddenly turned to the members of the Presidium: “Comrades, let's go to the Bolshoi Theater in the evening. Our people and foreigners will see us, maybe this will calm them down.

Khrushchev's second letter

The arsenal of ICBMs was supplemented by the PGM-19 Jupiter IRBM, with a radius of 2400 km. 30 of these missiles were deployed in northern Italy and 15 in Turkey. Also, 60 PGM-17 Thor missiles were deployed in the UK, with similar characteristics.

The basis of the offensive power of the Air Force, in addition to ICBMs, was a huge fleet of strategic bombers - more than 800 B-52 and B-36 intercontinental bombers, over 2000 B-47 strategic bombers and about 150 supersonic B-58s.

To equip them, there was an arsenal of more than 547 AGM-28 Hound Dog supersonic missiles with a radius of up to 1200 km and free-falling nuclear bombs. US Air Force positions in Northern Canada and Greenland allowed for transpolar attacks against deep Soviet rear areas with minimal Soviet opposition.

It was 5 pm in Moscow when a tropical storm raged in Cuba. One of the air defense units received a message that an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was seen approaching Guantanamo Bay. The chief of staff of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division, Captain Antonets, called Pliev's headquarters for instructions, but he was not there. Major General Leonid Garbuz, deputy commander of the GSVK for combat training, ordered the captain to wait for Pliev to appear. A few minutes later, Antonets called the headquarters again - no one picked up the phone. When U-2 was already over Cuba, Garbuz himself ran to the headquarters and, without waiting for Pliev, gave the order to destroy the plane. According to other sources, the order to destroy the reconnaissance aircraft could have been given by Pliev's deputy for air defense, Lieutenant General of Aviation Stepan Grechko or the commander of the 27th Air Defense Division, Colonel Georgy Voronkov. The launch took place at 10:22 local time. U-2 pilot Major Rudolf Anderson was killed. Around this time, another U-2 was almost intercepted over Siberia, as General Curtis LeMay (English) Russian , chief of staff of the US Air Force, disregarded the order of the US President to stop all flights over Soviet territory.

A few hours later, two US Navy RF-8A Crusader photographic reconnaissance aircraft were fired upon by anti-aircraft guns while flying over Cuba at low altitude. One of them was damaged, but the pair returned safely to base.

Kennedy's military advisers tried to persuade the president to order an invasion of Cuba before Monday, "before it was too late." Kennedy no longer categorically rejected such a development of the situation. However, he did not leave hope for a peaceful resolution. It is generally accepted that "Black Saturday" October 27 is the day when the world was closest to a global nuclear war.

Permission

The dismantling of Soviet rocket launchers, their loading onto ships and their withdrawal from Cuba took 3 weeks. Convinced that the Soviet Union had removed the missiles, President Kennedy on November 20 gave the order to end the blockade of Cuba.
A few months later, American Jupiter missiles were also withdrawn from Turkey as "obsolete" (the US Air Force did not mind decommissioning these IRBMs, since by this time the US Navy had already deployed Polaris SLBMs much more suitable for forward basing, which made Jupiter » obsolete).

Effects

The peaceful resolution of the crisis did not satisfy everyone. Khrushchev's removal a few years later can be partly attributed to irritation in the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU regarding concessions to the United States made by Khrushchev and his inept leadership that led to the crisis.

The Cuban communist leadership regarded the compromise as a betrayal by the Soviet Union, since the decision that ended the crisis was made solely by Khrushchev and Kennedy.

Some US military leaders were also dissatisfied with the result. So the commander of the US Air Force, General Lemay (English) Russian called the refusal to attack Cuba "the worst defeat in our history".

At the end of the crisis, analysts from the Soviet and American intelligence agencies proposed establishing a direct telephone line between Washington and Moscow (the so-called "red telephone"), so that in case of crisis, the leaders of the superpowers would have the opportunity to immediately contact each other, and not use the telegraph.

Historical meaning

The crisis was a turning point in the nuclear race and the Cold War. The beginning of the détente of international tension was laid. In Western countries, an anti-war movement began, which peaked in the 1960s and 1970s. In the USSR, voices also began to be heard calling for limiting the nuclear arms race and strengthening the role of society in political decision-making.

It is impossible to state unequivocally whether the removal of missiles from Cuba was a victory or defeat for the Soviet Union. On the one hand, the plan conceived by Khrushchev in May 1962 was not carried through to the end, and Soviet missiles could no longer ensure the security of Cuba. On the other hand, Khrushchev obtained from the US leadership guarantees of non-aggression on Cuba, which, despite Castro's fears, have been observed and are observed to this day. A few months later, American missiles in Turkey, which, according to Khrushchev, provoked him to deploy weapons in Cuba, were also dismantled. In the end, thanks to technological progress in rocket science, there was no need to deploy nuclear weapons in Cuba and in the Western Hemisphere in general, since after a few years the Soviet Union already had enough intercontinental missiles capable of reaching any city and military facility in the United States directly from the territory of the USSR.

Nikita Khrushchev himself, in his memoirs, assessed the outcome of the crisis as follows: “Now many years have passed, and this is already the domain of history. And I am proud that we have shown courage and foresight. And I think we won."

We, comrades, have supplied missiles, medium-range missiles in Cuba. Why did we put them up, what made us put them up? We argued that the Americans cannot stand Cuba, they say it directly, that they can devour Cuba. I spoke with the military, with Marshal Malinovsky. I asked: if we were in the place of America, we took a course to break such a state as Cuba, how much would we need, knowing our means? - A maximum of three days, and they would wash their hands. Comrades, this must be taken into account, because it is America that also has these opportunities. Therefore, we believed that Cuba could be saved only by placing missiles in Cuba. Then you touch it, so the hedgehog will curl up in a ball, and you won’t sit down. (Laughter) Apparently, they tried it once. (Laughter) These missiles are like hedgehog needles, they burn. When we made a decision, we discussed it for a long time and did not immediately make a decision, we postponed it twice, and then made a decision. We knew that if we set it up, and they would definitely find out, it would shock them. It's no joke to say that a crocodile has a knife under its belly! [...] As a result of the correspondence, we wrested a statement from the President of the United States that he, too, was not thinking of invading. Then we considered it possible to make a statement that we then also consider it possible to remove our missiles and Il-28. Was it a concession? It was. We gave in. Was there a concession from America? Was a public word given not to intrude? It was. So who gave in and who didn't? We never said that we would invade another country. America said that she would not tolerate a revolutionary Castro regime in Cuba, and then she refused. This means that it is clear that the other side has assumed an obligation that it did not recognize before the installation of our missiles in Cuba. So? VOICES: Yes. (Applause.) KHRUSHCHEV: There are smart people now, but there are always more smart people when the danger is over than at the moment of danger. (Laughter in the audience.) [...] And if we hadn't given in, maybe America would have given in more? May be so. But it could have been like a children's story when two goats met on the crossbar in front of the abyss. They showed goat wisdom, and both fell into the abyss. That's the problem.

Epilogue

Caribbean crisis in art

• Thirteen Days is a film by Roger Donaldson. Roger Donaldson ) (2000)
• "Fog of War" The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara ) is a film by Eroll Maurice. Errol Morris ) (2003).
• In 2004, the Japanese company Konami released the cult video game Metal Gear Solid 3, which was set against the backdrop of the Caribbean Crisis.
• "Prayers" () for baritone and chamber orchestra by the composer Luigi Dallapiccola. The score is defiantly dated to the day of Kennedy's address to the people.

• In light of these events, it was sometimes joked in the Soviet Union that the name of the island of Cuba stands for "Communism off the coast of America."

see also

• Black Saturday (1962)
• Rocket PGM-19 Jupiter, Jupiter
• Rocket R-12 (SS-4)
• Rocket R-14 (SS-5)

Notes

1. Kennedy Robert Thirteen Days: A memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis. - W.W. Norton & Company, 1971. - P. 14. - ISBN 0-393-09896-6
2. Table of US Strategic Bomber Forces. Archive of Nuclear Data(2002). Archived from the original on August 28, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
3. Table of US ICBM Forces. Archive of Nuclear Data(2002). archived
4. Table of US Ballistic Missile Submarine Forces. Archive of Nuclear Data(2002). Archived from the original on August 28, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2007.
5. “Operation Anadyr: Figures and Facts”, Zerkalo Nedelya, No. 41 (416) October 26 - November 1, 2002
6. A. Fursenko. "Mad Risk", p. 255
7. A. Fursenko "Mad Risk", p. 256
8. Marshal Baghramyan. Love in the line of fire
9. Interview with Sidney Graybeal - 1/29/98 // The National Security Archive of the George Washington University
10. A. Fursenko, Mad Risk, p. 299
11. The Cuban Crisis: A Historical Perspective (Discussion) Hosted by James Blight, Philip Brenner, Julia Sweig, Svetlana Savranskaya and Graham Allison
12. Soviet Analysis of the Strategic Situation in Cuba October 22, 1962
13. A. A. Gromyko - "Memorable", book 1
14. K. Tariverdiev. Caribbean Crisis
15. The "Cuban Missile Crisis, October 18-29, 1962" from History and Politics Out Loud
16. Cuba and the United States: A Chronological History by Jane Franklin, 420 pages, 1997, Ocean Press
17. N. S. Khrushchev. Memories. Page 490
18. SM-65 Atlas - United States Nuclear Forces
19. David K. Stumpf: "Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program", Univ. of Arkansas, 2000
20. Anatoly Dokuchaev But Kennedy suspected Khrushchev... Who ordered the shooting down of an American spy plane over Cuba? . "Independent Military Review" (August 18, 2000). Archived from the original on August 28, 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2009.
21. THIRTEEN DAYS. Robert McNamara responds to your questions (March 2001)
22. In particular, Academician A. D. Sakharov, one of the developers of Soviet nuclear weapons, made such a statement Reflections on progress, peaceful coexistence and intellectual freedom
23. Nikita Khrushchev - Voice from the past. Part 2.
24. final speech by N.S. Khrushchev at the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU on November 23, 1962.
25. (English)
26. SOVIETS CLOSE TO USING A-BOMB IN 1962 CRISIS, FORUM IS TOLD

Literature

• Lavrenov S.A., Popov I.M. The Soviet Union in local wars and conflicts. - M .: Astrel, 2003. - S. 213-289. - ISBN 5-271-05709-7
• Manoilin V.I. Basing of the Navy of the USSR. St. Petersburg: Neva Publishing House, 2004. - 320 p. - ISBN 5-7654-3446-0
• Mikoyan S. A. Anatomy of the Caribbean Crisis. , Academia Publishing, 2006. ISBN 5-87444-242-1
• Okorokov A.V. USSR in the struggle for world domination. Moscow: Yauza: Eksmo, 2009. - 448 p. - ISBN 978-5-699-37381-9
• The feat of P.L. "Strategic nuclear weapons of Russia", M.: IzdAT, 1998
• Feklisov A.S. Caribbean nuclear missile crisis / Kennedy and Soviet agents. Moscow: Eksmo: Algorithm, 2001. - 304 p. Cc. 234-263. - ISBN 978-5-699-46002-1
• Fursenko A., Naftali T. Mad Risk, publishing house ROSSPEN, 2006
• Allison, Graham and Zelikow, P. Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Longman, 1999.
• Blight, James G., and David A. Welch. On the Brink: Americans and Soviets Reexamine the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Hill and Wang, 1989.
• Brugioni, Dino A. Eyeball to Eyeball: The Inside Story of the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Random House, 1991.
• Divine, Robert A. The Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: M. Wiener Pub., 1988.
• Fursenko, Aleksandr, and Naftali, Timothy; One Hell of a Gamble - Khrushchev, Castro and Kennedy 1958-1964; W.W. Norton (New York 1998)
• Giglio, James N. The Presidency of John F. Kennedy. Lawrence, Kansas, 1991.
• Gonzalez, Servando The Nuclear Deception: Nikita Khrushchev and the Cuban Missile Crisis; IntelliBooks, 2002 ISBN 0-9711391-5-6
• Kennedy, Robert F. Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis; ISBN 0-393-31834-6
• May, Ernest R., and Philip D. Zelikow., eds. The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis. Concise Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 2001.
• Nuti, Leopoldo (ed.) I "Missili di Ottobre": La Storiografia Americana e la Crisi Cubana dell'Ottobre 1962 Milano: LED, 1994.
• Thompson, Robert S. The Missile of October: The Declassified Story of John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Diez Acosta, Tombs. October 1962: The "Missile" Crisis As Seen From Cuba. Pathfinder Press, New York, 2002.

Links

• Memoirs of Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev about the Cuban Missile Crisis
• Photocopy of the first page of a letter from N. S. Khrushchev to President Kennedy on October 24, 1962. Storage National Library US Congress.
• Appeal of N. S. Khrushchev to D. F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. 10/27/1962 and D. Kennedy's answer to N. S. Khrushchev. October 28, 1962
• Caribbean crisis . Essay by M. Statkevich 2004
• Caribbean crisis: turning point. Behind the scenes of history. Article by I. Khlebnikov in the journal Obozrevatel.
• Lavrenov S. Ya, Popov I. M. The Soviet Union in local wars and conflicts. Caribbean crisis: the world is on the brink of disaster