By: Ng Chen Hui

5. Hot Line Treaty of 1963, Direct Communication established

This is a Moscow-Washington hotline system that allows direct communication between presidents of the United States and Russia. It was established on 20 June 1963 subsequent to the signing of the "Memorandum of Understanding Regarding the Establishment of a Direct Communications Line" in Geneva, Switzerland, by representatives of the Soviet Union and the United States.

Reliable and direct communication between the two superpowers was seen as a necessity after the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the crisis, it took the U.S. nearly 12 hours to receive and decode Nikita Khrushchev's 3,000 word initial settlement message. It was a dangerously long period of time in the wake of nuclear brinksmanship. By the time the U.S. had drafted a reply, a tougher message from Khrushchev had been received demanding that U.S.missiles be removed from Turkey. White House advisors reasoned that the crisis could have been more quickly resolved and easily averted if communication had been faster.

The Cuban Missile Crisis highlighted the importance of a clear and direct system of communication between USA and USSR. It was hoped that a hotline would help prevent dangerous confrontations such as the Cuban Missile Crisis arising again. As such, this system was set up and it is still standing today.

6. Agreement of Equivalence Military prowess of United States and Soviet Union

By the end of the 1960s, the Americans had achieved strategic parity with the Soviets. In overall military capability, the United States could no longer be considered paramount. Thus, USSR has the authority to command negotiations with USA with issues pertaining arms control.There were collaborative efforts by both nations for arms control and this resulted in the signing of many bilateral agreements.

7. Subsequent outburst of Nuclear Wars - Prevented or Possible?

At the recent 40th anniversary conference on the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was noted that "the lessons learned from the missile crisis might assist those of us who are interested in reducing the risk of nuclear catastrophe in the 21st century".

The Cuban Missile Crisis showed the whole world about the eminent and inevitable dangers of having a full scaled nuclear war. This has shaken the whole world and propelled nations to reconsider alternatives before engaging into such wars.Therefore is subsequent outburst of Nuclear war prevented?

The Cuban Missile Crisis showed that Nuclear war was indeed possible. Forty-two years after World War II, having enjoyed four decades without nuclear war or any general war, majority of the global citizens had the premature mindset that war has become obsolete and that World Peace is the norm. The further we get from those fateful 13 days, the more unlikely it becomes that this conflict could have led to nuclear war. Given the consequences of such a war, the stakeholders involved simply does not justify such an outcome.

No event demonstrates more clearly the fateful gap between “Implausibility” and “impossibility” than the Cuban Missile Crisis. Therefore is subsequent outburst of Nuclear war possible? This is a question that still challenges us today. One of the impacts of the Cuban Missile Crisis is that it led to such speculation.

8. Importance of Peaceful Co-exsistence-Impact on

Foreign Policy & the Reality of Nuclear Interdependence

The Cuban Missile Crisis demonstrated to the superpowers the significance of co-existing peacefully. It began the period of 'dètente' and thaw of cold war. This period started with the introduction of a telephone hotline between the USA and USSR and a series of treaties, including the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, and the two Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I and II). The foreign policies of superpower nations were inclined to promoting peaceful co-exisence.Technology has created for the United States and Soviet Union an inescapable common interest in avoiding the major nuclear war of which they would be the first victims. Who depends on whom and how much? USA has the power to destroy USSR with nuclear warheads. But USA faces the same threat from USSR. There is thus one indisputable implication: USA's security is dependent upon USSR's security and vice versa. This is a concept of “mutual security” that precedes 'national security'.

9. The Cuban Misile- Impact on International Law

The Cuban Missile Crisis has influenced international law. In October 2002, a conference hosted by Fidel Castro was held in Havana. It was a rare event because participants from the United States, Soviet, and Cuban governments attended the gathering, sharing their impressions of what had happened during the crisis. After the Cuban Missile Crisis, there was a question of justification of intervention of international bodies in wars between superpowers that had potential to affect the whole world. This is thus address in article 51 of the United Nations'Charter. It provides for the right of countries to engage in military action in self-defence, including collective self-defence (i.e. under an alliance).

Article 51 states: Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self- defence shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.

10. The perils of crisis management

The Cuban Missile Crisis has influenced the management of international crises. The perils of crisis management are vital in times where the uncontrollable and undesirable may happen. Any one action by the USA or USSR may triggered a chain of reactions ending in war. Crisis must be prevented. The Cuban Missile Crisis offers good tips on how to prevent or to provoke crises.
Firstly, limit misunderstandings of real interests and real intention. The Kennedy administration failed to communicate clearly its commitment not to allow Cuba to become a base for offensive Soviet threats to United States. They did not put it across clearly that USA had no intention of rising and American military invasion of Cuba.

Secondly, is the importance of the unwritten rules of the game that constrain the US- Soviet competition. Kennedy was shocked by Khrushchev’s lack of appreciation of what he referred to at the time as the “rules of the precarious status quo". Installing missiles in Cuba clearly violated these rules. If the Soviet leader could understand the United States' interests, so Kennedy reasoned, he is willing to do anything to re- establish and understanding of these constraints on which the peace depended. Since the missile crisis, both American and Soviet leaders have come to understand better these unwritten rules. Also there were discussions between the United States and the Soviet Union about areas of potential dispute hold promise of much greater appreciation of these rules and their applications. This leads to better appreciation of the relative importance of parallel interests vs. competing interests in the US-Soviet relationship.
Given the inescapable threat both face together, each must reconsider its interests in situations that allow independent initiatives by third parties to engage superpower interests. Regional discussions that distinguish between real primary interests and secondary interests offer promise on this front.


11. Diplomatic Relationship between China and Soviet Union was on the Decline

After the Cuban Missile Crisis, Khrushchev was seen to have lost the cold war. China accused the Soviet Union of being a 'paper-tiger' and claimed to be the true leader of the Communist movement. The split between the USSR and China became wider.

12. United States on the advance

After the Cuban Missile Crisis, the United States became convinced that the Soviet Union would not go to war over another communist country. This indirectly encouraged the United States to help attempts to overthrow socialist and communist governments in Vietnam, Nicaragua and Grenada.

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By: Lee Wen Sin

The Cuban Missile Crisis spanned a total of 13 days in October 1962, thus having another name the 13 days Crisis. Next I’m going to summarize what happened in the 13 days. The things that happened in 13 days can be divided into 3 major phases.

United States response to missile bases in Cuba

October 16-21, 1962

United States president John F. Kennedy was informed that United States spy plane, U-2, flew over Cuba and discovered the missiles bases established by the Soviet Union. President Kennedy immediately called for a meeting with the Executive Committee of the National Security Council (EXCOM) to solve this major problem. They came out with a few suggestions which include

1. do nothing
2. pressure Soviet Union to remove the missile bases full military invasion on Cuba
3. naval quarantine of Cuba, prevent any missile warheads from Soviet Union from reaching Cuba

Initially, the EXCOM agreed that full military invasion was the best solution. However, President Kennedy objected to taking such an action, he countered that although Soviet Union could not do anything to United States, they could use the invasion as an excuse to take over United States’ zone of occupation in Germany.

After another U-2 flight on the night of the 17th, the military discovered intermediate range (IRBMs)SS-5 nuclear missiles. With the exception of Washington and Oregon, these missiles could reach all of the continental U.S.

By October 19, the missile bases in Cuba were showing signs of operating, the EXCOM had to do something. In the end, they came to a conclusion. The best way out was to set up a naval blockade to prevent missiles warhead from Soviet Union from reaching Cuba, so that there could be no attack on the United States and at the same time United States are not initiating a war.

The Quarantine

October 21-24, 1962

United States sent ships to surround Cuba, forming a physical barrier around it so ships carrying warheads from Soviet Union will not be able to reach it. On October 22, Kennedy made an announcement to the United States and to the world, he revealed his decision and emphasized that what is his doing is quarantine and not blockade, he would use the word "quarantine" instead of "blockade." This suggestion, made by George Ball, Under Secretary of State, was an important one. A blockade, as defined under international treaties is an act of war. A quarantine, on the other hand, is merely an attempt to keep something unwanted out of a particular area. In sum, the U.S. could have its blockade but the international community would not consider it an act of war.
Upon hearing this news, Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev was infuriated. He believed that no matter what they named it, the United States action was an act of war and should be stopped. Yet no action was made to stopped the United States.
On October 24, Soviet ships reached the quarantine line but they received orders from Moscow to halt and wait for further orders. Although they halted, United States was not at all relief because these ships were tailed by Soviet submarine.

Towards the end of Crisis
October 25-28, 1962
Finally, on October 26, President Kennedy received a letter from Soviet leader Krushchev asking for peace. In his letter, Khrushchev mentioned that Soviet will remove all their missiles from Cuba if United States promised not to invade Cuba. While one U-2 spy plane accidentally flies into Russia, another is shot down over Cuba. EX-COMM receives a second letter from Khrushchev stating that, in addition to a public promise not to invade Cuba, the U.S. removed its missiles from Turkey. Eventually, President Kennedy agreed to do what Khrushchev wanted on the condition that the second term a secret.
October 28, President Kennedy and Khrushchev came to an agreement, missile bases in Cuba were removed and the ships that were stationed at the quarantine line headed back to Soviet. The Crisis had come to an end.

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By: Shen Yichen

Introduction
In October 1962, the USA came to a sudden realisation that the Soviet had installed a number of medium ranged missiles on Cuba. Furthermore, they found out that the Soviets were in the process of sending intermediate ranged nuclear missiles to Cuba, which could target almost any major city in the US. The crisis was gone as quickly as it came. The doomsday clock which showed how close we are to nuclear doomsday didn’t even move as the crisis was only 13 days. The causes of the crisis however, had deep roots in the history of the USA, USSR and Cuba. These are actually referring to the long term causes. What most people who knew about the crisis would give as the cause would be the immediate term causes, or rather the triggers. Let’s talk about these first.

Triggers and Immediate Causes
The first thing most would say to be the cause of the crisis would be Khrushchev sending missiles to Cuba. This is true, for the whole crisis was about these missiles, and how they would threaten world peace. What is really interesting is why, and we’ll discuss this later.

Though the missiles were the focus of the crisis, the actual trigger was the U2 spy photos that revealed these missiles and America’s reaction to it. The thirteen days of crisis only started after the missiles were revealed. The Americans had actually declared a crisis and took actions both militarily and diplomatically. This greatly heightened tension and actually brought forward the crisis itself. It is also worth to note the fact the both sides had refused to back down during the crisis, adding to the tension.

The Long Term Causes
Studying only the triggers would not have helped much if we really wanted to understand the entire crisis. Questions relating to this section would probably be something like “Why had Khrushchev decided to send missiles to Cuba?” The fact is that the crisis is a result of many years of mistrust and conflict between the superpowers. Conflicts in Cuba also had a major role to play.
Thus the causes can be split into 3 major sections:

1. Cuba’s relationship with the superpowers
2. USA’s roles in the crisis
3. Khrushchev and USSR’s actions and decisions before the crisis

Cuba’s relationship with the Superpowers
Castro’s Cuba
Fidel Castro overthrew the existing Cuban regime in 1959. The US had taken this as a threat; for Cuba was right next to America and political instability there could affect the whole area. As such, the US was not very friendly towards the new Cuba. When Castro visited America for a meeting at the United Nations, President Eisenhower had not met him. Instead, it was the Soviet Premier Khrushchev that offered Castro help.
US boycott
Desperate to improve the economy, Castro bought oil from Russia. The USA responded with a trade embargo, and refused to refine the oil from Russia. Left with no choice, Castro nationalised the American oil companies, followed by other American-owned companies and declared the revolution of Cuba a socialist one, so as to get further assistance from the Soviet Union. This shocked the USA, and caused them to be even more hostile towards Cuba.
US Attempts to Overthrow Castro
The USA had afterwards launched many attempts to oust Castro from power. The most famous of these was the Bay of Pigs Invasion. The invasion ultimately failed and the CIA switched to other methods, such as assassination attempts and sabotage. Fidel Castro himself had claimed that at some point of time “There were guerrillas in every town and city, even Havana.” All of these actions convinced Castro that the USA was trying to invade Cuba again, and turned to the USSR for help. The Soviets responded with military aid for now, but this would contribute greatly to convince Khrushchev that sending nuclear missiles to Cuba was good idea later.
Position of Cuba
Cuba was right at the doorstep of the USA. Thus when it turned into an ally of the Soviet Union, it would be a strategic base for military action, should it be necessary. This very fact is highly relevant to many elements of the Cuban Missile Crisis. For one, when Khrushchev had never let any nuclear weapons to be deployed on foreign land. The fact that he sent them to Cuba hinted greatly at the relevance of Cuba’s proximity to the Soviet cause.

It is also worth to note that in a way, the USA had started the Cuban Revolution in the first place, due to its heavy exploitation of Cuba.

The USA
The USA had a role in the cause of the crisis too. Most of it has already been discussed in the previous section. However, there are factors regarding the USA that are not related to Cuba too.
Overacting
Some people might have thought that there is no crisis at all. After all, Khrushchev would never have been that foolish to actually launch the missiles, for he knew clearly what the consequences are. As such, they blamed the Americans for overacting in the face of the crisis and causing unnecessary tension. Khrushchev himself said in his letter: “I must say frankly, that the measures indicated in your statement constitute a serious threat to peace and to the security of nations.”, blaming the US for the crisis.
Missiles in Europe
During the crisis, the USA had numerous missiles capable of striking the USSR in Europe. Khrushchev was rather troubled by this and had wanted to do something about it. We would talk about this more in Khrushchev’s attempt to seek a balance in power. The US had defended this act by saying that these missile bases are temporary and TIME Magazine had stated that “The Russians concentrated instead on IRBMs, and today the Soviet Union has many more missiles aimed at Western Europe than the U.S. has missiles aimed at Russia.”, clearly in defence too. But in a way the Soviets only did to the USA what she had done to them, and Khrushchev and made this quite clear during the crisis.

Khrushchev and the USSR
Being the ones that actually sent the missiles, it would be foolish to neglect the USSR’s role in causing the crisis.
A Balance of Power
As mentioned earlier, Khrushchev was not very happy about the presence of US missiles in Europe as they could strike Russian cities. It is also a known fact that during that period, the Soviet Union was at a serious disadvantage when it came to nuclear warfare. According to Russian Sources, the USA had many more nuclear missiles and had them surrounded. Thus Khrushchev decided to send missiles to Cuba to gain an advantage over the US. This was important for the Russians, as it meant various advantages in talks and negotiations in the future.
A Defence Responsibility
We also discussed earlier that the US was hostile towards Cuba. Therefore, the Soviets see that it is their responsibility to ensure the safety of their allies. They also think that failing to defend Cuba would reflect badly on their name. Therefore, the USSR had been sending military aid to Cuba for quite some time. But as the CIA sabotages continue, Khrushchev began to consider the option of sending nuclear weapons to Cuba to force the Americans to back down. Castro on the other hand did not think this is necessary but accepted the missiles anyway. He would later say that it is not honourable to refuse Soviet Missiles after all the USSR had done for them.
A Good Idea?
Khrushchev had thought before the crisis that sending missiles to Cuba was a good idea. Firstly, it would fulfil many purposes at once, defending Cuba, threatening the US, etc. Secondly, he thought that he could gain mass support after the bases are ready, for he could show off how he had outmanoeuvred the USA. Thirdly, the military had promised him that the operation would never be detected by the USA. Khrushchev was greatly shocked later when they did. As such, it’s easy to see how Khrushchev thought the idea was good, but we have to add that he was rather reckless.
A Misunderstanding
Nikita Khrushchev’s son, Sergei Khrushchev, talked about another reason. He said that his father had misunderstood the American perspective. Though Sergei is likely to defend his father, the reason seems to make sense too. The Soviets and the Americans had different perspectives towards the crisis. In fact, the Russians name the crisis “The Caribbean Crisis” to reflect on Cuba’s position instead. Sergei also mentioned that while the people in US were panicking, life went on as usual in USSR, for the Soviet Union were used to the many crisis that hit them. It is worth noting that some people who knew about the situation in Russian did panic.

Conclusion
Examining the causes alone, I think that the Soviets, to a large extent are responsible for the Cuban Missile Crisis. In an attempt to compete against the US during the cold war, they had made the reckless decision to send missiles to Cuba. While one may argue that the USA had missiles in Turkey, we have to note that additional missiles in Cuba meant that both sides could destroy each other, and that’s what the crisis is about anyway. So, the Russians are mainly responsible, though we cannot deny the role of America, Cuba and the Cold War itself too.

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A short introduction
- Cuba is an country located on an island, the largest among the Caribbean Islands.
- Her major natural resource is sugar. Cuba is thus the second largest producer of sugar in the world.
- It was the first country outside of Eastern Europe that went socialist. Hence, from the Soviet's perspective, it was seen as a very important place to defend.
- Before Castor's revolution, Cuba was the platform for American exploitation. The US government supported the Cuban dictatorship.
- Cuba is situated 90 miles, or 140 kilometres off the American Florida coast.

Relationship between US and Soviets [PRE-1962]
- By 1946, Europe has two distinct blocs and spheres of influence, west, led by America and East led by Soviet Union
- The hostile relationship between US and USSR resulted in the Cold War, a war that did not involve direct fighting and violence possibly due to the fear of the nuclear warfare.
- NATO was set up and USA was determined to implement containment of communism
- Arms race followed thereafter, subsequently, Space race followed.
- Aug 1961, Berlin war was built (it was demolished in 1989)
- 1961 - Cuban Missile Crisis sparked off. by Bay of Pigs incident

After Kennedy was inaugurated into office, his military advisors were pushing to implement a plan approved by Eisenhower. It involves training Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba. Kennedy was reassured by CIA that attack would succeed. On 17 April 1961, 1600 guerrillas landed at the Bay of Pigs on the South Coast of Cuba. The aim was to cause internal instability in Cuba. However, they were caught by the Cuban army. The result was an embarrassed US government, an angry Khrushchev and an increasingly popular Castro.

Here, we have a map of Cuba:

Notice how close Florida of the USA is. Places on the map such as San Cristobal and Guantanamo are key areas during the crisis.

A calender on the crisis

October 1962
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
1	2	3	4	5	6 Jet Fighters sent to Florida	7
8	9 Kennedy starts U2 flights	10 US Senator Kenneth Keating claims Soviets have missile pads in Cuba	11	12	13	14 U2 finds missiles sites in Cuba
15 Photos are analyzed and missiles are found. Sites nearing completion	16 Kennedy is informed and sets up Ex-Comm	17 Options are discussed	18 Kennedy meets with Soviet Minister Gromyko. More missile sites found	19 Kennedy returns from Chicago and is informed about options	20	21 Allied Nations are informed and Kennedy decided on quarantine
22 Kennedy address the USA and the world	23 Soviet Ships and submarines approach	24 Soviet ships are stopped and a U2 shot down over Cuba	25 2 oil tankers are allowed through the quarantine and USA shows evidence of missiles during UN meeting	26 Khrushchev sends message to Kennedy	27 Khrushchev sends second letter, Americans agree to conditions	28 Soviets agree to dismantle missiles, crisis is over
29	30	31

Reference

Terminology for Dummies
Here are just some basic and random terms in the cuban missile crisis.

People
JFK - John Fitzgerald Kennedy, President of the United States, Cuban Missile Crisis





Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, Premier of the Soviet Union, Cuban Missile Crisis






Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, President of Cuba, Cuban Missile Crisis













The Ex-Comm - Committee to advise the president
Robert Kennedy: Attorney General
Lyndon Johnson: Vice President
Roswell Gilpatrick: Deputy Secretary of Defense
General Maxwell Taylor: CJCS
John A. McCone: DCI
McGeorge Bundy: National Security Assistant to the President
Robert McNamara: Secretary of Defense
Dean Rusk: Secretary of State
U. Alexis Johnson: Under Secretary of State
Douglas Dillon: Secretary of Treasury
George Ball: Deputy Secretary of State
Ted Sorenson: Chief Domestic Policy Advisor to the President
Adlai Stevenson: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

The weapons
Warhead - This is the tip of the missile, the part that explodes. For the purpose of discussion, assumme all warheads mentioned here to be nuclear warheads unless otherwise stated.
Missile - This can either refer to the whole weapon or just the part that carries the warhead
Missile Bunker - The Soviets hid their missiles in these, which is why the Americans did not notice them
Missile Base - Typically around 50km away from the bunker, the missiles are transported here from the bunker and launched should Khrushchev give the order

ICBM - Intercontinental Ballistic Missile: These missiles can travel up to 5000km, and thus can hit target across continents. These are not involved in the crisis and

IRBM - Intermediate-range ballistic Missile: Travels up to a few thousand km. During the crisis, the Americans assumed that no such missiles are on the island but rather are on the ships that were stopped by the naval bloackade. These missiles could reach almost every major US city.

MRBM - Medium-range ballistic missile: The ones in the crisis travels up to 1000km. These are the actual missiles on Cuba, ready to fire and is what that is causing all the panic.

Battlefield nuclear weapons - These are nuclear weapons either on short-range missiles or not on missiles at all, for example torpedos. The soviets have these on Cuba too, which is why people later said that an invasion of Cuba would be a grave mistake, for these could annihilate the entire force. Submarine escorts carried nuclear topedos too, which given the order would take out an entire air-craft carrier. It is said that the real threat was with these weapons, for they do not require authority from the leaders to be used.

The Americans also had many bombers that can drop nuclear weapons the conventional way.

U2 spy plane - This is not a bomber, but rather an advanced spy plane with high definition films, manned by humans. The plane gathered most of the intelligence regarding Cuba during the crisis.

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Cuban Missile Crisis: Discovery

Thirteen Days in October: The Cuban Missile Crisis

And here's a Russian Source, we tend to mostly find American ones since we're studying History in English, but its good to look at what the Russians think about the Crisis too. Here'e Khrushchev's son, Sergei on the Crisis.
Khrushchev on the Cuban Missile Crisis

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A 6 part documentary on YouTube. Originally produced by The Discovery Channel in 2002, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

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A five part series on the Cuban Missile Crisis on YouTube.

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Comics

http://cairsweb.llgc.org.uk/images/ilw1/ilw3555_t.gif
The cartoon shows Khrushchev balancing the nuclear missile on his head while walking on a wall. It shows just how unstable the situation was at that time. The cartoon suggested that Khrushchev started the crisis.

Websites
GCSE Modern World History
Wikipedia

Time Magazine Archives
Nov 02, 1962
Nation: The Showdown
Nation: THEIR BASES & OURS
Foreign Relations: The Backdown
World: The East's Reply
World: The West's Response
United Nations: Until Hell Freezes Over
A Letter From The Publisher: Nov. 2, 1962
(Cold War: After Cuba)

Nov 09, 1962
Russia: The Adventurer
Foreign Relations: The Morning After
Nation: U.S. BASES ABROAD
(Nation: The First Casualty)

Videos
General overview(Flash)

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