There was a time when people feared that they wouldn’t exist the following day. The fear that everyone they knew may not exist. Everything decimated beyond reparation. Decimated by nuclear missiles. This was during the Cold War, a sense of hostility between the superpowers of the world, USA and the USSR.

We never came closer to nuclear annihilation than the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis refers to a 13 day period where both the superpowers were on the verge of launching nuclear missiles on each other.

How did the Cuban Missile Crisis start?

Cuba was a new communist nation. It rose under the rule of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. During this period, the US feared communism and went beyond the call of duty to keep it away from their homeland. Cuba was very close to the US. The US decided to stop the influence of communism in Cuba. They tried to overthrow the Cuban government but failed. This failed attempt was called the Bay of Pigs.

Cuba tried to seek help from the communist homeland, USSR. Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet premier was pleased to help. He placed a huge amount of missiles to Cuba. This was done for 2 reasons. First, it helped in protecting the island but secondly and more importantly, it helped the Soviets in placing nuclear missiles in close vicinity of the USA. This acted as a countermeasure for the nuclear missiles present in Turkey and Italy.

American intelligence learned about the missiles but they were too late. The parts for the missiles were already in Cuba. An emergency meeting was held on October 16, 1962, to discuss the situation at hand. They wanted to invade the island of Cuba, targetting the missiles sites first. However, John F Kennedy took a more strategic step. He decided to intercept missile shipments from USSR which were making their way to Cuba.

Soviets, at first, considered the blockade as an act of war, but the US begged to differ. They called it a quarantine, which would not block basic necessities to Cuba. Khrushchev wrote an angry letter to John F Kennedy. He stated that the blockade was an act of aggression which may push mankind towards the brink of destruction via nuclear missiles.

The US demanded the removal of missiles from Cuba. While the Soviets and the Cubans stated that the missiles were only defensive. The US prepared themselves for a probable invasion.

What happened during the 13 day period?

On the 27th of October, 1962, a Soviet submarine was hit by a small-depth charge. This charge was released by the US Nay in order to signal the submarine to come up.

The submarine was too deep to communicate with the surface. They believed that the war had begun. They prepared to launch a nuclear torpedo to the surface.

The launch had to be decided unanimously by 3 officers. The captain, the political officer, and the second-in-command. The captain and the political officer authorized the launch. But Vasili Arkhipov refused. This decision single-handedly prevented the total annihilation of the world.

During this time, the US put its military status at DEFCON 2, only one grade less than nuclear war. It seemed as if destruction was looming at the edge.

As the brawn prepared for invasions and war, the brains followed diplomacy. Attorney General Robert Kennedy met with the Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin. They negotiated to end the crisis. They proposed that the US withdraw its nuclear missiles from Italy and Turkey, while the Soviets remove them from Cuba under the inspection of the UN.

Aftermath

The proposal was followed and Khrushchev removed all missiles from Cuba. The governments of both nations were criticized for striking a deal with the devil, their actions have helped humanity to survive. A single decision could have resulted in nuclear annihilation.

Today, the Cuban Missile Crisis acts as an example of how situations can be handled with peace and diplomacy. It displayed how weak politics are and the amount of destruction they can cause.