Fidel Castro Caribbean crisis. Cuban Missile Crisis

55 years ago, on September 9, 1962, Soviet troops were delivered to Cuba ballistic missiles. This became the prelude to the so-called Caribbean (October) crisis, which for the first time brought humanity so close to the brink of nuclear war.

"Metallurg Anosov" with deck cargo - eight missile transporters with missiles covered with tarpaulin. During the Cuban missile crisis (blockade of Cuba). November 7, 1962. Photo: wikipedia.org

The Cuban Missile Crisis itself, or rather most of it, lasted 13 days, from October 22, 1962, when American political circles almost agreed on a missile strike on Cuba, where by that time an impressive Soviet military contingent was stationed.

The Russian Ministry of Defense yesterday published a list of official losses of Soviet citizens who died on the island from August 1, 1962 to August 16, 1964: there are 64 names in this mournful register.

Our compatriots died while saving Cubans during the severe Hurricane Flora, which swept over Cuba in the fall of 1963, during combat training, from accidents and illnesses. In 1978, at the suggestion of Fidel Castro, a memorial to the memory of Soviet soldiers buried in Cuba was built in the vicinity of Havana, which is surrounded by the utmost care. The complex consists of two concrete walls in the shape of mourning bowed banners of both countries. Its content is supervised in an exemplary manner by the country's top leadership. By the way, the Soviet military, who, together with the Cubans, were involved in the coastal defense of the island in the fall of 1962, were dressed in Cuban uniforms. But on the most intense days, from October 22 to 27, they took out vests and caps from their suitcases and prepared to give their lives for a distant Caribbean country.

Khrushchev made the decision

So, in the fall of 1962, the world faced the real danger of nuclear war between two superpowers. And the real destruction of humanity.

In official US circles, among politicians and in the media, at one time a thesis became widespread, according to which the cause of the Cuban Missile Crisis was the alleged deployment of “offensive weapons” by the Soviet Union in Cuba, and the response measures of the Kennedy administration, which brought the world to the brink of thermonuclear war, were “forced” . However, these statements are far from the truth. They are refuted by an objective analysis of the events that preceded the crisis.

Fidel Castro inspects the weapons of Soviet ships on July 28, 1969. Photo: RIA News

The sending of Soviet ballistic missiles to Cuba from the USSR in 1962 was an initiative of Moscow, and specifically Nikita Khrushchev. Nikita Sergeevich, shaking his shoe on the podium of the UN General Assembly, did not hide his desire to “put a hedgehog in the pants of the Americans” and was waiting for an opportunity. And looking ahead, he succeeded brilliantly - soviet missiles lethal force were not only located a hundred kilometers from America, but the United States did not know for a whole month that they had already been deployed on Liberty Island!

After the failure of the Bay of Pigs operation in 1961, it became clear that the Americans would not leave Cuba alone. This was evidenced by the increasing number of acts of sabotage against Freedom Island. Moscow received almost daily reports on American military preparations.

In March 1962, at a meeting in the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, according to the memoirs of the outstanding Soviet diplomat and intelligence officer Alexander Alekseev (Shitov), ​​Khrushchev asked him how Fidel would react to the proposal to install our missiles in Cuba. “We, Khrushchev said, must find such an effective means of intimidation that would keep the Americans from this risky step, because our speeches at the UN in defense of Cuba are clearly not enough anymore<… >Since the Americans have already surrounded the Soviet Union with a ring of their military bases and missile launchers for various purposes, we must pay them in their own coin, give them a taste of their own medicine so that they can feel for themselves what it is like to live under the gun nuclear weapons. Speaking about this, Khrushchev emphasized the need to carry out this operation in strict secrecy so that the Americans would not discover the missiles before they were fully operational. combat readiness".

Fidel Castro did not reject this idea. Although he understood perfectly well that the deployment of missiles would entail a change in the strategic nuclear balance in the world between the socialist camp and the United States. The Americans had already stationed warheads in Turkey, and Khrushchev's retaliatory decision to place missiles in Cuba was a kind of “missile leveling of the odds.” The specific decision to deploy Soviet missiles in Cuba was made at a meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee on May 24, 1962. And on June 10, 1962, before Raul Castro’s July arrival in Moscow, at a meeting in the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, USSR Defense Minister Marshal Rodion Malinovsky presented a project for an operation to transfer missiles to Cuba. It assumed the deployment of two types of ballistic missiles on the island - R-12 with a range of about 2 thousand kilometers and R-14 with a range of 4 thousand kilometers. Both types of missiles were equipped with one-megaton nuclear warheads.

The text of the agreement on the supply of missiles was transmitted to Fidel Castro on August 13 by the USSR Ambassador to Cuba Alexander Alekseev. Fidel immediately signed it and sent Che Guevara and the chairman of the United Revolutionary Organizations Emilio Aragones with him to Moscow, supposedly to discuss “current economic issues.” Nikita Khrushchev received the Cuban delegation on August 30, 1962 at his dacha in Crimea. But, having accepted the agreement from Che, he did not even bother to sign it. Thus, this historic agreement remained formalized without the signature of either party.

By that time, Soviet preparations for sending people and equipment to the island had already begun and became irreversible.

The captains did not know about the purpose of the mission

Operation Anadyr to transport people and equipment across seas and oceans from the USSR to Cuba is inscribed in golden letters in the annals of world military art. World history does not know such a jewelry operation, carried out under the nose of a super-powerful enemy with its exemplary tracking systems at that time, and has never known before.

Equipment and personnel were delivered to six different ports of the Soviet Union, in the Baltic, Black and Barents Seas, allocating 85 ships for the transfer, which made a total of 183 voyages. The Soviet sailors were convinced that they were going to northern latitudes. For the purpose of secrecy, camouflage robes and skis were loaded onto the ships in order to create the illusion of a “campaign to the North” and thereby eliminate any possibility of information leakage. The captains of the ships had appropriate packages that had to be opened in the presence of the political officer only after passing the Strait of Gibraltar. What can we say about ordinary sailors, if even the captains of the ships did not know where they were sailing and what they were carrying in the holds. Their amazement knew no bounds when, having opened the package after Gibraltar, they read: “Keep a course for Cuba and avoid conflict with NATO ships.” For camouflage, the military, who, naturally, could not be kept in the holds for the entire trip, went out on deck in civilian clothes.

Moscow's general plan was to deploy a Group of Soviet Forces in Cuba, consisting of military formations and units of the Missile Forces, Air Force, Air Defense and Navy. As a result, more than 43 thousand people arrived in Cuba. The basis of the Group of Soviet Forces was a missile division consisting of three regiments equipped with R-12 medium-range missiles and two regiments armed with R-14 missiles - a total of 40 missile launchers with a missile range from 2.5 to 4.5 thousand kilometers. Khrushchev later wrote in his Memoirs that “this force was enough to destroy New York, Chicago and other industrial cities, and there is nothing to say about Washington. A small village.” At the same time, this division was not tasked with launching a preemptive nuclear strike in the United States, it was supposed to serve as a deterrent.

Only decades later did some, until then secret, details of Operation Anadyr become known, which speak of the exceptional heroism of Soviet sailors. People were transported to Cuba in cargo compartments, the temperature of which reached more than 60 degrees upon entering the tropics. They were fed twice a day in the dark. The food was spoiling. But, despite the difficult conditions of the campaign, the sailors endured a long sea crossing of 18-24 days. Upon learning of this, US President Kennedy said: “If I had such soldiers, the whole world would be under my heel.”

The first ships arrived in Cuba in early August 1962. One of the participants in this unprecedented operation later recalled: “The poor people walked from the Black Sea in the hold of a cargo ship that had previously transported sugar from Cuba. The conditions, of course, were unsanitary: hastily knocked together multi-story bunks in the hold, no toilets, under their feet and on their teeth - the remains of granulated sugar. They were released from the hold to breathe air one by one and for a very a short time. At the same time, observers were posted on the sides: some watched the sea, others watched the sky. The hold hatches were left open. If any foreign object appeared, the “passengers” had to quickly return to the hold. Carefully camouflaged equipment was located on the upper deck. The galley was designed to prepare food for several dozen people making up the ship's crew. Since there were significantly more people, the food was, to put it mildly, unimportant. Of course, there was no question of any hygiene. In general, we spent two weeks in the hold with virtually no daylight, without minimal amenities and normal food."

A slap in the face for the White House

Operation Anadyr was the biggest failure of the American intelligence services, whose analysts kept calculating how many people Soviet passenger ships could transport to Cuba. And they came up with some ridiculously small number. They did not understand that these ships could accommodate significantly more people than were allowed for a regular voyage. And the fact that people could be transported in the holds of dry cargo ships could not even occur to them.

In early August, American intelligence agencies received information from West German colleagues that the Soviets were almost tenfold increasing the number of their ships in the Baltic and Atlantic. And the Cubans who lived in the United States learned from their relatives who were in Cuba about the import of “strange Soviet cargo” to the island. However, until the beginning of October, the Americans simply “turned a deaf ear to this information.”

Concealing the obvious for Moscow and Havana would mean stirring up even greater American interest in sending goods to Cuba and, most importantly, in their contents. Therefore, on September 3, 1962, in a joint Soviet-Cuban communiqué on the stay of the Cuban delegation in the Soviet Union, consisting of Che Guevara and E. Aragones, it was noted that “the Soviet government agreed to the request of the Cuban government to provide arms assistance to Cuba.” The communiqué stated that these weapons and military equipment are intended solely for defense purposes.

A list of official losses of Soviet citizens from August 1, 1962 to August 16, 1964 has been published. There are 64 names in the mourning register

The fact that the USSR supplied missiles to Cuba was an absolutely legal matter and permitted by international law. Despite this, the American press published a number of critical articles about “preparations in Cuba.” On September 4, US President John Kennedy made a statement that the United States would not tolerate deployment to Cuba strategic missiles ground-to-ground type and other types of offensive weapons. On September 25, 1962, Fidel Castro announced that the Soviet Union intended to create a base in Cuba for its fishing fleet. At first, the CIA really believed that a large fishing village was being built in Cuba. True, later in Langley they began to suspect that under his guise the Soviet Union was actually creating a large shipyard and a base for Soviet submarines. American intelligence surveillance of Cuba was intensified, and the number of reconnaissance flights of U-2 aircraft, which continuously photographed the island's territory, increased significantly. It soon became obvious to the Americans that the Soviet Union was building launch pads for anti-aircraft guided missiles (SAM) in Cuba. They were created in the USSR several years ago in a highly classified design bureau Grushina. With their help, in 1960, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft piloted by pilot Powers was shot down.

Hawks were in favor of striking Cuba

On October 2, 1962, John Kennedy orders the Pentagon to put the US military on alert. It became clear to Cuban and Soviet leaders that it was necessary to speed up the construction of facilities on the island.

Here, bad weather played into the hands of Havana and Moscow, who were concerned about the speedy completion of ground work. Due to heavy clouds in early October, U-2 flights, which had been suspended for six weeks by that time, began only on October 9. What they saw on October 10 amazed the Americans. Photo reconnaissance data showed the presence of good roads where until recently there was a desert area, as well as huge tractors that did not fit on the narrow country roads in Cuba.

Then John Kennedy gave the order to intensify photo reconnaissance. At this moment, a new typhoon hit Cuba. And new photographs from a spy plane, patrolling at an extremely low altitude of 130 meters, were taken only on the night of October 14, 1962 in the area of ​​​​San Cristobal in the province of Pinar del Rio. It took a day to process them. The U-2 discovered and photographed the launch positions of the Soviet missile forces. Hundreds of photographs showed that Cuba had already installed not only anti-aircraft missiles, and surface-to-surface missiles.

On October 16, Presidential Advisor McGeorge Bundy reported to Kennedy on the results of the flight over Cuban territory. What John Kennedy saw was fundamentally contrary to Khrushchev’s promises to supply only defensive weapons to Cuba. The missiles discovered by the spy plane were capable of wiping out several major American cities. That same day, Kennedy convened in his office the so-called working group on the Cuban issue, which included senior officials from the State Department, the CIA and the Department of Defense. It was a historic meeting at which the “hawks” put every possible pressure on the US President, persuading him to immediately strike Cuba.

General Nikolai Leonov recalled how then-Pentagon chief Robert McNamara told him at a conference in Moscow in 2002 that the majority of the US political elite insisted on a strike on Cuba in October 1962. He even clarified that 70 percent of people from the then US administration shared a similar point of view. Fortunately for world history, the minority view prevailed, which was held by McNamara himself and President Kennedy. “We must pay tribute to the courage and courage of John Kennedy, who found a difficult opportunity to compromise in defiance of the overwhelming majority of those around him and showed amazing political wisdom,” Nikolai Leonov told the author of these lines.

There were only a few days left before the culmination of the Cuban missile crisis, which RG will tell you about...

Nikolai Leonov, retired lieutenant general of state security, author of biographies of Fidel and Raul Castro:

The CIA frankly missed the transfer of such large quantity people and weapons from one hemisphere to another, and in close proximity to the shores of the United States. Move secretly a forty-thousand-strong army, a huge amount of military equipment - aviation, armored forces and of course the missiles themselves - such an operation, in my opinion, is an example of headquarters activity. As well as a classic example of enemy misinformation and camouflage. Operation Anadyr was developed and carried out in such a way that a mosquito would not undermine your nose. Already during its implementation, emergency and original decisions had to be made. For example, missiles, even when transported on the island itself, simply did not fit into the narrow Cuban rural roads. And they had to be expanded.

The most dangerous invention of mankind, nuclear weapons, has more than once brought the planet to the brink of destruction. The world was closest to the end of the world in the fall of 1962. The attention of the international community in October was focused on events unfolding in the Caribbean. The confrontation between the two superpowers became the pinnacle of the arms race and the highest point of tension in the Cold War.

Today, the Cuban crisis, as it is called in the United States, is assessed in different ways. Some consider Operation Anadyr to be a brilliant work of Soviet intelligence services and the organization of military supplies, as well as a risky but smart political move, while others condemn Khrushchev for short-sightedness. It is not correct to assert that Nikita Sergeevich foresaw absolutely all the consequences of the decision to place nuclear warheads on Freedom Island. Cunning and experienced political figure probably understood that the reaction from the United States would be decisive.

"Nikolaev" in the port of Casilda. The shadow of the RF-101 Voodoo, the reconnaissance aircraft that took the photo, is visible on the pier

The actions of the Soviet military leadership in Cuba should be considered taking into account the background to the development of the crisis. In 1959, the revolution finally won on the island, and Fidel Castro became the head of state. Cuba did not receive any special support from the USSR during this period, since it was not considered a stable member of the socialist camp. However, already in the 1960s, after the introduction of an economic blockade by the United States, supplies of Soviet oil began to Cuba. In addition, the Soviets become the young communist state's main foreign trade partner. Thousands of specialists in the field have flocked to the country Agriculture and industry, large capital investments began.

The interests of the Union on the island were dictated by far from ideological convictions. The fact is that in 1960 the United States managed to deploy its medium-range nuclear missiles on Turkish territory, which caused extreme indignation in Moscow. A successful strategic position allowed the Americans to control vast Soviet territories, including the capital, and the speed of launching and reaching the target for these weapons was minimal.

Cuba was located in close proximity to the US borders, so the deployment of an offensive weapons system with a nuclear charge could to some extent compensate for the resulting superiority in the confrontation. The idea of ​​​​placing launchers with nuclear missiles on the island belonged directly to Nikita Sergeevich, and was expressed by him on May 20, 1962 to Mikoyan, Malinovsky and Gromyko. Afterwards the idea was supported and developed.

Cuba's interest in placing Soviet military bases on its territory was obvious. Since his establishment as a political leader and head of state, Fidel Castro has become a constant target for various kinds of American provocations. They tried to eliminate him, and the United States was openly preparing a military invasion of Cuba. Evidence of this was the albeit unsuccessful attempt to land troops in the Bay of Pigs. The increase in the Soviet contingent and the build-up of weapons on the island gave hope for the preservation of the regime and the sovereignty of the state.

Nikita Khrushchev and John Kennedy

Having secured Castro's consent, Moscow launched a broad secret operation to transfer nuclear weapons. The missiles and components for their installation and combat readiness were delivered to the island under the guise of trade cargo, unloading was carried out only at night. About forty thousand military men, dressed in civilian clothes, who were strictly forbidden to speak Russian, left for Cuba in the holds of ships. During the trip, the soldiers could not go out into the open air, as the command was seriously afraid of being exposed ahead of schedule. The leadership of the operation was entrusted to Marshal Hovhannes Khachaturyanovich Bagramyan.

Soviet ships unloaded the first missiles in Havana on September 8, the second batch arrived on the 16th of the same month. The captains of the transport ships did not know the nature of the cargo and its destination; before departure, they were given envelopes that they could open only on the high seas. The text of the order indicated the need to proceed to the shores of Cuba and avoid encounters with NATO ships. The bulk of the missiles were deployed in the western part of the island, and the overwhelming majority of the military contingent and specialists were concentrated there. Some of the missiles were planned to be installed in the center, and several in the East. By October 14, forty medium-range nuclear-capable missiles were delivered to the island and installation began.

The actions of the USSR in Cuba were watched warily from Washington. The young American President John Kennedy convened the ex-executive committee of national security every day. Until September 5, the United States sent U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, but they did not bring information about the presence of nuclear weapons. However, it became increasingly difficult to hide further the intentions of the USSR. The length of the rocket together with the tractor was about thirty meters, so their unloading and transportation was noticed local residents, among whom were many American agents. However, it seemed to the Americans that assumptions alone were not enough; only photographs taken on October 14 by Lockheed U-2 pilot Heiser left no doubt that Cuba had become one of the strategic Soviet bases equipped with nuclear missiles.

Kennedy considered the Soviet leadership incapable of such decisive action, so the photographs came as something of a surprise. From October 16, reconnaissance planes begin to fly over the island up to six times a day. The committee put forward two main proposals: to begin military action, or to organize a naval blockade of Cuba. Kennedy was immediately critical of the idea of ​​invasion, as he understood that such a thing could provoke the outbreak of World War III. The president could not take responsibility for the consequences of such a decision, therefore American forces were sent to blockade.

The first image of Soviet missiles in Cuba obtained by the Americans. October 14, 1962

The intelligence activities of the Americans in this incident showed themselves to be the worst side. The information presented by the intelligence services to the president turned out to be far from the truth. For example, the number of USSR military personnel, according to their information, in Cuba was no more than ten thousand people, while the real number long ago exceeded forty thousand. The Americans also did not know that the island had not only medium-range nuclear missiles, but also short-range nuclear weapons. The bombing, which the American military so persistently proposed, could no longer be carried out, since four launchers were ready by October 19. Washington was also within their reach. The landing also threatened with catastrophic consequences, since the Soviet military was ready to use a complex called “Luna”.

The tense situation continued to escalate as neither side was willing to make concessions. For the United States, the deployment of missiles in Cuba was a security issue, but the USSR was also in the crosshairs of the American missile system in Turkey. The Cubans demanded to open fire on reconnaissance aircraft, but were forced to obey the decisions of the USSR.

On October 22, Kennedy made a public statement to the Americans that offensive weapons were indeed being installed in Cuba against the United States, and the government would consider any act of aggression as the beginning of a war. This meant that the world was on the verge of destruction. International community supported the American blockade, largely due to the fact that the Soviet leadership hid the true meaning of its actions for a long time. However, Khrushchev did not recognize it as legal and stated that fire would be opened on any of the ships that showed aggression towards Soviet maritime transport. The USSR still ordered most of the ships to return to their homeland, but five of them were already approaching their destination, accompanied by four diesel submarines. The submarines carried weapons on board that could destroy most of the American fleet in the region, but the United States was not informed about this.

On October 24, one of the ships “Alexandrovsk” landed on the shore, but a telegram was sent to Khrushchev calling for prudence. The day after the scandalous revelation at a UN meeting, the United States issued an order on combat readiness for the first time in history. 2. Any careless action could cause the outbreak of war - the world froze in anticipation. In the morning, Khrushchev sent a conciliatory letter in which he offered to dismantle the missiles in exchange for a US promise to abandon the invasion of Cuba. The situation calmed down somewhat, and Kennedy decided to postpone the start of hostilities.

The crisis escalated again on October 27, when the Soviet leadership put forward an additional demand for the dismantling of American missiles in Turkey. Kennedy and his entourage suggested that a military coup had taken place in the USSR, as a result of which Khrushchev was removed. At this time, an American reconnaissance plane was shot down over Cuba. Some believe that this was a provocation on the part of the commandant, who advocated a categorical refusal to withdraw weapons from the island, but most call the tragedy the unauthorized actions of Soviet commanders. On October 27, the world came closest to the brink of self-destruction in its entire history.

On the morning of October 28, the Kremlin received an appeal from the United States, which proposed to resolve the conflict peacefully, and the conditions for resolution were Khrushchev’s first proposal. According to unconfirmed reports, the liquidation of the missile complex in Turkey was also verbally promised. In just 3 weeks, the USSR dismantled nuclear installations, and on November 20, the blockade of the island was lifted. A few months later, the Americans dismantled the missiles in Turkey.

Coverage radius of missiles stationed in Cuba: R-14 - large radius, R-12 - medium radius

The most dangerous moment in human history occurred in the twentieth century, but it also marked the end of the arms race. The two superpowers were forced to learn to find a compromise. Modern politicians often try to evaluate the result of the Cuban crisis as a defeat or victory for the Union. From the point of view of the author of this article, it is impossible to draw an unambiguous conclusion in this case. Yes, Khrushchev was able to achieve the liquidation of the American base in Turkey, but the risk turned out to be too great. The prudence of Kennedy, who was under intense pressure from the Pentagon to start a war, was not calculated in advance. Attempts to maintain a missile base in Cuba could be tragic not only for the Cubans, Americans and Soviet people, but also destroy all of humanity.

Photos of Soviet missiles stationed on the island. The “forceful” option for solving the problem was discussed in the White House, and its supporters convinced Kennedy to begin a massive bombing of Cuba as soon as possible, followed by a sea and airborne landing on the island.

Critical phase. World on the brink of nuclear war

As Commander-in-Chief, President John Kennedy, under pressure from the military, issued the order "DEFCON-2" to bring the US Armed Forces to "Combat Readiness No. 2". This meant that his next order would begin full-scale fighting or war with the USSR and its allies. On the evening of October 22, the US President spoke on television with an “Address to the American People.” He stated that 250 thousand ground forces, 90 thousand marines and paratroopers are preparing for the invasion of Cuba, an air force strike group has been created capable of carrying out 2 thousand sorties on the day of the invasion, the navy is pulling more than 100 ships of various types to the island appointments.

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 nuclear 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 held drills on the topic: “How to behave in the event of a nuclear explosion.”

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

Such US actions did not go unnoticed Soviet intelligence. Already on October 21, a GRU military attaché officer in Washington, at a meeting with Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, announced that units of the US armed forces stationed in the southern and southwestern states were put on heightened combat readiness. Neither the attaché nor the ambassador was notified that the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces had stationed ballistic and tactical missiles and nuclear 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 a “barracks position” and were permanently in the Kremlin in Moscow.

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 combat readiness: military personnel were raised on combat alert, standard 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 transported from 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 previously developed plans of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces, atomic strike forces - bombers and submarines with atomic weapons on board - were deployed to the shores of the United States. All units of the Missile Forces strategic purpose were put on heightened alert for an immediate atomic strike on predetermined targets in the United States, large American military bases, and naval and land groups located in other countries. Strike forces armored forces, motorized infantry units and aviation of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany were supposed 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 a direct military threat and an arms race, but also in the desire to expand their zones of influence. The Soviet Union sought to organize and support so-called “liberation” socialist revolutions in various parts of the world. In pro-Western countries, support was provided for “people's liberation movements” of various kinds, often with weapons and the sending of 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 Soviet Union's assistance was often free of charge, which aroused additional sympathy for it from the poorest countries of Africa and Latin America.

The United States, in turn, followed similar tactics, also stimulating “revolutions” to establish democracy and providing support to 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, for example 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 several times appealed to Moscow for military assistance, but was refused. Moscow was skeptical about the leader of the Cuban revolutionaries and the very prospects for revolution in Cuba, believing that the US influence there was too great. Fidel made his first foreign visit after the victory of the revolution to the United States, but President Eisenhower refused to meet with him, citing being busy. After this demonstration of an arrogant attitude towards Cuba, F. Castro took measures against the dominance of the Americans. Thus, the telephone and electric companies, oil refineries, and 36 largest sugar factories owned by US citizens were nationalized; the previous owners were offered 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 situation. By that time, the Cuban government had already established diplomatic relations with the USSR, and it turned to Moscow for help. Responding to the request, the USSR sent tankers with oil and organized purchases of Cuban sugar and raw sugar. Specialists 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 Liberty Island. Soviet specialists built various objects, 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 the distinguished guest was presented with a new drink. He tried it and said: “Like Borjomi.” That is, similar to this water from Georgia.

Cuba can be considered to be the first country to choose the communist path without significant military or political interference from the USSR. As such, it was deeply symbolic for Soviet leaders, especially 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 another American invasion, which he considered inevitable after the failure of the Bay of Pigs landing attempt. The militarily significant placement of critical weapons 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 nuclear warheads in the USA and USSR without deployed ones

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

It was supposed to send a group of Soviet troops to Liberty Island, which should concentrate around five units of nuclear missiles (three R-12 and two R-14). 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 cruise missile units 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 2,500 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 to include ballistic missiles.

In addition, an impressive group of the Navy was heading to Cuba: 2 cruisers, 4 destroyers, 12 Komar missile boats, 11 submarines (7 of them with nuclear missiles). A total of 50,874 troops 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 to carry out the operation.

Operation Anadyr

Landing at an air base in southern Florida, Heizer handed the tape to the CIA. On October 15, CIA analysts determined that the photographs showed Soviet R-12 medium-range ballistic missiles (SS-4 by NATO classification). On the evening of the same day, this information was brought to the attention of the top US military leadership. On the morning of October 16 at 8:45 the photographs were shown to the president. After that, on Kennedy's orders, flights over Cuba became 90 times more frequent: from twice a month to six times a day.

US reaction

Development of possible countermeasures

After receiving photographs indicating Soviet missile bases in Cuba, President Kennedy collected special group advisers to a secret meeting at the White House. This group of 14 people, 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. The committee soon offered the president three possible options for resolving the situation: destroy the missiles with targeted strikes, conduct a full-scale military operation in Cuba, or impose a naval blockade of the island.

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

However, on October 19, another U-2 flight revealed several more mounted missile positions, a squadron of Il-28s off the northern coast of Cuba, and a cruise missile division aimed at Florida.

The decision to introduce the 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, specially summoned for this purpose from New York, voted for the blockade.

Quarantine

There were many problems with the naval blockade. There was a question of legality—as Fidel Castro noted, there was nothing illegal about the installation of the missiles. They were, of course, a threat to the United States, but similar missiles were stationed in Europe aimed at the USSR: sixty Thor missiles in four squadrons near Nottingham in the UK; thirty Jupiter medium-range missiles 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 - would an armed conflict begin with an escalation of retaliatory actions?

President Kennedy addressed the American public (and the Soviet government) in a televised speech on October 22. He confirmed the presence of missiles in Cuba and declared a naval blockade of a 500 nautical mile (926 km) quarantine zone around the coast of Cuba, warning that the military was "prepared for any eventuality" and condemning the Soviet Union for its "secrecy and misleading." Kennedy noted that any missile launch from Cuba towards 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 for a resolution supporting the quarantine. Nikita Khrushchev stated that the blockade was illegal and that any ship flying the Soviet flag would ignore it. He threatened that if Soviet ships were attacked by American ships, a retaliatory strike would follow immediately.

However, the blockade came into force 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 the personal order of the President. By this time, 30 ships and vessels were heading to Cuba, including the Aleksandrovsk with a load of nuclear warheads and 4 ships carrying missiles for two MRBM divisions. In addition, 4 diesel submarines accompanying the ships were approaching Liberty Island. On board the Aleksandrovsk there were 24 warheads for MRBMs 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 between Soviet ships and American ones, the Soviet leadership decided to turn the remaining ships that did not have time to reach Cuba home.

Meanwhile, in response to Khrushchev’s message, Kennedy received a letter to the Kremlin, in which he indicated that “the Soviet side broke its promises regarding Cuba and misled him.” This time, Khrushchev decided not to go into 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 abandon attempts 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 unexpectedly 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 ICBM arsenal was supplemented by the PGM-19 Jupiter IRBM, with a radius of 2400 km. 30 such missiles were deployed in Northern Italy and 15 in Turkey. Also 60 PGM-17 Thor missiles have been deployed in the UK, having similar characteristics.

In addition to ICBMs, the basis of the Air Force's offensive power was a huge fleet of strategic bombers - more than 800 B-52 and B-36 intercontinental bombers, over 2,000 B-47 strategic bombers and about 150 supersonic B-58.

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

It was 5 o'clock in the evening 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 had been spotted approaching Guantanamo. The chief of staff of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division, Captain Antonets, called Pliev at headquarters for instructions, but he was not there. The deputy commander of the GSVK for combat training, Major General Leonid Garbuz, ordered the captain to wait for Pliev to appear. A few minutes later, Antonets called headquarters again - no one answered the phone. When the 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, aviation lieutenant general 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, ignored 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 convince the President to order an invasion of Cuba before Monday, "before it's too late." Kennedy no longer categorically rejected this development of the situation. However, he did not give up hope for a peaceful resolution. It is generally accepted that Black Saturday, October 27, is the day the world came closest to a global nuclear war.

Permission

The dismantling of Soviet missile launchers, loading them onto ships and removing them from Cuba took 3 weeks. Convinced that the Soviet Union had withdrawn the missiles, President Kennedy on November 20 ordered an end to the blockade of Cuba.
A few months later, the American Jupiter missiles were also withdrawn from Turkey as “obsolete” (the US Air Force did not object to the decommissioning of these MRBMs, since by that time the US Navy had already deployed the Polaris SLBMs, which were much more suitable for forward deployment, making the Jupiter "obsolete).

Consequences

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

Cuba's communist leadership viewed 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 unhappy with the result. So the commander of the US Air Force, General LeMay (English) Russian called the failure to attack Cuba "the worst defeat in our history."

At the end of the crisis, analysts from Soviet and American intelligence services proposed establishing a direct telephone line (the so-called “red telephone”) between Washington and Moscow, so that in the event of a crisis, the leaders of the superpowers would have the opportunity to immediately contact each other, rather than using the telegraph.

Historical meaning

The crisis marked a turning point in the nuclear race and the Cold War. The beginning of international détente was marked. An anti-war movement began in Western countries, 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 say 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 completed, and Soviet missiles could no longer ensure the security of Cuba. On the other hand, Khrushchev obtained guarantees from the US leadership of non-aggression against Cuba, which, despite Castro’s fears, were respected and are observed to this day. A few months later, American missiles in Turkey, which, according to Khrushchev, provoked him to place weapons in Cuba, were also dismantled. Ultimately, thanks to technological progress in rocket science, there was no longer any need to station nuclear weapons in Cuba and the Western Hemisphere in general, since within a few years the Soviet Union already had enough intercontinental missiles capable of reaching any city and military installation in the United States directly from Soviet territory.

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

We, comrades, have supplied missiles, medium-range missiles, to Cuba. Why did we put them up, what made us put them up? We reasoned that the Americans cannot stand Cuba, they say it outright, that they can devour Cuba. I spoke with the military, with Marshal Malinovsky. I asked: if we were in America’s place and set ourselves the course of breaking a state like Cuba, how much would we need, knowing our means? - Maximum three days, and they would have washed their hands. Comrades, this must be taken into account, because it is America that also has these capabilities. Therefore, we believed that Cuba could be saved only by placing missiles in Cuba. Then if you touch it, the hedgehog will curl up into a ball and you won’t be able to sit down. (Laughter.) Apparently, they tried it once. (Laughter.) These rockets 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 staged it and they definitely found out, it would shock them. It's no joke, the crocodile has a knife under its belly! [...] As a result of the correspondence, we extracted from the US President a statement that he, too, was not thinking of invading. Then we considered it possible to make a statement that we also consider it possible to remove our missiles and Il-28. Was this a concession? Was. We gave in. Was there a concession on the part of America? Was there a public word given not to invade? Was. So who gave in and who didn’t give in? We never said that we would invade another country. America said that it would not tolerate the revolutionary Castro regime in Cuba, and then it 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: Now there are smart people, and there are always more smart people when the danger passes than at the moment of danger. (Laughter in the hall.) [...] And if we had not conceded, perhaps America would have conceded more? May be so. But it could have been like a children's fairy tale when two goats met on a crossbar in front of an abyss. They showed goat wisdom, and both fell into the abyss. That's the problem.

Epilogue

Caribbean crisis in art

• Thirteen Days (film by Roger Donaldson) Roger Donaldson ) (2000)
• "Fog of War" The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara ) - film by Eroll Maurice (eng. 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 Cuban Missile Crisis.
• "Prayers" () for baritone and chamber orchestra composer Luigi Dallapiccola. The score is pointedly 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 stood for “Communism off the coast of America.”

see also

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

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 (English). Archive of Nuclear Data(2002). Archived from the original on August 28, 2011. Retrieved October 17, 2007.
3. Table of US ICBM Forces (English). Archive of Nuclear Data(2002). Archived
4. Table of US Ballistic Missile Submarine Forces (English). Archive of Nuclear Data(2002). Archived from the original on August 28, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2007.
5. “Operation Anadyr: Figures and Facts”, Zerkalo Nedeli, No. 41 (416) October 26 - November 1, 2002
6. A. Fursenko. "Crazy Risk", p. 255
7. A. Fursenko “Crazy Risk”, p. 256
8. Marshal Bagramyan. 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, Crazy risk, p. 299
11. Cuban Crisis: Historical Perspective (discussion) James Blight, Philip Brenner, Julia Sweig, Svetlana Savranskaya and Graham Allison as moderator
12. Soviet analysis of the strategic situation in Cuba October 22, 1962 (English)
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 And Kennedy suspected Khrushchev... Who ordered the shooting down of an American reconnaissance 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, this statement was made by one of the developers of Soviet nuclear weapons, Academician A.D. Sakharov. Reflections on progress, peaceful coexistence and intellectual freedom
23. Nikita Khrushchev - Voice from the past. Part 2.
24. final words of N.S. Khrushchev at the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee 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. - P. 213-289. - ISBN 5-271-05709-7
• Manoilin V.I. Basing of the USSR Navy. St. Petersburg: Neva Publishing House, 2004. - 320 p. - ISBN 5-7654-3446-0
• Mikoyan S. A. Anatomy of the Caribbean crisis. , Academia Publishing House, 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
• Feat 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. Crazy 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 N. S. Khrushchev’s letter to President Kennedy on October 24, 1962. Storage of the National Library of Congress.
• N. S. Khrushchev’s appeal to D. F. Kennedy during the Caribbean crisis. 10.27.1962 and D. Kennedy’s response to N.S. Khrushchev. October 28, 1962
• Caribbean crisis . Essay by M. Statkevich 2004
• The Cuban missile crisis: a turning point. Behind the scenes of history. Article by I. Khlebnikov in the magazine “Observer”.
• Lavrenov S. Ya, Popov I. M. The Soviet Union in local wars and conflicts. Cuban Missile Crisis: The World is on the Brink of Catastrophe

After the end of hostilities on Korean territory, another clash of ideologies (capitalist and socialist), which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, occurred in 1962. We know these events as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Despite the fact that the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. They helped Cuba get rid of Spanish domination by including (under American pressure) the “Platt Amendment” in the Cuban constitution, which allowed the Americans to interfere in the internal affairs of the country. In 1934, this amendment was repealed, but a US military base remained in the south of the country, in Guantanamo Bay (and is still located there). Americans controlled 80% of local industry, 90% of mining, and 40% of sugar production.

In 1952, as a result of a military coup, Fulgencio Batista y Saldivar came to power in Cuba, and two years later he organized his own presidential elections. Relying on US assistance, Batista banned all political parties and established a dictatorial regime in the country.

Since 1956, a detachment of revolutionaries led by a young lawyer Fidel Castro Ruz entered the arena of political and armed struggle (they attacked the Moncada barracks in the city of Santiago de Cuba). The rebels hoped that their actions would spark a popular uprising that would sweep away the Batista regime. However, real popular support for this group began in the spring of 1957, when Fidel Castro published the “Manifesto on the Foundations of Agrarian Reform.” He promised the peasants all the land of the island, and in the areas controlled by his supporters he began the confiscation of latifundia and the distribution of land plots to farm laborers and small tenants.

As a result of these events, by the end of 1957 Castro was able to transform his small squads to the Rebel Army.

After a two-year armed struggle, dictator Batista fled Cuba, and on January 2, 1959, units of Camilo Cienfuegos and Ernesto Che Guevara solemnly entered the capital. In February, the government was headed by Fidel Castro Ruz, and Osvaldo Doricos Torrado became the president of the republic.

Castro was not a communist and came to power as a democratic leader. He carried out land reform, began building schools, hospitals, and residential buildings for the poor.

His revolution was less political than social. But due to the fact that the United States actively supported Batista, this revolution took place under anti-American slogans, and the burning of the American flag became a mandatory part of any rally. Such an attitude towards the United States could not but lead Cuba

to friendship with the Soviet Union and the choice of the socialist path further development countries.

Observing the strengthening Soviet-Cuban ties (75% of Cuban exports “went” to the USSR), the D. Eisenhower administration decided to eliminate Castro by force. The CIA launched an active campaign among Cuban exiles in Florida with the goal of physically eliminating Castro, but all three attempts failed. The CIA's activities were refocused on preparing for an invasion by Cuban emigrants and mercenaries. An attempt to resolve the contradictions politically was made by Soviet leader Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, who in September 1959 met with President Eisenhower in the United States. Khrushchev’s peculiar rhetoric (“Do you want to force us to compete in the arms race? We don’t want this, but we’re not afraid. We’ll beat you! Our missile production has been put on an assembly line. Recently I was at a factory and saw how missiles were coming out there, how sausages from a machine gun..." only led to aggravation of relations and the deployment of American medium-range ballistic missiles in Turkey and Italy.

The next meeting of the American and Soviet leaders in Paris was disrupted due to the flight of the American Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft on May 1, 1960 over the territory of the Soviet Union. The plane was shot down by a B-750 missile from an S-75 air defense system by the crew of Major M. Voronov, the American pilot Lieutenant Francis G. Powers was captured (he was later exchanged for a Soviet intelligence officer).

The next contact at the XV session of the UN General Assembly also did not add warmth to relations between the superpowers. Photos of the Soviet leader shaking his fist or pounding his shoe on a lectern shouting, “My soldiers will come for him!” — circulated in all Western newspapers. The proposals put forward for general disarmament and granting independence to colonial countries and peoples put the Americans in a “very interesting” position.

In March 1960, Eisenhower signed an order directing the CIA to "organize, arm, and train Cuban exiles as a guerrilla force for

overthrow of the Castro regime."

According to the plan of Operation Pluto, anti-government detachments (the so-called “2506 Brigade”) were supposed to land in Cuba and immediately form a “counter-government” that would turn to the United States for help.

When John F. Kennedy became president, preparations for the operation were almost complete. The new president hesitated for a long time, wondering what to do with Eisenhower’s “legacy.” On January 22 and 28, 1961, Kennedy held meetings with representatives of the Pentagon, the CIA and the new administration, during which he specified the tasks for preparing and conducting the operation.

At the beginning of April 1961, preparations were completed. "Brigade 2506" consisted of four infantry, motorized, airborne battalions and a battalion

heavy weapons. In addition, it included a tank company, an armored detachment and a number of auxiliary units.

On April 12, President John Kennedy publicly stated that the United States would not attack Cuba, but this was only a maneuver designed to lull vigilance.

Two days before the start of the invasion (i.e., April 15, 1961), the main landing force (five transports, three landing ships and seven landing barges) left the loading ports and headed for the shores of Cuba. At the same time, US Navy ships circled Cuba from the east and began to deploy near it. southern shores. US Air Force aircraft (24 B-26 bombers, eight C-46 military transports and six C-54s) with Cuban markings, but with American pilots, attacked the most important communications centers, airfields and a number of populated areas (including Havana ). American air raids on Cuba formed the main content of the first phase of Operation Pluto.

The second phase was the direct landing of troops. At 2 a.m. on April 17, submarine saboteurs from the US special forces (the so-called “seals”) landed in the Playa Larga area. Following this, a landing began in the Playa Giron area. Soon after this, parachute groups were sent out with the task of cutting off the roads leading from the coast of the Bay of Cochinos into the interior of the island.

On the morning of April 17, martial law was introduced in Cuba and in the afternoon the Cuban armed forces launched a counteroffensive. Cuban aviation, despite American air supremacy, shot down six enemy aircraft and sank the transport ship Houston, which was carrying infantry battalion And most of heavy landing weapons. The Americans counted on local support for the 2506 Brigade in the fight against the Castro regime, but the CIA did not take into account the strong anti-American sentiment in Cuban society.

At dawn on April 18, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Cuba launched an offensive in all directions. At the same time, the American government was brought to the attention of the Soviet Union about its readiness to provide the Cuban people with “all necessary assistance.”

On the night of April 19, an emergency meeting between President John Kennedy and the heads of the CIA and Pentagon was held at the White House. At this meeting, a decision was made that the United States cannot provide open support to Cuban emigrants.

On April 19, Cuban Air Force pilots and Soviet instructor pilots thwarted a strike by B-26 bombers: the Americans did not take into account the zone difference in time and the fighters from the Essex aircraft carrier were exactly an hour late to the rendezvous site. But the bombers, without fighter cover, were unable to complete their mission.

In the afternoon, the American command sent six destroyers and Navy aircraft to the Bay of Cochinos area to try to rescue the surviving landing participants, but Cuban patrol ships and aircraft drove the rescue craft away from the shore. On April 19, at 17:30, the last major rebel point of resistance, Playa Giron, fell.

The main landing forces were defeated in less than 72 hours. In the battles, 12 American aircraft were shot down, five M-4 Sherman tanks, ten armored personnel carriers and all the light and heavy weapons of the 2506 brigade were captured. 82 people from the landing force were killed. and 1214 people. was captured.

On July 20, 1961, a meeting of the US National Security Council took place, the contents of which became known only in 1994, when James Galbraith (son of the famous economist) published “Records ...” made by Colonel Howard Burris, assistant to Vice President Lyndon Johnson. The discussion at the meeting was about the possibility of launching a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the USSR. John Kennedy, who recently assumed the powers of US President, only welcomed the “nuclear excitement” of the highest echelon of power in the Pentagon. However, despite the overwhelming superiority of the United States, it was decided, in order to further increase the lead, to wait a few years, and only then “wipe the communists off the face of the Earth.”

In February 1962, under US pressure, Cuba was expelled from the Organization of American States (OAS). The US Air Force and Navy are invading the airspace and territorial waters of the republic.

The failure of Operation Pluto and US provocations in 1962 brought the positions of the USSR and Cuba even closer together. In mid-1962, an agreement was signed on the supply of Soviet weapons to the island. Cuban pilots went to Czechoslovakia to master Soviet aircraft.

At the end of June in Moscow, the defense ministers of Cuba and the USSR, Raul Castro and Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky, signed a secret agreement on the deployment of Soviet troops on the territory of the Republic of Cuba. After this, the main operational department of the General Staff, under the leadership of Colonel General Semyon Pavlovich Ivanov, began developing the preparation and implementation of the “Anadyr” event - this was the code name for the operation to transfer troops to Cuba.

In all documents, the operation was coded as a strategic exercise with the relocation of troops and military equipment to various regions of the Soviet Union. By June 20, the Group of Soviet Forces in Cuba (GSVK) was formed, and General Issa Aleksandrovich Pliev was appointed to command it.

The group included: the 51st missile division, formed on the basis of the 43rd missile division stationed in Ukraine, and had six

missile regiments; four motorized rifle regiments, one of which was commanded by the future USSR Minister of Defense Dmitry Timofeevich Yazov; two anti-aircraft missile and artillery divisions; fighter and helicopter regiments; two regiments of front-line cruise missiles, also equipped with nuclear warheads. The total number of personnel was supposed to be 44 thousand people.

The first unit of the missile forces arrived in the Cuban port of Casilda on September 9 on the ship "Omsk". To deliver troops to the island, 85 ships made 180

flights until the US imposed a naval blockade. The soldiers and officers were not told anything about the purpose of their journey. The units were loaded onto ships with all their supplies, even taking felt boots and winter guard sheepskin coats.

The military personnel were housed in holds, from which it was strictly forbidden to leave. The temperature in them reached 50°C, people were fed twice a day and only at night. The dead were buried according to maritime custom - sewn into a tarpaulin, they were lowered into the ocean.

Such precautionary measures yielded results - American intelligence did not notice anything, noting only an increase in the flow of Soviet ships to Cuban ports. The Americans became seriously worried after reports from their agents about the movement of tractors with huge containers on the island’s roads at night. Reconnaissance planes circled over Cuba, and in the resulting photographs, amazed Americans saw missile positions being built.

On October 23, 1962, President John Kennedy signed a directive establishing a maritime quarantine against Cuba. The next day the American sailors

began inspecting ships heading to the island. Due to the blockade, the R-14 missiles did not reach Cuba.

By October 27, three regiments of the missile division were ready to launch a nuclear missile strike from all of their 24 launch positions. At the same time, the Rocket Forces strategic purpose, National Air Defense Forces, Long-Range Aviation; The ground forces and part of the naval forces are on high alert.

In conditions of complete secrecy, almost the entire 51st missile division of General I.D. Statsenko, 42 Il-28 bombers, 40 MiG-21 fighters, two air defense divisions (Tokarev and Voronkov), armed with 144 air defense systems, were delivered to Freedom Island -75, and mobile installations of first-generation anti-ship cruise missiles began to cruise along the coast.

The territory of the United States was within the reach of our bombers and ballistic missiles up to the Philadelphia-St. Louis-Dallas-El Paso line. Under

Possible strikes included Washington and Norfolk, Indianapolis and Charleston, Houston and New Orleans, Cape Canaveral Air Force Base and the entire Florida area.

This was a worthy response to the deployment of American medium-range Jupiter missiles based on Turkey and Italy, which could reach the territory of the USSR in a few minutes.

On October 14, an American U-2 photographed launch pads for launching medium-range ballistic missiles. Comparing the photographs with previously received intelligence information about the arrival of “strange Russian weapons” on the island, the Yankees came to the conclusion that the Soviet Union had deployed R-12 missiles with nuclear warheads in Cuba.

The deployment of nuclear weapons 90 miles from US territory turned out to be a very unpleasant surprise for the American government. After all, the approach of bombers with nuclear bombs was always expected from the Arctic - at the shortest distance through North Pole, and all air defense systems and means were located in the northern United States.

The United States has brought its armed forces to a state of full combat readiness. Their Strategic Air Command was put into Defcon-3—nuclear war readiness.

On October 22, US warships (about 180 units) received orders to detain and search all merchant ships traveling to and from Cuba. Preparations were made for the landing of an army of 100,000. The plan for Operation Mongoose provided for a landing on the northern and southern coasts of the island with a simultaneous attack from the American naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

B-47 bombers with nuclear weapons on board were concentrated at the 40 civilian airfields closest to Cuba. A quarter of the B-52 Stratofortresses were constantly in the sky. As has already become known

in the 21st century, when the American Science Magazine The Bulletin of atomic scientists published declassified Pentagon documents; nuclear weapons were also stationed at the Guantanamo base in 1961. Nuclear charges were brought into combat readiness and were at this American naval base until 1963.

The Americans hoped that a strike by 430 combat aircraft on Cuba would suppress the Russian launching positions of the R-12 missiles before the moment of launch, and the preparation time required was considerable - more than eight hours, because these liquid-propellant missiles still needed to be filled with fuel and oxidizer.

As a response, the Soviet Union also carried out measures aimed at increasing the combat readiness of the army and navy. A group of Soviet troops in Cuba receives the go-ahead to open fire to kill.

Simultaneously with these actions, the leader of the USSR (N.S. Khrushchev) issued a warning that the Soviet Union would accept everything necessary measures to give a worthy rebuff to the aggressor. Soviet ships, heading to Cuba, began to be accompanied by our submarines.

The Americans continued preparing for the invasion operation and flying their reconnaissance aircraft over Cuba. The crisis reached its climax on October 27, when our anti-aircraft gunners shot down a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft piloted by Major Anderson with a S-75 Dvina missile. Pliev gave the order to the rocket men to open fire when foreign vehicles approached, and Garbuz and Grechko gave a direct order to destroy “target 33.” The order was carried out by the 1st division of the anti-aircraft missile regiment under the command of Colonel I. Gerchenov. The first missile hit the reconnaissance aircraft at an altitude of about 20 km, while the second overtook the already falling car and turned it into a pile of scrap metal. The pilot of the plane died.

The world was on the brink of nuclear war. Americans still call this day “Black Saturday.” The threat of war became a reality, and many Washingtonians began to leave the city. However, exercises conducted by the Americans back in 1957 showed that more than 50% of the aircraft would be destroyed by the S-75 and S-125 missiles of the Soviet air defense during a massive raid, while the rest, based on the experience of the Second World War, would not dare to achieve their goals in such conditions . At that time, Soviet batteries of Shkval rapid-firing anti-aircraft artillery systems shot down nine out of ten cruise missiles.

Not daring to start a nuclear war, J. Kennedy instructs his brother Robert to meet with the Soviet ambassador in Washington. Another try was made

get out of the crisis through political means.

Only by the evening of October 28 was it possible to find a compromise solution - the United States was withdrawing Jupiter missiles from the territory of Turkey, Germany and Italy, and the Soviet Union was removing its missiles from the territory of Cuba. J. Kennedy assured the Soviet Union and the world community that the United States would lift the naval blockade of Cuba and that its government undertakes not to commit armed intervention against the Republic of Cuba. The military confrontation between the two world systems continued, but war was avoided. The common sense of the leaders of the two superpowers prevailed. Nobody wanted war, but it was more possible than ever.

Apparently, the “Caribbean lesson” was learned both in Moscow and in Washington and London. On August 5, 1963, the USSR, USA and Great Britain signed an agreement in Moscow

on the prohibition of nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, outer space and under water.

But even before these events, on the eve of May 1, 1963, F. Castro arrived in Moscow. During his visit, he visited a number of military units, visited the Northern Fleet, where he met with submariners who took part in a campaign to the shores of Cuba. On May 29, as a result of lengthy Soviet-Cuban negotiations, at the request of the Cuban side, a secret agreement was signed on leaving a symbolic contingent of Soviet troops on the “Island of Freedom” - a motorized rifle brigade.

The combat training activities of Soviet troops in Cuba were not without casualties: 66 Soviet military personnel and three civilian personnel were killed

(died) under various circumstances related to the performance of military service duties.

The presence of Soviet soldiers and officers in Cuba has repeatedly caused protest from the White House administration. For a long time, Moscow denied the presence of “its” military personnel on the island. Only in 1979 did L.I. Brezhnev admit that there is a brigade of Soviet military personnel in Cuba, which represents “ The educational center By

training of Cuban military specialists."

After M.S. Gorbachev came to power in the USSR and announced “new political thinking”, a course towards democratization and restructuring, pressure increased on the issue of Soviet troops in Cuba. On the eve of the Soviet leader's April visit to Cuba, Gorbachev receives a secret message from the US President, which bluntly states: "The initiative of the Soviet Union and Cuba ... will pay off with serious dividends of goodwill of the United States." Cuba, however, did not succumb to pressure, and Castro’s farewell to Gorbachev was very dry: if they hugged at the meeting, then when they said goodbye they only coldly shook hands.

Bush Sr. during Malta Munich insisted on “reforming society,” on Gorbachev “letting the satellites go their own way,” and on “the withdrawal of Soviet troops from everywhere.”

By order of Gorbachev, a brigade of 11 thousand people. within a month she was hastily brought home. This caused quite legitimate bewilderment in F. Castro, who intended to link the withdrawal of Soviet troops with the liquidation of the American naval base at Guantanamo Bay on the island. However, the first and last President of the USSR did not listen to the opinion of the Cuban leader, because he personally promised US Secretary of State Baker to eliminate the Soviet military presence on the island “as soon as possible.”

As a result, each of the parties received their “dividends” - in Havana, under the chairmanship of F. Castro, the IX meeting of Ibero-American states was held in 1999, at which a declaration was adopted, containing a call on Washington to abandon the Helms-Burton blockade law, and the initiative was rejected USA to create a “group of friends” who can “come to the rescue various countries region, in case of a threat to democracy in them.” And Russia took part in the OSCE summit in Istanbul (November 17-18, 1999), which discussed the violation of human rights by the Russian Federation in Chechnya and where Russia had to make further concessions.

Until recently, in Cuba, near the village of Lourdes, the only military facility operated Russian Federation— Center for radio-electronic and radio-technical intelligence, jointly administered by the Russian Ministry of Defense and FAPSI.

On October 18, 2001, the second President of the Russian Federation, V.V. Putin, announced the liquidation of this Center, which had been located on the territory of the Republic of Cuba for so many years, by January 1, 2002.

date	Event
1959	Revolution in Cuba
1960	Nationalization of US spheres in Cuba
1961	Fidel appealed to the US government and was refused assistance. US missile deployment in Turkey.
May 20, 1962	Council of Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs with Khrushchev regarding Cuba
May 21, 1962	On May 21, at a meeting of the USSR Defense Council, this issue was raised for discussion of the deployment of missiles in Cuba
May 28, 1962	A delegation led by an ambassador was sent to Cuba.
June 10, 1962	Project for placing missile launchers in Cuba presented
Late June 1962	Plan developed for secret transfer of forces to Cuba
Early August 1962	The first ships with equipment and people were sent to Cuba
Late August 1962	The first photographs of American intelligence officers about missile launchers under construction
September 4, 1962	Kennedy's Statement to Congress on the Absence of Missile Forces in Cuba
September 5 - October 14, 1962	Termination of reconnaissance of Cuban territories by US aircraft
September 14, 1962	Pictures from a US reconnaissance plane of the missile launchers being built end up on Kennedy's desk.
October 18, 1962	The US President was visited by the USSR Foreign Minister
October 19, 1962	Reconnaissance aircraft confirms four launch sites in Cuba
October 20, 1962	Announcement of US Blockade of Cuba
October 23, 1962	Robert Kennedy goes to the USSR Embassy
October 24, 1962 - 10:00	Entry of the blockade of Cuba into force
October 24, 1962 - 12:00	Report to Khrushchev on the safe arrival of USSR warships in Cuba
October 25, 1962	Kennedy's demand for the dismantling of missile sites in Cuba
October 26, 1962	Khrushchev's refusal to Kennedy's demands
October 27, 1962 - 17:00	US spy plane spotted over Cuba
October 27, 1962 - 5:30 p.m.	A reconnaissance plane invades Soviet territory
October 27, 1962 - 18:00	USSR fighters raised on combat alert
October 27, 1962 - 8:00 p.m.	US fighters and bombers are put on alert
October 27, 1962 - 9:00 p.m.	Fidel informs Khrushchev of US readiness to attack
From 27 to 28 October 1962	Meeting of Robert Kennedy with the USSR Ambassador
October 28, 1962 - 12:00	Meeting of the CPSU Central Committee and secret meeting.
October 28, 1962 - 14:00	Prohibition of the use of USSR anti-aircraft installations on Cuban territory
October 28, 1962 - 15:00	The Khrushchev-Kennedy connection
October 28, 1962 - 16:00	Khrushchev's order to dismantle missile launchers
In 3 weeks	Completion of dismantling and lifting of the embargo on Cuba
2 months later	Complete dismantling of US missile launchers in Turkey

Causes of the Caribbean Conflict

The Cuban Missile Crisis is a common name for a very complex and tense relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States of America. So intense that nuclear war was not a surprise to anyone.

It all started when America, in 1961, placed its missiles with nuclear warheads on Turkish territory. And it continued with the fact that the USSR responded by locating military bases in Cuba. Also with nuclear charges and a full complement of military units.

The world at that time froze in anticipation of a planetary catastrophe.

The tension of that time reached the point that a nuclear war could start from a single harsh statement from one side or another.

But diplomats of that time were able to find mutual language and resolve the conflict peacefully. Not without tense moments, not without echoes, even in our time, but they did it. How it all happened is described below.

Beachhead in Cuba

The cause of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, contrary to popular belief, was not hidden in the deployment of military units in Cuba.

The beginning of this conflict was laid by the US government when it placed its nuclear and atomic missiles on the territory of modern Turkey.

The missile equipment of American bases was medium-range.

This made it possible to hit the key targets of the Soviet Union in the shortest possible time. Including cities and the capital - Moscow.

Naturally, this state of affairs did not suit the USSR. And when a note of protest was issued, having received a refusal to withdraw troops from Turkey, the Union took retaliatory measures. Hidden, unnoticed and secret.

Regular troops of the USSR were stationed on the Cuban Islands, in the strictest secrecy. Infantry, technical support, equipment and missiles.

Missiles of various calibers and purposes:

1. medium range;
2. tactical missiles;
3. ballistic missiles.

Each of them could carry a nuclear warhead. The secrecy of such actions was not due to an act of aggression, as it is presented now, but solely without provocative meaning, so as not to start a nuclear war.

The very deployment of troops in Cuba was strategically justified and was more of a defensive nature.

With the help of this presence near the coast of the United States, the Union deterred possible acts of aggression from Turkish-American deployments.

The Cuban missile crisis was caused by the following actions of the parties:

1. Deployment of American medium-range nuclear missile launchers in Turkey in 1961.
2. USSR assistance to the Cuban authorities in 1962, after the revolution in protecting sovereignty.
3. US blockade of Cuba in 1962.
4. Deployment of medium-range nuclear missile launchers and USSR troops on Cuban territory.
5. Violation of the borders of the USSR and Cuba by American reconnaissance aircraft.

Chronology of events

Speaking about the chronology of events, we should look at a slightly earlier time from the beginning of the nuclear race between the USA and the USSR. This story begins in 1959, during the Cold War between the superpowers and the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro.

Since the confrontation between the two countries was not local and clearly expressed, each of them tried to cover a larger number of zones of influence.

The United States placed its main emphasis on third world countries with pro-American sentiments, and the Soviet Union on countries of the same world, but with socialist sentiments.

At first, the Cuban Revolution did not attract the attention of the Union, although the country's leadership turned to the USSR for help. But Cuba's appeal to the Americans was even more disastrous.

The US President pointedly refused to meet with Castro.

This caused serious indignation in Cuba and, as a result, the complete nationalization of all internal resources USA in the country.

Moreover, this outcome of events aroused interest on the part of the USSR and the next appeal for help was heard. Cuban oil and sugar resources were redirected from the United States to the USSR, and an agreement was reached on the stationing of regular Union troops in the country.

The United States, of course, was not satisfied with such a preponderance of forces and, under the pretext of expanding NATO bases, military bases were placed on Turkish territory, where medium-range missiles with nuclear warheads were located ready for combat.

And the next stage in the development of the Caribbean crisis was the secret deployment of USSR troops on Cuban territory. Also with a full load of nuclear weapons.

Naturally, these events did not happen in one day. They lasted for several years, which will be discussed below.

October 14, 1962. The beginning of the Crisis. Kennedy's decision

On this day, after a long absence over Cuban territory, an American reconnaissance aircraft took photographs. Upon closer examination by US military experts, they were identified as launch pads for nuclear missiles.

And after a more thorough study, it became clear that the sites are similar to those located on the territory of the USSR.

This event shocked the American government so much that President Kennedy (the first during his entire presidency in the United States) introduced the FCON-2 danger level. This in fact meant the start of a war with the use of weapons of mass destruction (including nuclear ones).

The US decision could be the beginning of a nuclear war.

He himself and everyone else in the World understood this. It was necessary to find a solution to this issue as soon as possible.

Critical phase. World on the brink of nuclear war

Relations between the two powers became so tense that other countries did not even begin to participate in the discussion of this issue. The conflict should have been resolved between the USSR and the USA, which participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

After the introduction of level two martial law in the States, the world came to a standstill. In essence, this meant that the war had begun. But understanding of the consequences on both sides did not allow them to press the main button.

In the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis, ten days after it began (October 24), a blockade of Cuba was declared. Which also effectively meant a declaration of war on this country.

Cuba also imposed retaliatory sanctions.

Several US reconnaissance aircraft were even shot down over Cuban territory. What could have greatly influenced the decision to start a nuclear war. But common sense prevailed.

Understanding that prolonging the situation would lead to its intractability, both powers sat down at the negotiating table.

October 27, 1962 - “Black Saturday”: the apogee of the Crisis

It all started when a U-2 reconnaissance plane was spotted over Cuba in the morning during a storm.

It was decided to make a request to higher headquarters to receive instructions. But due to communication problems (the storm may have played a role), the orders were not received. And the plane was shot down on the orders of local commanders.

Almost at the same time, the USSR air defense spotted the same reconnaissance aircraft over Chukotka. MiG military fighters were raised on combat alert. Naturally, the American side learned about the incident and, fearing a massive nuclear strike, raised fighter jets over its side.

The U-2 was out of fighter range, so it was not shot down.

As it turned out during the investigation of the USSR and the USA, the pilot of the plane simply went off course while performing air intakes over the North Pole.

Almost at the same moment, reconnaissance aircraft were fired at from anti-aircraft guns over Cuba.

From the outside, it seemed like the beginning of a war and one of the sides preparing for an attack. Castro, convinced of this, wrote to Khrushchev about the attack first, so as not to lose time and advantage.

And Kennedy’s advisers, seeing fighters and long-range aviation aircraft scrambled in the USSR due to the U-2 plane going astray, insisted on an immediate bombing of Cuba. Namely, USSR bases.

But neither Kennedy nor Nikita Khrushchev listened to anyone.

Initiative of the American President and Khrushchev's proposal

Meeting between Khrushchev and Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis

The understanding on both sides that something irreparable could happen held both countries back. The fate of the Cuban missile crisis was decided by top level on both sides of the ocean. They began to solve the problem at the level of diplomacy, in order to find a peaceful way out of the situation.

The turning point occurred after mutual proposals to resolve the Cuban missile crisis. President Kennedy took the initiative to send a demand to the USSR government to remove missiles from Cuba.

But the initiative was only announced. Nikita Khrushchev was the first to propose to America - to lift the blockade from Cuba and sign a non-aggression pact against it. To which the USSR dismantles missiles on its territory. A little later, a condition was added about the dismantling of missile launchers in Turkey.

A series of meetings in both countries led to the resolution of this situation. The implementation of the agreements began on the morning of October 28.

Resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis

“Black Saturday” was the closest thing to a global catastrophe that day. It was she who influenced the decision to end the conflict peacefully for both world powers. Despite the sharp confrontation, the US and USSR governments made a mutual decision to end the conflict.

The reason for the outbreak of war could be any minor conflict or emergency situation. Like, for example, a U-2 that went off course. And the results of such a situation would be catastrophic for the whole world. Starting with the arms race.

The situation could have ended in the death of millions of people.

And realizing this helped both sides make the right decision.

The accepted agreements were fulfilled by both parties in the shortest possible time. For example, the dismantling of USSR missile launchers in Cuba began on October 28. Any shelling of enemy aircraft was also prohibited.

Three weeks later, when there was not a single installation left in Cuba, the blockade was lifted. And two months later the installations in Turkey were dismantled.

The Cuban Revolution and its role in the conflict

At a time when the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was intensifying, events took place in Cuba that seemed in no way connected with the global confrontation between the two world powers. But in the end, they played a significant role in the course and completion of the world conflict.

After the revolution in Cuba, Castro came to power and, first of all, as his closest neighbors, turned to the States for help. But due to an incorrect assessment of the situation, the US government refused to help Fidel. Considering that there is no time to deal with Cuban issues.

Just at this moment, US missile launchers were deployed in Turkey.

Fidel, realizing that there would be no help from the United States, turned to the Union.

Although at his first appeal he was also refused, but due to the deployment of missile units near the borders of the USSR, the communists reconsidered their opinion and decided to support the Cuban revolutionaries. By inclining them from nationalist ambitions to communist ones.

And also by placing nuclear missile launchers on Cuban territory (under the pretext of protecting against a US attack on Cuba).

Events developed along two vectors. Help Cuba defend its sovereignty and lift the blockade from the outside. And also a guarantee of the security of the USSR in a possible nuclear conflict. Since the missiles deployed on the Cuban Islands were within the reach of America and in particular Washington.

US missile positions in Turkey

The United States of America, by placing its missile launchers in Turkey, near the city of Izmir, inherently provoked a conflict between itself and the Soviet Union.

Although the US President was confident that such a step would have no significance, since ballistic missiles from US submarines could reach the same territory.

But the Kremlin reacted completely differently. America's fleet ballistics, although it could achieve the same goals, would have taken much longer. Thus, in the event of a surprise attack, the USSR would have time to repel the attack.

US submarines were not always on combat duty.

And at the time of release they were always under the close supervision of the Soviet Union.

The missile launchers in Turkey, although obsolete, could reach Moscow in a matter of minutes. Which endangered the entire European part of the country. This was precisely the reason for the USSR’s turn towards relations with Cuba. Just having lost friendly relations with the States.

Resolution of the 1962 Caribbean conflict

The crisis ended on October 28. On the night of the 27th, President Kennedy sent his brother Robert to the Soviet Ambassador at the USSR Embassy. A conversation took place where Robert expressed the president’s fear that the situation could get out of control and create a chain of events that could not be reversed.

Consequences of the Cuban Missile Crisis (briefly)

As strange as it may sound, not everyone was happy with the peaceful resolution of the situation. For example, the Central Committee of the CPSU removed Khrushchev from his post two years after the crisis. Motivating this by the fact that he made concessions to America.

In Cuba, the dismantling of our missiles was regarded as a betrayal. Because they expected an attack on the United States and were ready to take the first blow. Also, many of America's military leadership were unhappy.

The Cuban Missile Crisis marked the beginning of global disarmament.

Showing the whole world that an arms race can lead to disaster.

In history, the Caribbean conflict left a noticeable mark and many countries took the situation as an example of how not to behave on the world stage. But today, there is an almost similar situation with the very beginning of the Cold War. And again there are two main players in the arena - America and Russia, who decided the fate of the Caribbean crisis and the World half a century ago.

Results of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

In conclusion, let us summarize how the Cuban Missile Crisis ended.

1. Conclusion of a peace agreement between the USSR and the USA.
2. Direct emergency telephone line Kremlin-White House.
3. Nuclear Missile Disarmament Treaty.
4. Guarantee of non-aggression against Cuba by the United States.
5. Dismantling USSR missile launchers in Cuba and US missiles in Turkey.
6. Cuba regarded the behavior of the USSR as a betrayal towards it.
7. Removal of Khrushchev from office in the USSR due to “concessions to the USA” and the assassination of Kennedy in America.