the cuban missile crisis began in 1962 when which country placed nuclear missiles in cuba
Soviet Union
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Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis of 1962 (), the Caribbean Crisis (), or the Missile Scare, was a 13-day (October 16–28, 1962) confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union initiated by American ballistic missile deployment in Italy and Turkey with consequent Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba. The confrontation is often considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. In response to the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961 and the presence of American Jupiter ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey, Soviet leader
Cuban Missile Crisis
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Cuban-American relations were exacerbated the following year by the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis (October Crisis in Cuba) was a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over nuclear missiles that were deployed in Cuba and Turkey. The Russian missiles were placed both to protect Cuba from further attacks by the United States after the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion, and in response to the U.S. deploying Thor missiles with nuclear warheads on the Soviet border in Turkey. The situation reached the crisis point when U.S. reconnaissance imagery revealed Soviet nuclear missile installations on the island,
Military history of Cuba
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Turkey in April 1962. Additionally, placing nuclear missiles on Cuba was a way for Khrushchev to display and assert his strict political dominance; this was a much-needed display after numerous individuals within the Soviet Union began to doubt Khrushchev's power as they believed that he was appeasing the Americans. Another major reason why Khrushchev placed missiles on Cuba was to level the playing field. Before this event, America had the upper hand as they could launch from Turkey and destroy USSR before they would have a chance to react. After the transmission of nuclear missiles, Khrushchev had finally established mutually
Cuban Missile Crisis
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develop nuclear weapons. It is believed that Israel developed nuclear weapons as well. One major event that nearly brought the world to the brink of war was the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the 1950s a revolution in Cuba had brought the only Communist regime in the Western Hemisphere to power. In 1962, the Soviets began constructing missile sites in Cuba and sending nuclear missiles. Because of its close proximity to the U.S., the U.S. demanded the Soviets withdraw missiles from Cuba. The U.S. and Soviet Union came very close to attacking one another, but in the end came to a
History of Western civilization
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Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis of 1962 (), the Caribbean Crisis (), or the Missile Scare, was a 13-day (October 16–28, 1962) confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union initiated by American ballistic missile deployment in Italy and Turkey with consequent Soviet ballistic missile deployment in Cuba. The confrontation is often considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. In response to the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961 and the presence of American Jupiter ballistic missiles in Italy and Turkey, Soviet leader
Cuban Missile Crisis
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immediate prelude to German reunification. Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Cuba were officially restored in May 1960. Alexandr Alexeyev was named Soviet Ambassador to Cuba two years later, in May 1962. Superpower tensions culminated in the Cuban Missile Crisis (in the USSR, the "Caribbean crisis") of October 1962, as the Soviet Union sought to install medium-range nuclear missiles in Cuba, about from the U.S. coast. Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro was reluctant to accept the missiles, and, once he was persuaded, warned Khrushchev against transporting the missiles in secret. Castro stated, thirty years later, "We had a sovereign
Nikita Khrushchev
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System, an American system of 12 early-warning satellites that provided limited notice of Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile launches between 1960 and 1966. The Ballistic Missile Early Warning System was completed in 1964. A complex and worrisome situation developed in 1962, in what is called the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviet Union placed medium-range ballistic missiles from the United States, possibly as a direct response to American Jupiter missiles placed in Turkey. After intense negotiations, the Soviets ended up removing the missiles from Cuba and decided to institute a massive weapons-building program of their own. In exchange, the United States dismantled
Nuclear warfare
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later, the 10th, 12th and 490th SMSs were also upgraded to the Minuteman II missiles, increasing the wing's capabilities to four missile squadrons equipped with a total of 200 Minuteman II missiles. In late 1962 missiles assigned to the 341st Wing would play a major role in the Cuban Missile Crisis. On 26 October, at 11:16 am, the 10th SMS's launch facility Alpha-06 went on "strategic alert" after it was discovered the Soviet Union had placed nuclear missiles in Cuba to counter the threat to Moscow and most of the Soviet Union east of the Urals posed by American nuclear-armed
Malmstrom Air Force Base
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Cuban Revolution, led by Fidel Castro and Ché Guevara, overthrew the régime (1925–1959) of Fulgencio Batista to establish the Republic of Cuba, a Communist state recognised by the Soviet Union. In response, the United States attempted a coup d'état against the Castro government, such as the unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion (April 1961), by anti-communist Cuban exiles, sponsored by the CIA. The next year, there occurred the Cuban missile crisis (October 1962), a diplomatic dispute between the United States and the Soviet Union over the presence of medium-range, Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba. The Soviet Union resolved the nuclear-missile crisis
Marxism–Leninism
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the two governments peaked again during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. The United States had a much larger arsenal of long-range nuclear weapons than the Soviet Union, as well as medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) in Turkey, whereas the Soviet Union had a large stockpile of medium-range nuclear weapons which were primarily located in Europe. Cuba agreed to let the Soviets secretly place SS-4 "Sandal" and SS-5 "Skean" MRBMs on their territory. Reports from inside Cuba to exile sources questioned the need for large amounts of ice going to rural areas, which led to the discovery of the missiles, confirmed
History of Cuba
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their leadership. A similar split happened with Albania in 1955 over changes in policy during the process of de-Stalinization. Tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States reached an all-time high during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, in which Soviet missiles were placed on the island of Cuba well within range of US territory. This was retrospectively viewed as the closest the world ever came to a nuclear war. After the crisis was resolved, relations with the United States gradually eased into the 1970s. In 1978, a revolution in Afghanistan brought to power a socialist government which, amid internal
Foreign relations of the Soviet Union
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Alarmed, Kennedy considered various reactions. He ultimately responded to the installation of nuclear missiles in Cuba with a naval blockade, and he presented an ultimatum to the Soviets. Khrushchev backed down from a confrontation, and the Soviet Union removed the missiles in return for an American pledge not to invade Cuba again. Castro later admitted that "I would have agreed to the use of nuclear weapons. ... we took it for granted that it would become a nuclear war anyway, and that we were going to disappear." The Cuban Missile Crisis (October–November 1962) brought the world closer to nuclear war
Cold War
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Operation Ortsac Operation Ortsac (Castro backwards) was the project name of a possible invasion of Cuba planned by the United States military in 1962. The codename was derived from former Cuban President Fidel Castro by spelling his surname backwards. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, upon discovery of SS-4 missiles being assembled in Cuba, the U.S. Government considered several options including a blockade, an airstrike, or a military strike against the Cuban missile positions. The nuclear weapons supplied from the Soviet Union could be destroyed by a military strike with the help of substantial air raids before they were operational. The
Operation Ortsac
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of brinksmanship came in early 1962, when an American U-2 spy plane photographed a series of launch sites for medium-range ballistic missiles being constructed on the island of Cuba, just off the coast of the southern United States, beginning what became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The U.S. administration of John F. Kennedy concluded that the Soviet Union, then led by Nikita Khrushchev, was planning to station Soviet nuclear missiles on the island (as a response to placing US Jupiter MRBMs in Italy and Turkey), which was under the control of communist Fidel Castro. On October 22, Kennedy announced
History of nuclear weapons
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the 5,000 marines had been withdrawn. 1962: Cuba: Cuban missile crisis, On October 22, President Kennedy instituted a "quarantine" on the shipment of offensive missiles to Cuba from the Soviet Union. He also warned Soviet Union that the launching of any missile from Cuba against nations in the Western Hemisphere would bring about U.S. nuclear retaliation on the Soviet Union. A negotiated settlement was achieved in a few days. 1962–1975: Laos: From October 1962 until 1975, the United States played an important role in military support of anti-Communist forces in Laos. 1964: Congo (Zaïre): The United States sent four transport
Timeline of United States military operations
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of its NATO partners, the Eisenhower administration stated that it opposed French and British imperial adventurism in the region by sheer prudence, fearing that Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser's standoff with the region's old colonial powers would bolster Soviet power in the region. The Cold War reached its most dangerous point during the Kennedy administration in the Cuban Missile Crisis, a tense confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States over the Soviet deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba. The crisis began on October 16, 1962, and lasted for thirteen days. It was the moment when the Cold War
History of the United States (1945–1964)
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the time. Thirteen Days (book) Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis is Robert F. Kennedy's account of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The book was released in 1969, a year after his assassination. "Thirteen Days" describes the meetings held by the Executive Committee (ExComm), the team assembled by US President John F. Kennedy to handle the tense situation that developed between the United States and the Soviet Union following the discovery of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, from Florida. Robert Kennedy, who was the US Attorney General at the time, describes his brother John's leadership style
Thirteen Days (book)
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Thirteen Days (book) Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis is Robert F. Kennedy's account of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The book was released in 1969, a year after his assassination. "Thirteen Days" describes the meetings held by the Executive Committee (ExComm), the team assembled by US President John F. Kennedy to handle the tense situation that developed between the United States and the Soviet Union following the discovery of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, from Florida. Robert Kennedy, who was the US Attorney General at the time, describes his brother John's leadership style during the
Thirteen Days (book)
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Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was persuaded by the idea of countering the US's growing lead in developing and deploying strategic missiles by placing Soviet intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Cuba, despite the misgivings of the Soviet Ambassador in Havana, Alexandr Ivanovich Alexeyev, who argued that Castro would not accept the deployment of the missiles. Khrushchev faced a strategic situation in which the US was perceived to have a "splendid first strike" capability that put the Soviet Union at a huge disadvantage. In 1962, the Soviets had only 20 ICBMs capable of delivering nuclear warheads to the US from inside the Soviet
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a failed attempt was made in April 1961 at the Bay of Pigs to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. In October 1962, the Kennedy administration learned that Soviet ballistic missiles had been deployed in Cuba; the resulting period of unease, termed the Cuban Missile Crisis, is seen by many historians as the closest the human race has ever come to nuclear war between nuclear-armed belligerents. Ultimately, the United States and the Soviet Union came to an agreement to end the crisis, and the Soviets withdrew the missiles. To contain Communist expansion in Asia, Kennedy increased the number of American
Timeline of the presidency of John F. Kennedy
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the government of Fidel Castro. In October 1962, the Kennedy administration learned that Soviet ballistic missiles had been deployed in Cuba; the resulting period of unease, termed the Cuban Missile Crisis, is seen by many historians as the closest the human race has ever come to nuclear war between nuclear-armed belligerents. Ultimately, the United States and the Soviet Union came to an agreement to end the crisis, and the Soviets withdrew the missiles. To contain Communist expansion in Asia, Kennedy increased the number of American military advisers in South Vietnam by a factor of 18 over his predecessor, Dwight D.
Presidency of John F. Kennedy
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Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis", by Ernest May and Philip Zelikow. It is the second docudrama made about the crisis, the first being 1974's "The Missiles of October", which was based on Kennedy's book. The 2000 film contains some newly declassified information not available to the earlier production, but takes greater dramatic license, particularly in its choice of O'Donnell as protagonist. In October 1962, U-2 aerial surveillance photos reveal that the Soviet Union is in the process of placing intermediate-range ballistic missiles carrying nuclear weapons in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood) and
Thirteen Days (film)
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story. Cuba was no longer portrayed as a heroic David against the American Goliath. One contradiction that pervaded the Soviet media campaign was between the pacifistic rhetoric of the peace movement that emphasizes the horrors of nuclear war and the militancy of the need to prepare Soviets for war against American aggression. Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis of 1962 (), the Caribbean Crisis (), or the Missile Scare, was a 13-day (October 16–28, 1962) confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union initiated by American ballistic missile deployment in Italy and
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the blockade from 6:45 pm EST on November 20, 1962. At the time when the Kennedy administration thought that the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved, nuclear tactical rockets stayed in Cuba since they were not part of the Kennedy-Khrushchev understandings and the Americans did not know about them. The Soviets changed their minds, fearing possible future Cuban militant steps, and on November 22, 1962, Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union Anastas Mikoyan told Castro that the rockets with the nuclear warheads were being removed as well. In his negotiations with the Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, Robert Kennedy informally proposed that
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Khrushchev placed missiles on Cuba would be to try and draw the line to how far the Soviet Union can go regarding threatening the United States. Prior to this, there was no clear barrier to how the United States was willing to react, and with new president John F. Kennedy, it was unknown to the Soviet Union to what they can do to manipulate the United States. By placing missiles on Cuba, next to the doorstep of the United States, it would be clear to the extent of which the United States would react. In early 1962, a group of
Cuban Missile Crisis
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days, although they required additional training, equipment, and personnel after being called up. In all, some 21,000 Air Guardsmen were mobilized during the 1961 Berlin Crisis. By August 1962, the units mobilized for the Berlin Crisis returned to state control. They had hardly resumed normal operations when President Kennedy announced on 22 October 1962 that the Soviet Union had placed nuclear warheads in Cuba, only 90 miles from Florida. With the Cuban Missile Crisis, Air National Guard fighter units trained for "no notice" deployments, and volunteer ANG airlift crews and their aircraft augmented Air Force global airlift operations. Air National
Air National Guard
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help, it would be in breach of an unpublished Soviet law, which did not actually exist, to transfer the missiles permanently into Cuban hands and provide them with an independent nuclear deterrent. Castro was forced to give way and, much to the relief of Khrushchev and the rest of the Soviet government, the tactical nuclear weapons were crated and returned by sea to the Soviet Union during December 1962. The American popular media, especially television, made frequent use of the events of the missile crisis and both fictional and documentary forms. Jim Willis includes the Crisis as one of the
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range of 40 km, usable only against naval vessels) that would provide a "nuclear umbrella" for attacks upon the island. By May, Khrushchev and Castro agreed to place strategic nuclear missiles secretly in Cuba. Like Castro, Khrushchev felt that a US invasion of Cuba was imminent and that to lose Cuba would do great harm to the communists, especially in Latin America. He said he wanted to confront the Americans "with more than words... the logical answer was missiles." The Soviets maintained their tight secrecy, writing their plans longhand, which were approved by Marshal of the Soviet Union Rodion Malinovsky
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assured destruction. Mutually assured destruction means that if America decided to launch a nuclear strike against the USSR, the latter would react by launching a nuclear strike against America. Additionally, placing nuclear missiles on Cuba was a way for the USSR to show their support for Cuba and support the people in Cuba whose rights were taken away by the United States, as the latter had become their ally after the Cuban Revolution of 1959. According to Khrushchev, the Soviet Union's motives were "aimed at allowing Cuba to live peacefully and develop as its people desire". An indirect reason why
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1960, the test missile exploded on the pad, killing the first commander of the SRF, Chief Marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin. This disaster, the details of which were concealed for decades, became known as the Nedelin catastrophe. He was succeeded by Marshal of the Soviet Union Kirill Moskalenko, who in turn was succeeded quickly by Marshal Sergey Biryuzov. Under Marshal Вiryuzov the SRF deployed missiles to Cuba in 1962 as part of Operation Anadyr. 36 R-12 intermediate range ballistic missiles were sent to Cuba, initiating the Cuban Missile Crisis. The 43rd Guards Missile Division of 43rd Rocket Army manned
Strategic Missile Troops
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the Soviet Union, with Cuban cooperation, began to build intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) and medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) sites on the island. The American intelligence community, suspicious of the construction on the island, needed tangible proof that Soviet ballistic missiles were being deployed to Cuba and called for photographic aerial reconnaissance. Routine photo reconnaissance flights over Cuba revealed that the Soviet Union was, in fact, in the process of placing nuclear-armed missiles on that island. In response, the United States let it be known that any use of those missiles against any country in the Western Hemisphere would be considered
Tactical Air Command
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intents to protect Cuba from further invasions. The Soviet Union planned to allocate in Cuba 49 medium-range ballistic missiles, 32 intermediate-range ballistic missiles, 49 light Il-28 bombers and about 100 tactical nuclear weapons. After their discovery Kennedy secretly met with the EXCOMM. He postponed a military solution of the crisis strenuously advocated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and decided to impose a naval quarantine on Cuba. On October 22, 1962 Kennedy informed the nation of the crisis, announcing the quarantine and demanding the removal of Soviet missiles. Kennedy managed to preserve restraint when a Soviet missile unauthorizedly downed a
Foreign policy of the John F. Kennedy administration
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Soviets. Khrushchev backed down from a confrontation, and the Soviet Union removed the missiles in return for an American pledge not to invade Cuba again. Castro later admitted that "I would have agreed to the use of nuclear weapons...we took it for granted that it would become a nuclear war anyway, and that we were going to disappear." The Cuban Missile Crisis (October–November 1962) brought the world closer to nuclear war than ever before. It further demonstrated the concept of mutually assured destruction, that neither superpower was prepared to use their nuclear weapons, fearing total global destruction via mutual retaliation.
Sovereignty of Puerto Rico during the Cold War
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Union. The poor accuracy and reliability of the missiles raised serious doubts about their effectiveness. A newer, more reliable generation of ICBMs would become operational only after 1965. Therefore, Soviet nuclear capability in 1962 placed less emphasis on ICBMs than on medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs and IRBMs). The missiles could hit American allies and most of Alaska from Soviet territory but not the Contiguous United States. Graham Allison, the director of Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, points out, "The Soviet Union could not right the nuclear imbalance by deploying new ICBMs on its own
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"if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," understood as a message to Putin. A week later Putin compared U.S. plans to put up a missile defense system near Russia's border as analogous to when the Soviet Union deployed missiles in Cuba, prompting the Cuban Missile Crisis. In February 2008, Vladimir Putin said Russia might have to retarget some of its missiles towards the missile defense system: "If it appears, we will be forced to respond appropriately – we
Russia–United States relations
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wounds, he refused to seek medical aid for himself until he had completed treatment of his comrade, and then, refusing a stretcher, crawled part of the way to the aid station. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a tense confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States over the Soviet deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba. On October 22, 1962, Admiral Horacio Rivero was the commander of the American fleet sent by President John F. Kennedy to set up a quarantine (blockade) of the Soviet ships. On October 28, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev ordered the removal of the Soviet missiles
Hispanics in the United States Navy
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he had made to Kennedy might lead to a breakdown of the agreement between the Soviet Union and the US. To prevent that, Khrushchev decided to offer to give Cuba more than 100 tactical nuclear weapons that had been shipped to Cuba along with the long-range missiles but, crucially, had escaped the notice of US intelligence. Khrushchev determined that because the Americans had not listed the missiles on their list of demands, keeping them in Cuba would be in the Soviet Union's interests. Anastas Mikoyan was tasked with the negotiations with Castro over the missile transfer deal that was designed
Cuban Missile Crisis
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Negotiations over the details of the withdrawal continued, but the U.S. ended the naval blockade on November 20, and most Soviet soldiers left Cuba by early 1963. The U.S. publicly promised never to invade Cuba and privately agreed to remove its missiles in Italy and Turkey; the missiles were by then obsolete and had been supplanted by submarines equipped with UGM-27 Polaris missiles. In the aftermath of the crisis, the United States and the Soviet Union established a hotline to ensure clear communications between the leaders of the two countries. The Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world closer to nuclear
Presidency of John F. Kennedy
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1983 exercise, coupled with deteriorating relations between the United States and the Soviet Union and the anticipated arrival of strategic Pershing II nuclear missiles in Europe, led some members of the Soviet Politburo and military to believe that Able Archer 83 was a ruse of war, obscuring preparations for a genuine nuclear first strike. In response, the Soviets readied their nuclear forces and placed air units in East Germany and Poland on alert. This "1983 war scare" is considered by many historians to be the closest the world has come to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
World War III
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The two Communist countries quickly developed close military and intelligence ties, culminating in the stationing of Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba in 1962, an act which triggered the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cuba maintained close links to the Soviets until the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. The end of Soviet economic aid led to an economic crisis and famine known as the Special Period in Cuba. In the wake of the revolution, thousands of disaffected anti-Batista rebels, former Batista supporters, and "campesinos" (peasants) fled to Cuba's Las Villas province, where an anticommunist underground had been forming since early 1960. Operating out
Cuban Revolution
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failed and radicalized the revolutionary government's position. Cuba officially proclaimed itself socialist and openly became an ally of the Soviet Union. The military collaboration between Cuba and the Soviet Union, which included the placement of intercontinental ballistic missiles in Cuba precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. By the 1970s, leftists had acquired a significant political influence which prompted the right-wing, ecclesiastical authorities and a large portion of each individual country's upper class to support coups d'état to avoid what they perceived as a communist threat. This was further fueled by Cuban and United States intervention which led to
History of Latin America
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possibility of further cooperation extending to the design, construction, and operation of power producing nuclear reactors. The agreement was reached during Fulgencio Batista's regime, later overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution in 1959. The treaty was ultimately terminated during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. Russian-Cuban cooperation in nuclear energy dated back to January 1967, when the Soviet Union sponsored a photo exposition, "Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes", at the Cuban Academy of Sciences. Nine months later both countries reached an agreement to provide Cuba with a research reactor for experimental and teaching purposes, as well as
Juragua Nuclear Power Plant
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the Soviet Union and of Cuba, it seemed that the United States wanted to increase its presence in Cuba. With actions like attempting to expel Cuba from the Organization of American States, placing economic sanctions on the nation and conducting secret operations on containing communism and Cuba, it was assumed that America was trying to invade Cuba. As a result, to try and prevent this, the USSR would place missiles in Cuba and neutralize the threat. Khrushchev was also reacting in part to the nuclear threat of obsolescent Jupiter intermediate-range ballistic missiles that had been installed by the US in
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including the then-new aircraft carrier and the guided missile cruiser . "Wrangell" continued alternating local operations off the eastern seaboard with Caribbean and Mediterranean deployments into the late 1960s. The ship's first replenishment of a nuclear-powered warship came on 17 August 1962, when she rearmed the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier . In the autumn of 1962, after the discovery by reconnaissance aircraft of Soviet missiles in Cuba, President John F. Kennedy instituted a naval blockade of Cuba to turn back Russian ships that attempted to deliver more missiles and their support equipment to Cuban ports. During the crisis, "Wrangell" spent 35
USS Wrangell (AE-12)
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the US Army and Navy frequently suffered budgetary cutbacks and program cancellations by Congress and Secretary McNamara. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, LeMay clashed again with U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Defense Secretary McNamara, arguing that he should be allowed to bomb nuclear missile sites in Cuba. He opposed the naval blockade and, after the end of the crisis, suggested that Cuba be invaded anyway, even after the Soviets agreed to withdraw their missiles. Kennedy secretly agreed to remove US missiles from Turkey and Italy. Unknown to the US, the Soviet field commanders in Cuba had been
Curtis LeMay
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a dangerous extremist, who worked with the American military to plant the idea of a Soviet first-strike capability to justify a pre-emptive American attack. That belief about Kennedy as a militarist was reinforced in Soviet minds by the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961, which led to the Cuban Missile Crisis after the Soviets placed nuclear missiles in Cuba in 1962. A second claim of a missile gap appeared in 1974. Albert Wohlstetter, a professor at the University of Chicago, accused the CIA of systematically underestimating Soviet missile deployment in his 1974 foreign policy article, "Is There a Strategic Arms
Missile gap
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large quantities to support the Cuban economy in return for fuel and eventually placing nuclear ballistic missiles on Cuban soil. These missiles would be capable of reaching the United States very quickly. On October 14, 1962, an American spy plane discovered these nuclear missile sites under construction in Cuba. President Kennedy immediately called a series of meetings for a small group of senior officials to debate the crisis. The group was split between a militaristic solution and a diplomatic one. President Kennedy ordered a naval blockade around Cuba and all military forces to DEFCON 3. As tensions increased, Kennedy eventually
Nuclear arms race
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Falling Leaves (radar network) Falling Leaves was the improvised ballistic missile early warning system during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis that networked 3 existing CONUS radars—2 Space Detection and Tracking System (SPADATS) radars and an Aircraft Control and Warning general surveillance radar which was modified by Sperry Corporation to range, allowing detection in space near Cuba. The "Cuban Missile Early Warning System (CMEWS)" radars were "realigned" to monitor for nuclear missile launches from the new Soviet launch sites after Soviet R-12 Dvina IRBMs arrived on September 8, intelligence sources in Cuba had reported lengthy missiles transported through towns, and three
Falling Leaves (radar network)
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during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. In the Honeymoon telegram of September 20, 1962, he insisted that the CIA remain imaginative when it came to Soviet weapons policy towards Cuba, as a September 19 National Intelligence Estimate had concluded it unlikely that nuclear missiles would be placed on the island. The telegram was so named because McCone sent it while on his honeymoon in Paris, France, accompanied not only by his bride, Theiline McGee Pigott but by a CIA cipher team. McCone's suspicions of the inaccuracy of this assessment proved to be correct, as it was later found out
John A. McCone
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feel as betrayed as you do." Stevenson seriously considered resigning, but was convinced by his friends and President Kennedy to stay. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, Stevenson gave a presentation at an emergency session of the Security Council. In his presentation, which attracted national television coverage, he forcefully asked Soviet UN representative Valerian Zorin if his country was installing nuclear missiles in Cuba, and when Zorin appeared reluctant to reply, Stevenson punctuated with the demand "Don't wait for the translation, answer 'yes' or 'no'!" When Zorin replied that "I am not in an American court of law,
Adlai Stevenson II
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in order to undermine the Cuban economy. The Cuban Project was originally designed to culminate in October 1962 with an "open revolt and overthrow of the Communist regime." This was at the peak of the Cuban Missile Crisis, wherein the U.S. and the USSR came alarmingly close to nuclear war over the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba, verified by low flying aircraft on photographic missions and ground surveillance photography. The operation was suspended on October 30, 1962, but 3 of 10 six-man sabotage teams had already been deployed to Cuba. Dominguez writes that Kennedy put a hold on Mongoose's
Cuban Project
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the Jupiter missiles in Turkey would be removed "within a short time after this crisis was over." The last US missiles were disassembled by April 24, 1963 and were flown out of Turkey soon afterward. The practical effect of the Kennedy-Khrushchev Pact was that the US would not invade Cuba. It is possible that Khrushchev placed the missiles in Cuba only to get Kennedy to remove the missiles from Italy and Turkey and that the Soviets had no intention of resorting to nuclear war if they were out-gunned by the US. Because the withdrawal of the Jupiter missiles from NATO
Cuban Missile Crisis
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response to Soviet Chairman Khrushchev's offers during the final days of the Cuban Missile Crisis. On October 26, 1962, Kennedy received an offer from Khrushchev in which Khrushchev offered to remove Soviet missiles from Cuba in return for a pledge from the U.S. not to invade the island. The next morning, another offer was received, this one made publicly (the first one was private), conditioning removal of the missiles from Cuba on the removal of NATO nuclear missiles in Turkey. After much discussion with his advisers (and particularly at the urging of adviser McGeorge Bundy and brother Robert Kennedy), Kennedy
Trollope ploy
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shallow Elbe River. On her return voyage to the United States she ran into a severe North Atlantic storm (January 1962) and suffered major structural damage. In early 1962, she went into dry dock in the Brooklyn Navy Yard for a major overhaul. "Essex" had just finished her six-month-long overhaul and was at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base for sea trials when President Kennedy placed a naval "quarantine" on Cuba in October 1962, in response to the discovered presence of Soviet missiles in that country (see Cuban Missile Crisis). (The word quarantine was used rather than blockade for reasons of international
USS Essex (CV-9)
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Soviet military and missile construction specialists accompanied an agricultural delegation to Havana. They obtained a meeting with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. The Cuban leadership had a strong expectation that the US would invade Cuba again and enthusiastically approved the idea of installing nuclear missiles in Cuba. According to another source, Castro objected to the missiles deployment that would have made him look like a Soviet puppet, but he was persuaded that missiles in Cuba would be an irritant to the US and help the interests of the entire socialist camp. Also, the deployment would include short-range tactical weapons (with a
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in 1964 and put his energies into the International Confederation for Disarmament and Peace. The Cuban Missile Crisis in the Autumn of 1962, in which the United States blockaded a Soviet attempt to put nuclear missiles on Cuba, created widespread public anxiety about imminent nuclear war and CND organised demonstrations on the issue. But six months after the crisis, a Gallup Poll found that public concern about nuclear weapons had fallen to its lowest point since 1957, and there was a view (disputed by some CND supporters) that U.S. President John F. Kennedy's success in facing down Soviet premier Nikita
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
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the United States, while heated Soviet rhetoric added to political pressure. The 1960 U-2 incident, involving Francis Gary Powers, as well as the Berlin Crisis, along with the test of the Tsar Bomba, escalated tensions still further. This escalating situation came to a head with the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The arrival of Soviet missiles in Cuba was conducted by the Soviets on the rationale that the US already had nuclear missiles stationed in Turkey, as well as the desire by Fidel Castro to increase his power, his freedom of action, and to protect his government from US-initiated prejudicial
Pre-emptive nuclear strike
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On 30 June 1962, she resumed her former destroyer classification and the designation, DD-471. Later that year, after reconnaissance flights over the island revealed the presence of offensive nuclear missiles, President John F. Kennedy declared a "quarantine" of Cuba to prevent the importation of additional missiles and to secure the removal of those already in place. "Beale" served on the Cuban missile crisis "blockade" from 25 October to 5 November 1962. During these operations, on Saturday, 27 October, the "Beale" dropped practice depth charges on Soviet submarine "B-59" (Foxtrot) class, after which the submarine surfaced, upon which the "Beale" closed
USS Beale (DD-471)
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States Senate in the 1962 midterm elections, defeating 18-year incumbent Homer E. Capehart. Capehart was outspoken on the threat of Soviet nuclear missiles being placed in Cuba, and was buoyed by the Cuban missile crisis of that October. Bayh's disadvantage was dramatized in the opening scene of the 2000 film "Thirteen Days", as President John F. Kennedy rattles a newspaper and asks an aide, "You see this goddamn Capehart stuff?" and the aide responds, "Bayh's going to lose." Bayh's success was attributed to a vigorous campaign of 300 speeches between Labor Day and the election, and a catchy campaign jingle
Birch Bayh
82653
the island occurred. In early 1992, it was confirmed that Soviet forces in Cuba had, when the crisis broke, already received tactical nuclear warheads for their artillery rockets and Il-28 bombers. Castro stated that he would have recommended their use if the US invaded despite Cuba being destroyed. Arguably, the most dangerous moment in the crisis was not recognized until the Cuban Missile Crisis Havana conference, in October 2002. Attended by many of the veterans of the crisis, they all learned that on October 27, 1962, had tracked and dropped signaling depth charges (the size of hand grenades) on ,
Cuban Missile Crisis
3601697
with improved parking and other infrastructure. With the improved civil airport at McCoy, the new wide-body Boeing 747, Douglas DC-10, and Lockheed L-1011 TriStar airliners began scheduled service. On 14 October 1962, a Lockheed U-2 from the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas piloted by Major Richard S. Heyser, USAF, launched from Edwards AFB, California for a high altitude reconnaissance flight over Cuba. Arriving over the island an hour after sunrise, Heyser photographed the Soviet military installing nuclear armed SS-4 medium range and SS-5 intermediate range ballistic missiles in Cuba, thereby precipitating the Cuban Missile Crisis.
McCoy Air Force Base
82650
He had pressed for an immediate invasion of Cuba as soon as the crisis began and still favored invading Cuba even after the Soviets had withdrawn their missiles. Twenty-five years later, LeMay still believed that "We could have gotten not only the missiles out of Cuba, we could have gotten the Communists out of Cuba at that time." Critics, including Seymour Melman, and Seymour Hersh suggested that the Cuban Missile Crisis encouraged the United States' use of military means, such as the case in the later Vietnam War. U-2 pilot Anderson's body was returned to the US and was buried
Cuban Missile Crisis
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assigned Titan I missiles, it was designed as a LGM-30A Minuteman I wing and began to add Minuteman squadrons in the summer of 1962, although none became operational until 1963. In July, the division's responsibilities were realigned when the three strategic wings were reassigned to other SAC divisions and the 821st assumed command of a second Minuteman wing, the 341st Strategic Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana. On 23 July, the 341st's first Minuteman was placed in its silo. On 23 October 1962, in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 341st placed its first two Minuteman missiles
821st Strategic Aerospace Division
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plans to replace bombers with missiles and the surface fleet with nuclear missile submarines. However, during the Cuban missile crisis the USSR had only four R-7 Semyorkas and a few R-16s intercontinental missiles deployed in vulnerable surface launchers. In 1962 the Soviet submarine fleet had only 8 submarines with short range missiles, which could be launched only from submarines that surfaced and lost their hidden submerged status. Khrushchev's attempt to introduce a nuclear 'doctrine of deterrence' into Soviet military thought failed. Discussion of nuclear war in the first authoritative Soviet monograph on strategy since the 1920s, Marshal Vasilii Sokolovskii's "Military
Cold War (1953–1962)
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Jupiter and Thor missiles based in Turkey. Over the next four days the wing placed four more missiles on alert, with the last missile from Alpha Flight achieving alert status on 10 November. The Soviets eventually removed their missiles from Cuba. In fact, the Minuteman missiles at Malmstrom were able to substitute for Jupiter and Thor missiles based in Turkey, which were removed under a secret accord, thus allowing the Soviets to remove their missiles from Cuba, and replace them with submarine-based missiles and longer-range ICBM's based on Soviet territory. The overall effect of the Cuban Missile Crisis was to
Malmstrom Air Force Base
13268183
it moved to Europe in June 1958 and was reassigned away from the group. In July 1959, the group again upgraded to Convair F-106 Delta Darts. On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the group dispersed a portion of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles to Paine Air Force Base at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. These planes returned after the crisis. The group was inactivated shortly thereafter, in July 1963 and its combat squadron transferred to McChord Air Force Base, Washington and the 325th Fighter
84th Combat Sustainment Group
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of 1954 it transitioned into F-89D Scorpions and in the summer of 1957 into F-102A Delta Daggers. In May 1960 it received F-106 Delta Darts. On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the squadron dispersed one third of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles to Phelps Collins Air National Guard Base at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. These planes returned to Kinchloe after the crisis. The squadron moved to Griffiss Air Force Base, New York in August 1968. On 30 September 1968 it was inactivated and
438th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
12722756
and assigned to Geiger Field, Washington. Its mission was to provide air defense for the Pacific Northwest. It was equipped with F-86D Sabres, and then upgraded to F-102s in 1957 and then to F-106s in 1959. It was the first operational squadron to receive the Delta Dart. On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the squadron dispersed one third of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles to Paine Air Force Base at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. These planes returned to McChord after the crisis. On
498th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
12767776
as the F-101B and were fully combat-capable. On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the squadron dispersed one-third of its force, equipped with nuclear-tipped missiles, to Kingsley Field at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. These planes returned to Hamilton after the crisis. Although the number of ADC interceptor squadrons remained almost constant in the early 1960s, the number of planes assigned to each squadron gradually dropped from 24 to typically 18 by 1964. This drop a result of aircraft attrition as well as the fact that production
83d Fighter Weapons Squadron
12759052
defense squadron, equipped with Northrop F-89D Scorpion interceptors, and assigned to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware with a mission for the air defense of Philadelphia Delaware-Maryland-Virginia region. On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the squadron dispersed four of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles to Atlantic City Airport and 4 each to other airports on the east coast at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. These planes returned to Dover after the crisis. The squadron moved to Suffolk County Air Force Base, New York in 1963
98th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
10597299
assumed its assets, while adding additional support units, which were assigned to the wing's 507th Air Base Group (later the 507th Combat Support Group). In February 1962, ADC increased the alert requirement for its units. In addition to the two aircraft the wing had been maintaining on five-minute alert, one third of the unit's aircraft were placed on fifteen-minute alert. On 22 October 1962, at the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when President Kennedy announced the presence of Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba. Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) directed the dispersal of interceptors within the United States. The
507th Air Refueling Wing
13414903
was inactivated. On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the squadron dispersed one third of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles to Volk Field at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. These planes returned to Duluth after the crisis. Upon inactivation, the squadron's mission personnel, and F-106s were transferred to the 87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Duluth IAP. 11th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 11th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 343d Fighter Group at Duluth Airport, Minnesota, where it
11th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
12618536
place in Cuba, the squadron dispersed one third of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles to Hector Field at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. These planes returned to Minot after the crisis. In late 1962 the 5th acquired two live lynx kittens ("Spitten" and "Kitten") as mascots, with the assistance of the "Minot Daily News", after a farmer had killed their mother. In the mid-1980s the 5th converted to the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagles. The F-15s only flew over Minot until the spring of 1988, when the FIS was inactivated. The lynx den in the squadron was
5th Flying Training Squadron
10473951
operations at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base expanded, the 328th Group was replaced by the 328th Wing. On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the wing increased its alert state, and the 326th Squadron deployed one third of its aircraft, armed with nuclear-tipped missiles, to Grand Island Municipal Airport, Nebraska. Following the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis, these aircraft returned to their home base. However, Starting on 19 December 1962, the wing established a detachment of fighters at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida. This operation ended on 15 February
328th Armament Systems Wing
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by attempting to deploy IRBMs in Cuba. Their discovery by the United States led to the Cuban Missile Crisis. SAC was placed on DEFCON 3 on 22 October 1962, and DEFCON 2 on 24 October. RAF Bomber Command moved to Alert Condition 3, equivalent to DEFCON 3, on 27 October. Normally between 45 and 50 Thor missiles were ready to fire in 15 minutes. Without altering the alert condition, the number of missiles ready to fire in 15 minutes was increased to 59, the only exception being a missile used for training at RAF Feltwell. The dual key system was
Project Emily
10996874
prepare the revolution of the toilets." Nevertheless, Goodwin stated in his memo to President Kennedy following the meeting that Guevara viewed him as someone of the "newer generation" and that Guevara, whom Goodwin alleged sent a message to him the day after the meeting through one of the meeting's Argentine participants whom he described as "Darretta," also viewed the conversation which the two had as "quite profitable." Guevara, who was practically the architect of the Soviet–Cuban relationship, then played a key role in bringing to Cuba the Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles that precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962
Che Guevara
10996802
traversing the globe as a diplomat on behalf of Cuban socialism. Such positions also allowed him to play a central role in training the militia forces who repelled the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and bringing Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles to Cuba, which precipitated the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Additionally, Guevara was a prolific writer and diarist, composing a seminal manual on guerrilla warfare, along with a best-selling memoir about his youthful continental motorcycle journey. His experiences and studying of Marxism–Leninism led him to posit that the Third World's underdevelopment and dependence was an intrinsic result of imperialism, neocolonialism and monopoly
Che Guevara
9704726
missiles in Cuba with a naval blockade—a show of force that brought the world close to nuclear war. The Cuban Missile Crisis showed that neither superpower was ready to use nuclear weapons for fear of the other's retaliation, and thus of mutually assured destruction. The aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis led to the first efforts toward nuclear disarmament and improving relations. (Palmowski) By 1964, under President Lyndon Johnson, the program to discriminate against dictatorial regimes ceased. In March 1964, the U.S. supported a military coup in Brazil, overthrowing left-wing president, João Goulart, and was prepared to help if called
Latin America–United States relations
1682155
Cuban political leaders, especially Castro, and the Cuban intelligence services received falsified reports from their Soviet counterparts on the nature and extent of the American menace. Khrushchev so adamantly desired to change the strategic nuclear balance between the two superpowers that he attempted to deceive his Cuban proxies so that, in turn, they would unquestioningly allow Soviet ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads to be placed on Cuban soil. The KGB began sending doctored information to the Cubans in 1961 and continued to do so through the Cuban Missile Crisis. Soviet diplomatic warnings began soon thereafter. Khrushchev himself emphasized the American
Operation Anadyr
20059471
had occurred at Fort George G. Meade and in South Korea. "Newsweek" magazine reported that following a highly publicized U.S. nuclear weapons accident in 1961, Kennedy was informed that, "there two cases in which nuclear-tipped anti-aircraft missiles were actually launched by inadvertence." On October 28, 1962, during the peak of the Cuban Missile Crisis, U.S. strategic forces were at Defense Condition Two (DEFCON 2). According to missile technicians who witnessed events, the four MACE B missile sites on Okinawa erroneously received coded launch orders to fire all of their 32 nuclear cruise missiles at the Soviets and their allies. Quick
U.S. nuclear weapons in Japan
82550
Nikita Khrushchev agreed to Cuba's request to place nuclear missiles on the island to deter a future invasion. An agreement was reached during a secret meeting between Khrushchev and Fidel Castro in July 1962, and construction of a number of missile launch facilities started later that summer. The 1962 United States elections were under way, and the White House had for months denied charges that it was ignoring dangerous Soviet missiles from Florida. The missile preparations were confirmed when an Air Force U-2 spy plane produced clear photographic evidence of medium-range (SS-4) and intermediate-range (R-14) ballistic missile facilities. The US
Cuban Missile Crisis
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place because its intelligence had been convinced that the Soviets would never install nuclear missiles in Cuba. EXCOMM, of which Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was a member, quickly discussed several possible courses of action: The Joint Chiefs of Staff unanimously agreed that a full-scale attack and invasion was the only solution. They believed that the Soviets would not attempt to stop the US from conquering Cuba. Kennedy was skeptical: Kennedy concluded that attacking Cuba by air would signal the Soviets to presume "a clear line" to conquer Berlin. Kennedy also believed that US allies would think of the country
Cuban Missile Crisis
3810449
held exercises along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of Florida. While on special antisubmarine exercises in the North Atlantic on the morning of 29 May 1959, "Grenadier", in company with a patrol plane, sighted and photographed a Soviet submarine prowling the waters off Iceland. It was the first confirmed sighting of a Soviet submarine in the Atlantic. "Grenadier" again confronted Soviet ships when the Cuban Missile Crisis threatened nuclear war in October 1962. In company with , , , and , she formed part of the American fleet that blockaded and quarantined Cuba. After the Soviet offensive missiles
USS Grenadier (SS-525)
761529
Navy strategy called for four Regulus missiles to be at sea at any given time. Thus, "Barbero" and "Tunny", each of which carried two Regulus missiles, patrolled simultaneously. "Growler" and "Grayback", with four missiles each, or "Halibut", with five, could patrol alone. Operating from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, the five Regulus submarines made 40 nuclear deterrent patrols in the Northern Pacific Ocean between October 1959 and July 1964, including during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. According to the documentary "Regulus: The First Nuclear Missile Submarines" by Nick T. Spark, their primary task in the event of a nuclear exchange would
SSM-N-8 Regulus
10469896
February to July 1968, the wing operated an air defense detachment at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The 325th was again inactivated in late 1968. The 325th Fighter Wing was activated on 18 October 1956 and was assigned the 325th group as a subordinate unit controlling its operational squadrons. On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the wing dispersed a portion of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles to Paine Air Force Base at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. These planes returned to McChord after the
325th Fighter Wing
5947933
from, he added to the mystery by playfully answering "Shangri-La" – the name of the fictional utopia high in the Himalayas made popular in the novel Lost Horizon. The months preceding the Cuban Missile Crisis involved a complex deception and denial campaign. The Soviet attempt to position nuclear weapons on the island nation of Cuba in Operation Anadyr in 1962 occurred under a shroud of great secrecy, both to deny the United States information on the deployment of these missiles to the island and to deceive the United States' political leadership, military, and intelligence services about Moscow's intentions in Cuba.
Military deception
10183555
and second in the Bendix Trophy competition. In July 1960 the group converted to the Convair F-106 Delta Dart. Prior to February 1962, ADC required two aircraft of each of its squadrons to be on five-minute alert. This requirement was expanded and in addition one third of the groups’s interceptor aircraft were placed on fifteen-minute alert. On 22 October 1962, at the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when President Kennedy announced the presence of Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba, Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) directed the dispersal of interceptors within the United States. Although the group's planned dispersal
343d Wing
266679
In late 1962 missiles assigned to the 341st Strategic Missile Wing would play a major role in the Cuban Missile Crisis. When the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba, President John F. Kennedy said the Soviets backed down because they knew he had an "ace in the hole," referring directly to the Minuteman missiles in Montana. Montana eventually became home to the largest ICBM field in the U.S. covering . The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Montana was 1,032,949 on July 1, 2015, a 4.40% increase since the 2010 United States Census. The 2010 Census put
Montana
17677957
wanted to install Soviet R-12 MRBM nuclear missiles on Cuba to even the power balance. Although conflicted, Castro agreed, believing it would guarantee Cuba's safety and enhance the cause of socialism. Undertaken in secrecy, only the Castro brothers, Guevara, Dorticós and security chief Ramiro Valdés knew the full plan. Upon discovering it through aerial reconnaissance, in October the U.S. implemented an island-wide quarantine to search vessels headed to Cuba, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis. The U.S. saw the missiles as offensive, though Castro insisted they were defensive. Castro urged Khrushchev to threaten a nuclear strike on the U.S. should Cuba
Cuba under Fidel Castro
7015550
York, flying the F-86, F-89 and F-94C aircraft while stationed at Griffis Air Force Base in Rome N.Y. until receiving the F-102 Delta Dagger in 1957. In October 1959, the 27th was transferred to Loring Air Force Base, Maine, where it assumed an air defense role flying F-106 Delta Darts in the Bangor Air Defense Sector. On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the squadron dispersed one third of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles to Olmsted Air Force Base at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
27th Fighter Squadron
10705850
Base, Indiana and in March 1956 received F-94Cs. The squadron transitioned into F-89J Scorpions in the fall of 1957 and in February 1960 into Convair F-106 Delta Darts. On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the squadron dispersed one third of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles to Hulman Field at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. ADC decided to make its deployed fighter unit at Homestead Air Force Base permanent and equip it with Lockheed F-104A Starfighters because of the F-104's superior fighter on fighter performance.
319th Fighter Interceptor Training Squadron
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for three years before moving to Dow Air Force Base, Maine. Upon return to Maine in 1959 the squadron converted to the McDonnell F-101B Voodoo supersonic interceptor and the F-101F operational and conversion trainer. The two-seat trainer version was equipped with dual controls, but carried the same armament as the F-101B and were fully combat-capable. On 22 October 1962, before President John F. Kennedy told Americans that missiles were in place in Cuba, the squadron dispersed one third of its force, equipped with nuclear tipped missiles to Niagara Falls International Airport at the start of the Cuban Missile Crisis. These
75th Fighter Squadron
1934032
in Cuba, and when the USSR sent in nuclear missiles to defend it, the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was triggered with the U.S., the most dangerous point of the era. On the domestic front, after a short transition, the economy grew rapidly, with widespread prosperity, rising wages, and the movement of most of the remaining farmers to the towns and cities. Politically, the era was dominated by liberal Democrats who held together the New Deal Coalition: Harry Truman (1945–53), John F. Kennedy (1961–63) and Lyndon Johnson (1963–69). Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–61) was a moderate who did not attempt
History of the United States (1945–1964)
343706
the Soviets and Cubans, who feared Nixon might attack Cuba and break the understanding between Kennedy and Khrushchev which had ended the missile crisis. In August 1970, the Soviets asked Nixon to reaffirm the understanding; despite his hard line against Castro, Nixon agreed. The process had not yet been completed when the Soviets began expanding their base at the Cuban port of Cienfuegos in October 1970. A minor confrontation ensued, which was concluded with an understanding that the Soviets would not use Cienfuegos for submarines bearing ballistic missiles. The final round of diplomatic notes, reaffirming the 1962 accord, were exchanged
Richard Nixon
82562
soil. In order to meet the threat it faced in 1962, 1963, and 1964, it had very few options. Moving existing nuclear weapons to locations from which they could reach American targets was one." A second reason that Soviet missiles were deployed to Cuba was because Khrushchev wanted to bring West Berlin, controlled by the American, British and French within Communist East Germany, into the Soviet orbit. The East Germans and Soviets considered western control over a portion of Berlin a grave threat to East Germany. Khrushchev made West Berlin the central battlefield of the Cold War. Khrushchev believed that
Cuban Missile Crisis
10823027
1958, she visited Crete and Turkey when the latter country was threatened. In 1959, she sailed 11 May for fleet replenishment in response to the heightened Berlin crisis. The veteran stores ship returned twice more to the Mediterranean in 1959, and again in 1960 and 1961. "Hyades" responded quickly in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, arriving at Guantanamo Bay 22 October to evacuate dependents as the introduction of offensive missiles forced a naval quarantine of the island. After the safe evacuation, the ship returned to the quarantine line for underway replenishment of the ships patrolling off Cuba. After the
USS Hyades (AF-28)
10581045
single operational squadron in 1960, when the 61st inactivated. On 22 October 1962, at the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when President Kennedy announced the presence of Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missiles in Cuba. Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) directed the dispersal of interceptors within the United States. The group sent one third of its aircraft to Grand Island Airport, Nebraska. All group aircraft, including those at home and those at Grand Island were armed and placed on fifteen-minute alert status. The increased alert posture was maintained through mid-November, when CONAD returned units to their normal alert status, except for
327th Aircraft Sustainment Wing
82575
S-75 Dvina (NATO designation "SA-2") surface-to-air missile sites at eight different locations. CIA director John A. McCone was suspicious. Sending antiaircraft missiles into Cuba, he reasoned, "made sense only if Moscow intended to use them to shield a base for ballistic missiles aimed at the United States." On August 10, he wrote a memo to Kennedy in which he guessed that the Soviets were preparing to introduce ballistic missiles into Cuba. With important Congressional elections scheduled for November, the crisis became enmeshed in American politics. On August 31, Senator Kenneth Keating (R-New York), who received his information from Cuban exiles
Cuban Missile Crisis
570016
of the most legitimate self-defense. However harsh and terrible the solution, there would be no other. The Cuban Missile Crisis resulted in Khrushchev publicly agreeing to remove the missiles from Cuba, while Kennedy secretly agreed to remove his country's missiles from Turkey. Both sides in the Cold War realized how close they came to nuclear war over Cuba, and decided to seek a reduction of tensions, resulting in US-Soviet détente for most of the 1960s and 1970s. Nonetheless, this reduction of tensions only applied to the US and the USSR. Recently declassified interviews with high level former Soviet nuclear and
Pre-emptive nuclear strike
20834781
the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro came to power on the island-nation. Initially, French intellectuals and writers were intrigued with the new change in Cuba. In 1960, French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and French writer Simone de Beauvoir paid a visit to Cuba and met with President Fidel Castro and Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary hero, Ernesto "Che" Guevara. In 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, French President Charles de Gaulle supported the United States on the blockade of Cuba to prevent more missiles from landing on the island. During a world tour in December 1964, Cuban diplomat Che Guevara paid an official visit
Cuba–France relations
3972860
assistance to Cuba. On September 7, 1962 President Kennedy formally expanded the Cuban embargo to include all Cuban trade, except for non-subsidized sale of food and medicines Following the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962), Kennedy imposed travel restrictions on February 8, 1963, and the "Cuban Assets Control Regulations" were issued on July 8, 1963, again under the "Trading with the Enemy Act" in response to Cubans hosting Soviet nuclear weapons. Under these restrictions, Cuban assets in the U.S. were frozen and the existing restrictions were consolidated. The restrictions on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba lapsed on March 19, 1977; the
United States embargo against Cuba