Cuban Missile Crisis

Hey guys, we've finished off with the Bay of Pigs, an event of 1961. The Palace of It's Responded, the building of Berlin Wall, and then of course our second. Policy during the Cold War referring to the use of nukes with flexible response. So I want to introduce you to keeping this whole crisis, which occurred in the fall of 1962. Basically, as a result of the Bay of Pigs, it was crucial to decide that Cuba was a good location for Soviet nuclear missiles to protect the ends of the future of the United States invasion. We have photographs that there are missiles, and if you're looking at the PowerPoint, you see I had that black and white image, is multiple. So the missiles 90 miles off the coast of Florida, of America. So basically JFK, what do we do? Do we launch direct air attacks, do we destroy the missiles? Do we all have a mission? So it kind of has to be like a mental force, and this is the work quarantine. This legally distinguishes a difference from blockade because the use of the work blockade is an act of war. And basically, JFK also sends a letter to Khrushchev declaring to get the weapons in Cuba to completely dismantle them and to remove them. And that starts a series of letters back and forth between Khrushchev and JFK. And one thing to keep in mind is this really terrifying event in World history during the Cold War. Sure, in that the United States and the Soviets had a very difficult way of communicating. And that's going to be one of the lasting legacies at the end of this. So Khrushchev responds he sends Soviet ships. There's flattillas with, you know, subs. We have spy planes that have images of these missiles in Cuba ready to go. And it seems like there's no end. And so we are put on Defcon 2, which basically is saying, you know, war is imminent. If you're looking at the PowerPoint, you will see I have a breakdown of all the different Defcons, one through five, one being the lightest. And five being the world's over. So basically we're out of stalemate. This is a very, very terrifying time in World history. I don't know if your parents were alive, maybe your grandparents were. They might remember this, but literally we're on the brink of nuclear holocaust. Like this, you know, we've got Turkey. We have nukes in Turkey pointed out Russia. They've got nukes in Cuba pointed out us. We are at the brink of nuclear disaster. So on October 26th, an ABC News correspondent John Scaley was approached by a Soviet agent. And basically he, this agent tells him like, hey, you know what? An agreement can be made. And the Soviets are going to remove the missiles. And as long as we promise not to invade. And oh my gosh, like the White House goes into like scrambled mode. Like, is this, is this legit? Is this like for real? So basically later that night, there's the emotional letter that JFK receives from, from Khrushchev, you know, just going on and on about, oh my gosh, we can't do this. It's a nuclear holocaust. You know, let's, let's come to an agreement. So JFK is like, huh. Okay, so maybe maybe this, this correspondent, you know, this is valid. And the next day, the next morning, was almost like, so we're up and sent to the second letter. And it's like, okay, let's, let's, okay, here's the deal. Khrushchev, JFK, like, okay, I will remove the Cuban missiles if you remove the Turkey missiles. And so JFK makes a risky, a risky move. And he decides to ignore the second letter. All right. But just go off the fact that, I mean, really and truly the first emotional letter that Khrushchev sent, my opinion, that's he blinked first, right? Like he blinked first. And JFK is going to take advantage of that. And so Robert Kennedy, his brother, was going to start wheeling and dealing about, look, Khrushchev, yeah, okay, we get it. You are going to dismantle and remove the missiles from Cuba. And we will eventually remove the missiles from Turkey, but it's going to be in about six months, and it's not going to be part of the public. So it is a great, in October 28th, the Soviets remove the missiles from Cuba. We keep our ships around Cuba, and we don't remove our missiles from Turkey until early the next year. So I would argue, in my opinion, you feel free to disagree with me, but I'd argue that this absolutely helped JFK's image. He's the one who made Khrushchev blink first. He's the one who ended this looking superior. Like I said, at a lasting legacy of this is, it was a hotline that's established, but essentially a red phone. That's the direct line between the Kremlin and the White House. Another lasting legacy is in 1963, at the very next year, and this is early in the year. If you remember, JFK was assassinated in November of 1963, but the United States, the US is in England, signed this historic treaty banning atmospheric testing. France doesn't sign because they're in the codes of developing their own nuclear system. If you remember that new presentation I showed you, it's in the early 60s that France joins the Nuclear Club. So this treaty doesn't ever go into serious force until the mid-90s, but it's a step in the right direction, agreeing to talk. This also led to the Cuban-Muslim crisis led to the fall of Khrushchev. He has cold-wirt policies. We're seeing this erratic, embarrassing, unsuccessful. Pretty much everything he did was criticized, and there was a resurgence of conservative stall-ness. And so basically he was forced to retire, and then seven years in her house arrest. He died in Moscow in 1971. So our next premier is a dude by the name Brezhnev, Leonan Brezhnev, and he introduces what we will fondly refer to as re- stallionization. Basically a massive arms build-up, clearly a response to the Cuban-Muslim crisis. One thing I want you to keep in mind is his ultimate goal is to avoid direct contact with the United States, which ironically does seem kind of more stable, like you think about it. A peaceful coexistence between the two superpowers. Also his dictatorship was collective rather than personal. He established a pull-it-to-borrow, which essentially was like his supreme policy making body. He used high-ranking officials to ask the questions, ask them advice. Basically he was more focused on the foreign military affairs and the pulled-borrow allowed them to really take a look at internal and domestic situations. He was very conservative. Yes, there was censorship. Yes, there was suppression. Anyway, we will, if you notice his dates, we will take him into the early 80s. And thank you for your time. Please let me know if you have any questions. I will see you soon. Bye.