What was the Cuban Missile Crisis?
The Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962) was a 13-day confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet nuclear missiles placed in Cuba, just 90 miles from American shores. It was the closest the Cold War came to escalating into full-scale nuclear war, and its resolution through negotiation rather than conflict became a turning point in superpower relations.
The Cuban Missile Crisis was the most dangerous moment in human history — thirteen days in October 1962 when the world stood on the brink of nuclear annihilation. The crisis demonstrated both the terrifying logic of nuclear brinksmanship and the possibility of stepping back from the abyss.
The crisis had its roots in the Cuban Revolution. When Fidel Castro's revolutionary government aligned with the Soviet Union, the United States attempted to overthrow it through the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961. Humiliated and threatened, Castro sought Soviet military protection. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev saw an opportunity to address the strategic imbalance — the U.S. had missiles in Turkey and Italy capable of striking the Soviet Union, while the Soviets had no equivalent capability. Placing medium-range nuclear missiles in Cuba would dramatically shift the nuclear balance.
On October 14, 1962, an American U-2 spy plane photographed Soviet missile sites under construction in Cuba. President John F. Kennedy convened a secret group of advisors — the ExComm (Executive Committee of the National Security Council) — to deliberate. The options ranged from diplomatic protest to airstrikes to a full-scale invasion. Kennedy chose a naval quarantine (blockade) of Cuba, demanding the removal of the missiles while avoiding the provocation of a direct military strike.
For thirteen days, the world watched as Soviet ships approached the quarantine line. Behind the scenes, frantic negotiations unfolded through official and back channels. On October 27 — 'Black Saturday' — the crisis nearly spiraled out of control when a U-2 was shot down over Cuba and a Soviet submarine commander, cut off from Moscow, nearly launched a nuclear torpedo at American ships. Only the intervention of a single officer, Vasili Arkhipov, who refused to authorize the launch, may have prevented nuclear war.
The resolution came through a deal: the Soviets withdrew their missiles from Cuba in exchange for a public American pledge not to invade Cuba and a secret agreement to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey. Both leaders had looked into the nuclear abyss and recoiled. The crisis accelerated arms control efforts — the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (1963) and a direct communication 'hotline' between Washington and Moscow were established to prevent future miscalculations.