The Cuban Missile Crisis was caused. A stone's throw from the new world

Caribbean crisis

On October 28, 1962, First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev announced the dismantling of Soviet missiles in Cuba - the Cuban missile crisis was over.

Fidel Castro takes office as Prime Minister

On January 1, 1959, the revolution won in Cuba. The civil war, which lasted from July 26, 1953, ended with the dictator fleeing the island Fulgencio Batista y Saldivar

and the rise to power of the July 26 Movement, led by 32-year-old Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, who entered Havana on January 8 in a captured tank Sherman just like General Leclerc entered liberated Paris in August 1944.

At first, Cuba did not have close relations with the Soviet Union. During his fight against the Batista regime in the 1950s, Castro asked for military assistance several times, but was always refused. Fidel made his first foreign visit after the victory of the revolution to the United States, but then-President Eisenhower refused to meet with him. Of course, Eisenhower would have done the same with Batista - Cuba had to know its place. But, unlike Batista - the son of a soldier and a prostitute - the noble Fidel Angelevich Castro, who came from a family of wealthy latifundists who owned sugar plantations in the province of Oriente, was not the kind of person who could simply swallow this insult. In response to Eisenhower's antics, Fidel launched an undeclared war on American capital: telephone and electric companies, oil refineries, and 36 largest sugar factories owned by US citizens were nationalized.

The answer did not take long to arrive: the Americans stopped supplying oil to Cuba and buying sugar from it, not caring about the long-term purchase agreement that was still in force. 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.

Realizing that Cuba was getting out of control, the Americans decided to act militarily, and on the night of April 17 they landed the so-called Brigade 2506, consisting of Batista supporters entrenched in the United States, in the Bay of Pigs.

Before this, American aircraft bombed the locations of Cuban troops for two days. knowing that the barracks are empty, and the tanks and planes have already been replaced by mock-ups.

At dawn, Cuban government aircraft, which the Americans were unable to destroy by bombing, launched several attacks on the landing forces and were able to sink four transports of emigrants, including the Houston, which carried the full Rio Escondido infantry battalion, which transported most of the emigrants. ammunition and heavy weapons of Brigade 2506. By mid-day on April 17, the advance of the paratroopers was stopped by superior forces of the Cuban government, and on April 19, Brigade 2506 capitulated.

prisoners from brigade 2506

The Cuban people rejoiced at the victory, but Castro understood that this was only the beginning - any day now the US Army would openly enter the war.

By the beginning of the 60s, the Americans had become completely insolent - their U-2 reconnaissance aircraft flew wherever they wanted, until one of them was shot down by a Soviet missile over the Sverdlovsk region. And in 1961 they went so far as to place their missiles in Turkey PGM-19 Jupiter with a range of 2,400 km, directly threatening cities in the western part of the Soviet Union, reaching as far as Moscow and major industrial centers. Another advantage of medium-range missiles is their short flight time - less than 10 minutes.

PGM-19 “Jupiter” at the launch position

America had every reason to be impudent: the Americans were armed with approximately 183 Atlas and Titan ICBMs. In addition, in 1962, the United States had 1,595 bombers in service, capable of delivering about 3,000 nuclear warheads to the territory of the USSR.

B-52 “Stratofortress”

The Soviet leadership was extremely concerned about the presence of 15 missiles in Turkey, but could not do anything. But then one day, when Khrushchev, while on vacation, was walking with Mikoyan along the Crimean coast, he came up with the idea of ​​putting a hedgehog in America’s pants.

Military experts have confirmed that it is possible to effectively achieve some nuclear parity by placing missiles in Cuba. Soviet medium-range R-14 missiles deployed on Cuban territory, with a firing range of up to 4,000 km, could keep Washington and about half of the US Air Force strategic bomber air bases at gunpoint with a flight time of less than 20 minutes.

R-14 (8K65) / R-14U (8K65U)
R-14
SS-5 (Skean)

On May 20, 1962, Khrushchev held a meeting in the Kremlin with Foreign Minister Andrei Andreevich Gromyko and Defense Minister Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky,

during which he outlined to them his idea: in response to Fidel Castro’s constant requests to increase the Soviet military presence in Cuba, to place nuclear weapons on the island. On May 21, at a meeting of the Defense Council, he raised this issue for discussion. Mikoyan was most against this decision, however, in the end, members of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, who were members of the Defense Council, supported Khrushchev. The Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs were tasked with organizing the covert movement of troops and military equipment by sea to Cuba. Due to the particular haste, the plan was adopted without approval - implementation began immediately after receiving Castro’s consent.

On May 28, a Soviet delegation flew from Moscow to Havana, consisting of USSR Ambassador Alekseev, Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, Marshal Sergei Biryuzov,

Sergey Semyonovich Biryuzov

Colonel General Semyon Pavlovich Ivanov, as well as the head of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan Sharaf Rashidov. On May 29, they met with Fidel Castro and his brother Raul and outlined to them the proposal of the CPSU Central Committee. Fidel asked for 24 hours to negotiate with his closest associates.

Fidel Castro, Raul Castro, Ernesto Che Guevara

It is known that on May 30 he had a conversation with Ernesto Che Guevara, but nothing is still known about the essence of this conversation.

Ernesto Che Guevara and Fidel Castro Ruz

On the same day, Castro gave a positive response to the Soviet delegates. It was decided that Raul Castro would visit Moscow in July to clarify all the details.

The plan envisaged the deployment of two types of ballistic missiles in Cuba - the R-12 with a range of about 2000 km and the R-14 with a range twice that. Both types of missiles were equipped with 1 Mt nuclear warheads.

Medium-range ballistic missile
R-12 (8K63) / R-12U (8K63U) R-12 SS-4 (Sandal)

Malinovsky also clarified that the armed forces will deploy 24 R-12 medium-range missiles and 16 R-14 intermediate-range missiles and will keep half the number of each type of missile in reserve. It was planned to remove 40 missiles from positions in Ukraine and the European part of Russia. After the installation of these missiles in Cuba, the number of Soviet nuclear missiles capable of reaching US territory doubled.

It was supposed to send a group of Soviet troops to Cuba, which was supposed to concentrate around five units of nuclear missiles (three R-12s and two R-14s). In addition to missiles, the group also included a Mi-4 helicopter regiment, four 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 with tanks T-55 .

At the beginning of August, the first ships arrived in Cuba. On the night of September 8, the first batch of medium-range ballistic missiles was unloaded in Havana; the second batch arrived on September 16.

ships loaded with missiles

The headquarters of the GSVK is located in Havana. Ballistic missile divisions were deployed in the west of the island - near the village of San Cristobal and in the center of Cuba - near the port of Casilda. The main troops were concentrated around the missiles in the western part of the island, but several cruise missiles and a motorized rifle regiment were deployed to the east of Cuba - a hundred kilometers from the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay. By October 14, 1962, all 40 missiles and most of the equipment were delivered to Cuba.

On October 14, 1962, a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft from the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, piloted by Major Richard Heizer, photographed Soviet missile positions. 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 receiving photographs indicating Soviet missile bases in Cuba, President Kennedy assembled a special group of advisers for a secret meeting at the White House. This group of 14 people later became known as the "Executive Committee" of EXCOMM. The committee 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. The military proposed an invasion, and soon began moving troops to Florida, while Air Force Strategic Command redeployed B-47 Stratojet medium-range bombers to civilian airports and placed a fleet of B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers on constant patrol.

On October 22, Kennedy declared a naval blockade of Cuba in the form of a quarantine zone of 500 nautical miles (926 km) around the coast of the island. 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. At the same time, the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee decided to bring the armed forces of the USSR and the Warsaw Pact countries to a state of increased combat readiness. All layoffs have been cancelled. Conscripts preparing for demobilization are ordered to remain at their duty stations until further notice. Khrushchev sent Castro an encouraging letter, assuring him of the unshakable position of the USSR under any circumstances.

On October 24, Khrushchev learned that the Aleksandrovsk had safely reached Cuba. At the same time, he received a short telegram from Kennedy, in which he called on Khrushchev to “show prudence” and “comply with the conditions of the blockade.” The Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee met to discuss the official response to the imposition of the blockade. On the same day, Khrushchev sent a letter to the US President in which he accused him of setting “ultimate conditions.” Khrushchev called the blockade “an act of aggression pushing humanity into the abyss of a world nuclear missile war.” In the letter, the First Secretary warned Kennedy that "the captains of Soviet ships will not comply with the instructions of the American Navy," and that "if the United States does not stop its piracy activities, the government of the USSR will take any measures to ensure the safety of ships."

In response to Khrushchev's message, Kennedy received a letter to the Kremlin, in which he indicated that the Soviet side had broken its promises regarding Cuba and had 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.

On the morning of October 26, Khrushchev began drafting a new, less militant message to Kennedy. In the letter, he offered the Americans the option of dismantling the installed missiles and returning them to the USSR. In exchange, he demanded assurances that "the United States would not invade Cuba with its forces or support any other force that intended to invade Cuba." He ended the letter with the famous phrase “You and I should not now pull the ends of the rope on which you tied the knot of war.” Khrushchev drafted this letter alone, without convening the Presidium. Later, in Washington there was a version that it was not Khrushchev who wrote the second letter, and that a coup d’etat may have occurred in the USSR. Others believed that Khrushchev, on the contrary, was looking for help in the fight against hardliners in the ranks of the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces. The letter arrived at the White House at 10 am. Another condition was conveyed in an open radio message on the morning of October 27, calling for the removal of US missiles from Turkey in addition to the demands specified in the letter.

On Friday, October 26, at 13:00 Washington time, a message was received from ABC News reporter John Scali that Alexander Fomin, the KGB resident in Washington, had approached him with a proposal for a meeting. The meeting took place at the Occidental restaurant. Fomin expressed concern about the growing tension and suggested that Scali approach his “high-ranking friends in the State Department” with a proposal to find a diplomatic solution. Fomin conveyed an unofficial proposal from the Soviet leadership to remove missiles from Cuba in exchange for abandoning the invasion of Cuba.
The American leadership responded to this proposal by conveying to Fidel Castro through the Brazilian Embassy that if offensive weapons were withdrawn from Cuba, “an invasion would be unlikely.”

Meanwhile, in Havana, the political situation was tense to the limit. Castro became aware of the new position of the Soviet Union, and he immediately went to the Soviet embassy. The Comandante decided to write a letter to Khrushchev to push him to more decisive action. Even before Castro finished the letter and sent it to the Kremlin, the head of the KGB station in Havana informed the First Secretary of the essence of the Comandante’s message: “In the opinion of Fidel Castro, intervention is almost inevitable and will occur in the next 24-72 hours.” At the same time, Malinovsky received a report from the commander of Soviet troops in Cuba, General I. A. Pliev, about the increased activity of American strategic aviation in the Caribbean. Both messages were delivered to Khrushchev's office in the Kremlin at 12 noon, Saturday, October 27.

Issa Alexandrovich Pliev

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 by the commander of the 27th air defense division, Colonel Georgy Voronkov. The launch took place at 10:22 local time. U-2 was shot down.

U-2 wreckage

The pilot of the spy plane, Major Rudolf Anderson, was killed.

Rudolf Andersen

On the night of October 27-28, on the instructions of the president, his brother Robert Kennedy met with the Soviet ambassador in the building of the Ministry of Justice. Kennedy shared with Dobrynin the president's fears that "the situation is about to get out of control and threaten to create a chain reaction."

Robert Kennedy said that his brother was ready to give guarantees of non-aggression and the speedy lifting of the blockade from Cuba. Dobrynin asked Kennedy about the missiles in Turkey. “If this is the only obstacle to achieving the settlement mentioned above, then the President does not see insurmountable difficulties in resolving the issue,” Kennedy responded. According to then US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, from a military point of view, Jupiter missiles were obsolete, but during private negotiations, Turkey and NATO strongly opposed the inclusion of such a clause in a formal agreement with the Soviet Union, since this would be a manifestation of US weakness and would pose a threat to calling into question US guarantees for the protection of Turkey and NATO countries.

The next morning, a message from Kennedy arrived in the Kremlin, which stated: “1) You will agree to withdraw your weapons systems from Cuba under the appropriate supervision of UN representatives, and also to take, subject to appropriate security measures, steps to

stopping the supply of the same weapons systems to Cuba. 2) We, for our part, will agree - subject to the creation, with the help of the UN, of a system of adequate measures to ensure the fulfillment of these obligations - a) quickly lift the blockade measures currently in place and b) give guarantees of non-aggression against Cuba. I am confident that the rest of the Western Hemisphere will be ready to do the same.”
At noon, Khrushchev assembled the Presidium at his dacha in Novo-Ogaryovo. At the meeting, a letter from Washington was being discussed when a man entered the hall and asked Khrushchev’s assistant Oleg Troyanovsky to speak to the phone: Dobrynin was calling from Washington. He conveyed to Troyanovsky the essence of his conversation with Robert Kennedy and expressed fears that the US President was under strong pressure from officials from the Pentagon. Dobrynin conveyed verbatim the words of the brother of the US President: “We must receive an answer from the Kremlin today, Sunday. There is very little time left to resolve the problem.” Troyanovsky returned to the hall and read to the audience what he had written down in his notebook while listening to Dobrynin’s report. Khrushchev immediately invited the stenographer and began dictating consent. He also dictated two confidential letters to Kennedy personally. In one, he confirmed the fact that Robert Kennedy's message reached Moscow. The second is that he regards this message as agreement to the USSR’s condition for the withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba - to remove the missiles from Turkey.
Fearing any “surprises” and breakdown of negotiations, Khrushchev forbade Pliev to use anti-aircraft weapons against American aircraft. He also ordered the return to airfields of all Soviet aircraft patrolling the Caribbean Sea. For greater confidence, it was decided to broadcast the first letter on the radio so that it would reach Washington as quickly as possible. An hour before the broadcast of Nikita Khrushchev’s message, Malinovsky sent Pliev an order to begin dismantling the R-12 launch pads.
The dismantling of Soviet missile launchers, loading them onto ships and removing them from Cuba took 3 weeks.

Chronicle of Operation Anadyr

On the deployment of strategic nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba

April 1962. Nikita Khrushchev expresses the idea of ​​placing strategic missiles on the island of Cuba.

May 20. At an extended meeting of the Defense Council, which was attended by the entire Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee, and the leadership of the USSR Ministry of Defense, a decision was made to prepare for the creation of the Group of Soviet Forces on the island of Cuba (GSVK).

May 24. The Minister of Defense presents to the country's leadership a plan for the creation of the State Military Command. The operation is called "Anadyr".

May 27. To coordinate with the Cuban leadership the issue of deploying Soviet strategic missiles, a delegation headed by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan Sh. Rashidov flies to Cuba. The military part of the delegation was headed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces, Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergei Biryuzov.

June 13. A directive is issued from the USSR Minister of Defense on the preparation and redeployment of units and formations of all types and branches of the Armed Forces.

June 14. The directive of the Main Staff of the Strategic Missile Forces determined the tasks for the formation of the 51st Missile Division (RD) to participate in Operation Anadyr.

July 1. The personnel of the 51st RD department begin to perform duties in the new states.

5'th of July. The directive of the Strategic Missile Forces General Staff defines specific measures to prepare the 51st RD for redeployment abroad.

July, 12. A reconnaissance group led by the commander of the 51st RD, Major General I. Statsenko, arrives in Cuba.

10th of August. The loading of the first railway echelon into the regiment of Colonel I. Sidorov begins for the redeployment of the division to Cuba.

9th of September. With the arrival of the motor ship "Omsk" at the port of Casilda, the concentration of the division on the island begins. This flight delivers the first six missiles.

The 4th of October. The diesel-electric ship "Indigirka" delivers nuclear ammunition for R-12 missiles to the port of Mariel.

October 14. American intelligence, based on aerial photography, concludes that there are Soviet missiles in Cuba.

October 23. Martial law has been declared in the Republic of Cuba. Military units of the 51st Soviet Rocket Division have been placed on high alert. Combat packages with flight missions and combat orders for launching missiles were delivered to the command post. The motor ship "Alexandrovsk" arrives at the port of La Isabela with warheads for R-14 missiles. In the USSR, a government decision suspended the transfer of military personnel to the reserve and stopped planned leaves.

October 24. The missile division commander makes a decision to prepare new position areas for the purpose of maneuver. An order was given to disperse equipment in position areas.

the 25th of October. The missile regiment of Colonel N. Bandilovsky and the 2nd division of the regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Yu. Solovyov are put on combat readiness.

October 26. In order to reduce the time for preparing the first salvo of missiles, the warheads from the group warehouse were transferred to the position area of ​​Colonel I. Sidorov’s regiment. The 1st division of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Yu. Solovyov, was put on combat readiness and completely completed checking the missile ammunition. A US Air Force spy plane was shot down over Cuba.

28 of October. The commander of the RD is informed of the directive of the USSR Minister of Defense on the dismantling of the starting positions and the relocation of the division to the USSR.

Nov. 1. A directive from the USSR Minister of Defense is issued, defining the procedure for sending strategic missiles to the Soviet Union.

November 5. The motor ship "Divnogorsk" leaves the port of Mariel with the first four missiles on board.

November 9. The motor ship "Leninsky Komsomol" from the island of Cuba is transporting the last eight missiles.

October 1, 1963. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, participants in Operation Anadyr were awarded orders and medals of the USSR for skillful actions during the period of carrying out a particularly important government task to protect the gains of the Cuban revolution.

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, American missiles were also withdrawn from Turkey.

It has brought the planet to the brink of destruction more than once. 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. The cunning and experienced politician 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 of agriculture and industry flocked to the country, and 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-committee - the National Security Executive Committee - 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 by local residents, among whom there 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, so 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 their 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. The 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, for the first time in the United States, an order was issued on combat readiness 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.

At the same time, this war was far from homogeneous: it was a series of crises, local military conflicts, revolutions and coups, as well as normalization of relations and even their “warming”. One of the hottest stages of the Cold War was the Cuban Missile Crisis, a crisis when the whole world froze, preparing for the worst.

Background and causes of the Caribbean crisis

In 1952, as a result of a military coup in Cuba, military leader F. Batista came to power. This coup caused widespread outrage among Cuban youth and the progressive-minded part of the population. The leader of the opposition to Batista was Fidel Castro, who already on July 26, 1953 took up arms against the dictatorship. However, this uprising (on this day the rebels stormed the Moncada barracks) was unsuccessful, and Castro, along with his surviving supporters, went to jail. Only thanks to the powerful socio-political movement in the country, the rebels were amnestied already in 1955.

After this, F. Castro and his supporters launched a full-scale guerrilla war against government troops. Their tactics soon began to bear fruit, and in 1957 F. Batista's troops suffered a series of serious defeats in the countryside. At the same time, general indignation at the policies of the Cuban dictator grew. All these processes resulted in a revolution, which expectedly ended with the victory of the rebels in January 1959. Fidel Castro became the de facto ruler of Cuba.

At first, the new Cuban government sought to find a common language with its formidable northern neighbor, but then US President D. Eisenhower did not even deign to host F. Castro. It also became clear that the ideological differences between the United States and Cuba could not allow them to fully come together. The USSR seemed to be the most attractive ally of F. Castro.

Having established diplomatic relations with Cuba, the Soviet leadership established trade with the country and provided it with enormous assistance. Dozens of Soviet specialists, hundreds of parts and other critical cargo were sent to the island. Relations between the countries quickly became friendly.

Operation Anadyr

Another of the main reasons for the Cuban missile crisis was not the revolution in Cuba or the situation associated with these events. In 1952, Türkiye joined NATO. Since 1943, this state has had a pro-American orientation, connected, among other things, with the neighborhood of the USSR, with which the country did not have the best relations.

In 1961, the deployment of American medium-range ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads began on Turkish territory. This decision of the American leadership was dictated by a number of circumstances, such as the higher speed of approach of such missiles to targets, as well as the possibility of pressure on the Soviet leadership in view of the even more clearly defined American nuclear superiority. The deployment of nuclear missiles on Turkish territory seriously upset the balance of power in the region, putting the Soviet leadership in an almost hopeless situation. It was then that it was decided to use a new bridgehead almost close to the United States.

The Soviet leadership approached F. Castro with a proposal to place 40 Soviet ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads in Cuba and soon received a positive response. The General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces began developing Operation Anadyr. The purpose of this operation was to deploy Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, as well as a military contingent of about 10 thousand people and an aviation group (helicopter, attack and fighter aircraft).

In the summer of 1962, Operation Anadyr began. It was preceded by a powerful set of camouflage measures. Thus, often the captains of transport ships did not know what kind of cargo they were transporting, not to mention the personnel, who did not even know where the transfer was taking place. For camouflage purposes, non-essential cargo was stored in many ports of the Soviet Union. In August, the first Soviet transports arrived in Cuba, and in the fall the installation of ballistic missiles began.

Beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis

In the early autumn of 1962, when the American leadership became aware of the presence of Soviet missile bases in Cuba, the White House had three options for action. These options are: destroying bases through targeted strikes, invading Cuba, or imposing a naval blockade of the island. The first option had to be abandoned.

In order to prepare for the invasion of the island, American troops began to be transferred to Florida, where they concentrated. However, bringing Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba to full combat readiness made the option of a full-scale invasion very risky. The naval blockade remained.

Based on all the data, after weighing all the pros and cons, the United States announced the introduction of a quarantine against Cuba in mid-October. This formulation was introduced because declaring a blockade would become an act of war, and the United States was its instigator and aggressor, since the deployment of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba was not a violation of any international treaties. But, following its long-standing logic, where “might is always right,” the United States continued to provoke a military conflict.

The introduction of quarantine, which began on October 24 at 10:00, only provided for a complete cessation of arms supplies to Cuba. As part of this operation, the US Navy surrounded Cuba and began patrolling coastal waters, while receiving instructions not to open fire on Soviet ships under any circumstances. At this time, about 30 Soviet ships were heading towards Cuba, including nuclear warheads. It was decided to send some of these forces back to avoid conflict with the United States.

Development of the crisis

By October 24, the situation around Cuba began to heat up. On this day, Khrushchev received a telegram from the President of the United States. In it, Kennedy demanded that Cuba be quarantined and “maintain prudence.” Khrushchev responded to the telegram rather sharply and negatively. The next day, at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, a scandal broke out, caused by a squabble between Soviet and American representatives.

However, both the Soviet and American leadership clearly understood that escalating the conflict was completely pointless for both sides. So, the Soviet government decided to take a course towards normalizing relations with the United States and diplomatic negotiations. On October 26, Khrushchev personally drafted a letter addressed to the American leadership, in which he proposed the withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba in exchange for the lifting of quarantine, the US refusal to invade the island and the withdrawal of American missiles from Turkey.

On October 27, the Cuban leadership became aware of the new conditions of the Soviet leadership for resolving the crisis. The island was preparing for a possible American invasion, which, according to available data, was supposed to begin in the next three days. Additional alarm was caused by the flight of an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft over the island. Thanks to Soviet S-75 anti-aircraft missile systems, the plane was shot down and the pilot (Rudolph Anderson) was killed. On the same day, another American plane flew over the USSR (over Chukotka). However, in this case, everything happened without casualties: the aircraft was intercepted and escorted by Soviet fighters.

The nervous atmosphere that reigned in the American leadership was growing. The military categorically advised President Kennedy to launch a military operation against Cuba in order to neutralize Soviet missiles on the island as quickly as possible. However, such a decision would unconditionally lead to a large-scale conflict and a response from the USSR, if not in Cuba, then in another region. Nobody needed a full-scale war.

Conflict resolution and consequences of the Cuban missile crisis

During negotiations between the brother of US President Robert Kennedy and Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, general principles were formulated on the basis of which it was planned to resolve the crisis. These principles were the basis of the message from John Kennedy sent to the Kremlin on October 28, 1962. This message proposed that the Soviet leadership withdraw Soviet missiles from Cuba in exchange for guarantees of non-aggression by the United States and the lifting of the island's quarantine. Regarding American missiles in Turkey, it was indicated that this issue also has the prospect of being resolved. The Soviet leadership, after some deliberation, responded positively to J. Kennedy's message, and on the same day the dismantling of Soviet nuclear missiles began in Cuba.

The last Soviet missiles from Cuba were removed 3 weeks later, and already on November 20, J. Kennedy announced the end of the quarantine of Cuba. Also, American ballistic missiles were soon withdrawn from Turkey.

The Cuban missile crisis was resolved quite successfully for the whole world, but not everyone was happy with the current state of affairs. Thus, both in the USSR and in the USA, there were high-ranking and influential persons in the governments who were interested in the escalation of the conflict and, as a result, were very disappointed in its détente. There are a number of versions that it was thanks to their assistance that J. Kennedy was assassinated (November 23, 1963) and N.S. Khrushchev was removed (in 1964).

The result of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 was international détente, which resulted in improved relations between the USA and the USSR, as well as the creation of a number of anti-war movements around the world. This process took place in both countries and became a kind of symbol of the 70s of the 20th century. Its logical conclusion was the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan and a new round of growing tensions in relations between the USA and the USSR.

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The Cuban Missile Crisis was a critical confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over the Soviet deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba in October 1962. The Cuban people call it the “October Crisis”, and in the USA it is called the “Cuban Missile Crisis”.On the eve of the crisis, in 1961, the United States deployed medium-range missiles in Turkey, which with their presence posed a threat to the western part of the Soviet Union and were capable of “covering” key industrial centers. An adequate response to this was the R-12 medium-range missiles deployed by the Soviet leadership on Cuban territory.
The immediate beginning of the crisis occurred on October 14, 1962. On this day, a US Air Force U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, during its next flight over Cuban territory, detected the presence of Soviet R-12 medium-range missiles on the outskirts of the village of San Cristobal. US President John Kennedy urgently created a special Executive Committee, which searched for possible ways to solve this problem. Initially, the meetings of the executive committee were secret, but then, on October 22, the American president informed his people about the presence of Soviet “offensive weapons” on Cuban territory. As a result, a blockade of Cuba was declared.
Initially, the Soviet leadership denied the presence of Soviet nuclear weapons on the island of Cuba. Then he had to convince the United States of the deterrent nature of the presence of missiles on the island. Photos of the missiles on October 25 were presented during a meeting of the UN Security Council.
The executive committee discussed quite seriously the use of force to resolve the problem. In addition, the initiators of such measures urged John Kennedy to begin massive bombing of Cuban territory as quickly as possible. But during the next U-2 flight, several missiles were determined to be ready for launch, so such actions would definitely lead to war.
The US President put forward an initiative towards the Soviet Union to dismantle the installed missiles and return the Soviet ships heading to Cuba in exchange for guarantees of non-aggression on the Cuban island, as well as the non-overthrow of the regime of Fidel Castro. The Soviet leadership responded by proposing to withdraw American missiles from Turkey. As a result, the countries came to an agreement and on October 28, the dismantling of Soviet missiles began, ending on November 20, after which the Cuban blockade was lifted.The Cuban Missile Crisis lasted 13 days and was of significant historical significance. During it, all of humanity was on the verge of self-destruction, and as a result of its resolution, a relaxation of international tension began.

The Caribbean (Cuban) crisis of 1962 was a sharp aggravation of the international situation caused by the threat of war between the USSR and the USA due to the deployment of Soviet missile weapons in Cuba.

Due to the ongoing military, diplomatic and economic pressure from the United States on Cuba, the Soviet political leadership, at its request, in June 1962 decided to deploy Soviet troops on the island, including missile forces (codenamed “Anadyr”). This was explained by the need to prevent US armed aggression against Cuba and to counter the Soviet missiles with the American missiles deployed in Italy and Turkey.

(Military Encyclopedia. Military Publishing House. Moscow, in 8 volumes, 2004)

To accomplish this task, it was planned to deploy in Cuba three regiments of medium-range R-12 missiles (24 launchers) and two regiments of R-14 missiles (16 launchers) - a total of 40 missile launchers with missile ranges from 2.5 to 4. 5 thousand kilometers. For this purpose, the consolidated 51st Missile Division was formed, consisting of five missile regiments from different divisions. The total nuclear potential of the division in the first launch could reach 70 megatons. The division in its entirety ensured the possibility of hitting military-strategic targets almost throughout the entire United States.

The delivery of troops to Cuba was planned by civilian ships of the USSR Ministry of the Navy. In July October, 85 cargo and passenger ships took part in Operation Anadyr, making 183 voyages to and from Cuba.

By October, there were over 40 thousand Soviet troops in Cuba.

On October 14, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft near San Cristobal (Pinar del Rio province) discovered and photographed the launch positions of Soviet missile forces. On October 16, the CIA reported this to US President John Kennedy. On October 16-17, Kennedy convened a meeting of his staff, including senior military and diplomatic leadership, at which the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba was discussed. Several options were proposed, including the landing of American troops on the island, an air strike on the launch sites, and a sea quarantine.

In a televised speech on October 22, Kennedy announced the appearance of Soviet missiles in Cuba and his decision to declare a naval blockade of the island from October 24, put the US Armed Forces on alert and enter into negotiations with the Soviet leadership. Over 180 US warships with 85 thousand people on board were sent to the Caribbean Sea, American troops in Europe, the 6th and 7th fleets were put on combat readiness, and up to 20% of strategic aviation was on combat duty.

On October 23, the Soviet government issued a statement that the US government was "taking heavy responsibility for the fate of the world and playing recklessly with fire." The statement contained neither an acknowledgment of the deployment of Soviet missiles in Cuba nor specific proposals for a way out of the crisis. That same day, the head of the Soviet government, Nikita Khrushchev, sent a letter to the US President assuring him that any weapons supplied to Cuba were for defense purposes only.

On October 23, intensive meetings of the UN Security Council began. UN Secretary-General U Thant appealed to both sides to show restraint: the Soviet Union to stop the advance of its ships in the direction of Cuba, the United States to prevent a collision at sea.

October 27th was the “Black Saturday” of the Cuban crisis. In those days, squadrons of American aircraft flew over Cuba twice a day for the purpose of intimidation. On this day in Cuba, an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft was shot down while flying over the field position areas of the missile forces. The plane's pilot, Major Anderson, was killed.

The situation escalated to the limit, the US President decided two days later to begin bombing Soviet missile bases and a military attack on the island. Many Americans fled major cities, fearing an imminent Soviet attack. The world was on the brink of nuclear war.

On October 28, Soviet-American negotiations began in New York with the participation of representatives of Cuba and the UN Secretary General, which ended the crisis with the corresponding obligations of the parties. The USSR government agreed with the US demand for the withdrawal of Soviet missiles from Cuba in exchange for assurances from the US government about respect for the territorial integrity of the island and guarantees of non-interference in the internal affairs of this country. The withdrawal of American missiles from the territory of Turkey and Italy was also announced confidentially.

On November 2, US President Kennedy announced that the USSR had dismantled its missiles in Cuba. From November 5 to November 9, the missiles were removed from Cuba. On November 21, the United States lifted the naval blockade. On December 12, 1962, the Soviet side completed the withdrawal of personnel, missile weapons and equipment. In January 1963, the UN received assurances from the USSR and the USA that the Cuban crisis had been eliminated.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources.