Cuban Missile Crisis Causes, Timeline & Significance

If the United States launched a nuclear strike against the Soviet Union, the Soviets would have been able to react by launching a retaliatory nuclear strike against the US. Speaking to Soviet officials in the aftermath of the crisis, Khrushchev said, “I know for certain that Kennedy doesn’t have a strong background, nor, generally speaking, does he have the courage to stand up to a serious challenge.” He told his son Sergei that on Cuba, Kennedy “would make a fuss, make more of a fuss, and then agree”. In February 1962, the US launched an embargo against Cuba, and Lansdale presented a 26-page, top-secret timetable for implementation of the overthrow of the Cuban government, mandating guerrilla operations to begin in August and September. Terrorist attacks were planned at the direction, and with the participation, of US government employees and launched from US territory. Following the failed invasion, the US massively escalated its sponsorship of terrorism against Cuba. In December 1959, under the Eisenhower administration and less than twelve months after the Cuban Revolution, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) developed a plan for paramilitary action against Cuba.

The Cuban Missile Crisis, October 1962