Elective History Holiday Performance Task
Essay on the Cold War
Was the Cuban Missile Crisis a turning point in US-USSR relations?
The Cuban Missile Crisis was not a turning point in US-USSR relations. Although the crisis
alleviated tensions of a possible nuclear war – as both parties found the preservation or
destruction of a Communist Cuba to be not worth going into war for – it was not a turning
point because firstly, the betterment of their relationship was short-lived; and secondly, the
crisis was part of a freeze-thaw relationship between the two nations.
The Cuban Missile Crisis aided in thawing the Soviet-American relations because both
countries saw how their game of brinkmanship nearly ended in a nuclear war. This made
them more prepared to prevent such an occurrence, exemplifying the “thaw” aspect of their
“freeze-thaw” relationship.
With the crisis at hand, both countries engaged in a game of chicken, waiting for the other to
back down. USA’s first attempt to destroy the Fidel Castro’s regime was its launch of the April
1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, where a group of 1400 Batista supporters planned to invade Cuba
from American bases in Guatemala. 1 After the fiasco, USA continued its campaign to crush
Communism by sinking Cuban merchant ships, sabotaging installations on the island and
conducting invasion exercises around the neighbouring islands of Puerto Rico. 2 USSR later
came to the aid of Cuba, assembling nuclear missile launchers in Cuba aimed at USA. These
threats continued between USA and USSR, with USA calling for a naval blockade on Cuba to
prevent the entrance of USSR ships carrying nuclear warheads, and promising a full-scale
retaliatory attack should USSR launch any missiles. Eventually, a compromise was reached
under the terms of the removal of US nuclear missiles based in Turkey, in exchange for the
removal of nuclear missiles based in Cuba.
Knowing how close the world came to a nuclear war, USA and USSR became more prepared
to take steps to reduce the risk of a recurrence. A permanent “hot-line” phone link direct from
the White House to the Kremlin was set up to allow for swifter consultations, and in 1963, the
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed between USA, USSR and Britain, banning the testing of
all nuclear weapons. Additionally, USA and USSR agreed in 1964 to reduce the production of
enriched uranium for the manufacturing of nuclear warheads. 3 Thus, it could be said that the
Cuban Missile Crisis was a turning point in US-USSR relations as it opened the way for an
unprecedented friendship, with both countries collaboratively putting in a serious effort at
détente. However, the term can only be used specifically for describing the desperate period
of 1959-1962.
At hindsight, the turning point in US-USSR relations as a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis
was only temporal, because although tensions of a nuclear war were laterally eased, rivalry
and suspicion between the nations continued. Rather than a turning point, the crisis was
merely a constituent of the pattern of freeze-thaw relationship between the USA and the
USSR.
An earlier thaw in their relationship was exemplified in Stalin’s death, as it brought to the
forefront new leaders – Khrushchev, Malenkov and Bulganin – who sought to improve
relations with USA. Khrushchev soon established the Khrushchev Thaw, and during this
period of de-Stalinization – with his belief that “peaceful co-existence”4 with the West was not
only possible but also essential – hostility between the two superpowers significantly reduced.
Hence, the Cuban Missile Crisis was clearly not the first time tensions were relaxed between
USA and USSR, and thus it could not have been the turning point in their relationship.
1
Norman Lowe, Mastering Modern World History: Fourth Edition (New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2005)
p. 137
2 Norman Lowe, Mastering Twentieth-Century Russian History (New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2002)
p. 365
3 Norman Lowe, Mastering Modern World History: Fourth Edition (New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2005)
p. 367
4
Professor William Taubman, Mr. Sergei Khrushchev, Professor Abbott Gleason, and David
Gehrenbeck, Nikita Khrushchev (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000) p. 164.
Amanda Teo (4SE), Wong Mei Yin (4SE), Samantha Lau (4SY)
1
Elective History Holiday Performance Task
Essay on the Cold War
Moreover, the crisis could not have been a turning point, as the thaw did not last with the
continuation of rivalry and disagreement. A point of post-crisis conflict would be USA’s war
against Communist Vietnam (1961-1973), in which USSR provided Vietnam with monetary
and military aid. In addition, a nuclear arms race started with USSR determined to catch up
with USA in their nuclear arms stockpile of inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and
submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), to increase their own security and be
somewhere on par with USA to persuade them to limit and reduce their arms build-up. The
response of USA was to invent even more terrifying weapons like the multiple independently
targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV), which only spurred USSR to create its own version known
as the SS-20 (1977)5. With this, USA and USSR engaged in a stiff competition to constantly
better each other in nuclear warfare supremacy, putting an end to all efforts of détente with
both superpowers able to destroy each other many times over.
In conclusion, the Cuban Missile Crisis was not a turning point in US-USSR relations, but
simply part of their freeze-thaw relationship. However, we must recognize that it did warm
their icy tensions – as both parties realised what was in their country’s best interests and in
the interests of mankind, hence understanding the imperative of swift consultation and the
dangers of adopting the concept of brinkmanship. Nevertheless, we maintain that the crisis
was not a turning point as this was not the only time tensions between the two superpowers
eased. Stalin’s death also led to a temporal period of peaceful co-existence between East
and West. Furthermore, the after-events of the crisis did not show sustained friendliness, as
USA and USSR engaged in a tight nuclear arms race. Thus, the Cuban Missile Crisis could
not be a turning point in the two countries’ relations.
(892 Words)
Bibliography
1. About.com, http://usforeignpolicy.about.com/od/countryprofile1/p/usrussia.htm,
(accessed 10 December 2009)
2. Lowe, N. (2008) Mastering Modern World History (Fourth Edition). New York:
Palgrave Macmillian, pp.137
3. Lowe, N. (2002) Mastering Twentieth-Century Russian History. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, pp.316-320, 361-367, 389-391
4. Taubman, W. Khrushchev, S. Gleason, A. Gehrenbeck, D. (2000) Nikita Khrushchev.
New Haven: Yale University Press, pp.164
5. Thomson, J.R. (1977) U.S. /U.S.S.R. strategic forces, asymmetrical developments: a
net American assessment. Lanham: University Press of America pp.131
6. U.S. Department of State, http://state.gov/r/pa/ho/pubs/fs/46345.htm, (accessed 12
December 2009)
7. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_arms_race, (accessed 16 December
2009)
5
Jeffrey R. Thomson, U.S. /U.S.S.R. strategic forces, asymmetrical developments: a net American
assessment (Lanham: University Press of America, 1977) p. 131.
Amanda Teo (4SE), Wong Mei Yin (4SE), Samantha Lau (4SY)
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