The Cuban Crisis
The Cuban Crisis
TextThe Cuban revolution
'Fidel Castro set to make his triumphant entry into Havana', from Le Monde (3 January 1959)
TextOn 3 January 1959, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reports on the toppling of the military dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista by the revolutionary Fidel Castro in Cuba.
Fidel Castro visits the USA (24 April 1959)
ImageOn 24 April 1959, the Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro pays a successful visit to the United States.
Cartoon by Gurov on the Cuban Missile Crisis (20 May 1963)
Image‘Cuba, united we stand.’ In May 1963, the Soviet Union strongly condemns US policy towards Cuba and deplores the imperialist and acquisitive aims of the United States.
The stationing of the missiles
Die Kubakrise (1962)
MapTragweite der sowjetischen Raketen, die 1962 von Kuba auf die Vereinigten Staaten Lateinamerika ausgerichtet wurden.
Cartoon by HeKo on the Cuban crisis (30 September 1962)
Image‘What do you mean, a threat? Surely it’s all right to go fishing, isn’t it?’ On 30 September 1962, the German cartoonist Herbert Kolfhaus illustrates the diplomatic and political trial of strength between Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the US President John F. Kennedy over the strategic importance of the island of Cuba. Following the signing of an agreement in late September 1962 between Cuba and the USSR for the construction of a port in the Bay of Havana, which according to Cuban leader Fidel Castro will serve as a base for the Soviet fishing fleet in the Atlantic, the cartoonist paints an ironic picture of Moscow’s real plans on the island of Cuba.
Missile-launching site in Cuba (1962)
ImageOn 14 October 1962, United States U2 reconnaissance aircraft spot launchpads for Soviet missiles under construction on Cuban soil.
Letter from Hervé Alphand to Maurice Couve de Murville (Washington, 26 October 1962)
TextOn 26 October 1962, French Ambassador to the United States, Hervé Alphand, informs French Foreign Minister, Maurice Couve de Murville, of an acceleration in the construction of Soviet military bases in Cuba.
Fidel Castro and the missile crisis (29 October 1962)
ImageOn 29 October 1962, the Cuban Communist leader, Fidel Castro, gives an address to the nation on the Soviet missile crisis which sets the country against the United States.
Cartoon by Behrendt on the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962)
ImageIn October 1962, the cartoonist Behrendt illustrates the seriousness of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the attitude of the United States and the Soviet Union, who are preparing for the worst ‘just in case …’
The United States and the Cuban crisis
Cartoons by Opland on the Cuban Crisis (20 and 22 April 1961)
Image‘Caribbean bullfight. After the Caribbean bullfight (end of round one) … and the bull lived happily ever after …’ In April 1961, Opland, Dutch cartoonist, depicts the failure of the landing of anti-Castro exiles in the Bay of Pigs and emphasises the bitter defeat suffered by the United States.
Cartoon by Ganf on the Cuban Crisis (20 February 1962)
Image'‘Don’t stir things up!’ In February 1962, the USSR looks unfavourably on what it feels to be imperialist designs by the United States on the island of Cuba.
CIA memorandum on the Cuban missile crisis (24 October 1962)
TextOn 24 October 1962, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) draws up a memorandum which records international reactions to the Soviet missile crisis in Cuba.
John F. Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis (24 October 1962)
ImageOn 24 October 1962, the US President, John F. Kennedy, makes a televised statement from the Oval Office in the White House in which he announces the blockade of Cuba following the discovery of launchpads for Soviet missiles on the island.
Press statement by the White House on the Cuban missile crisis (27 October 1962)
ImageOn 27 October 1962, the White House issues a press statement in which the United States makes the dismantling of the launchpads for Soviet missiles that have been constructed in Cuba a prerequisite for all international negotiations.
Cartoon by Lang on the Cuban Crisis (1962)
Image‘OK, that’s enough!’ In October 1962, in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Ernst Maria Lang, German cartoonist, illustrates the resolve of John F. Kennedy, US President, in imposing a naval blockade on the island.
The Soviet Union and the Cuban crisis
Letter from Maurice Dejean to Maurice Couve de Murville (Moscow, 25 October 1962)
TextOn 25 October 1962, Maurice Dejean, French Ambassador to the Soviet Union, describes to Maurice Couve de Murville, French Foreign Minister, the ignorance in which the Soviet people are being kept with regard to the measures determined by the United States during the Cuban missile crisis.
Letter from John F. Kennedy to Nikita Khrushchev (27 October 1962)
TextOn 27 October 1962, the US President, John F. Kennedy, sends a letter to Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, concerning the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis.
Letter from Nikita Khrushchev to John F. Kennedy (28 October 1962)
TextOn 28 October 1962, Nikita Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, sends a letter to the US President, John F. Kennedy, in which he justifies the purely dissuasive objective of the missiles supplied by the USSR to the Cuban regime.
Soviet freighter leaving Cuba loaded with missiles (November 1962)
ImageOn 12 November 1962, US reconnaissance planes photograph the Soviet freighter ‘Kurchatov’, having left Cuba on 7 November, during her return journey to the Soviet Union. Russian missiles covered by tarpaulin can be seen on the ship’s deck.
Report given by Nikita Khrushchev to the Supreme Soviet on the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis (12 December 1962)
TextOn 12 December 1962, Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, outlines to the Supreme Soviet his point of view on the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis
Speech by Nikita Khrushchev on the Cuban crisis (23 May 1963)
TextOn 23 May 1963, at a meeting marking the friendship between the peoples of the Soviet Union and the Republic of Cuba, Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, summarises the Cuban crisis.
The Soviet Union and the Cuban crisis
International reactions
Sithu U Thant
ImageSithu U Thant of Burma, third Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971.
Letter from Sithu U Thant to Fidel Castro (26 October 1962)
TextOn 26 October 1962, U Thant, UN Secretary-General, writes to the Cuban Prime Minister, Fidel Castro, asking him to stop the installation of Soviet missiles in Cuba during the round of negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Letter from Mario Garcia Inchaustegui to Sithu U Thant (27 October 1962)
TextOn 27 October 1962, Mario Garcia Inchaustegui, Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), informs Sithu U Thant, UN Secretary-General, that the Cuban Government is ready to consider a solution to the missile crisis, despite its condemnation of interference and reprisals on the part of the United States, such as the naval blockade imposed by John F. Kennedy.
‘Why he gave in', from Corriere della Sera (29 October 1962)
TextOn 29 October 1962, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera leads with news of the end of the Cuban crisis and analyses the U-turn taken by Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
'An unexpected turn of events', from Le Monde (30 October 1962)
TextOn 30 October 1962, the French daily newspaper Le Monde comments on the outcome of the Cuban missile crisis between the United States and the Soviet Union.
Letter from André Saint-Mleux to Maurice Couve de Murville (Hong Kong, 31 October 1962)
TextOn 31 October 1962, André Saint-Mleux, French Consul General in Hong Kong, informs the French Foreign Minister, Maurice Couve de Murville, of the reaction of the Chinese authorities to the Cuban missile crisis.