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After Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro comes into power
The Cuban revolution went for 6 years which was a long duration. In the end the president at the time, President Fulgencio Batista leaves Cuba to get away from all the violence. With no one in power, Fidel assumes the role of President of Cuba. -
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Cuban Missile Crisis timeline
The duration of the crisis is short but it had a massive effect on post-war era. -
Declaration of Fidel Castro
On this day, Cuba declares Fidel Castro as the President and the Premier of Cuba. This was a big political shift and drastically changed history forever. He established the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere. The people wanted him as a leader, this is because Fulgencio Batista was a dictator which drastically changed Cuba. -
US move missiles into Turkey
Cuba declares Fidel Castro as the new premier and also the president of Cuba. This urged Turkey and the US to agree to deploy 50 nuclear-tipped missiles in turkey. -
Soviet Bloc shipment arrives, Czech and Soviet help assemble facilities
The Soviet Union had relations with Cuba which is why they helped each other. A large number of arms arrived in Cuba with Czech and Soviet technicians there to assemble the arms with the Cuban military. At the time, the Bloc personal were also being employed as technicians, advisors, and instructors because they wanted to help maintain the facilities and keep them operational. -
Economic trade deal with Fidel and Prime minister Anastas Mikoyan
The Soviet First Deputy Prime Minister, Anastas Mikoyan visited Cuba to negotiate trade deals and economic deals with Fidel Castro to lessen the dependence on trade with the US. This was another opportunity for both countries to form relations. Anastas Mikoyan had one of the highest levels of power in the communist party of the Soviet Union which is why they both needed to have international relations with each other. -
Establishment of relations with Soviet and Cuba
This was the date when the relations between the Soviet Union and Cuba were formally established. This diplomacy showed that two communist nations could come together and form relations that would benefit both parties. With the relations, The Soviet Union provided economic, military and political aid as they were a new communist nation. -
US stops imports of Cuban sugar cane
The US at this time stopped all imports of sugar cane which would economically affect Cuba in a bad way. 80% of exports to the US were cut off which was detrimental to the Cuban economy. But this was in place to make sure that the US wasn't supporting the communist leader, Fidel Castro. -
US plans to poison Fidel Castro
The US planned to poison Fidel Castro just so they could stop the crisis. Castro loved his cigars so the US planned to put poison in some of the cigars that he would have had regularly. -
US imposes a trade embargo against Cuba
The US imposed a trade embargo just to stop economically supporting them through importing Cuban goods because, at the time, the US was one of their main trade partners. -
Joint communiqué with Soviet Union and Cuba
There was a communiqué issued which was official and a big change for Cuba. They openly addressed that they were going to align itself with the policies of the soviet union, both domestic and foreign policies. This showed that Cuba had solidarity with the Sino-Soviet Bloc. This was predicted to happen because of both Cuba and the Soviet Union had relations so by this happening, it made their relationship more prominent. -
Nikita Khrushchev talks to gathering at Cuban Embassy and denies soviet bases in Cuba
The Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev gives a speech at the Cuban embassy in Moscow. He entailed that the Americans were preparing for an attack on Cuba. He went on to say more allegations (that were true) about the US's case against the Soviet Union that they set up a rocket base. They called this slander and denied the claims even though their U-2 plane flew over Cuba and took photos of the missiles. -
JFK is inaugurated as President
On this day, he was inaugurated as the one and only, thirty-fifth president. He had Vice president as Lydon B. Johnson which he helped him operate the country. He was the youngest president to be elected which was a big part of American history. He was already in the media because of his speech that was televised detailing what was happening in Cuba. -
Eve of the Bay of the Pigs
This was the day when a guerilla army charged into Cuban territory and over through the government and the president, General Fulgencio Batista. He was an American backed president because they supported leaders that were dictators because that would deter communist uprisings which was America's aim to do. -
Cuban exiles pilot B-26 bombers launch attack on Cuba
An attack directed by the CIA on the missile bases situated in Cuba was undertaken by Cuban exiles that fled when Castro took over the government. The aim of the attack was to destroy as much of the equipment as possible so it would be easier to get US-trained troops on the ground to try and take over Castro. -
Bay of the Pigs failure
The US had trained and supported the anti-Castro militia of Cuban exiles in an attempt to overthrow Castro.1400 exiles were involved in the attack. Some Cuban aircraft pin down the military force and then the ground forces crushed most of the exiles. 114 were killed and 1189 were captured. Castro responded to the invasion by arresting 2000 suspected dissidents of the exiles to prevent an internal uprising which he believed my happen. -
Attorney General Robert Kennedy identifies options for US involvement
Attorney General Robert Kennedy put together a memo for the president which entailed his opinion on what the US should do in this situation of the missile crisis. He identified 3 courses of action, sending troops into Cuba, placing a strict blockade on Cuba and then asking for the organization of the American states to stop the shipments of Cuban arms. -
Khrushchev warns US against possible global war
After the Bay of the Pigs invasion, JFK received a letter from Khrushchev addressing that there will be consequences for "unreasonable actions" that could lead to a global war. This was essentially a threat that made the US more conscious of their actions and how they could affect the actions of aggravated countries. -
CENTO meeting about possible removal of US missiles in Turkey
The Central Treaty Organisation meeting took place in Turkey. The topic of the removal of the US missiles in Turkey came up and it had Turkish Foreign Minister Salim Sarper a little startled. The topic was brought up by Dean Rusk, Secretary of State who had the idea of removing US missiles. Salim Sarper didn't want to because it would look embarrassing for turkey but JFK considered it but he accepted that there might be a delay in deconstruction. -
US U-2 plane surveillances cuban country side to find missile's stationed
The spy plane flew through the countryside of Cuba and took pictures of the newly built structures that were "unmistakable evidence" (John F. Kennedy). Richard S. Heyser was the pilot of the place and he was the one who discovered that the SOviet union had stationed medium-range ballistic missiles. “I kind of felt like I was going to be looked at as the one who started the whole thing,” He thought he was going to be the individual who started the whole crisis. -
CIA analysts spot launches and missiles stationed that could reach the US
The CIA analysts spot launchers, missiles, and some soviet transport trucks in Cuba which indicates that the Soviets are building launch sites to fire missiles from. The CIA calculated that the missiles could reach across the US which really startled the CIA. Peter Kornbluh was one of the senior analyst's and Cuba expert at the National security Archive in Washington. He only spoke out in 2013 about how the US's national security was jeopardized and how close the country was to obliteration. -
President JFK meets team advisers known as Ex-Comm, discusses how to respond to the missile crisis
The secretary of Defence at the time, Robert McNamara presented JFK with 3 options, issue a naval quarantine of Cuba, establish diplomacy with Fidel Castro and Nikita Khrushchev or an air attack to destroy the missiles before they could be used which could trigger a counter attack which wouldn't be a favourable decision. He decided to issue the quarantine which was a blockade but they used the word quarantine because a blockade would have been considered declaring war. -
JFK's 18-minute speech about the "unmistakable evidence" of the missile crisis
JFK made a televised, 18-minute speech to the US which entailed the information about the crisis that was happening at the time. He announced that the US wasn't going to send weapon shipments to Cuba anymore, just so the Soviet Union could withdraw their threat of a missile attack. JFK also sent a letter to Khrushchev detailing that the consequences if launched "could only result in catastrophic consequences to the whole world, including the aggressor. -
Khrushchev writes to JFK intending that missiles are for defence purposes
Khrushchev sent a letter back in response with the letter JFK sent in order to try and find a solution. The Soviet leader intended that the missiles were for defense purposes. But Kennedy writes back reminding him that he started the crisis by snaking missiles into Cuba. As all of this is happening, US ships are in Cuban waters ready for anything and Cuban submarines move to the Caribbean in a position to try and break the blockade. But the US naval fleet intercepts military supplies. -
Khrushchev sends letter to JFK accusing him of threatening the Soviet Union
Khrushchev was very angry with the US with JFK's correspondences, which is why he issued a threat in his letter to him. This is because Khrushchev saw JFK's bluntness as a threat to the Soviet Union. -
Soviet oil tanker approaches quarantine zone but is let through because it isn't carrying any contraband
The Soviet military supply freighters go back towards Europe because they can't get through the quarantine zone. The oil tanker 'Bucharest' entered the zone and was headed for Cuba. Two warships, USS Essex and USS Gearing were prepared to approach them but it turned out that they had no contraband that would help the weapons rage in Cuba. -
Castro sends letter to Khrushchev to persuade him to launch missiles
Fidel Castro sends a letter to Khrushchev to tell him to launch the missiles but Khrushchev doesn't think much of the letter and doesn't launch the missiles. Khrushchev sends an email to JFK to work together to stop this crisis before "doom the world to the catastrophe of thermonuclear war."(Khrushchev).“This letter was a significant moment in the crisis and involved political risk on both sides" (Katie Stallard-Blanchette). This would be a risk of weakness but they needed to come together. -
US U-2 plane shot down over Cuba
US Pilot Maj. Rudolf Anderson is shot down and dies in the crash over Cuba. Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Nitze says, “They’ve fired the first shot,” This event made both leaders come together because JFK knows the order to shoot wasn't given so they both came to terms that it was getting out of control. Khrushchev adds that they will withdraw missiles if the US withdraws missiles from turkey. The US was already thinking of doing this anyway. SO this action was very beneficial for both. -
Khrushchev writes a letter saying that the missiles will be dismantled in Cuba
JFK received a letter from Khrushchev formally saying that the Soviet missiles have been dismantled and removed from Cuba. The Kennedy White House looked at the withdrawal as a result of the president's tough stance on the Soviet Union. “the resolution of the crisis owed to the president’s commitment to negotiate and find common ground in a dangerous nuclear world.” (Peter Kornbluh, National Security Archives)
