Cuban missile crisis lasted only 13 days. In these short 13 days, Kennedy and Khrushchev every move touched the nerves of the whole world. is not only because they are the heads of the United States and the Soviet Union, but also because their hands have been placed on the launch button of nuclear weapon .
Make the Soviet Union on an equal footing with the United States have always been the direction and goal of Khrushchev's efforts. The Berlin crisis in 1961, made Khrushchev realize that he had been wandering around in this place of Berlin to make it impossible to achieve his goal.
In January 1962, the Foreign Ministers of American countries held a meeting in Cape Este. According to the US proposal, the meeting announced that the Cuba Castro government would be excluded from the Latin American countries. On February 3, Kennedy announced that the United States would ban all other trade with Cuba except for medical drugs.
The purpose of the Kennedy administration's sanctions on Cuba is to use economic blockade and diplomatic isolation to force the disobedient Castro to submit to make up for the failure of Bay of Pigs incident.
Castro Under the difficulties and various disadvantages, chose to completely turn to socialist camp . Castro's choice gave Khrushchev an opportunity. decided to strengthen military cooperation on the basis of economic cooperation with Cuba, burn the fire to the backyard of the United States, and strengthen its own political bargaining chips, so as to realize the idea of jointly managing international affairs with the United States.
Khrushchev believes that if medium-range missiles are deployed in Cuba, it will be equivalent to greatly enhancing the Soviet Union's ability to strike the United States, and it can make up for the Soviet Union's number of disadvantages in ballistic missiles and realize the strategic intention of reciprocal negotiations with the United States.
Khrushchev wanted to use Castro to balance Kennedy. Kennedy has always regarded the Castro government as a thorn in his side. Castro needs Khrushchev to protect himself. Cuban missile crisis broke out in each need.
At first, the Kennedy administration seemed to have never expected Khrushchev to be so radical. , so Kennedy once suspected the intelligence provided by CIA . In August 1962, Kennedy said at a press conference that the issue of war and peace cannot be determined based on unconfirmed rumors and reports.
At the same time, Khrushchev has been releasing smoke bomb to confuse Kennedy. In September 1962, in a private letter from Soviet ambassador Dobrenin to Kennedy's assistant, Khrushchev said that he would not take any steps to complicate the international situation or exacerbate tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union. Dobrenin repeatedly emphasized that the Soviet Union had nothing new or special in Cuba, everything was defensive and would not pose any threat to US security.
It can be seen that the outbreak of the Cuban missile crisis, Khrushchev's mentality was sneaky, and Kennedy did not expect it enough. In the initial stage of strategic game, Kennedy did not pay enough attention to it, and Khrushchev only did not say it, but also acted secretly.
But after all, the paper can't keep the fire. On September 18, the US CIA received a top-secret report from an agent who infiltrated Cuba, confirming that Cuba already had a ballistic missile launch site built by the Soviets. On October 14, after the United States reviewed and analyzed photos of high-altitude reconnaissance of Cuba, it discovered the traces of the first Soviet medium-range missile base. At the same time, the United States obtained important strategic intelligence from a rebellious senior agent of the Soviet Union, which further confirmed this strategic intention of the Soviet Union.
At this point, the strategic game between Kennedy and Khrushchev walking on the tip of a nuclear weapon knife officially kicked off.
On the morning of October 16, Kennedy was very calm after learning about this information. At 9:30 a.m., we met with astronaut Walter Thielle and his children. Afterwards, he quietly attended the White House mental illness prevention and control group meeting. During this period, whether Kennedy pretended to be calm or his demeanor, he showed the excellent quality of calmness in the face of major events.
11:45, Kennedy carefully selected personnel and held the National Security Council Executive Committee to discuss the Cuban crisis response strategy and discussed 6 plans.
This meeting, from the arrangement of participants, it can be seen that Kennedy became more cautious after experiencing the failure of the Bay of Pigs incident. embodies the wisdom and mind of a top decision-maker who should be good at listening to different opinions, learn from others' strengths, and consider issues from all levels of the situation.
On October 17, the Executive Committee held a further meeting to discuss. In order not to allow the participants to be affected by their own tendencies, Kennedy basically did not speak or express his opinion. After full discussion, two plans were improved and formed from six types of proposals, including the diplomatic channels, direct negotiations with Khrushchev, filing accusations against the Soviet Union, carrying out maritime blockades, air strikes, and comprehensive invasion of Cuba, but these two views were stalemate.
At this time, the test was left to Kennedy. Finally, after detailed and in-depth analysis and discussion, based on the internal and diplomatic situation at that time, Kennedy decided to adopt a television speech on on October 20 to announce the quarantine action against Cuba.
In this process, Kennedy did not choose among various opinions, but fully discussed each opinion, constantly eliminated conflicts, improved and improved, and formed the most scientific conclusion in the collision of mutual thoughts and extensive exchange of opinions.
Kennedy will name the blockade operation for isolation, is to avoid the excessive smell of war and form a certain buffer zone for disposal.
chose to adopt a television speech to announce this action is: First, to obtain support from other countries in the world and strive for international diplomatic initiative; second, to mobilize and persuasion at home, to gain the support of the House of Representatives and the understanding of the general public.
Afterwards, it was shown that Kennedy realized his plan. The United Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany and Canada all expressed their support for Kennedy, and France performed more positively. The vast majority of members of Congress chose to support Kennedy.
On October 21, Kennedy organized a meeting to study how the Navy intercepted Soviet ships that were trying to pass the blockade. The meeting agreed that ships carrying military equipment should be intercepted as much as possible, but no specific and clear standards should be formed. The problem was left to Kennedy.
At this time, Kennedy felt that at that time, the huge dangers and risks of were estimation errors and judgment errors. mentioned that the outbreak of World War II was caused by German miscalculation. Analysts believe that Khrushchev also did not want a war in Cuba. After , Khrushchev finally compromised, Kennedy's prediction at that time was correct.
Kennedy further analyzed that the reason for the escalation of the Cuban missile crisis is that may be the outbreak of weapons conflicts in response to each other due to factors such as security, face, and self-esteem. In the end, the situation was out of control, triggering the nuclear war .
Kennedy decided that must avoid judgment errors and estimation errors, avoid emitting unnecessary challenges to the other party, and avoid forcing the other party to make unexpected reactions.
: To achieve these three avoidances depends on Khrushchev's reaction, and more on the art of blocking and interception. aims to not force the other party, not hurt self-esteem, not lose face, and leave room for buffering between each other.
24 hours after Kennedy's speech was delivered, Khrushchev responded and warned Kennedy. Two Soviet ships were arranged to sail to Cuba, and one Soviet submarine escort.
From Khrushchev's tough reaction, Kennedy analyzed that Soviet ships would refuse to stop sailing and the US Navy would force fire near the blockade line, and the situation seemed to be developing in an uncontrollable direction.
Kennedy was thinking about how to prevent the US Navy from firing the first shot! Because, he knew very well that at this moment, the biggest danger of all dangers is doing nothing.
When Kennedy was at a loss, he received a report that Soviet ships had stopped sailing.Then, intelligence was received to confirm that 20 Soviet ships stopped sailing before the blockade line and stopped in the sea without moving.
Everyone present was relieved at that time, and Kennedy was thinking about how to make the Soviet ship turn around with only face. Kennedy issued an order to the Navy, ordered the Navy to give the Soviets all chances to turn around if the Soviet ships received the order to turn around, and no action was allowed.
At this time, Kennedy was already taking action according to the conclusions he had analyzed in advance, and was trying not to let Khrushchev hurt his self-esteem or lose face.
On October 22, Soviet ships and submarines turned around. But the tensions are not over, the danger remains, and the lockdown continues.
Obviously, it is definitely impossible to resolve conflicts at this level of once and for all. It requires repeated testing and game to solve it safely.
On October 23, the Soviet tanker "Bucharest" arrived at the blockade area. Kennedy was tested again. Some people advocate forcing tankers to stop sailing and forcibly board the ship. Otherwise, Khrushchev would think that the Americans had shaken their determination to lock down. Kennedy rejected the approach. It pointed out that the United States will certainly force one of the ships heading to Cuba to stop sailing and force it on board, but not now.
At this time, Kennedy analyzed that Khrushchev had given him face, and this time he had to give Khrushchev face. At the same time, is needed to give Khrushchev more time to think and make decisions to avoid making mistakes and taking risks in a busy manner. That night, a Democratic German passenger ship carrying 1,500 passengers arrived at the blockade area, and Kennedy still chose to let it go.
During the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, the whole world became more and more panicked, but Kennedy became more and more calm.
On the third day of the announcement of the blockade, British pacifist and great philosopher Brande Russell suggested a high-level meeting, but Khrushchev agreed, but Kennedy refused. During , the United States and the Soviet Union accused each other at the United Nations, fought fiercely, and fought a war of verbal battle.
Kennedy's choice to reject is not to act impulsively or willful, but to be based on his own objective judgment and concessions. Because, he had already given Khrushchev a signal on the blockade line.
On the morning of October 24, the US Navy forcibly searched the first ship, the "Malukra". The search of the ship was carefully selected by Kennedy. "Malukra", is a US-made freewheeling belonging to Panama. It was registered in Lebanon and rented by the Soviet Union. It sailed from the harbor of Baltic to Cuba. After the search, released the ship on the grounds that no weapons were found.
searched the ship, fully demonstrated to the Soviet Union that the blockade was a real blockade. At the same time, it did not directly offend the Soviets, which showed its attitude and gave it a warning, leaving room for it. It was the highest manifestation of Kennedy's game art and wisdom in this crisis.
On the evening of October 26, Kennedy waited for Khrushchev's reply. At the end of the letter, Khrushchev vividly made a metaphor, , don’t tighten the ends of the rope that has been tied to the war knot, because the tighter we pull, the more dead the knot will be.
After reading the letter, Kennedy stretched his eyebrows and left the president's office. He already felt that can control the development direction of the crisis again.
On the morning of October 27, Kennedy received another letter from Khrushchev, which was very smelly of gunpowder and was written by the Soviet Foreign Ministry. While discussing Khrushchev's new letter, Kennedy received news that Major Rudolf Anderson, who was reconnaissing in Cuba in U-2, was missing, and intelligence showed that he was shot down by the Soviet missile in Cuba. There was a moment of noise, and military action was required. Kennedy once again faced the test.
At this time, Kennedy analyzed that Khrushchev might have encountered trouble and needed to give the Soviets some time to carefully analyze and consider what they should do before taking action and being counterattacked. Decide to postpone further measures.
At the same time, it cleverly decided that replied to Khrushchev by ignoring Khrushchev's second letter and directly responding to the first letter. He expressed his willingness to quickly reach a consensus in accordance with the methods proposed by Khrushchev's letter.
On October 28, Khrushchev broadcast a letter to Kennedy through the radio. said that all offensive weapons in Cuba will be removed and shipped back to the Soviet Union in packages.
After receiving the "Voice of Peace", Kennedy immediately replied to Khrushchev. praised Khrushchev for making a politician decision and making important and positive contributions to peace.
So far, the Cuban crisis eased, avoiding a large-scale war between two superpowers.
The solution to the Cuban crisis is due to the other side. The strategic game between Kennedy and Khrushchev and the political competition undoubtedly has a decisive impact. Kennedy, in this game, fully learned the lessons of the Bay of Pigs incident, calmly and proactively dealt with difficult problems, allowing the once out of control to return to normal track, showing the talent and quality of a highest decision-making, and some places have important learning and reference significance.
