oct 27, 1962 - Close Conflict and Resolution

Description:

A U2 plane drifts into Soviet airspace from Alaska and another is shot down in Cuba (Major Rudolf Anderson was the only casualty of the missile crisis) but as the decision had been made by a junior officer the US didn't respond.

USS Randolph detects a Soviet nuclear submarine at the blockade line and dropped depth charges to try and bring it to the surface (unaware of its nuclear torpedoes). The submarine was too deep to receive radio and had orders to retaliate fire and so only the veto of Vasili Arkhipov stopped them firing and nuclear war from breaking out.

Khrushchev sends a second letter to Kennedy containing more demands in order for him to remove missiles. A compromise is reached and it was agreed that the USSR would remove missiles from Cuba to promote world peace and the US would back down and in exchange, Kennedy agreed to secretly remove missiles stationed in Turkey and Italy.

With the crisis over, both sides realised that brinkmanship was not the game to play and that communication between the Kremlin and White House was essential - which is why a hotline was set up between the two. Both sides could claim victory - the US had stood up to the USSR and had had missiles removed from Cuba but Cuba remained communist and Khrushchev had secured the removal of missiles as well and had been seen to defend a small weak nation.
(He was removed from power 2 years later exactly).

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