Thursday, March 4, 2010,4:12 PM
Cuban Missile Crisis- The Soviets' Perspective
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phpe0DsisbY[I'm sorry, but embedding was disabled by the poster.] The above video is a speech by Sergei Khrushchev, son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, recounting the Cuban Missile Crisis from the Soviets perspective. From the soviet’s standpoint, everything they have done is purely for the purpose of self-defense, and possibly to deter America from “starting a war”, which contradicts the America’s mentality that USSR was trying to “start a war”. From the perspective of the super powers, both of them had the mentality that the other wants to wage a war. So was no one to be blamed for the whole crisis which terrorized billions of people worldwide?
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The soviets found US superiority at that time way too big. The Americans possessed a huge arsenal of nuclear warheads, and the Soviets arsenal is not even comparable to the Americans. And that begs the topic, The US long had the military capability to attack anyone who may turn hostile to them. If the Americans had the right to safeguard their own interest, why can’t the USSR safeguard theirs?
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Whatever the Soviets try to do, it was to protect their allies against the US, which includes Cuba. When Cuba joined the Soviet bloc, they were obliged to protect them, to safeguard their interest. Whatever the Soviets did, it was also to appeal to their own allies, that they will not be intimidated by hostility, and that they would not back down when their allies need their assistance. The views of the Americans by the Soviets varied widely from what many think, that American’s are noble, self-sacrificing, and world-accountable. US was changing the balance of superpowers as it began more and more powerful. USSR simply wanted to match up to the US “to make the playing field equal”. Furthermore, the soviets are used to “having enemies at their gate”. With US ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles) at Turkey, which borders the USSR, the Soviets didn’t react much and it did not threaten the Kremlins. To the USSR, the already accepted the US doings and actions without much resistance, such as having IRBM (Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missiles). But when the USSR transported just 50 missiles to Cuba, Kennedy raised their Defense Readiness Condition (DEFCON) to a level 2. So on the contrary to the Soviets overacting to the Americans, was it the other way around?
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-Nicky
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Profilé
-Introduction
bolditalicunderlinestrikout
Our group comprises of Shahid, Nicky and Edwin.
For this history blog, we will talking about the cold war and address the following question:
Did the Communists overreact to the Allied powers actions?
Our research focus would be mainly on:
The Berlin Blockade - Was Stalin too obsessed with blocking out the Americans from her sphere of influence?
The Korean War - Was USSR and China overly concerned when the American's fought back to regain their territory at the 38th parallel?
The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Soviet Union's actions which aggravated their relationship and indirectly progressed the Cold War.
Please give comments about our content on the cbox. (:
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Thursday, March 4, 2010,4:12 PM
Cuban Missile Crisis- The Soviets' Perspective
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phpe0DsisbY[I'm sorry, but embedding was disabled by the poster.] The above video is a speech by Sergei Khrushchev, son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, recounting the Cuban Missile Crisis from the Soviets perspective. From the soviet’s standpoint, everything they have done is purely for the purpose of self-defense, and possibly to deter America from “starting a war”, which contradicts the America’s mentality that USSR was trying to “start a war”. From the perspective of the super powers, both of them had the mentality that the other wants to wage a war. So was no one to be blamed for the whole crisis which terrorized billions of people worldwide?
|
The soviets found US superiority at that time way too big. The Americans possessed a huge arsenal of nuclear warheads, and the Soviets arsenal is not even comparable to the Americans. And that begs the topic, The US long had the military capability to attack anyone who may turn hostile to them. If the Americans had the right to safeguard their own interest, why can’t the USSR safeguard theirs?
|
Whatever the Soviets try to do, it was to protect their allies against the US, which includes Cuba. When Cuba joined the Soviet bloc, they were obliged to protect them, to safeguard their interest. Whatever the Soviets did, it was also to appeal to their own allies, that they will not be intimidated by hostility, and that they would not back down when their allies need their assistance. The views of the Americans by the Soviets varied widely from what many think, that American’s are noble, self-sacrificing, and world-accountable. US was changing the balance of superpowers as it began more and more powerful. USSR simply wanted to match up to the US “to make the playing field equal”. Furthermore, the soviets are used to “having enemies at their gate”. With US ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles) at Turkey, which borders the USSR, the Soviets didn’t react much and it did not threaten the Kremlins. To the USSR, the already accepted the US doings and actions without much resistance, such as having IRBM (Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missiles). But when the USSR transported just 50 missiles to Cuba, Kennedy raised their Defense Readiness Condition (DEFCON) to a level 2. So on the contrary to the Soviets overacting to the Americans, was it the other way around?
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-Nicky
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