Thesis Statement
Through an unique combination of debate and diplomacy, nuclear war was avoided in October of 1962. On the U.S. side, there was a lot of strong and thought–filled debate. One of the main aspects was how to retaliate to the Soviet missiles in Cuba, and which options to use. EX-COMM went back and forth with the ideas and what they should do, and the result wasn’t fully decided until the day that Kennedy gave his speech. During that time the joint chiefs continued to press for an airstrike. Kennedy had to carefully think this over. In the end, he decided that an airstrike was not the best course of action, partly because the estimated casualties, both military and civilian, were too high. As it turned out, casualties would have been much higher than anticipated, and Kennedy was not looking to start a nuclear war, but rather to avoid it. Another important debate was whether or not to blow off soviet vessels’ rudders if they refused to stop at the blockade line. This was put under much consideration by many people, and Kennedy rejected the idea at first. Fortunately, it never came to that. Also, the Americans constantly wondered what to do about the four soviet submarines trailing some of the freighters, and even had to surface one. Another huge problem was what to do if the American reconnaissance planes were shot at by Soviet or Cuban anti-aircraft guns. Fortunately, this never happened; if it did, it might have led to nuclear war.
The internal Soviet debate was just as thorough as the internal American debate. One of the most important and obvious debates was whether or not to put the missiles in Cuba in the first place. It was a while before the next big debate within the Soviet Union, which took place after Kennedy’s address to the America. That debate was about how to react to his speech. After the blockade was formed, Khrushchev had to decide whether he should order his ships to turn around or attempt to fight their way through. The final debate within the Soviet Union was the one that saved the world from nuclear war. It was what they should ask of the U.S if the Soviet Union were to remove their missiles from Cuba. Khrushchev originally had the idea of the Americans signing an agreement to never invade, or help an invasion of Cuba. But after more thought and discussion, he decided to come up with a plan that he found more appealing. Then he asked that the U.S. remove their missiles from Turkey. But the U.S. decided to ignore that idea and only respond to the first.
There were multiple instances of diplomacy and debate between the Soviets and the Americans. An important debate occurred between Adlai Stevenson and Zurin at the U.N. concerning the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Another great example is the letters between John Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev about each other’s actions. Diplomatic actions started with the first meeting between Kennedy and Gromyko; at the meeting, Gromyko stated that Soviet aid was only for defense purposes, while Kennedy had proof that Soviet offensive missiles did exist in Cuba, contrary to what Ambassador Dobrynin had said. In their second meeting, Kennedy presented the U.S. offer to never invade Cuba, if the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba., On the Soviet side diplomacy continued when Gromyko contacted Khrushchev, who eventually agreed to the American terms. A key point in the diplomatic effort was the meeting between Robert Kennedy and Soviet Ambassador Dobrynin, considered by many the turning point in the crisis.
In essence, diplomatic actions or initiatives were carried out by both sides; both parties relied on debate, which in turn was both internal and mutual. The combination of diplomatic actions and debate were crucial to a peaceful solution of the Cuban Missile Crisis.