Cuban Missile Crisis from the Cuban Perspective | Animated History

it is just after midnight in the bay of pigs a lone cuban soldier crouches behind a rock the bodies of his patrol mates are strewn around him their position lit up by the burning jeep they arrived in all he can do is pray their last desperate radio transmission gets through and that news of the imperialist invasion reaches headquarters in time a shadowed figure leans into view and the militiamen sees his chance for revenge the horrible revelation strikes harder than any bullet that was no imperialist dog instead the shocked face was that of his own countrymen the thoughts of both cuban-born soldiers fill with regret as they lie they wonder how it all came to this in the end they will be just two of over 3 500 cuban casualties in a cia-backed invasion that pitted brother against brother and ultimately accomplished nothing but driving cuba right into the arms of the soviet union hi i'm griffin johnson the armchair historian the bay of pig's invasion took place in april of 1961 and was the culmination of america's efforts to unseat prime minister fidel castro of cuba who had swept to power three years earlier in a popular revolution against the u.s backed dictator fulgencio batista although supposedly planned in absolute secrecy the operation had been compromised almost from the beginning by cuban and soviet intelligence despite its abject failure the invasion was neither the first time america had tried to interfere in cuba nor would it be the last a state of affairs that would lead the world to the brink of nuclear annihilation in the cuban missile crisis in this video we will examine the often studied crisis from the perspective of the cuban people both the pro-castro and anti-communist factions who in modern study are cast as background characters in their own story i'm happy to announce that this video is sponsored by world of warships legends a free to play console mmo that lets you take to the high seas at the helm of history's greatest naval vessels enjoy large scale engagements with other players unlock dozens of warships customize them and staff them with legendary commanders the most recent update has also added a whole new dimension to the game aircraft carriers now you can dominate the battlefield by directing squadrons of deadly torpedo and dive bombers to strike enemy warships from afar support our channel by downloading the game which is available for both xbox and playstation users through the link in the description below the successful cuban revolution that took place between 1953 and 1959 was an unprecedented victory for the growing socialist movement in latin america which arose in response to the blatantly exploitative practices of u.s big businesses backed by the world's largest capitalist economy international corporations monopolized trade in lucrative local produce and used their immense profits to dominate local elections and install corrupt officials who turned a blind eye to their shameless pillaging it was the era of neocolonialism with many latin american countries being run as imperialist outposts while maintaining the veneer of sovereignty and economic development whenever this stranglehold on the continent was threatened the united states shed any pretenses of upholding democracy and resorted to sabotage this hypocrisy was on full display in 1954 when the cia overthrew the legitimately elected president of guatemala in favor for an anti-communist military junta it is no wonder then that the first signs of american interference in cuban affairs began as soon as fidel castro revealed his intentions to dismantle their monopoly on his nation's vast sugar plantations some cubans in the direst straits saw this as a chance to finally seize the means of production away from the faceless overseas corporations that had dominated their lives for decades expectedly the u.s reacted with aggressive sanctions and the revolutionaries lacked enough experience to maintain the economy while simultaneously supporting castro's many new social welfare programs aimed at uplifting the rural poor but this progress was dearly bought and castro sought to protect his nascent workers utopia at all costs from the start he made it very clear that the resources and social programs of his new government were exclusively available to fellow revolutionaries those cuban citizens who did not openly embrace socialism were ostracized at best and permanently re-educated at worst for those who dared betray their cuban heritage and openly side with the americans immediate exile was the best they could hope for what divided these two camps was not a matter of national pride but of politics just about all cubans were patriots tired of witnessing their island's exploitation but what divided them was castro's agenda resistance movements soon sprang up but without a powerful backer there was little they could accomplish that's when the cia approached members of the cuban democratic revolutionary front offering to transport 1400 men across the caribbean sea and onto the island where they would proceed to liberate the nation from castro's regime however this endeavor was doomed from the start and the men who participated in it ultimately accomplished nothing besides convincing their socialist brothers and sisters that the us was utterly and completely dedicated to the destruction of their new workers republic the invasion to topple their communist regime only succeeded in making cuba more communist [Music] on december 2nd castro pledged fealty to the soviet union in a televised address declaring i am a marxist leninist and shall be one until the end of my life he went on to state that soviet-style communism would be the guiding force in cuban politics replacing the more generalized set of socialist ideals his regime had previously adhered to to the cuban exiles living abroad in florida and mexico this was the worst case scenario reducing the nation they loved to little more than a pawn in the struggle between the soviets and the americans however things were not quite as clear-cut as they seemed following his passionate endorsement of communism castro was confused by a lukewarm and non-committal soviet reaction he had inadvertently placed the ussr and first secretary nikita khrushchev in a particularly awkward position as cuba could not receive soviet military aid without sparking an american response but even without soviet support castro did his best to prove his worth in the eyes of his new marxist leninist peers going so far as to send his own 13 year old son fidelito to a school in moscow but it was not until early 1962 that castro was validated by the soviets suddenly soviet newspapers began publishing articles praising his regime as a model of marxist leninist efficiency shortly afterwards castro received word that khrushchev was sending two senior members of his government martial sergey birusof and party secretary sharaf rashidov to speak with him about securing cuba's future at this historic meeting an astonished castro listened as the two men carefully laid out khrushchev's plan to station no less than 40 nuclear-tipped ballistic cruise missiles on the island defended by a large soviet garrison and numerous anti-aircraft batteries armed with such weapons cuba would be nothing less than an impregnable fortress able to threaten nuclear armageddon on any impertinent foe who dared challenge its sovereignty remarkably castro did not instantly accept this proposal realizing that the soviets were not making it purely out of the kindness of their hearts his nation would not have direct ownership or even access to these new missiles and castro worried that the u.s might launch a preemptive attack if they were discovered prior to installation even the promise of additional equipment for the cuban army and the knowledge that he was acting in the cause of international socialism was not enough to fully overcome castro's misgivings but in the end he convinced himself that it would be morally wrong not to accept the deal as he had already put great pressure on the ussr to defend his revolution while having little practical value to offer in return therefore with some reluctance castro agreed to the soviet plan between july and august of 1962 various high-profile members of the cuban government traveled to moscow to negotiate the details of the soviet military installation these included fidel's brother raul castro and his close comrade ernesto che guevara the soviets threw lavish parties for both the dignitaries and arranged tours of various secret military facilities while raoul came back full of praise for their new allies che was more reserved suspicious of the way khrushchev seemed to downplay the threat posed by the usa during their personal meetings during the negotiations both sides drafted multiple agreements finally settling on terms that would see over 40 000 soviet boots on the ground in cuba in addition to the missiles construction of the missile sites needed to take place under absolute secrecy but castro was confident his state security apparatus would be more than up to the task however his regime was still facing numerous threats both foreign and domestic that made keeping his promises to the soviets much more difficult than initially anticipated for starters the cuban economy had continued to sharply decline thanks to a mixture of incompetent administration and u.s sanctions leading to food riots in several cities the cia had also initiated operation mongoose in 1961 which had the goal of inciting a civil revolt in cuba within a year the program included everything from assassination attempts on castro to terrorist attacks carried out on cuban infrastructure indeed the cia would plot to assassinate castro so many times in such absurd variety of ways such as with exploding seashells poisoned milkshakes and fungus infected wetsuits that he famously stated if surviving assassination attempts were an olympic event i would win the gold medal there was also an ongoing insurgency movement known as the s combrai rebellion made up of former batista loyalists and cubans who opposed castro's socialist government these bandidos managed to make such a nuisance of themselves that soviet assessors rejected cuba's thick inner jungles as potential locations for their new missile sites partially because they provided the perfect cover for guerrilla operations the sites were instead placed in more open locations leaving them vulnerable to discovery despite the regime's efforts the cuban public soon became aware of an increased soviet presence in their homeland soon a constant game of cat and mouse was being played between castro's security forces and the alleged cia informants security was paramount as only castro and his closest associates were supposed to know the full details of the plan and anyone who caught wind of the details outside that closed circle had to be silenced of course cuba's little secret was never going to stay hidden for long the u.s had been flying u2 spy planes over the island since its failed invasion and on october 14th a u2 flight successfully photographed the missile site at san cristobal eight days later president john f kennedy made a televised 18-minute speech in which he revealed to the world the unmistakable evidence of missile bases in cuba and announced a blockade that would not only prevent further shipments of soviet arms and personnel but any shipping from reaching the island the cuban missile crisis had officially begun at least that was as far as the rest of the world was concerned within cuba itself almost all mention of international events was suppressed save for the narrative maintained by the state but this was not enough to keep the populace from realizing the danger posed by the missiles and people began to stream in from the countryside to be with their families in the close-knit society of cuba preparations for nuclear war took second place to simply being together with loved ones if the worst came to the worst even so only a few senior officials within the government fully understood the gravity of the situation and fewer still were able to shed the blinders of ideology and accept the utter devastation that a nuclear war would cause but men like fidel castro and che guevara had built their reputation by being both steadfast and uncompromising and neither intended to back down in the face of american threats to che guevara especially this was nothing less than the final struggle between capitalism and communism and nuclear war was completely acceptable if not preferable to achieve the extinction of the former and the triumph of the latter immediately after kennedy's declaration castro took to the podium issuing a stinging rebuttal that outlined america's long history of aggression and state-sponsored terrorism against his beloved nation when it came time to address the issue of soviet missiles castro had this to say what have we done we have defended ourselves that is all were the imperialists expecting that after their first hostile act our people would surrender that the revolution would raise a white flag determined to show his resolve the fiery castro passionately urged khrushchev to issue a declaration stating that any attack on cuban soil would be seen as an attack on the ussr itself and to have his forces deployed throughout europe to enter a state of maximum readiness khrushchev had absolutely no intention of doing either of these things kennedy too had played his hand carefully having announced that the planned blockade would occur well outside of cuba's territorial waters and castro realized that he had been neatly taken out of the diplomatic equation leaving him with next to no say in any talks between america and the ussr but there was still the matter of u.s reconnaissance flights taking place over cuban airspace on a daily basis fully convincing castro that american action was imminent on october 26th castro sent another letter to khrushchev stating his conviction that an attack would take place within the next 72 hours and that he expected the ussr to respond with the full force of their nuclear arsenal he then ordered his army to engage any u.s planes that violated his airspace this was a fateful decision as within 24 hours a u2 spy plane had been successfully shot down using soviet-supplied surface-to-air missiles the incident shocked the world instantly escalating tensions to a whole new level kennedy's ears filled with calls from his staff to retaliate and safeguards around american missiles were relaxed to ensure they could be fired with minimal approval surely castro thought this would be enough to push khrushchev into action and yet ironically castro's determination to escalate the conflict ultimately proved to be one of the biggest factors that led to its peaceful resolution in the words of khrushchev's own son sergey it was at that very moment not before or after that father felt the situation was slipping out of his control kennedy made a similar realization concluding that the cuban army had been acting outside of soviet jurisdiction the truth was that neither side wanted nuclear war under any circumstances and castro's belligerent attitude brought home just how dangerous it was to have lou's cannon rolling around the deck of the ship of state while negotiations were taking place both khrushchev and kennedy made a firm resolution to ignore any further warmongering advice from their subordinates and began taking steps to defuse the situation as quickly as possible while these events played out at the highest levels of government ordinary cubans including those who had fled the country awaited the outcome with bated breath a cuban exile living in miami marta darby recalls the tension in an interview on national public radio where she stated i think at the time we were afraid that maybe something would happen to us much like the japanese internment camps during world war ii and there were whispers of that maybe they'll take us away and hide us somewhere and that was a little bit scary when asked about her experiences as a child still living in cuba during the same interview maria salgado recalled i also remember family members from out of town coming in and everyone being in our same hometown because the world was going to end so you wanted to be near your family near your loved ones as october 28 dawned an increasingly nervous and expectant castro received a phone call from khrushchev informing him that a deal had been signed that would see the removal of missiles from cuba in exchange for a guarantee that no invasion of the island would take place with trembling hands castro lowered the receiver how dare khrushchev do this to him cuba had risked everything for this moment castro had personally offered his life and the lives of his countrymen as a sacrifice on the altar of communism and had been ready to die with a smile on his face if it meant striking a death blow to the hated imperialists but instead castro's supposed allies had acted without even consulting him disregarding his pride and cuban sovereignty in favor of extracting a few concessions over missile sites in turkey in a fit of impotent fury castro trashed his office kicking the walls and smashing glassware while screaming obscenities at khrushchev ending with an emphatic insult i will politely decline from translating after he had finally calmed down the embittered prime minister issued a public statement that he would accept the deal but the u.s also had to cease all attempts to interfere with cuban sovereignty and swear never to violate their airspace or territorial waters again as part of the deal the americans had secured rights to send inspectors to cuba to monitor the removal of the soviet missile sites but castro made it clear that any u.s personnel who so much as set foot on his soil would be shot dead and their bodies tossed back into the ocean despite mounting pressure from both sides the revolutionary leader held firm his wounded pride demanding appeasement meanwhile disaffected cubans chanted in the streets khrushchev you coward what is given as a gift is not taken away again state media went into overdrive pumping out article after article decrying this deliberate betrayal of cuban loyalty faced with the unyielding resolve from both leader and citizenry even the mighty ussr had to give in eventually after weeks of defiance castro won a morale victory with the soviets agreeing to ship the missiles out into international waters to be inspected there instead of on cuban soil as suddenly as they began the newspaper articles and radio broadcasts condemning the soviet withdrawal came to an end and the sullen populace of cuba resumed their normal lives with nothing left to do castro descended into a state of depression his bad mood was exacerbated when many communist parties in latin america began praising khrushchev for how well he had handled the situation che guevara also reacted to the crisis with disgust later stating that he would have personally fired the missiles himself if it meant destroying the usa forever in the years that followed the missile crisis relations between cuba and the ussr slowly returned to normal but a sense of betrayal still hung over the island nation the radical communists of cuba had been willing to die for their ideals and felt that the russians had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory regular citizens were kept somewhat ignorant of the true nature of the crisis as for the many cuban exiles who had watched the whole affair on international news they were relieved that the situation had been de-escalated but saddened by the fact that their homeland still remained in communist hands the descendants of these exiles continue to call for the democratization of cuba to this day and though the government has made a few concessions over the years the status quo remains more or less intact fidel castro died on the 25th of november 2016 at the age of 90. he remains extremely popular among cuban socialists who view him as their liberator and as someone who always shared their burdens and endured hardship alongside the common man special thanks again to world of warships legends for sponsoring this video enjoy the new carrier update and far more content by downloading the game through our affiliate link below [Music] [Music] you

Channel: The Armchair Historian

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Id: jMozubL3Ozg

Length: 23min 12sec (1392 seconds)

Published: Fri May 21 2021