Essay: What role did Cuba play in the development of the Cold War?

Cuba played a significant role in developing the Cold War. This essay will define development
as the escalation of tension between the United States (US) and the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR) from 1959 until 1961. It will analyze how Fidel Castros leadership from 1959
onwards affected superpower relations, and how Cuba became a pawn in US-USSR nuclear
negotiations during the 1961 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Castros ascent to power in 1959 as Cuban Prime Minister deepened the Cold War. This was
because the US perceived him as Communist, and therefore a potential ally of the Soviet Union.
In fact, US hostility increased in direct proportion to actions of Castros that could be construed
as Communist. For example, the Organization of American States turned down Castros request
for a loan after Castros Agrarian Reform Law of May 1959, that appropriated land and banned
land ownership by foreigners. Castros expropriation of U.S. industrial property and
nationalization of banks also alienated the US because it exemplified the communist principle of
state ownership. This was significant in terms of the Cold War, because the US response to the
Cuban threat was to weaken economic ties with the island. This encouraged Castro to rely on
the USSR as an ally, deepening the division between the US and USSR power blocs.

This role of Cuba in instigating friction between the superpowers can be seen by the
development of its relations with the USSR. This was due to the vacuum left by the withdrawal
of US aid: not only did President Eisenhower cut the sugar quota by 700,000 tons in July 1960,
but he also proclaimed a trade embargo on Cuba on Oct 19, 1960. It was the USSR that filled
this economic vacuum, agreeing in a 5-Year Treaty to buy 5 million tons of surplus sugar. This
heightened tension between the superpowers, because the direct involvement of the USSR with
a Caribbean state was an immediate challenge to the USA, coming as it did to a country right
on its doorstep - only 90 miles away. Thus the introduction of Castros regime developed the
role of Cuba as a source of conflict between the participants of the Cold War.

Cuba also escalated tension between the US and the USSR through the Bay of Pigs Invasion of
1961 because the failed invasion became the trigger for consolidating Cubas relations with the
USSR. Castro declared himself to be a Marxist-Leninist and concluded a defensive alliance with
the Soviet Union. This skewed the Cold War power balance in favor of the USSR as the US was
then unable to stem the flow of Soviet advisers and weapons into Cuba. Thus not only did the
Bay of Pigs invasion embolden the USSR in their pursuit of encouraging Cubas part in the
communist revolution, but it also gave Khrushchev ammunition in his criticism of US
imperialism. Thus it heightened the conflict between the superpowers.

Cuba also developed the Cold War by being a potential cause of hot war in the Missile Crisis of
1961. Khrushchevs motivation to place missiles in Cuba stemmed from the Soviet rivalry with
the US. He used them as a bargaining chip against the stationing of USA missiles in Turkey,
which threatened the USSR as Turkey is close to the Soviet Border. Cubas role as a means for
maintaining the power balance between the superpowers can be seen in Khrushchevs note in
his memoirs: It is high time America learned what it is like to have her own land and people
threatened. According to Robert Beggs, the Soviets also wished to seize a propaganda
advantage and restore the prestige of the USSR after the humiliation of the Berlin Wall. But it
was not only the USSR that used Cuba to restore the power balance. The US also felt that it
was its duty to ensure a missile-free Cuba to revive its prestige, that had been tarnished during
the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Cubas geographical proximity to the US also developed the
danger of nuclear weapon use in the Cold War: this meant the warning time for missiles fired at
Americans would be far less than the warning time for missiles fired from within the USSR. Thus
these factors made Cuba the site at which tensions peaked during the Cold War, with the
possibility of nuclear war and humanitys subsequent destruction.

However, after the peaceful resolution of the crisis (where Khrushchev removed Cuban missiles
in exchange of US removal of Turkish ones) Cuba ceased to play a significant role in developing
the Cold War. This was because of Castros treatment in the 1961 Crisis. He had been excluded
from the negotiations and became determined not to become a pawn in the US-USSR struggle.
Consequently, he pursued a foreign policy independent of Moscow. Havana became centred
around revolutionary activity, educating and training activists and spreading revolution in Africa
and Central America. Castro then relied on USSR solely for economic aid and arms, minimizing
Cuban involvement in the superpower conflict.

Thus Cubas role in the development of the Cold War was mainly confined to the period
between 1959 and 1961. It heightened Soviet-American tension through Castros ties with the
USSR and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. It also provoked the flashpoint of the Cold War, the
Missile Crisis. However, it is worth noting that the havoc in Cuba stemmed less from Castros
actions and more from the superpowers usage of Cuba as a tool to impact the power balance
between them. It was precisely Castros awareness of this exploitation that led him to weaken
his Soviet ties, steering Cuba away from involvement in the Cold War after 1961.