1962 21st May
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev discussed placing Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba as a means of strengthening the island's defense and Soviet strategic leverage.
Cold War · October 1962 · permanent subject timeline
Nikita Khrushchev and the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Soviet leader's decision to deploy missiles and his eventual withdrawal agreement. This page combines historical context with 12 matching records drawn directly from the World History Database Cuban Missile Crisis archive.
Historical context
Nikita Khrushchev and the Cuban Missile Crisis: overview and significance
What happened?
Nikita Khrushchev approved the secret missile deployment to Cuba, exchanged increasingly urgent messages with Kennedy and ultimately announced dismantlement and withdrawal of the offensive missiles.
Why was it important?
Khrushchev's decisions initiated the strategic confrontation and then provided the central Soviet concession that ended its most dangerous phase.
World History Database records
Nikita Khrushchev and the Cuban Missile Crisis timeline
The records below are selected from the 195-record Cuban Missile Crisis archive and rendered as static HTML in chronological order.
1962
1962 24th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev rejected the legality of the American quarantine but ordered Soviet shipping movements handled cautiously as the confrontation intensified.
1962 25th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev exchanged messages with Kennedy as both governments searched for a way to prevent the naval confrontation from escalating.
1962 26th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khruschev sends a letter to Kennedy suggesting that the sites would be dismantled if the United States gave its reassurance that it would not invade Cuba.
1962 26th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev sent Kennedy a lengthy private message proposing missile withdrawal in return for a pledge that Cuba would not be invaded.
1962 27th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev publicly added removal of American Jupiter missiles from Turkey to the terms he sought for resolving the crisis.
1962 28th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev agrees to remove the Soviet missiles from Cuba. Khruschev removes the missiles but on the understanding the USA does not invade Cuba.
1962 28th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev ordered the offensive missiles dismantled and returned to the Soviet Union under the emerging settlement.
1962 29th October
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev defended the settlement to Soviet leaders while implementation shifted toward dismantling, shipment, and verification.
1962 2nd November
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev continued correspondence with Kennedy about verification and the remaining questions surrounding Soviet military equipment in Cuba.
1962 11th November
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev resisted American demands over Soviet IL-28 bombers while negotiations continued after the ballistic missiles were dismantled.
1962 20th November
Cuban Missile Crisis
Khrushchev accepted removal of the IL-28 bombers, clearing the principal remaining obstacle to ending the American quarantine.
Editorial provenance
Sources and editorial review
Compiled and edited by World History Database.
Historical context is editorial material; the chronology is generated from World History Database Cuban Missile Crisis records.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
FRUS: Cuban Missile Crisis and Aftermath · JFK Library · U.S. National Archives
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