“NIKITA SAYS IT WAS JFK WHO BACKED DOWN FIRST”

REMEMBER THIS?

SOVIETS BUILD CUBA BASE

Imagine you and your friend had a really big fight a few years ago. You found out your friend secretly put super-duper-powerful slingshots, like giant ones, in their backyard fort, pointed right at your house! That was a super scary moment, like the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Everyone was so scared, thinking a real fight with those slingshots could start any second and hurt everyone.

“SOVIETS BUILD CUBA BASE” (September 1970)

So, a few years after that super scary slingshot fight, the Soviets (your friend) started building a new, big clubhouse in their backyard again, close to your fort. This made everyone excited and upset because they remembered how terrifying it was the last time something like this happened!

How the Cuban Missile Crisis was upsetting and led to drills:

During that first “slingshot crisis,” the Cuban Missile Crisis, adults in America were truly, truly terrified. They knew that if the powerful countries started using their “big slingshots” (nuclear missiles), it could be the end of the world as they knew it.

Real Fear: People weren’t just a little worried; they were panicked. They imagined giant explosions, like the super-loud firecrackers you hear on the Fourth of July, but a million times bigger and more dangerous. They worried about everyone getting hurt and everything being destroyed.
Schoolhouse Nuclear War Drills: Because they were so scared, the grown-ups started making plans to try and keep kids safe if a nuclear war happened. This meant schoolhouse nuclear war drills! It’s like how you practice fire drills in school now, right? But instead of a fire, kids would practice what to do if an atomic bomb went off. Teachers would yell, “Duck and Cover!” and kids would have to quickly get under their desks, curl up, and cover their heads with their hands. They were told it would protect them from the bright flash of light and flying glass. Imagine how scary it would be to practice something like that, knowing it was for a real, super-dangerous bomb! It made the threat feel very, very real to kids too.

But then later in the year, another Article came out and-

“NIKITA SAYS IT WAS JFK WHO BACKED DOWN FIRST”

Now, let’s talk about that second newspaper article. “Nikita” is short for Nikita Khrushchev, who was the leader of the Soviet Union (your friend’s dad). “JFK” is short for John F. Kennedy, who was the President of the United States (your dad).

When the news came out, “NIKITA SAYS JFK BACKED DOWN FIRST,” it was like your friend’s dad saying, “See? Your dad gave in first!” This happened because of how the first “slingshot crisis” (Cuban Missile Crisis) ended.

Direct talks to end the Base:

To stop that super scary slingshot crisis, the leaders, President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev, had to talk directly, even though they didn’t really trust each other. It wasn’t like a regular phone call; they sent secret messages back and forth.

Here’s what happened:

Secret Promises: President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev made a secret deal. The Soviets agreed to take their dangerous slingshots (missiles) out of Cuba.
America’s Part: In return, America made two promises:
- They wouldn’t invade Cuba.
- And here’s the secret part that made “Nikita says JFK backed down first” come out later: America also secretly agreed to take their own powerful slingshots (missiles) out of a country called Turkey. Turkey was like America’s friend’s backyard, close to the Soviet Union. So, both sides removed their scary weapons from each other’s “doorsteps.”

How it dissolved any trust:

Even though the crisis ended peacefully because of these talks, it didn’t magically make them trust each other. In fact, it made things even more complicated:

Secret Deals are Tricky: The fact that part of the deal was kept secret (about America removing its missiles from Turkey) showed that they still didn’t completely trust each other. It was like they couldn’t be honest about all the parts of the agreement, even when trying to avoid a huge fight.
Blame Game: When Nikita Khrushchev said “JFK backed down first,” it was like trying to say, “We won that argument!” This kind of talk, even years later, kept the distrust alive. It showed that even though they avoided a war, they were still trying to look stronger than the other, rather than working together as true friends would.

So, the new base in Cuba brought back all those scary feelings from the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the way the first crisis was resolved, with secret deals and public blame, just proved how much trust was missing between these two powerful countries. They were like two worried neighbors who had to work together to stop a big danger but still didn’t really like or trust each other.

“NIKITA SAYS IT WAS JFK WHO BACKED DOWN FIRST”

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