Criza rachetelor din Cuba, factor al distanțării României față de U.R.S.S.

Abstract

The outbreak of the most powerful political crisis since the end of World War II, by secretly deploying Soviet medium-range missiles in Cuba, has taken not only the West, but also Moscow’s allies by surprise. The decision to move such missiles into Cuba was kept in full secrecy by the USSR leadership, so the Warsaw Pact allies were surprised by the vehement U.S. reaction and the possibility of WWIII. The leadership of the Romanian Workers’ Party (PMR) has learned with astonishment that Romania could find itself involved overnight in a devastating conflict, without even being consulted. The reaction of Gheorghiu-Dej, the Leader of PMR, and his team was vehement and led to unprecedented measures in the direction of widening the freedom of political and diplomatic action in the international arena and to strengthen the national control over the Romanian armed forces. A political and military crisis consumed thousands of kilometers away has produced major and long-term effects in Bucharest, reconfiguring the country’s domestic and foreign policy for the next three decades.