Deter And Compromise

After Khrushchev assumed the reins of government in Soviet Union, he began to fiercely criticize Stalin on the politics, economy and ideological and cultural routes in the late Stalin times. He also amended Stalin's military strategy. When Khrushchev's power was continually enhanced and the nuclear weapons including the means of delivery of Soviet Union made a rapid progress, Khrushchev changed the "Conventional deterrence strategy" in Stalin times and actively advocated the strategy of nuclear deterrence. Under the guidance of this kind of strategy, Soviet Union spent a lot of money and materials on the research and development of nuclear weapons including the means of delivery. Soviet Union set up strategic rocket forces and equipped the force with nuclear weapons in order to make the forces into nuclearization. The reason why Khrushchev favored nuclear weapons and advocated the nuclear power of Soviet Union is that he wanted to increase the capital which haggles with the United States and maintained Soviet Union as a great power in the world. When the strategy of nuclear deterrence was put into practice, it was logical that Soviet Union deployed medium-range missiles with nuclear weapons in Cuba. It was relevant to Khrushchev's strategy of nuclear deterrence. We can find the answer why he compromised in the crisis from his strategy of nuclear deterrence. In his eyes, the nuclear weapons were used for deterrence and its real use was to defeat the enemy without fighting. When the enemy ignored the deterrence, the deterrence did not work. Of course, Soviet Union would not take the adventure to have a nuclear war with enemy and make both sides into destruction. The Cuban missile crisis tested Khrushchev's strategy of nuclear deterrence and its rationality and irrationality was examined during the crisis. After the crisis, Khrushchev adjusted his military theory. When Brezhnev came into power, on one hand he inherited Khrushchev's military theory; on the other hand he emphasized the importance of conventional weapons and from that time, the military strategy of Soviet Union was transformed from rigid to flexible.