Cuban Missile World

JFK wasn't a great leader on every world.

Parallel History

Fourteen days in October, 1962, were some of the most tense in the long Cold War. The United States, conducting surveillance, discovered that the Soviet Union was moving an inordinate number of nuclear missiles on the Communist country of Cuba — placing potential Soviet aggression less than 100 miles from the Florida shore.

Soviet field commanders in Cuba were authorized to use tactical nuclear weapons if invaded by the U.S. The fate of millions literally hinged upon the ability of two men, President John F. Kennedy and Premier Nikita Khrushchev, to reach a compromise.

In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe but U.S. missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba. A deployment in Cuba would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, Fidel Castro was looking for a way to defend his island nation from an attack by the U.S. Ever since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, Castro felt a second attack was inevitable. Consequently, he approved of Khrushchev’s plan to place missiles on the island. In the summer of 1962 the Soviet Union worked quickly and secretly to build its missile installations in Cuba.

For the United States, the crisis began on October 15, 1962 when reconnaissance photographs revealed Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba. Early the next day, President John Kennedy was informed of the missile installations. Kennedy immediately organized the EX-COMM, a group of his twelve most important advisors to handle the crisis. After seven days of guarded and intense debate within the upper echelons of government, Kennedy concluded to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba. He wished to prevent the arrival of more Soviet offensive weapons on the island. On October 22, Kennedy announced the discovery of the missile installations to the public and his decision to quarantine the island. He also proclaimed that any nuclear missile launched from Cuba would be regarded as an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union and demanded that the Soviets remove all of their offensive weapons from Cuba.

It was the closest Earth Prime came to full-scale nuclear war. And it was the genesis of destruction of this world.

Now an irradiated husk, the United States of this world lays in ruins. The Soviets and Americans managed to pretty much eradicate each other; the fallout laid waste to everything else. There are a few pockets of humanity left, but they’re fighting a losing fight against the nuclear genie.

The Zimmerman Telegraph

Likely similar to Earth Prime's. Definitely incinerated in the opening salvo by the Soviets.