Book Summary: The Cuban Revolution

In 1950, an opposition movement arose in Cuba. It aimed to overthrow the government which was under the rule of the dictator Fulgencio Batista, who had controlled Cuba since the early 1933’s. The leader of the movement was Fidel Castro. In 1954 Fidel and his brother Raul teamed up

In 1959, Fidel Castro led a group of rebel forces to end and overthrow Fulgencio Batista’s regime in an effort to free the Cuban people from his tyrannous rule. For very many different political reasons this has been portrayed as an act of great injustice and hypocrisy in the modern world. A lot of this has of course been advocated primarily by the US due to the high level of political tension between the two nations that developed in the mid 1950s. Believing this conventional wisdom that Castro was simply an evil communist who oppressed his people and stripped them of their human rights is very dangerous because it

Fulgencio Batista, the son of poor farmers in Cuba, was elected president in 1940. At the beginning , he greatly improved the education and economy. However, his term ended in 1944, when he moved to Florida. During that time, corruption made its way back to Cuba, so Fulgencio;s return through an overthrow of the government was widely welcomed by the people. To their astonishment, he returned as an oppressive, cruel dictator, embezzling money, favoring corruption , managing to be hated by the majority of the Cuban population.

Fulgencio Batista was elected President of Cuba between 1940 and 1940. In 1952 Batista declared that constitutional guarantees and the right to strike will be suspended. He became a dictator with absolute power over Cuba. Batista turned the Cuban capital of Havana into one of the largest gambling cities in the world. Batista reorganised the Cuba’s treasury so that political representatives and himself can take freely from the riches. Under Batista’s rule, education and health care wasn’t free to the general public. The Cuban public were not satisfied with Batista and how he was ruling Cuba, the people didn’t have a say in decisions in government, were treated unfairly with high taxes, selling/giving the peoples land to American business owners.

However, the revolution, led by Fidel Castro, brought hope for those who supported the fight against the repressive government in the island, but it also brought a red signal of danger and fear of Cold War to other countries in America, especially for United States. Even though the revolutionary Fidel Castro was friend with the Soviet Union, Cuba never played a big role outside of the island. Nevertheless, United State anti-communism policy encouraged a violent anti-revolutionary reaction that spreader all over Latin America in the 60’s and 70’s.

During Fulgencio Batista’s 26 year reign from 1933 to 1959, access to healthcare for the majority of Cuban citizens was very limited. There were large

Source A highlights multiple times of Castro’s inability to lead a country through the description of Castro’s attack in the Source “whose first putsch against the island on December 1, 1956, left him with only twelve of the original force of 93 men.” Alistair Cooke, depicts Castro as weak and presents the audience with the notion that Castro does not have the leadership skills required to be in charge of Cuba, as he does not even have the qualities possessed to lead his troops. This is intentionally used to sway the audience against Castro However, In Source B, Herbert L. Matthews portrays Castro as strong and possess attributes which show leadership. This is shown through Source B highlighting Castro’s relationship with his soldiers “They were brought back to restore order and discipline among troops and officers who were undecided on what to

It was an event that changed the course of socialism on a global scale. It was the unfortunate result of Fidel Castro abusing his power. It was the single most important event in Cuba’s history thus far. The Cuban Revolution, which began in 1953 and ended in 1961, was led by revolutionist Fidel Castro and the "26th of July Movement" to overthrow current dictator Fulgencio Batista. After gaining control of Cuba and setting up a communist party, Castro began a set of land reforms and nationalized all foreign-born private companies. This then led to the U.S. embargo of Cuba, and communist nations around the world rallied at the thought of another instance of communism in Latin America.

The Cuban revolution had great domestic and international influences and reshaped Cuba’s relationship with the world, especially with United States, which continues an embargo against Cuba as of this very day. Immediately after the revolution, Cuban government started a program of nationalization and political consolidation, which ultimately transformed Cuba’s economy and society.

“A revolution is not a bed of roses ... a revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past.” – Fidel Castro, 1961. This statement was certainly true for Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries during the Cuban Revolution, an armed revolt that took place between July 26th 1953 and January 1st 1959, which ended successfully. During this revolt, many of Fidel Castro’s fellow revolutionaries were killed in this process of violent revolution (My Life, p133, 2006). However, Castro and his accompanying revolutionaries, of which he was the leader, also caused their fair share of deaths using brutality in the name of revolution and political justice. Using various combat tactics, the most prominent being guerrilla warfare, the

Batista knew that he wasn’t going to win the elections the fair way, so he staged a coup on March 10tth, 1952 which removed President Carlos Prio Socarras from power and declared Batista as ‘president’. The 1952 coup was a consolidation of Batista’s power as dictator in Cuba. This coup was backed by military forces, which gave the message to the Cuban people that Batista was no man to mess with. Batista did however receive feedback from Fidel Castro who was angry at what he did, “If Batista grabbed power by force, he must be thrown out by force” he said. Fidel Castro, soon emerges as the leader of the Cuban Revolution. His leadership in the revolution will be later discussed. There was little to no resistance to Batista’s coup because no one dared to confront the country’s new declared dictator. This is where one should ask the question as to why Batista went from being a president to a dictator? Why did Batista began a dictatorial regime in his once beloved

The Cuban revolution was the spark that ignited the flame of communism in Cuba. The developing nation gained independence only as recently as 1898, and was already filled with an atmosphere of distrust and resentment towards the United States. In July of 1953, a revolution began in Cuba between the United States backed President Batista and Fidel Castro. Fidel and his brother Raul Castro lead a series of guerilla warfare battles against the forces of President Batista. “I am Fidel Castro and we have come to liberate Cuba,” stated Fidel Castro. In January of 1959, Fidel Castro became the President of Cuba. With the regime of Fidel Castro, Cuba would fall to communism.

The time of the Cuban Revolution was a great deal of turmoil, not just in Cuba but in almost every corner of the world. It was 1945, shortly after the end of World War Two, and the Cold War was taking off between the United States and the Soviet Union. Cuba, in the middle of its own war, was caught up in the international politics of the Cold War. The interaction between international and domestic politics played a major role in the outcome of the revolution. The result of the revolution left Fidel Castro in charge of Cuba.

Fulgencio Batista was president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944. During his time in office he expanded the educational system, sponsored a huge program of public works, and brought up the growth of the economy (Britannica). In 1952 he ran for president again but this time put together a coup because he believed he wouldn’t win. The coup overthrew the current president, Carlos Prio Socarras, and made Batista dictator. As Fulgencio Batista gained more power he became more corrupt, forgetting his roots, and negatively impacting the poor of Cuba.

The Cuban Revolution was a necessary act that attempted to improve the lives of the cuban population through many horrific events. The Cuban Revolution, which began in the early 1950’s, was an overthrow of a corrupt government. Throughout Fidel Castro’s multiple attempts to improve the horrific conditions of the Cuban population, the Revolution became a long and tragic journey beginning with the 26th of July Movement, to The Bay of Pigs invasion, to The Cuban Missile Crisis.