The Cuban Revolution, which began in the early 1950’s, was an overthrow of a very corrupt government. It was an attempt to improve the conditions of the Cuban people, but the path was covered in blood and sweat and an informed historian has to ask, was it really worth it? How much actually changed?
The main causes of the revolution were the corrupt way in which the country was run, the large role the US played in the running of Cuba and the poor treatment & conditions the lower class Cubans lived with. The leader before the revolution was a man named Fulgencio Batista, who came into power via a coup. He suspended the Constitution, effectively establishing a dictatorship, and increased the Cuban dependency on the US. Batista allowed the
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However although Batista and his friends were worth millions of dollars, the average Cuban lived in poverty and ill health. In Cuba, 600 000 out of 3 000 000 Cubans were unemployed, which, proportionately, was the same amount as were unemployed in the US during the great depression. As well as this, over half the population lived in huts, shacks and slums, without the slightest sanitary facilities. Consequently, they were desperate to see an improvement in their lifestyle, and supported Castro and his revolution wholeheartedly.
However some would argue that they didn’t get what they bargained for. There were definitely improvements in society, such as better education and health care, but were the Cubans free from the manipulations of a more powerful country? Did they have the freedom to dictate their own lifestyle?
After the revolution, health care and education improved enormously. While before the revolution only 30% of rural children had teachers, primary education became compulsory under Castro. However the education was often biased, and information which would undermine Castro’s regime was not taught, and was also kept out of the media, books and newspapers. Half a million Cubans fled Cuba to work in America, and appeared to enjoy a much better life there. The
Castro’s revolution was a complete turnaround for the government of Cuba. Under Batista (Cuba's leader at the time), four thousand workers' retirement funds were embezzled. In 1959, when he was overthrown, Castro began implementing various methods of socialist reform. “We will eventually give you what you need, but rather - Here you have it, fight for it with all your might so that liberty and happiness may be yours!” (Carey, Jr. 37). His main goal in his regime was to establish a socialist society in Cuba. At first, he wanted
The Cuban Revolution was touchy topic for the United States and Cuba. America’s alienation of Cuba didn’t help when communism from the USSR was brewing over the revolution. When the revolution gained Castro as its leader, the worry and hatred from the United States was unbearable, especially when the Soviet Union landed in Cuba to interest Castro in its aid. The US’s fear of communism, Fidel Castro, and aid from the Soviet Union was significant because it changed the US’s political role in Cuba during the Cuban Revolution.
After it became officially globally acknowledged that Cuba was in fact a communist state and was being led through a dictatorship run by Castro, it did not take long before powerful enemies and essential allies were formed. The act of seizing all foreign land with none or very little compensation was received with great hostility amongst those who lost in their property through this process, and probably the reaction that had the biggest impact on Cuba’s economy was that of the US. Castro’s communistic policies did not of course help calm this resentment and also took part in leading to the establishment of trade embargos with Cuba from the US. This meant that Cuba would now lose a very valuable buyer of their precious sugar, [5] but they did however gain another one, a powerful nation that shared quite similar Marxist ideals and were quick to form an alliance with the Cubans, the USSR.
The effects of the Cuban Revolution on women’s lives and gender relations in Cuba from 1959 to 1990 include that some say women have not reached equality yet with men, women gained more opportunities for themselves, economy and politics, and also how women still had responsibility for children and home, not men.
In the 1950’s, tourists visited the island of Cuba for its warm beaches, culture and Spanish colonial architecture. But underneath the surface, was a revolution ready to burst through the Cuban people they just needed the right person to lead them. Cuba at this time was run by a Political Dictator named Fulgencio Batista.
On January 8th, 1959, Fidel Castro and his rebel army marched triumphantly into Havana, Cuba, having overthrown corrupt dictator Fulgencio Batista the week earlier. It was the fruition of the Cuban Revolution, and the dramatic shift in power was about to radically alter the country’s political, social and economic course forever. The positive and negative effects of the revolution on the Cuban people, however, as well as the condition of Cuba’s economy pre and post-revolution, is subject to heated debate. Castro’s iron-fisted regime was the introduction of communism into the western hemisphere, and now, over fifty years later, the Cuban Revolution continues to be one of the most controversial events of the twentieth century. Despite the criticism levelled at Fidel Castro and his communist regime, however, the Cuban Revolution was necessary in improving the quality of life for the majority of Cuban citizens. The four fundamental categories on which to assess this are healthcare, education, economy and governance. By comparing the country’s overall performance under Fulgencio Batista versus under Fidel Castro in these areas crucial to a fully-functioning nation, it can be shown that the Cuban Revolution was a necessary and positive change in Cuban society which benefitted the majority of citizens.
Castro 's regime has been credited with opening 10,000 new schools and increasing literacy to 98 percent.(Cuba Headlines 2009). Cubans enjoy a universal health care system, which has decreased infant mortality to 11 deaths in 1,000(Vanguard News 2016).
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.
For many Cubans the Batista government was simply a puppet regime with the puppet masters being wealthy Americans. This was because his economic policies favoured foreign investors and did little for the development of domestic industries, which resulted in the wealth of the country being concentrated in the hands of a wealthy whtite minority. Consequently, in the 1950s, this harsh regime caused political resistance to reach to its boiling point. In response to these high levels of frustration, Fidel Castro and a small rebel group led a successful revolutionary army into Havana in 1959. This was the first step on the road to a new era in the lives of many Cubans.
Elimination of segregation, national free health care, the breaking up of private clubs, educational facilities, and other organizations are great improvements. Literacy, involvement in all areas of government, acknowledgement of Afro-Cuban culture, and interjecting Blacks within the national identification of Cuba were additional positive results of the Revolution. Reaching out to Black nationalists from America, although all of the experiences did not end up amicably, was a positive influence on the Black Nationalist movement worldwide, with the assistance to freedom fighters in Africa, and being an asylum for political prisoners from America. I agree with Sawyer’s analysis of the impact of the Cuban Revolution, given all of the evidence there has been advancements and improvements for the Afro-Cuban, but there are still problems that need to be addressed and
A revolution is known as being an activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation. Cuba during the decade of the 1950's experienced this type of rebellion in search for an enhanced and better-developed society, independent of all outside domination. Cuban citizens were at a point where they needed to be free and be able to enforce the constitution established in 1940, which included amendments stating that Cuba should be a "democratic republic shall not conclude or ratify pacts or treaties that in any form limit or menace national sovereignty or the integrity of the territory," and such. I chose this topic because there has been so much controversy
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.
Castro’s involvement with the foreign and domestic politics during the early Cold War period greatly influenced the outcome of the Cuban Revolution. Without the actions taken by foreign powers like the United States and Russia, some events on the domestic front may have had very different results. It is important to understand how every nation’s foreign policies can influence more than just one other nation, and this was especially true for Cuba. It was this mix and chain of events which produced the communist Cuba that we are familiar with today.
While Felgenico Batista was running Cuba many American companies grew rich off of Cuban resources while the Cuban people remained poor. An American mobster named Meyer Lansky came to Cuba to open a hotel. The mobster gave Batista 10% of the profits of the hotel and casino, so Batista became wealthy off of that. Batista became very wealthy off of American business and also organized crime. Meyer Lansky also turned Havana into a drug port. Batista did very little to help the Cuban citizens. While running Cuba Batista did not offer the people neither health care nor education. So many Cubans lived in poverty. When they became ill they wouldn’t be able to go to a doctor because they wouldn’t be able to afford it. When Batista took over the country in
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.