DRAFT - Fidel Castro - A Rebel With A Cause
The Cuban Revolution was a massive revolt led by Fidel Castro and powered by people with the common goal to bring back the peace. The Cuban government was led by the dictator Fulgencio Batista who took away basic freedoms that damaged society. Fidel Castro wanted to bring back the peace with a radical mission to overtake a nearby army garrison. With a chaotic attack on Moncada Barracks, Fidel Castro failed at his coup d’etat but did not meet an unsuccessful end. Fidel Castro’s gruesome attempt at claiming control of the Moncada Barracks ultimately backfired on him and created the spark for the Cuban Revolution.
For years the Cuban government had claimed ultimate control over society which outraged
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On March 10, 1952. Batista was facing an upcoming election and it looked like he was going to lose badly. Some junior officers in the army convinced him to state a coup d’etat because he was going to lose badly to either Carlos Prio Socarras or Roberto Agramonte. He then decided to take the government by force to stay in power. Batista took several officers and took control of the massive Camp Columbia army barracks where half of the army was housed. No one opposed him and there was no bloodshed. His coup d’etat erased Cuban democracy and he assumed the title of dictator. He also called off the election and dissolved congress, the Cuban Communist party, and the labor unions. This put business leaders out of positions and badly damaged the economy. The U.S. began selling weapons to Batista after recognizing his …show more content…
Later he surrendered after being promised a fair trial where he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. At his trial he said “You may condemn me. History will absolve me” (PBS) and left these words ringing in the ears of history. What is so remarkable about his trial is that he acted as his own attorney and his speeches were so powerful that he influenced the Cuban Bill of Rights. While being denied access to physical papers and documents, he used ideas from European and American revolutions as the basis of his defense. Castro even recalled ideas from Rousseau, Thomas Paine’s Rights of Man and the American Declaration of Independence. Most importantly, he argued how he was fighting for the people of Cuba, how Batista had created a reign of terror, and that the people should uprise in order to achieve peace. Fidel Castro was sent to prison for 15 years until Batista would release him on the terms of “general amnesty” 2 years later. After his release the people of Cuba would look to him for leadership against the Cuban dictator Fulgencio
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.
Castro was a socialist, a leninist and a marxist. His attitude throughout his “dictatorship” was the way he communicated with the United States on military, trading agreements and politics. As he came to control the country, he made the promise to maintain the Cuban constitution of 1940, a constitution which guaranteed certain individual rights to the citizens of Cuba. Also stating that all of the governmental representatives would be held exactly a year from the day he took control. Despite not actually being in office, Castro was the most important force in regards to the post Batista Government. His full control of the country came when the former prime minister Miro Cardona resigned after a month of work with Castro.
On February 16, 1959 Fidel Castro was sworn in as prime minister of Cuba. Cuba was the first communist state on the west side of the world. Castro has had more than 600 assassination attempts on him. His fight for prime minister of Cuba was not an easy task for him. He had to fight for it. Castro led 160 of his men in a attack on Moncada Barracks. His plan was to take weapons and tell of his revolution from the Barracks radio station, but most of his men died and Castro got arrested and put on trial for trying to overthrow the Cuban government. He argued that he was trying to make a democracy in Cuba but he still got 15 years in prison. Then two years later prime minister Batista let him got because he felt that Castro wouldn’t try attacking the Cuban government again. He later went to his brother Raul in Mexico and planned another attack on the Cuban government, but with only had 81 people to fight with him. On December 2, 1956 his 81 men landed on the Cuban coast. All but Castro, Raul, and ten other were killed or captured. Then they retreated and started guerrilla warfare on the Cuban government and caused
Lee Brice is a well known and very respected musical artist in today's age of musical entertainment. He has many notable songs that have reached incredible heights. In 2015, he released the song “I Drive Your Truck”. “I Drive Your Truck” is a story that follows a father who lost his son while serving on active duty. Within the song, Brice conveys to the listener the grieving process that ensued this father's loss.
I do not feel that I know enough about Fidel Castro to be an expert on his life or how he ruled Cuba, but the little that I do currently know, I would not consider him a kind and caring man. With that in mind, some of the comments made by Fidel Castro in “Castro Announces the Revolution,” were shocking to me, since he tries to make the point that he cares for the people of Cuba and the revolution was set into motion for the benefit of the people, not an egotistical leader.
Instead , the people of Cuba started slowly focusing on Fidel Castro, a rebellious leader who strongly opposed Batista, and Lenin, a Russian Communist Revolutionary. Castro traveled to Mexico in 1955, where he met Che Guevarra, who was a very important figure, giving him advice in succesfully defeating Batista.In 1956 Castro returned to Cuba along withhis brother and Che Guevarra . They launched a number of attacks against Batista's forces, however they lost,most of their men being captured. They escaped and hid in the Sierra Maestra Mountain Range, using guerilla war to successfully capture major areas of Cuba, causing Batista to fly to the Dominican Republic in 1959.Lenin, also a strong , rebellious figure in Russia, was exiled prior to the Revolution, focusing his energy on revolutionary politics. He returned to St. Petersburg and began working with other Marxist thinkers. Their ‘work’ attracted some unwanted attention and they were arrested and exiled to Siberia. He returned once more and stepped up, vocalizing his views . His number of supporters soon started increasing , mainly due to the devastating effects the war with Japan and WWI had on Russia’s economy, pushing people of all classes to side with Lenin. The “Bloody Sunday” pushed the Czar to offer several political concessions, most importantly an elected legislative assembly, or Duma. Lenin wasn't pleased, and believed that a
Castro opens up with listing many of the hardships: earning food without work, infrequent work that resulting in starving some months, benefits that are being taken away just to name a few, that the popular masses have to struggle with daily to emphasize the passion behind his movement (Castro 306). Castro speaks of the five revolutionary laws that would have been implemented following the capture of Moncada Garrison, The first and possibly most important, that the Constitution of 1940 be followed as written unless the people feel it necessary to
The Cuban revolution took place in January of 1959 when the guerilla army under the control of Fidel Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista. Batista was supported by the United States but only because of the fact that he believed in a democratic run government. However, the president at the time, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, let the revolution play out because he believed that Batista was making Cuba an “embarrassing,” ally towards the United States, he would later realize that he made a
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.
Castro used his influence to persuade the Cuban people to fight for him in the revolution against Batista’s government. With the people on his side, Castro successfully overthrew the Cuban government and was eventually elected President. These people believed in Castro, and that he would make Cuba a better place to live and work in. Once Fidel Castro had control, he named himself dictator for life and made Cuba a socialist nation who openly embraced communism. Cuba became the only communist nation in the Eastern Hemisphere. As a result of this new socialist regime many Cubans fled to the United
Cuba than fell even farther in a downward spiral due to an increase in corruption and political violence beside the fact that they had a new ruler. The Cuban people continued to search for a leader that would bring them prosperity. Another man emerged from depths of the Cuban jungle to hopefully bring the Cuban people what they want, and his name was Fidel Castro. One of the most iconic figures in Cuban history, Fidel Castro was a self proclaimed revolutionist. His ideas of a communist country fueled him to overthrow the Batista government in a violent fashion in 1952.
The Cuban government was not ideal for its people at the time, so they decided to initiate a change. Before Castro’s revolution, Cuba’s economy was highly based on tropical fruits, sugar, and tobacco. During this time, the government of Cuba mainly consisted of wealthy land-owning conservatives. Fidel Castro, a strong liberal who thought the Cuban government was corrupt, decided to bring together a band of two-hundred revolutionaries (Carey, Jr. 15). These revolutionaries attacked the Moncada Military barracks on July 26th, 1953 resulting in a failure that earned both Castro and the revolutionaries a ten-year prison sentence. Two years into his sentence, Castro was exiled to Mexico and began to plot another attempt in Mexico City. After many battles with Cuba’s National Army, Castro’s rebels were able to keep Cuba in a state of turmoil while other rebel groups were able to gain control. Through his actions, he was able to gain the support of the Cuban people who thought he was the logical choice for the new leader (Carey, Jr. 15).
Do not tell me to deal, do not tell me to accept, I will not be complacent, I will rage and fight!!! I will defend my father's right to health care at the VA, I will defend my grandmother's social security, I will defend your right to be willfully ignorant, I will defend my daughter's right to her own body, I will defend my best friend's right to love whom ever he chooses, and I will FIGHT FOR my children's futures with my last
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.
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