What was the Cuban Revolution

Che Guevara and Fidel Castro They are two of the most representative names of the Cuban revolution that began in July 1953 and ended in January 1959 with the self-proclamation of Fidel as Prime Minister after having defeated the dictatorial regime of Fulgencio Cambric. But in this social revolt there are many aspects that we have to take into account: what were the causes of the Cuban revolution, how it developed, and so on.

For this reason, in a PROFESSOR we are going to offer you a summary of the Cuban revolution so that you can better understand this historical moment that achieved the liberation of the Cuban people from a dictatorship to begin a new communist period led by Castro and Guevara.

Index

1. How the Cuban revolution started
2. The Cuban Revolution: A Brief History
3. Che Guevara and the Cuban Revolution
4. Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution

The Cuban revolution began on July 26, 1953, moment in which Fidel Castro proclaimed himself the top leader of this Caribbean country. The reason why this revolution began must be found in the attempt for independence in the 19th century, an anti-colonial movement that tried to break ties with the invading settlers. The majority of Latin American countries achieved emancipation but this was not the case of Cuba, which encountered US opposition to said independence.

The reason the Americans opposed Cuban liberation was because they hoped to inherit the island from the Spanish. Faced with this situation, the Cubans led by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes began a war of independence in 1868 that failed; in 1895 This struggle was resumed at the hands of the intellectual José Martí and other thinkers like Antonio Maceo. This revolution was about to be won by the Cubans but, nevertheless, it entered the battle United States that declared war on Spain, something that allowed him to occupy the island militarily until 1901.

With the triumph of the Americans and Cubans against Spain, the 1901 Constitution was approved in Havana, which was greatly reduced in rights by the USA. In this pact, the North American country granted itself the right to remain militarily on the island, creating one of the best-known military bases in the world: Guantánamo.

This intervention of the United States in Cuba was very notorious, even invading sectors of the Cuban economy to control the main economic engines of the island such as sugar production (in 1923 the United States already controlled more than 70% of this industry).

The relationship between Cuba and the USA was also favored by the island's politicians (such as Fulgencio Batista) that ceded the best lands, factories, etc., to the American capitalists. This made the island grow economically from 1902 to 1958, but with very uneven growth: Americans and the wealthiest classes were enriched, and Cubans or the working class were increasingly impoverished.

Causes of the Cuban revolution

To do a summary of the Cuban revolution and the factors that led to it, we are going to offer you the following scheme that will help you collect the information:

• Dictatorial regime of Fulgencio Batista that, in addition, promoted a state full of corruption, ceding land and companies to the North American capitalists
• Strong economic inequality among Cubans
• A great economic dependence on foreign countries, especially the United States

Now that you know how the Cuban revolution started, let's continue with this story summary to tell you about the different phases into which this revolutionary movement is divided.

Beginnings of the Cuban revolution

To understand the development of the Cuban revolution We are going to place ourselves at the beginning of this revolt: in July 1953. At this moment, Fulgencio Batista and his people carried out a coup on the island of Cuba to take power. Until then, Cubans had been fighting for their emancipation but with this new intervention in power, their hopes were dashed.

Batista's coup was supported by the North Americans, a country that was winning in this negotiation, especially in what sugar business It was a matter of accepting a pact that excluded this country from having to pay the old quotas to buy said product. In addition, the US also prohibited trading with communist countries (such as the Soviet Union) and limited the domestic harvest.

This enormous change in the economy of the country made the landowners and bourgeois who work the sugar fields totally opposed. Within them, we highlight a landowner named Fidel Castro and whose son, a public defender, tried to remove the dictator by legal means. The demand did not prosper and this was the reason why Castro came to the conclusion that democracy could only be reached one way: through armed revolution.

This is how Fidel led the first attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953 that failed and ended with the guerrilla's incarceration. He was finally released but had to go into exile to Mexico in 1955.

Organization of the Cuban guerrilla

From Mexico, Fidel Castro organized a guerrilla army among which was the mythical Che Guevara; In the end, it was 82 men who dared to participate in this guerrilla from Mexico. It was on December 2 when the ship reached the Cuban beaches and they were detected by Batista's army, something that produced that of the eighty men, only twelve were left alive.

These guerrillas began to cross Cuba to reorganize and attract farmers and Cubans who shared the same ideology and desire to become independent once and for all from the capitalist subjugate. Thanks to the attack on a Cuban official army barracks, they were able to arm themselves and, thus, begin to organize the authentic revolution in Cuba.

At that time, Cuba was not having a good economic moment and the bourgeois sugar producers were unhappy with the pact with the USA; For this reason, many wealthy businessmen began to position themselves on the side of the revolutionaries and to finance their project. This is how it was possible constitute the Democratic Revolutionary Civic Front whose objective was to fight by means of arms to end the dictatorship of batista and, later, create a new Cuban constitution.

The guerrillas and the triumph of the Cuban revolution

We continue with this summary of the Cuban revolution, speaking of the key moment of this historical moment. The rebels were supported by the people and the businessmen, therefore, began to make the guerrillas from the Sierra and the Llano; but at first these advances were blocked by Batista's troops.

The rebel offensive began again from the center of the island and they managed to gain territory. The guerrillas jumped through different areas of the island that were well organized by the leading commanders like Ernesto Che Guevara or Cienfuegos until they managed to get Batista to go into exile abroad, leaving the government.

On January 8, 1959, Fidel Castro entered Havana as representative of the revolution and on the 16th he is appointed Prime Minister.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover the causes of the Cuban missile crisis.

Now that we know a little better the history of the Cuban revolution We are going to focus on one of the most important figures of this revolt: Ernesto Che Guevera or "Che", as it is commonly known. His figure has become an icon of social upheaval and his face is recognized by all parts of the world.

But Che Guevara was not Cuban, he was a Argentinian man who was born in 1928. I know licensed as a doctor in 1953 and began to work in politics with the aim of helping those most in need by traveling through many countries. This made him a direct witness of the great poverty that was lived in Latin America and, in one of his trips, he met Fidel Castro and decided to join his guerrilla.

At first, Che joined the Cuban revolution as a combat medic but, after the murder of 70 men, he decided to become one more guerrilla. He was one of Castro's right-handers and, together, they managed to improve guerrilla tactics in order to defeat Batista's dictatorial army.

With the triumph of the revolution, Che continued to be in favor of Fidel Castro and contributed in the first years of the island's political reforms. Acted as international representative of Cuba and it helped those countries that wanted to fight against capitalism and defend their own independence. He was also the author of some books on philosophy and politics where he explained his ideology as well as related his experiences as a guerrilla.

In 1967, Che Guevara was captured in Bolivia on one of his trips. This capture was supported by US forces and ended with his execution in October of the same year. This assassination elevated him as a symbol of revolutionary ideas and communism, being, now, a great figure in popular culture.

Now that you know the summary of the Cuban revolution, let's talk about one of the main protagonists of said revolt: Fidel Castro. Born in 1927, he was the son of a Spanish immigrant who had a sugar business on the island. He was left with the lands of his father and lived in first person the pacts that Fulgencio Batista made with Americans and seriously affected the country's economy and its main source of income: the sugar.

After trying to fight the dictatorial regime through the courts, Castro understood that the only way to To be able to end him was through an armed revolt and that is how he became the leader of the movement. He was imprisoned and exiled to Mexico after his first attempted revolt, but from there he was able to reorganize himself and come up with a better strategy for Cuban liberation.

In 1956 he returned to his island accompanied by 82 men, including his brother Raúl and Che Guevara. Of all of them, only 11 survivors were left, who spread out over the land and spread their ideology among the peasants, students, and bourgeoisie mistreated by capitalist policies of Cambric.

Thanks to the support that the Cuban revolution obtained from the Popular Socialist Party, the guerrillas They were able to win over Batista's army and, finally, Castro proclaimed himself the prime minister of Cuba in 1959. And what did he do as soon as he came to power?

• He tried to establish new commercial relations with the US but they ended up failing
• Due to this failure, Castro began to establish agreements with countries of the USSR
• Nationalized the resources of Cuba thus eliminating property and private enterprise
• Made a agrarian reform to collectivize properties
• He inaugurated the United Party of the Socialist Revolution which in 1965 was changed to Cuban Communist Party

Due to the communist policy of Castro, American companies began to fail and this made that in 1963 the commercial agreements that were still in force between Cuba and USA. This caused Castro to do the first declaration of Havana, an act that defended independence from American capitalism.

A year later, in 1961, the United States tried to overthrow Castro in an event known as eHe disembarked at the Bay of Pigs which was headed by Cuban exiles who did not agree with the ideology of the Cuban revolution. This attempt failed but served for Castro to further join the USSR, an alliance that increased tensions between the island and the United States that ended with the Cuban missile crisis.

If you want to read more articles similar to Cuban Revolution - Short Summary, we recommend that you enter our category of Story.