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The Cuban Revolution and Beyond...
A Somewhat Modern History of Cuba
Before we get to the
"modern" part, let's go
back a bit.
Christopher Columbus landed on the
island of Cuba and claimed the land for
Spain on his first voyage to the New World
in 1492.
Spain
ruled the
colony of
Cuba
until the
late
1800's
In December
1898, Cuba
gained
independence
from Spain.
For a while Cuba was under U.S. rule.
The United States helped them
establish a democracy and set up
elections.
In May of 1902,
Thomas
Estrada
Palma
became the
first President
of Cuba
The Platt Agreement of 1901
allowed the U.S. to build a naval
base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Now, let's fastforward 50 years...
In 1952, Fulgencia Batista, one of Cuba's former
presidents, decided he wanted to rule Cuba
again.
Thinking his chances of winning the election
were slim, he and his military friends staged
what is called a coup d'état, or military
takeover.
Batista called himself Prime
Minister, but in reality, he was a...
DICTATOR
While most of the
country lived in
poverty,
Batista encouraged
Americans to come
in and build hotels
and casinos.
Cuba became a
playground for
wealthy
Americans.
There were even rumors of
American organized crime activity
in Cuba at this time.
Enter
Fidel
Castro....
In July of 1953,
Castro tried to
stage a coup
d'état .
After leading un unsuccessful attack on the Monaco
barracks in Santiago de Cuba, Castro was captured,
tried, and thrown in jail. He defended himself by
saying,
"History will absolve me!"
In 1955, Fidel Castro was released from
prison. He hid in the mountains of Cuba,
waging guerrilla warfare on the government
for the next four years.
On January, 1959, Batista fled the country. On
January 8, Castro marched into Havana, and
became prime minister.
Although Castro promised free elections and
free press to Cubans, he soon took away
sugarcane plantations from American owners,
took over American-owned businesses, and
shut down all the casinos. Americans thought
of him as Anti-American.
Then, in 1960,
Castro signed a
trade deal with the
Soviet Union, who
had a strained
relationship with
the U.S.
A year later, President
Eisenhower broke off
diplomatic relations with
Cuba. Tensions increased.
In April 1961, the United States trained some Cuban
exiles, transported them to the Bay of Pigs in Cuba,
and attempted to overthrow Castro. To the
embarrassment of the U.S....
They failed.
In 1961, Castro declares himself a Communist.
In 1962, he allows the Soviet Union to install ballistic
missiles on Cuban soil, capable of carrying nuclear
warheads.
Reconnaissance air
photos show these
missiles, close
enough to reach the
U.S.
In October of 1962, the United States held its
breath for fifteen days,
an event later known as the
Cuban Missile Crisis.
The U.S. launched a naval blockade.
No ships could get in or out of the
waters around Cuba.
Negotiations resolved
the issue:
• The Cuban missiles would
be removed.
• U.S. missiles in Turkey
would be removed.
• The U.S. would no longer
try to overthrow Castro.
• The U.S. would end the
blockade.
That year, the United States began an
EMBARGO
against Cuba. We refused to do trade with
them. This embargo continues today.
Support from the Soviet Union was
important to Cuba's economy. When the
USSR collapsed in the 1990's, Cuba's
economy suffered greatly.