the cuban revolution

Question 1

Some of the statistics on conditions under President Batista

Answer 1

• 20% of cubans were permanently unemployed
  - 1.5%
of landowners controlled 46% of the land
  - 50% of the population had no electricity

Question 2

Political conditions under President Batista

Answer 2

• The resentment of the corrupt and tyrannical government
• Abolished Cuba’s constitution
• Dissolved Cuba’s congress/parliament
• Only supported old politicians, the wealthy and the Americans.

Question 3

Economic conditions under President Batista

Answer 3

• Economic distress
• All stores, bars & commercial establishments were forced to contribute regularly to the local police precincts, which were also heavily involved in prostitution, gambling and drugs.
• High national wealth → was not equally distributed
• Mono Economy → relied heavily on the sugar industry.
• American investors controlled 90% of Cuba’s tobacco industry and most of the large Cuban businesses.

Question 4

Social conditions under president batista

Answer 4

• 1.5 million people​ → R​ural Poor
  ○ High unemployment, the brink of starvation, malnourished, poorly dressed children were common on the streets.
• 3.5 million people​ → L​ow/Middle Class
  ○ Economic dependence on the US meant the cost of living was high.
• 900 000 people​ → ​Wealthy
  ○ Benefited from 43% of the national income.

Question 5

What was the state of Havana, Cuba during Batista’s dictatorship, and how did it affect the local population and economy?

Answer 5

During Batista’s dictatorship, Cuba’s Havana was a playground for the wealthy. Cuba’s tourism and casino industries were dominated by the American mafia. The staggering difference in wealth and opportunity was met with frequent revolts and demonstrations, which were repressed by Batista’s armed forces. Cuba had become a police-state ruled by a dictator and run largely as a profit-making enterprise for dubious American companies.

Question 6

causes of the revolution

Answer 6

Corruption + Reforms + America + Poverty

Question 7

causes of the revolution: An economically advancing society

Answer 7

Conditions where industrialisation, transport communication created conflicts, opportunities, and pressures for a new kind of government.

Question 8

Growing class conflict

Answer 8

An environment where although society has advanced and grown richer overall, wealth is not evenly shared; some people become exceptionally rich while others remain exceptionally poor.

Question 9

A growing class of intelligent people

Answer 9

Teachers, doctors and lawyers who begin to question the way society is governed and why wealth is unevenly shared.

Question 10

Government intransigence

Answer 10

A government unwilling to listen to the complaints of the people and retuses to reform or change the system.

Question 11

Corrupt and inefficient government

Answer 11

Which is easier to challenge.

Question 12

Financial crisis

Answer 12

In this case. the Great Depression which made life worse for the middle and lower classes, posing an immediate challenge to the government, exposing its inefficiency.

Question 13

How did the revolution begin? i.e how did the key players, castro, kickstart the revolution?

Answer 13

• Fidel Castro was a lawyer at the time and opened a small practice in Havana where most of his clients were poor Cubans, many of whom he represented free of charge.
  - Batista’s administration controlled the legal and justice systems + no fair elections → Castro had no other option than to declare an armed struggle to overthrow the president.
  - Fidel Castro’s brother Raúl Castro joined the movement and was a communist.

Question 14

Moncada attack

Answer 14

July 26 1953 (26 July movement)

Question 15

Details of the moncada attack

Answer 15

• The Official start of the Cuban revolution
• Plan for an assault on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago, two other nearby civilian targets, and the Cespedes camp in Bayamo.
  → Storm the barracks while many Moncada soldiers were celebrating the annual carnival.
  → If the immediate objective failed, the rebels would retire to the mountains to begin Guerilla war against the regime:
• Consisted of untrained and poorly armed combatants
  → Ranged from wealthy families to middle-class to poor
  → Multi-racial, ethnically diverse
  → A common goal to end Batista’s regime

Question 16

Aftermath of the Moncada attack

Answer 16

• The attack ultimately failed
  → Government troops repelled attacks (outnumbered revolutionaries).
  → 9 rebels and 19 soldiers died in buttle
  → Immediate aftermath: 80 captured, 68 rebels tortured and killed.
• Fidel was sentenced to 15 years of prision, Raul sentenced to thirteen, however following an amnesty (pardon of crimes). Both were released after only 18 months
• Moncada failed but it provided a source of inspiration and motivation to continue the armed struggle

Question 16

Exile to Mexico

Answer 16

7 July 1955
- Castro and his brother went in exile to Mexico for 17 months → Castro was determined to launch an invasion of Cuba from foreign soil.
- Here he gathered more cubans to fight in the Revolution
- Gained support and developed a plan
The castro brothers met Che guevara who joined the revolutionary cause


Question 17

The creation of the communist state

Answer 17

• Hostility of the United States and the need for economic aid from the Soviet Union encouraged Castro to embrace communist ideas of a centralised, planned economy and government ownership of key industries.

Question 17

Granma invasion

Answer 17

• November 1956 Castro recieves money from a sympathetic Cuban politician, and used it to buy a yacht called the Granma.
  - Castro and his followers landed on a beach in Cuba’s south-east on 2 December 1956.
  - The rebels moved inland and took refuge from Batista’s police and military forces in the remote Sierra Maestra mountains.

Question 18

How did the US government respond to the Cuban government’s establishment of relations with the Soviet Union in 1960?

Answer 18

In October 1959, an unofficial soviet representative arrived in Cuba to establish a direct link between the soviet and Cuban governments.


→ In 1960 the Cuban government signed a trade treaty and resumed full diplomatic relations with the soviets.
The US government responded to this development by establishing a series of secret action plans to overthrow the Cuban government, and by imposing a full-scale economic blockade of Cuba.

Question 19

Ideology of Fidel Castro

Answer 19

• Guevara and Castro were both staunch Marxists (communists) and great admirers of political developments in the Soviet Union.
• Fidel Castro soon abandoned some of his pre-1959 ideals in order to create stronger bonds with the powerful Soviet Union, Guevara did not back down from denouncing the Soviet government for what he thought was failed communism.

Question 20

Ideology of Guevara

Answer 20

• After the revolution, Guevara expanded on his Marxist philosophy
  In his role as finance minister in Castro’s government, he was responsible for some of Cuba’s boldest experiments in social justice. He was however idealistic, and was often criticised for lacking an understanding of economics.
• Castro soon realised that Guevara’s devotion to Marxism could be a threat to the Cuban-Soviet relationship
  → In 1955 Guevara had been fired from his government post, renounced nis honorary Cuban citizenship, and left Cuba.
• He remained committed to spreading the communist revolution, and advocated support for revolutionary movements across Latin America and in Africa.
  - He was executed by officials in Bolivia while trying to organise a guerilla army there in 1967.

Question 21

Influence on Latin America

Answer 21

Castro’s Cuba was seen as a model for Latin America, leading to a rise in rural guerrilla conflict and urban terrorism.

Question 22

Nature of Guerilla Warfare

Answer 22

• Castro’s revolutionaries worked hard to win over the poor local farming population of Sierra Maestra
  → They treated the farmer’s fairly, and helped build schools and educate the populationion about the rights they should have.
• During their time in the jungle, the group’s members barely numbered more than 200.
  → They managed to evade arrest by avoiding major battles, specialising instead in ‘hit and run’ tactics.
  Batista had more than 30 000 soldiers and police officers, but Castro recognised that many of them were not committed to the fight.
  → They were conscripts or else they had joined the army only because it provided an income, clothes, and food.
  → Castro adopted a strategy of releasing captured government forces after they surrendered and gave up their weapons → Won sympathy in some of Batistas soldiers and also helped arm the rebels.

Question 23

Battle of Santa Clara

Answer 23

15 December 1958 - One of the most significant moments of the guerilla campaign.

The two legendary figures of Fidel Castro’s army - Ernesto Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos were in charge of the two guerilla columns that attacked the city of Santa Clara, Cuba’s third largest city and the capital of Las villas province.
- Batista tried to crush Castro’s forces by heavy-handed military tactics, random arrests and raiding towns → This only created more opposition for the Batista regime.

Question 24

The end of 1958

Answer 24

• The US began to favour Castro
• The United States, which up until this point had armed Batista’s military, stopped supplying weapons.
  - Batista realised that his time was up and on New Year’s Eve 1958, Batista and his aides fled cuba.

Question 25

1 January 1959

Answer 25

Castro and his revolutionaries enter Havana, claiming victory, with no the police and military doing nothing to stop it.

Question 26

Aftermath of the revolution: Land reform

Answer 26

Castro promised the new government would give land to the landless peasants and the previous owners of the land that was stolen.

May 17, 1959​ → unveiled a new farmland reform law
○ Farms were limited to 1000 acres
○ State farms would be operated by a new agency, The Institute of Agrarian Reform.
○ The reform threatened the interest of the powerful parts of Cuban society → triggered the first opposition to Castro’s regime.
○ The wealthy Cuban families purchased radio and television time to attack the government. They resorted to economic sabotage (overharvesting of crops, poor maintenance, killing of livestock, etc.)

Question 27

Aftermath of the revolution: Creation of a communist state

Answer 27

• Castro, who was originally against communism decided to not make the comments anymore as he wanted the communist party’s support.
• Government began to question how much authority the communists should have
  Castro targeted medium sized agricultural estates for expropriation (taking private property for public use)
  ○ Cattle ranches were sealed, new laws provided firmer control and higher taxes for foreign owned businesses.

The drift between Cuba and America grew as radical measures began to increase such as land reform and a growing relationship between Cuba and the communist party.
A friendship between Cuba and the Soviet Union began.

Question 28

Monroe doctrine

Answer 28

Disagreement over communism and John F. Kennedy believed that America needed to enforce the Monroe Doctrine ​(declared that the United States would not allow European countries to interfere with independent governments in the Americas) on Cuba.

Question 29

Eisenhower halts US exports to Cuba and seizes remaining US owned companies in Cuba

Answer 29

October 1960

Question 30

Bay of Pigs Invasion

Answer 30

• Failed operation on south-western coast of Cuban that was made up by Cuban exiles
• Financed and directed by the US

Question 30

3 January 1961

Answer 30

US breaks off diplomatic relations with Cuba and Kennedy wins 1961 election - begins to plan secret invasion on Cuba

○ Set up ‘Alliance for Progress’ → multimillion dollar aid package to Latin American countries in an attempt to build up good ties to the region before invading Cuba.

Question 31

15 April 1961

Answer 31

• Several planes bombed Cuban airfields and military headquarters
• Invaders were met with heavy resistance and the Cuban air force delivered a crushing blow to invaders

Question 32

18 April 1961

Answer 32

Intruders are surrounded and invasion fails
- Castro’s forces capture 1180 prisoners and 129 invaders were killed

Question 33

Operation Mongoose

Answer 33

• Initiated following the failure of the bay of pigs
• A plan to destablise Cuban government

Question 34

Ways CIA tried to kill Castro

Answer 34

The CIA had tried to kill castro over 600 times over 40 years according to former head of Cuban intelligence

Including: exploding cigars, putting chemicals into his shoes that would seep into his skin and make his beard fall off , the painted seashells they planned to hide explosives into a large seashell and paint it, castro’s lover was hired to become a double agent and kill castro

Question 35

International reactions

Answer 35

• Cuba is seen as a model for Latin America
• From 1962, Cuban foreign policy provided support for guerrilla movements in Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru, and Venezuela.
  - This reflected the principle of internationalism, aiming for world revolution rather than just one country’s revolution.

Question 36

The organisation of American states

Answer 36

Imposed economic sanctions on Cuba is 1964 to combat Cuba’s impact

Question 37

The organisation of Latin American solidarity

Answer 37

• established to encourage similar revolutions in Latin America.
• Chile established economic relations with Cuba in 1968.
• Cuba supported Marxist Sandinista government in Nicaragua (1979-1990)
• In the 1970s and 1980s, Cuba provided training and weapons to leftist rebels in El Salvador
  Cuban support of Argentina during the Falklands war strengthened relations between the two countries.

Question 38

Relations with USA

Answer 38

President Eisenhower (34th US president) and the US never supported revolutionary groups coming to power.
→ Interested in Castro because of the corruption of Batista’s regime
→ Strong criticism about Cuba coming from America
Castro wasn’t interested in financial aid coming from the US.
Sugar was Cuba’s main source of revenue and the US normally purchased most of it.
Talks about providing financial aid began but ended when US-based Cuban exiles in Florida created small scale bombings in Cuba.
The US was displeased when the Soviet Union bought large amounts of Cuban sugar.
May 1960 → US passed a bill reducing their imports of Cuban sugar, and Castro saw this as a ‘declaration of economic war.’

Question 39

The platt amendment

Answer 39

• an amendment in 1902 to the Cuban constitution that gave the US legal rights to intervene in Cuba to protect ‘life, property, and individual liberties.’
• When Cuba became independent, the US insisted on Cuba agreeing to the amendment in return for Cuba leasing and selling land to the US that was needed for naval buses.
  Lead to US involvement in Cuba’s political affairs impacting quality of life.
• Cuba’s strategic importance to the US was due to trade and land benefits.

Question 40

The cuban missile crisis

Answer 40

The thirteen day (16 October 1962 - 29 October 1962) diplomatic crisis between the three nations surrounded the decision to set up Soviet nuclear missile bases aimed at the US.

Question 41

Details behind cuban missile crisis

Answer 41

• Castro increasingly relied on the Soviet Union’s assistance to help the Cuban economy and to help ensure the survival of his revolution.
• During 1962, the soviet union implemented Operation Anadyr, which resulted in a large influx of Soviet Union military hardware into Cuba to help in the defence of the island.
• One element of this military hardware, nuclear missiles, set off a diplomatic emergency in October known as the Cuban Missile crisis. pushing tensions between the US, Cuba and Soviet union to their peak.
• The missiles were discovered in October 1962 through American spy planes.

Question 42

Why did the Cuban missile crisis end?

Answer 42

The Americans and Soviets had exchanged letters and other communications throughout the crisis and on October 26, Khrushchev sent a message to Kennedy in which he offered to withdraw the missiles in exchange for US leaders to not invade Cuba.

Question 43

Outcomes of the cuban missile crisis

Answer 43

After the missile crisis, tension between Cuba and America began to ease, however the relationship was severely damaged.

In 1962, Cuba was also suspended from the organisation of American states and for the remainder of the 20th century, the US government continued to enforce harsh trade embargoes on Cuba. greatly increasing challenges of Cuban modernisation.

Question 44

Outcome of Kennedy after cmc

Answer 44

Kennedy had restored his reputation from the Bay of pigs debacle and was revered as a symbol or strength in a time of crisis.

Question 45

Outcome of Khrushchev after cmc

Answer 45

Khrushchev was perceived by his colleagues as weak for falling to stand strong against Kennedy The humiliation proved to be the catalyst for his political demise in October 1964.

Question 46

Legacy of Cuban revolution

Answer 46

• health care
• land reform
• education reform
• Cuba became a sovereign state free from colonial powers
• Peace since spanish arrival in 1943
• Inoculation programs → ​help their high infant mortality rate.
• Elimination of Mafia in Cuba
  ○ Gambling and casinos were removed
• Removed racial segregation

Question 47

Outcome of Castro after cmc

Answer 47

Castro suffered no loss in popularity for his role in the crisis, but he was now alert to the dangers of becoming embroiled in international power conflicts.

Question 48

Negative legacy of the cuban revolution

Answer 48

1960s → Castro is still imprisoning/persecuting homosexuals, historians, activists etc

Castro is regarded as one of the most oppressive leaders in 20th century history

Question 49

Education reform

Answer 49

Literary rates decreased → ​before: 23.6% | after: 4%

Question 50

Land reform

Answer 50

Farms were limited to 1000 acres
○ New government would give land to the landless peasants as well as paying back previous owners for the land that had been overtaken.
- redistribution of land owned by wealthy and poor