Cuban Revolution

For other uses, see Cuban Revolution (disambiguation).

Cuban Revolution

Fidel Castro and his men in the Sierra Maestra, 1956
Date26 July 1953 – 1 January 1959
(5 years, 5 months and 6 days)
Location
Cuba
Result

Rebel victory

Belligerents

 Cuba

Commanders and leaders
Strength
Republic of Cuba (1902–1959) 20,000 (1958) 3,000 (1958)
Casualties and losses
2,000 killed[1]
Arms captured:
 1,000 killed[1]
Thousands of civilians tortured and murdered by Batista's government; unknown number of people executed by the Rebel Army[3][4][5][6]
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The Cuban Revolution (Spanish: Revolución cubana) was the military and political overthrow of Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship, which had reigned as the government of Cuba between 1952 and 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, which saw Batista topple the nascent Cuban democracy and consolidate power. Among those opposing the coup was Fidel Castro, then a novice attorney who attempted to contest the coup through Cuba's judiciary. Once these efforts proved fruitless, Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl led an armed attack on the Cuban military's Moncada Barracks on 26 July 1953.

Following the attack's failure, Fidel Castro and his co-conspirators were arrested and formed the 26th of July Movement (M-26-7) in detention. At his trial, Fidel Castro launched into a two-hour speech that won him national fame as he laid out his grievances against the Batista dictatorship. In an attempt to win public approval, Batista granted amnesty to the surviving Moncada Barracks attackers and the Castros fled into exile. During their exile, the Castros consolidated their strategy in Mexico and subsequently reentered Cuba in 1956, accompanied by Che Guevara, whom they had encountered during their time in Mexico.

Returning to Cuba aboard the Granma, the Castros, Guevara, and other supporters encountered gunfire from Batista's troops. The rebels fled to the Sierra Maestra where the M-26-7 rebel forces would reorganize, conducting urban sabotage and covert recruitment. Over time the Popular Socialist Party, once the largest and most powerful organizations opposing Batista, would see its influence and power wane in favor of the 26th of July Movement. As the irregular war against Batista escalated, the rebel forces transformed from crude, guerrilla fighters into a cohesive fighting force that could confront Batista's army in military engagements. By the time the rebels were able to oust Batista, the revolution was being driven by a coalition between the Popular Socialist Party, the 26th of July Movement and the Revolutionary Directorate of 13 March.[7]

The rebels, led by the 26th of July Movement, finally toppled Batista on 31 December 1958, after which he fled the country. Batista's government was dismantled as Castro became the most prominent leader of the revolutionary forces. Soon thereafter, the 26th of July Movement established itself as the de facto government. Although Castro was immensely popular in the period immediately following Batista's ouster, he quickly consolidated power, leading to domestic and international tensions. 26 July 1953 is celebrated in Cuba as Día de la Revolución (from Spanish: "Day of the Revolution"). The 26th of July Movement later reformed along Marxist–Leninist lines, becoming the Communist Party of Cuba in October 1965.[8]

The Cuban Revolution had powerful and profound domestic and international repercussions. In particular, it shipwrecked Cuba–United States relations, although efforts to improve them, such as the Cuban thaw, gained momentum during the 2010s and have continued through the 2020s.[9][10] In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, Castro's government began a program of nationalization, centralization of the press and political consolidation that transformed Cuba's economy and civil society, angering sectors of the Cuban population and the American government.[11] In the aftermath of the revolution, Castro's authoritarianism in conjunction with the struggling economy lead to the Cuban Exodus as citizens fled the island, with the majority arriving in the United States.[12] The revolution also heralded an era of Cuban intervention in foreign conflicts in Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia,[13] and the Middle East, beginning on 24 April 1959 when Cuba tried and failed to invade Panama.[14][15] Several rebellions occurred between 1959 and 1965, mainly in the Escambray Mountains, which were suppressed by the revolutionary government.[16]

  1. ^ a b Dixon & Sarkees 2015, p. 98.
  2. ^ Jowett 2019, p. 309.
  3. ^ Bercovitch & Jackson 1997.
  4. ^ Singer & Small 1974.
  5. ^ Sivard 1987.
  6. ^ Delgado Legon, Elio (26 January 2017). "Massacres during Batista's Dictatorship". Havana Times. Managua, Nicaragua. Archived from the original on 9 November 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  7. ^ Kapcia 2021, p. 15–19.
  8. ^ "Cuba Marks 50 Years Since 'Triumphant Revolution'". All Things Considered. NPR. 1 January 2009. Archived from the original on 9 November 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  9. ^ Shifter, Michael (February 2016). "The US-Cuba Thaw and Hemispheric Relations" (PDF). Current History. 115 (778). University of California Press: 75–76. doi:10.1525/curh.2016.115.778.75. JSTOR 48614141. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  10. ^ Prevost, Gary (Winter 2011). "The Obama Administration and Cuba: The Clinton Administration Revisited". International Journal of Cuban Studies. 3 (4). Pluto Journals: 320–322. JSTOR 41945955. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  11. ^ Lazo 1968, p. 198–200.
  12. ^ Chomsky 2015, p. 75.
  13. ^ Chase, Michelle (1 May 2023). "Picturing Solidarity: Photography and Cuban Internationalism during the Vietnam War". Trans Asia Photography. 13 (1). Duke University Press. doi:10.1215/21582025-10365006. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2024. Open access icon
  14. ^ Domínguez 1989, p. 117.
  15. ^ Harmer, Tanya (Summer 2019). "The "Cuban Question" and the Cold War in Latin America, 1959–1964" (PDF). Journal of Cold War Studies. 21 (3). MIT Press: 126. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  16. ^ Brown, Jonathan (2 October 2017). "The Bandido Counterrevolution in Cuba, 1959-1965". fr:s:Nuevo Mundo, Mundos Nuevos [New World, New Worlds]. Mondes Américains. doi:10.4000/nuevomundo.71412. eISSN 1626-0252. Archived from the original on 30 October 2024. Retrieved 9 November 2024.