Military history of Cuba

The military history of Cuba is an aspect of the history of Cuba that spans several hundred years and encompasses the armed actions of Spanish Cuba while it was part of the Spanish Empire and the succeeding Cuban republics.

From the 16th to 18th centuries, organized militia companies made up the bulk of Cuba's armed forces. These forces helped maintain the territorial integrity of Spanish Cuba, and later, assisted the Spanish Army in its expeditionary action throughout North America. These forces were later supplanted by Spanish regulars in the 19th century, with Cuba being used as a major base of operations for Spain during the Spanish American wars of independence.

The latter half of the 19th century saw three Cuban wars of independence launched against the Spanish colonial government. The final conflict for independence escalated to the Spanish–American War and resulted in the American occupation of Cuba from 1898 to 1902.

After the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and communist takeover by Fidel Castro, Cuba became involved in several Cold War conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, where it supported Marxist governments and fought against Western proxies. Castro's Cuba had some 39,000–40,000 military personnel abroad by the late 1970s, with the bulk of the forces in Sub-Saharan Africa but with some 1,365 stationed in the Middle East and North Africa.^[1] Cuban forces in Africa were mainly black and mulatto (mixed-race Spanish/African).^[2] The loss of East European subsidies at the end of the Cold War weakened the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.

^ Suchlicki, Jaime (1989). The Cuban Military Under Castro. Transaction Publishers. p. 41.
^ Eckstein, Susan (1994). Back from the Future: Cuba Under Castro. Princeton University Press. p. 187.

[1] Suchlicki, Jaime (1989). The Cuban Military Under Castro. Transaction Publishers. p. 41.

[2] Eckstein, Susan (1994). Back from the Future: Cuba Under Castro. Princeton University Press. p. 187.

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