HIST136: Cuban Revolution 1

Latin American Revolutions in the 20th Century

• Driven by national independence, autonomy, and Marxist principles.
• Focus on the Cuban Revolution and Nicaraguan Revolution. Other revolutions occurred with similar characteristics.

Key Points of Latin American Revolutions

• Intervention of Outside Forces: Latin American Revolutions had high intervention from outside forces.
• National and International Phenomenon: The Cuban Revolution was both a national and international phenomenon.
• American Interests: American interests had intervened in Cuba well before the 1950s.
• Revolutionary Reflection: The revolution reflected the past (colonial and postcolonial impacts) and the present (Cold War).
• Impact of a Single Revolutionary: Fidel Castro demonstrates the impact a single revolutionary can wield.

State of Cuba Before the Revolution

• Most of Latin America experienced revolutions in the 20th century.

• Independence from Spain: Many nations gained independence from Spain in the 19th century, led by figures like Simon Bolivar.

  • Simon Bolivar led liberation struggles against Spanish rule.
  • Example locations include Bolivia, Venezuela and other places.

• Monroe Doctrine (1820s): U.S. President James Monroe declared European colonizers unwelcome in Latin America.

  • Warning off the British and the French in particular from filling the vacuum left by Spanish withdrawal.

• Cultural Influence: Latin American culture focused on European styles, marginalizing indigenous populations.

• Role of the Catholic Church: The Catholic Church was very strong and influential.

• Elites and Military: Increase in elites, powerful militaries, and brutal treatment of popular insurrections.

Cuban Nationalism

• Late Independence: Cuba remained a Spanish colony until the end of the 1890s.

• Jose Marti: By the 1880s, Jose Marti called for independence from Spain for Cuba.

  • Marti worked as a journalist in the U.S. and promoted changes based on American democracy.
  • Marti united different groups interested in Cuban independence.
  • Marti was killed in Cuba in 1895 while leading an independent struggle against the Spanish.

• Marti’s Emphasis on Equilibrium:

  • Quote: "The republic should not just be the unjust predomination of one class of citizens over the rest, but the open and sincere equilibrium of all the real forces of the country and of the thoughts and desires of all the citizens."
  • Following the traditions of The US Founding Fathers.

• Marti's Ideology:

  • Marti was not a Marxist, but sympathized with workers.
  • Marti became a hero for Cuban nationalists, including Castro.

U.S. Involvement

• Initial Neutrality: The U.S. initially declared neutrality in the conflict between Cuban nationalists and Spain.

• Economic Interests: The U.S. had $50 million invested in Cuban agriculture, particularly sugar cultivation.

• Spanish-American War (1898): The U.S. declared war against Spain.

• Marti's View on Political Revolution:

  • Quote: "When politics has its object merely changing its form in a country without changing the conditions of injustice in which the inhabitants suffer… the duty of the honest man will never be to stand aside and permit unchained corruption."

• Outcomes of the War:

  • The war lasted ten weeks; Spain granted Cuban independence.
  • Teller Amendment (1898): The U.S. declared it didn't intend to remain in Cuba.
  • Platt Amendment (1901): Gave the U.S. limited occupation rights and the right to intervene in Cuba.
  • U.S. occupation of Guantanamo Bay emerged from this amendment.

U.S. Influence

• Economic and Political Interference: Heavy interference by the U.S. in Cuba’s economy and politics.

• Pro-American President (1902): A pro-American president was elected.

• Interventions: Further interventions occurred in 1906-1909, 1912, and 1917.

• Dependence on Sugar: U.S. investments led to a greater dependence on sugar in the Cuban economy.

  • By 1927, there was $1 billion$ of U.S. investments in Cuba.
  • Political interventions led to authoritarian governments.
  • Sugar became $85\%$ of Cuban exports by the 1950s.

• Monoculture Economy: Cuba became a monocultural economy dependent on sugar.

Social Unrest

• Peasant Farmers: Expansion of sugar pushed peasant farmers off their lands.

• Sugar Proletariat: Thomas Wright refers to a sugar proletariat created between the 1920s and 1950s.

  • Workers had steady work only during the four to five-month harvest period.

• Radical Resistance (1933): Sugar mills were seized, and General Machado’s government was overthrown.

• U.S. Refusal: The U.S. refused to recognize the new reformist government under Ramon Grasse Martin.

• Fulgencio Batista: Fulgencio Batista took charge of Cuba between 1933 and 1944, seen as a puppet of the U.S.

• Racial Discrimination: Substantial racial discrimination and social deprivation suffered by black Cubans.

• Corruption: Lack of faith in Cuban institutions due to corruption.

• Wright's Analysis:

  • Quote: "US domination of Cuba, subjugation to a vulnerable sugar economy, strong cleavages in the social fabric and the absence of legitimacy that characterized Cuba's political system all gave Fidel Castro and other opponents ample material with which to build a mass following."

Revolutionary Examples

• Other Latin American Revolutions: Cuban revolutionaries were accused of not going far enough compared to efforts elsewhere.
• Examples: Revolutions and challenges to American intervention in Mexico (Emilia De Zapata), Bolivia (Estenzoro), and Nicaragua (Cesar Augusto Sandino).

Batista's Unpopularity

• Economic Prosperity: Batista oversaw a prosperous economic period which mostly benefitted American investors.
• Military Coup (1952): Batista launched a military coup to regain power.
• Resistance Movements: Resistance movements grew in universities and elsewhere.
• Repressive Actions: Growth of censorship, closure of campuses, arrests, and assassinations.

Fidel Castro

• Background: Castro had a prosperous upbringing and was educated in Havana.

• Legal Career: Became a lawyer in the early 1950s.

• 1952 Elections: Stood as a candidate but was overtaken by Batista’s coup.

• Moncada Barracks Assault (1953): Led an attempted assault on the Moncada army barracks.

  • It was a failure, and Castro was arrested.
  • He defended himself in court, invoking Jose Marti and denouncing U.S. economic domination.
  • He had already been influenced by Marxist thought.
  • Sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

Continued Unrest

• Economic Issues: Despite the apparently prosperous economy, discontent grew as inflation damaged income.
• Middle Class: Middle class Cubans experienced a decline in income.
• Wealthy Cubans: Wealthier Cubans invested their money overseas.
• Discrimination: Women and black Cubans continued to suffer discrimination.
• Amnesty: Castro was released after eleven months under a general amnesty encouraged by the U.S.

Second Insurrection Attempt

• Meeting Che Guevara: Castro left for Mexico and met Che Guevara.

• Planning: They began planning a further insurrection in Cuba in 1956.

• Failed Landing: Second attempt at insurrection in 1956 with 81 others.

  • Most supporters were killed or captured; only 15 escaped, including Castro.
  • Maintained contact with revolutionary groups in Havana.

Guerrilla Insurgency

• Building Guerrilla Army: Built up a guerrilla insurgency from bases in the mountains.
• Military Response: Authorities attempted to isolate guerrillas by setting up camps for peasants, which backfired.
• Growth of Army: By 1959, Castro had built up a guerrilla army of about 50,000 people.

Myth of the Heroic Guerrilla

• Rural Campaign: The rural guerrilla campaign was portrayed as the only element of the Cuban revolution.
• Activity in Cities: Considerable activity continued in Havana and other cities, helping destabilize Batista's regime.
• Castro’s Image: Tied Castro's work to that of Marty in the 1890s.

Building a New Cuban Society

• Inclusion of Women: Castro included women as guerrillas, setting an example of commitment to a new Cuban society.
• U.S. Loses Faith: By 1958, the U.S. had lost faith in Batista and stopped sending arms.
• Batista Flees: Batista transferred money overseas and fled to the Dominican Republic; the army surrendered.
• Castro's Victory (January 1959): Castro entered Savannah, promising a new Cuban society.
• Mobilizing Mass Opposition: Castro's victory resulted from mobilizing mass opposition to Batista’s regime.

Post-Revolution Cuba

• Denial of Communism: Castro denied he was a communist in 1959.

• Catholic Background: Stressed his Catholic background.

• Cuban Communist Party: The Cuban Communist Party disavowed Castro and only began to support him as he gained traction.

• M26-7 Goals: Earlier reforms matched the goals of Castro's M26-7 (national sovereignty, economic interdependence, social justice, education).

• Early Reforms: Aimed at popular wishes and needs, benefitting the rural and urban poor at the expense of elites.

  • Nationalized telephone company to reduce costs.
  • Forced the sale of empty lots and cut rents in urban areas.

• Agrarian Reform (May 1959): Limited landholding to 1000 acres (3333 for sugar, rice, or livestock).

  • Land reclaimed was sold off to the Cuban peasantry.
  • Foreign ownership of agricultural land was prohibited.

Literacy Campaign (1961)

• Illiteracy: Seen as the ultimate source of exploitation.
• Education: $Education = Index: Political: Oppression$
• Campaign: Schools were closed so school children could teach peasants to read.
• Scale: 100,000 school children and more teachers did literacy work.
• Political Tool: Literacy became a revolutionary tool, teaching political lessons of Castro’s movement.

Moderate Principles

• Provisional Government: Named other people as President and Prime Minister; Castro remained military commander in chief.
• Herbert Matthews: The New York Times journalist portrayed Castro as a reformer.
• Nationalist Focus: The first year of the Cuban revolutionary government was fundamentally nationalist.

Shift to Socialism

• Deterioration of Relations: American Cuban relations deteriorated during 1960.
• American Imperialism: Increasingly seen as the main problem and threat to Cuba.
• Transformation Date: The transformation of revolution to more fully socialist and communist aims followed only in 1961.

Castro's Actions

• Contradictions: Castro’s actions contradicted elements of his representation.
• Executions: Hundreds of Batista era officials were arrested, tried, and executed.
• Marginalization: Existing parties were marginalized.
• Prime Minister: Castro took over as Prime Minister in February 1959 and abandoned planned elections.
• By December 1961 declared himself to be a Marxist Leninist.

Cold War Context

• American-Soviet Tensions: All this was going on at the height of American Soviet tensions in the Cold War.
• Distrust: Cubans distrusted American influence.
• Antagonization: The agrarian reform antagonized The United States.
• Boycott: The purchase of Cuban sugar by the USSR led to tit for tat actions by The US and Cuba.

Hostility between America and Cuba

• Bay of Pigs: Eisenhower endorses the Bay of Pigs invasion with the hope that this will destabilize the Castro regime.
• Missile Crisis: In 1962, Soviet missiles were installed in Cuba, provoking the Cuban missile crisis.

Outcomes

• Security: These confrontations ultimately ensured Cuba's security from US military intervention in 1962.
• Dependence: The Cubans are effectively dependent on Soviet support for their ongoing security.
• Consolidation: The failure of US intervention confirmed the Cuban revolution's successful rejection of US control and enabled Castro to consolidate his social revolution.
• Education: Education was brought entirely under state direction, while political rivals were steadily, removed.
• Changes: All this brought about remarkable changes in Cuban society in the rest of the twentieth century.
• Castro Steps Down: Castro eventually stepped down from control of Cuba only in the 2010's with increasing old age.