Even though Fidel Castro’s well-known mutinous and seditious ascend to power impacted the 1960s, the seeds of the Cuban Revolution and his rise to authority were planted during the 1950s. Dreadful conditions in Cuba became widespread and existent during the '50s when, “Fulgencio Batista, an oppressive dictator, a leader who uses force and terror to maintain control, ruled Cuba” (“Castro, Fidel” 82-91). According to professor Marjorie Cohn, Batista came to power illegally in 1952 through a sudden and violent takeover of the Cuban government known as a “coup d'état.” Under his rule, unemployment skyrocketed, government corruption became prevalent, and Cuban citizens felt oppressed. However, even though most Cuban citizens despised him, Batista …show more content…
After all, he was a good-looking, defiant, and intelligent young lawyer interested in politics and rebellion (“Castro, Fidel” 82-91). As stated by the History.com article, “Fidel Castro,” Castro’s revolution began in July of 1953, when he led over 100 guerilla fighters to attack the Moncada army camp in Santiago. Unfortunately, the attack backfired completely, and Castro was captured and sentenced to jail for 15 years while Batista's regime killed many of his guerrillas. However, after 2 years, Castro was discharged. He fled to Mexico, where he began to plot his next revolt. Then, in 1956, “Castro and 81 other men sailed on the yacht “Granma” to the eastern coast of Cuba, where government forces immediately ambushed them. The estimated 18 survivors, including Castro, fled deep into the Sierra Maestra Mountains in southeastern Cuba with virtually no weapons or supplies” (“Fidel Castro” History). The same website article then states that in 1957, Castro met with new revolutionists critical of Batista. With these new supporters, he continued to rebel by using new and improved guerilla war tactics, and they began winning both minor and major battles against Batista’s regime. As stated by Castro himself, “We’d take out the men in the front, attack the center, and then ambush the rear when it started retreating, in the terrain we’d chosen.” With …show more content…
Despite of Castro’s main diplomatic goal to break off ties with the U.S., he did not hesitate to be supported by the Soviet Union. More specifically, the online article, “Fidel Castro Biography,” says that Cuba depended on the U.S.S.R. to help it's national defense, as well as to trade and buy oil. In addition, Cuba depended on the Soviet Union to help improve its citizens standard of living, as well as trade of firearms (“Fidel Castro”). However, relations did not remain simple forever. In 1962, Castro secretly welcomed Soviet Union tomahawk missiles on Cuban grounds, just off the coast of Florida in order to prevent another U.S. attack, and in response to U.S. nuclear missiles stationed in Turkey and Italy. These missiles were capable of dropping atomic bombs on U.S. cities, and, suddenly, the world was on the verge of nuclear war. Fortunately, after a scary 13-day confrontation between the countries, Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union, negotiated with the U.S. and removed nuclear-armed Soviet missiles from Cuba in exchange for U.S. withdrawal of its current missiles in Turkey and Italy, and to no longer attempt to overthrow Castro (“Fidel Castro”). The crisis not only impacted the 1960s era by provoking fear among people all over the world, but it also forever changed the testing of nuclear warfare in the years to come. Through its friendly yet
In 1950, an opposition movement arose in Cuba. It aimed to overthrow the government which was under the rule of the dictator Fulgencio Batista, who had controlled Cuba since the early 1933’s. The leader of the movement was Fidel Castro. In 1954 Fidel and his brother Raul teamed up
This led castro to invite the soviet union to install short-and intermediate-range missiles in cuba to prevent further US intrusions. Kennedy responded by ordering a blockade to stop Soviet ships from supplying the missiles, if the blockade was unsuccessful then the United States would order air Strikes all across Cuba. The world was on the verge of nuclear war but the United States and the Soviet Union were able to reach a compromise. The soviets agreed to remove the deadly missiles, while Kennedy agreed to not invade cuba any further and promised to dismantle missiles that were pointed at the soviet Union in Turkey. The two countries also signed a Partial Nuclear TEst Ban Treaty, this treaty prevented both countries from testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere
The event of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war. Fifteen years into the cold war, the two superpowers continued the fierce competition to increase their military strength. In 1962, the Soviet Union was desperately behind the United States in the nuclear arms race. Soviet missiles were only powerful enough to be launched against Europe, whereas the US missiles were capable of striking the entire Soviet Union. In late April 1962, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev conceived the idea of placing intermediate-range missiles in Cuba which would double the Soviet strategic arsenal and provide a real deterrent to a potential U.S. attack against the Soviet Union. The fate of millions
On February 16, 1959 Fidel Castro was sworn in as prime minister of Cuba. Cuba was the first communist state on the west side of the world. Castro has had more than 600 assassination attempts on him. His fight for prime minister of Cuba was not an easy task for him. He had to fight for it. Castro led 160 of his men in a attack on Moncada Barracks. His plan was to take weapons and tell of his revolution from the Barracks radio station, but most of his men died and Castro got arrested and put on trial for trying to overthrow the Cuban government. He argued that he was trying to make a democracy in Cuba but he still got 15 years in prison. Then two years later prime minister Batista let him got because he felt that Castro wouldn’t try attacking the Cuban government again. He later went to his brother Raul in Mexico and planned another attack on the Cuban government, but with only had 81 people to fight with him. On December 2, 1956 his 81 men landed on the Cuban coast. All but Castro, Raul, and ten other were killed or captured. Then they retreated and started guerrilla warfare on the Cuban government and caused
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a dangerous and direct confrontation in the year 1962 between the Soviet Union and the United States over the existence of missile sites in Cuba. Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet premier positioned Soviet military missile in Cuba that had come under the Soviet power since the victory of the Cuban Revolution (Lockwood, Lockwood and Lockwood 15). This crisis occurred during the cold war and was the instant when the two superior powers came nearer to the nuclear conflict. The crisis was distinct in a number of ways featuring miscalculations and calculations as well as secret and direct miscommunications and communications among the two sides. The dramatic catastrophe was also featured by the fact that it was mainly played out at the Kremlin level and the white house with relatively diminutive input from the respective bureaucracies normally included in the foreign policy process (Blight., et al 64). This essay will discuss the Cuban Missile Crisis and the impact of the United States and Russia.
The Great Gatsby is a book that almost proves the phrase “Money can’t buy happiness”
Fulgencio Batista, the son of poor farmers in Cuba, was elected president in 1940. At the beginning , he greatly improved the education and economy. However, his term ended in 1944, when he moved to Florida. During that time, corruption made its way back to Cuba, so Fulgencio;s return through an overthrow of the government was widely welcomed by the people. To their astonishment, he returned as an oppressive, cruel dictator, embezzling money, favoring corruption , managing to be hated by the majority of the Cuban population.
The relationship between Castro and Khrushchev was cemented between 1959-1962 as the Soviets gained Castro’s trust by buying Cuban sugar crops two years in advance, as well as accepting trade and economic assistance (Nathan 38). The Soviet surface to air missiles (SAMs) began being shipped to Cuba in the spring of 1962, in response to the U.S. Jupiter missiles placed in Turkey (Nathan 75). Eventually, the two nations would sign the Russia-Cuba Pact in August, 1962, and the shipment of Soviet medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) began (Nathan xxiv). “Fidel Castro accepted the Russian arguments that Cuba needed to accept missiles for its self-defense. Castro did not accept the logic but, as a member of the Soviet Bloc, felt Cuba had a duty to sustain socialism….(Nathan 76).”
Fidel Castro was the man who successfully removed Batista from his cruel dictatorship. In Castro’s early life, he went to three expensive Catholic schools. He was good at sports, and participated and led camping and climbing exhibitions. Castro fought with the other boys and teachers frequently.
In Mexico he began to organize a guerrilla voyage to Cuba for a violent uprising against Batista authority (Castro, 2009). On December 2, 1956 Castro, joined by 81 other revolutionaries (which included big names such as Che Guevara, and Jesus Montane), reached the Cuban cost. (Castro, 2009). For the next two years Castro helped the Rebel Army organize their forces throughout the entire island. Here is a timeline of events during the two years during the rise of the rebellion (Frank, 2013):
The Cuban Revolution began not with Fidel Castro’s takeover, but with Sergeant Fulgencio Batista’s power hungry struggle. In fear of losing the 1952 election, Batista took over the country and eliminated them. Many people were disgusted, even offended that Batista would do such a thing. This is what sparked Fidel Castro 's hatred toward the Batista regime. He began plotting Batista’s downfall, later having the help of Ernesto “Che” Guevara. July 26, 1953 is a day that shall live in infamy in the Cuban history. It is the day in which Castro made his first move. He gathered a group of about 138 men to attack the Moncada compound. He believed that a surprise attack would be more successful due to the lack of weapons at hand. This proved to be rather untrue, since many of the men were captured. Federal soldiers were killed, amounting to about 19 deaths. The rebels that were left were either shot or managed to escape. Fidel and Raul
The Cuban government was not ideal for its people at the time, so they decided to initiate a change. Before Castro’s revolution, Cuba’s economy was highly based on tropical fruits, sugar, and tobacco. During this time, the government of Cuba mainly consisted of wealthy land-owning conservatives. Fidel Castro, a strong liberal who thought the Cuban government was corrupt, decided to bring together a band of two-hundred revolutionaries (Carey, Jr. 15). These revolutionaries attacked the Moncada Military barracks on July 26th, 1953 resulting in a failure that earned both Castro and the revolutionaries a ten-year prison sentence. Two years into his sentence, Castro was exiled to Mexico and began to plot another attempt in Mexico City. After many battles with Cuba’s National Army, Castro’s rebels were able to keep Cuba in a state of turmoil while other rebel groups were able to gain control. Through his actions, he was able to gain the support of the Cuban people who thought he was the logical choice for the new leader (Carey, Jr. 15).
On July 26th, 1953, Fidel Castro led one hundred and twenty nine men and two women in a daring assault against the Moncada army Barracks in Santiago de Cuba to overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista. Fidel Castro’s plan to overthrow the government of Fulgencio Batista resulted in eight deaths, twelve wounded and more than sixty Cubans were taken prisoner to be tortured and then executed.
When speaking about the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy said, "It is insane that two men, sitting on opposite sides of the world, should be able to decide to bring an end to civilization” (“Nuclear Test Ban Treaty” 1). the Cuban Missile Crisis was a time where these two men, Kennedy and Khrushchev, had the power in their hands to end civilization. In order to understand the importance of the Cuban Missile Crisis one must understand, the Cold war drama; the dangerous crisis; and its importance today.
In 1959, Fidel Castro led a group of rebel forces to end and overthrow Fulgencio Batista’s regime in an effort to free the Cuban people from his tyrannous rule. For very many different political reasons this has been portrayed as an act of great injustice and hypocrisy in the modern world. A lot of this has of course been advocated primarily by the US due to the high level of political tension between the two nations that developed in the mid 1950s. Believing this conventional wisdom that Castro was simply an evil communist who oppressed his people and stripped them of their human rights is very dangerous because it