The Revolution As A Car For Change During The Twentieth Century

Throughout history, humanity has always yearned for better. When a leader, as an individual or an entire government, ceases to fuel their nation’s drive for better, the citizens take it into their own hands. From this sovereignty of the people, the idea of revolution is born. This idea has become prominent many times. One can analyze a country like France. Due to the government’s selfish actions, the third estate revolted. In countries like Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico, the citizens were tired of strict rule from a power that is an ocean away. This caused the people in Latin America to revolt against their leader, Spain. Although the French and Latin American Revolutions both were inspired by the American Revolution and Enlightenment ideas, the French Revolution was vastly unsuccessful compared to the Latin American Revolution which brought freedom to many countries.

One of the first areas in Latin America to be affected by the Cuban Revolution was the small Central American country of Nicaragua. Cuba prior to the Cuban Revolution, was under a dictator and many people lived in poverty, and in the 1960s Nicaragua was faced with same problem. The fact that Cuba was successful in their revolution, inspired the Nicaraguan Revolution. Nicaragua like Cuba had undergone major economical expansions, but these expansions only benefited a small portion of the population. According to John A., Booth, Wade, Christine

The British had the idea of mercantilism where a the economys wealth was judged by how much gold and silver it had, the colonies supplied the mother land with materials and then the mother country produced products to sell back to the colonies

Analyze the extent to which these values and purposes were transformed and challenged over time.

The Latin American revolution did not fulfill the goals of the revolution. Although they gained independence from Spain, the social construct did not change. This is the opposite of the Haitian Revolution. In Haiti, the slaves fought against slavery in many violent protest including burning of plantations. Ultimately, the whole social construct reversed from French officials and les grands blancs on top and the slaves on the bottom to les grands blancs not being a part of society and the slaves on top. In the long run, the large plantations supported the whole economy of Haiti and once slavery was abolished, the small farms did not come close to the same profit. In this way, the economical impact of the revolution was not successful, but the

The Cuban revolution had great domestic and international influences and reshaped Cuba’s relationship with the world, especially with United States, which continues an embargo against Cuba as of this very day. Immediately after the revolution, Cuban government started a program of nationalization and political consolidation, which ultimately transformed Cuba’s economy and society.

Over the course of history different revolutions have come and gone, bringing along promises of social, economic, and political change. However, the price of change isn 't always smooth and effortless. Revolution doesn 't bring change at the blink of an eye, it takes time for the achievements of a revolution to come to full fruition. It is almost inevitable that a revolution will have its failures along the way, but these failures don 't overshadow the success of a revolution. It is not until the common good is met that a revolution is deemed successful. When I talk about the common good, I mean that which benefits society as a whole rather than an individual or a minority. The waves of revolution and presidents in Mexico from 1910 to 1946 aimed at achieving the common good, and some presidents succeeded more than others. This can be anything from social services such as free health care and education, to freedom of speech and free elections. When it comes to quantifying the success of a revolution, one must keep in mind the larger scope, not whether a revolution brings immediate change but rather change felt down the road. The most important outcome of a revolution is identifying whether or not it brings forth change. Did the waves of revolution bring change to Mexico or was this change just a mere illusion?

Selbin identifies the most important part of a social revolution is the transformation of the society that is broken up into two parts consolidation and institutionalization of a country (Selbin 13). Augusto Pinochet and Fidel Castro both tried to succeed in these aspects, but both had success in areas but also failures in others. Their rise to power, reign and their political ideology separated them on a fundamental level, but they did have some similarities.

Around the world and across history women are not the first thing one thinks of when we think of revolution. When thinking of revolution and ensuing revolutionary wars one thinks of men with guns and all other kinds of manly things. However the reality is that across Latin America most evidently in the Cuban Revolution women played an essential role in the successes of such movements. When looking at the role of women in Cuba prior to the Cuban Revolution and their new post-revolutionary roles and rights there is much to consider. The question that I will be exploring in my paper is how the history of the Cuban women and their role in the Cuban Revolution led to their new roles of equality in post-revolutionary Cuba.

A revolution is known as being an activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation. Cuba during the decade of the 1950's experienced this type of rebellion in search for an enhanced and better-developed society, independent of all outside domination. Cuban citizens were at a point where they needed to be free and be able to enforce the constitution established in 1940, which included amendments stating that Cuba should be a "democratic republic…shall not conclude or ratify pacts or treaties that in any form limit or menace national sovereignty or the integrity of the territory," and such. I chose this topic because there has been so much controversy

Many Revolutions are started, hoping for better conditions, better government system. and more opportunities for the citizens of the country, but the Cuban revolution is not an example of this. The Cuban Revolution just put the people of Cuba in the same or even worse oppression than before the revolution happened, and caused two major powerhouse countries on the brink of nuclear war. The oppression set by Castro limited opportunities and made the Cuban economy worse than it was before, and started the Cuban missile crisis, which was when Cuba was found storing nuclear missiles inside the country, causing the United States to react to the threats. Overall the Cuban Revolution was not ideal for the citizens because of the oppression they faced

Though political participation existed historically during the Revolution, it was limited to an attempt to create popular consensus around government policies (Hernandez et al, 44). As the Revolution began to evolve and form according to the Cuban definition of socialism, political participation was not only important but extremely popular. In 1989, the Committee for the Defense of Revolutions, the Federation of Cuban Women, and the Cuban Workers’ Federation each had over three million members, though how actively each member participated may not have been high (Hernandez et al, 45). Because the Revolution was a populous movement, which would not have succeeded had it not been for the ideological buy-in and support of the people, the call to political participation is crucial to maintaining the ideals of the Revolution (Hernandez et al, 47). Additionally, if the Revolution is a socio-political revolution, it is then characterized by the shaping of national identity through buy-in and a willingness to participate and engage in social dialogue. The Cuban desire to be engaged with social reform as a whole set the stage for call from the government for greater, more active,

The Cuban Revolution was a necessary act that attempted to improve the lives of the cuban population through many horrific events. The Cuban Revolution, which began in the early 1950’s, was an overthrow of a corrupt government. Throughout Fidel Castro’s multiple attempts to improve the horrific conditions of the Cuban population, the Revolution became a long and tragic journey beginning with the 26th of July Movement, to The Bay of Pigs invasion, to The Cuban Missile Crisis.

I have chosen to write about question one for this week’s discussion. There was a multitude of changes in the 20th century. Personally, it is hard to say if revolutionary changes or evolutionary changes would have the longest lasting effect. However, I do believe both had a significant effect. During the global depression many people were affected. To me it seems that the depression had a tremendous effect on the arts and music. Having a limited amount of money seemed to bring out emotions people had not experienced or felt before as did the World Wars. People seemed to use music and art as an outlet to express themselves in new ways. Many changes happened quickly others happened slowly. It was like a polyrhythm, they were independent, but

Edmund Burke published the Reflections on the Revolution in France in 1790; after the Bastille had been stormed by the Paris mol. He reflects upon about how France was very chaotic. Burke opposed the values of his contemporary revolutionaries; and he predicted that the French revolution would cause problems of fear and chaos to the country. Burke also believed that the revolutionary leaders were more interested in themselves and that they wanted power, however; and really did not care about the well-being of the French people. He believed in the concepts of liberty, equality and the right for everyone; he argues that people should have the opportunity to own their private property. Furthermore, Burke viewed the revolution as a violent takeover of the government, emphasizing that citizens should not have the right to do this. He also argues about importance of tradition in that tradition is what holds society together.