Cuba became a Spanish colony after being discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Cuba gained independence from Spain in December 1898. The United States had extended rule to both Cuba and Puerto Rico after the Spanish-American War of 1898. Under the Platt Amendment of 1901, the U.S. had many powers within the Cuban Constitution. The U.S. had the ability to interfere in Cuban affairs and to set up a naval base in Cuba, Guantanamo Bay, which is currently operational. The amendment limited Cuba's ability to run foreign policy. Cuba was technically independent from the U.S. in 1902, but foreign companies had already bought or began to purchase Cuban businesses which allowed the Americanization of many industries. This did not sit well …show more content…
With the destruction of lands in Europe during WWII, Cuba became the world's largest supplier of sugar. Cubans were suffering when others were doing well because sugar was their only major export. This caused an increase in unemployment and poverty in many Cuban cities. Fed up Cubans began to show more disgust and distrust of their government and soon began to rebel. Although not confined to Cuba, "among most Latin-American states wealthy persons were more loyal to class than to country" (Fitzgibbon 1961). Anyone who went against the Batista government could be put in jail, beaten, or even executed. The rural salaries were unstable and erratic at best, and the standard of living was low. Dependence on the sugar industry did not hinder the economy of Cuba, only the earnings of its working class. It was the leaders of the nation who gained profit from this dependence, and it was the heads of the nation who insisted on keeping it that way. After 1950, Cuba began a downward spiral. There was significant corruption and poverty. The sizeable middle class did not emphasize democratic leadership. There was no social hostility in the working class, and the people found they preferred order to confusion. Batista could no longer legitimize his cabinet. The failure in the elections of 1954 showed the unhappiness of the average Cuban citizen. Batista's power was challenged as Cubans took to the streets in protests resulting in …show more content…
The revolution put an end to the brutal Batista dictatorship. It also brought change to the economic, cultural, political and social dynamic of Cuba. The revolution allowed the Cuban people to see how their country was being run. From the beginning of the anti-Batista movement, the initial desires of most Cuban citizens were to reform Cuba and ultimately increase its standard of living. After the revolution, Cuba was faced with many
On July 26, 1953, the war for Cuba’s independence began, and for 6 years many Cubans fought for their freedom. The most famous of these revolutionary icons being Fidel Castro, who led the main resistance against the Cuban government. On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro and the rest of the Cuban's succeeded. This revolutionary war went on to affect the entire world and Eric Selbin believes it is still affecting it. Throughout Eric Selbin's article, Conjugating the Cuban Revolution, he firmly states that the Cuban revolution is important in the past, present, and future. Selbin, however, is wrong.
Whether it 's for the music, people or food, Cuba is a popular and interesting place to visit. Cuba is located between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. At 42,426 square miles, Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean and the 105th largest country in the world. Cuba has a population of 11.1 million. Out of that 11.1 million, Havana is home to 2.1 million (Nation Facts). The official language of Cuba is Spanish, but English and French are spoken throughout the country. The most practiced religion of Cuba is Roman Catholicism, but a large number of people follow the Afro-Cuban and Protestant religions. The president of Cuba is currently Raúl Castro, which is Fidel Castro 's brother. The currency of Cuba is the Cuban peso (Cuba).
The Spanish American war had a complex beginning. By the 1890’s, Cuba had unsuccessfully battled Spain for its independence for many years. Due to the US’s economic interests in Cuba, the US government sought to stabilize the situation. The United States and Cuba negotiated an agreement that Cuba would become self-governing on January 1, 1898. But
The Cuban Revolution began in 1959 when a small group of guerrillas overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. There were several main goals to the revolution that revolved around improvement of the lives of Cuban citizens. Even though these goals were not all completely successful, most of the fundamentals of...
In 1903, the U.S. published the Platt Amendment, which was a set of guidelines for Cuba to follow (Blight 165). The Platt amendment was named after Senator Orville Platt of Connecticut. The U.S. had been occupying Cuba since the Spanish American war in 1898, and Cuba wanted them out, so the U.S. set up eight rules for Cuba to agree to before the U.S. would leave them alone to establish and run their government (http://www.state.gov/r/pa/). The first three articles of the Platt Amendment can be seen after this paper. Americans and Cubans seemed to have a different approach to the Platt Amendment:
The Americans were losing patience over the whole Cuban affair because Spain cut shipping and economic interests from Cuba. Americans wanted the economic situation resolved so they could get back to the economic fortunes they were used to; therefore, the worsening economy was one of the main causes of the War of 1898. When the United States finally denounced the dominance of the Spanish government in Cuba, Spain cut its economic ties with the United States. Trade for the United States was impacted greatly. Due to the sharp drop of sugar prices that took place from early 1884, the old Cuban “sugar nobility,” unable to mechanize and cut costs, began to disintegrate and lose its dominant role in the island’s economy and society (Hernandez). This facilitated the United States’ penetration of the Cuban economy, and the United States took over sugar estates and mining interests. It was American machinery, technicians, and capital that helped save the Cuban sugar mills.
The Spanish-American War in 1898 marked a major turning point in the United States, making it a world power by acquiring the islands of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Cuba, and other smaller islands. Despite winning the possession of these islands, all were controlled differently from one another. Puerto Rico became known as a "Commonwealth" meaning that was given limited autonomy. The Philippines, meanwhile, became an official United States territory, which means that the island was owned and governed directly by the American government. Cuba, however, became an "informal protectorate" or in other words, was granted self-authority, but was protected by the United States military. The Platt Amendment was embedded in the Constitution of Cuba
“What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, freedom is to the soul of man” (Brainy Quotes). Light is essential to the eyes, love is what makes the heart beat, and freedom is the hope of man kind; all of which are essential to the happiness of humanity. Having to live without these rights is a difficult way of living. For example, Cubans have suffered time after time in pursuit of their freedom, but sadly they never accomplish their goal. They live in fear of their broken government, but never stop fighting for freedom. In the early 20th century, Cuba was a democracy. From 1940 to 1944 Fulgencio Batista, a Cuban politician, was Cuba’s president. In 1952 he decided to run again, but when it was apparent he’d lose, Batista seized power before the election took place. The citizens were outraged causing them to turn against their flawed democracy that was brought upon by the election. As a result, Fidel Castro, a communist revolutionary political man, began to plot Batista’s downfall. The Cuban Revolution, also known as Castro’s Revolution, began on July 26, 1952, and ended January, 1, 1959. After Batista, Cuba’s former president, fled the country, Castro took complete control and turned Cuba into a communist country. The Revolution brought upon: many deaths, censored news and publicity, and no freedom of speech. Throughout the years Castro stayed in power, but due to health issues originating on July 31, 2006, he had to step down. After Castro returned, he took control of Cuba up until February 19, 2008. He then abdicated his place as dictator and handed down his position to his brother, Raul Castro.
The United States, honoring the Teller Amendment of 1898, withdrew from Cuba in 1902. The U.S. forced the Cubans to write their own constitution of 1901 (the Platt Amendment). The constitution decreed that the United States might intervene with troops in Cuba in order to restore order and to provide mutual protection. The Cubans also promised to sell or lease needed coaling or naval stations to the U.S.
... the majority of which sought refuge in the United States. With the fall of the Soviet Union, Cuba now stands at a crossroads. The battle cry has changed from “ Socialism or death to Resist, struggle and win” (Castro’s Cuba II). Hopefully, Castro and/or Cuba will not be forced into a market-based economy and all the materialistic commodities that go along with capitalism. In my opinion, Castro should hold out for as long as possible griping to the former battle cry “Socialism or death”. Only time will tell what the fate of Castro’s Cuba will be. Trade might once again flourish the economy, tourism might open up new economic opportunities and foreign investments from Italy, France and Spain could possibly dig Cuba out the current economic hole it’s in. Until then however, the battle against capitalism must not lose any of its vigor.
One mission by Che Guevara was he, “strove to create a proper industrial base and to diminish the economy’s dependence on sugar,” (515). To improve the milk and meat production in Cuba efforts were made to breed a new kind of cattle. This effort failed which resulted in a famine because of this and with the U. S trade embargo the Cuban government began to give rations of daily necessities to citizens, (The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its People). Guevara efforts were too expensive for Cuba causing a crisis. The government, “decided to resolve its crisis by means of a “revolutionary offensive”: first, the nationalization of all services, restaurants, shops, and petty commercial iinstallations... witha production goal of 10 million tons of sugar (516). That goal did not work causing Fidel Castro to offer to resign. Cuba started to become a communist society. In terms of who was in charge and their role in, The Caribbean: A History of the Region and Its People state, “Castro was the visible head, the spokesman, and the international strategists while his brother Raul would become more and more the chief of personnel, the head of the armed forces and secret services,”
The year is 1959 and the place is Cuba. It is January 1st and Batista, the president of Cuba has just fled the country fearing Fidel Castro, a Cuban revolutionary who mounted a rebel force called the 26th of July Movement against Batista. Castro assumes power on the 16th of February and establishes a dictatorship. Communist Rule In Cuba So far, the Soviet leader, Khrushchev is in question of what political track Castro is deciding to take. Russia themselves have only one connection with Fidel which is his brother Raul who is no doubt a full communist. The Communist Party of Cuba at this time has no contacts with Castro quite yet. Unfortunately, Raul never showed his true feelings for communism to his brother, Fidel. This causes quite a predicament for the Soviet Union to make them seen and heard by Cuba. Smartly, Russia sends Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan, who held business contacts in the US, to the states as a guest of the Russian ambassador. Fidel hears of Mikoyan’s arrival in the US and invites him to visit Cuba. Although Mikoyan is traveling throughout the island, looking things over, Castro still has not identified himself as a Communist quite yet. In May of 1960, diplomatic relations between Russia and Cuba are established following Mikoyan’s visit to the island. One reason why Cuba has turned to Russia is because the US had cut off their oil supplies and imposed an economic embargo on the island because of the naturalization of US owned companies and citizens by the Cuban government. This calls for a massive oil shipment from the Soviets but unfortunately, Russia was unable to handle such a demand because of their limited overseas shipping capabilities. Subsequently, Russia puts an order for extra oil tankers from Italy, a capitalist country. When Italy agrees to the business proposition, the US is infuriated that another capitalist country was willing to help a communist country. Italy saw it as nothing more than an opportunity to make extra money, regardless of opposing economic systems. Back in Cuba, Castro has begun to make enemies for himself. The many policies he has instilled angered many who fought beside him in the revolution to overthrow Batista and many didn’t approve of the socialist reforms he made such as the naturalization of businesses and his collectivization of agriculture. Castro felt he needed protection against the United States and ...
The cuban people had a very good reason to revolt. Fulgencio Batista was a cruel ruler.Batista was a cruel leader who didn’t care about his people, just himself and money. He was not very supportive of his people and their wishes. The Cuban people had asked for a change before, and Batista refused to listen. It seemed that Batista almost enjoyed antagonizing his people. He formed profitable links to the organized crime groups in Cuba, just so he could antagonize his people. The fact that he was doing this was a strong reason why they revolted.Cuba was in a very poor time when people did not have much money, and Batista did...
It is said that America a traversing force around the planet with a vested interest, was responsible for Cuba becoming an independent nation. However, in 1961, in the
However, the US played a much larger role in Cuba’s past and present than the building of casinos and the introduction of the first taints of corruption. In the past, even before Batista, Americans were resented by Cubans because the Americans made a lot of Cuba’s decisions. Under Batista, 80% of Cuban imports came from the US, and the US controlled at least 50% of sugar, utilities, phones and railroads. If Cuba was a business in the stock markets, then the US would have been close to owning 50% of its shares. When combined with a long history of US-backed leaders, and US involvement, it is understandable that Cubans begrudged the Americans....