Cuban

Revolution
What is a Revolution?
- “Revolution” refers to a movement, often violent, to overthrow an old
regime and effect complete change in the fundamental institutions of society.

What is Imperialism?
- Imperialism is the policy or act of extending a country's power into other
territories or gaining control over another country's politics or economics.

What is Decolonisation?
- Decolonization refers to the process, often long, tortuous, and violent, by
which colonies achieve their national aspirations for political independence.

What is Nationalism?
- Nationalism is the loyalty and devotion to a nation, a sense of national
consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary
emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of
other nations.

What is Conflict?
- A conflict is a struggle between people which may be physical, or between
conflicting ideas.

Who is a Nationalist?
- A Nationalist is a person who strongly identifies with their own nation and
vigorously supports its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of
the interests of other nations.

Who is a Dictator?
- A Dictator is a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has
obtained control by force.
What is a Coup?
- A Coup is a sudden, violent, and illegal seizure of power from a
government.

Who is a Liberator?
- A liberator is someone who sets people free from a system, situation, or set
of ideas that restricts them in some way.

What is Communism?
- Communism is a political and economic system that seeks to create a
classless society in which the major means of production, such as mines and
factories, are owned and controlled by the public.

What is Socialism?
- Socialism is a political and economic theory of social organisation which
advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be
owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Background information
A colony is a country or area under the full or partial political control of another
country and occupied by settlers from that country. Cuba was a colony of Spain.
The Cubans began to fight Spain for their independence in 1895. The United States
urged Spain to stop fighting, but the Cuban revolutionaries wanted their
independence. The continuing disorder between Spain and the Cubans led the US
to send the battleship Maine to Havana in January 1898. The Maine exploded in
the Havana Harbour and 266 Americans lost their lives. The Americans blamed the
Spanish and entered the war which became known as the Spanish American War in
1898. Spain was defeated in 1898, Cuba became independent, but was under US
military occupation until 1902, when the Cuban constitution was drawn up. The
Cubans also had to sign the Platt Amendment which gave the US some control
over Cuba, this angered the Cubans. The Platt Amendment was an appendix which
was added to the Cuban constitution (they were forced to accept it by the US), it
included terms which paved the way for constant US intervention in Cuba.
Causes of the Cuban Revolution
Social
- High unemployment
- Poverty
- High illiteracy rate
- Poor healthcare
- Seasonal employment
- Lived in rural areas
- Overcrowded and unsanitary conditions- no running water or inside toilets
- Suffered from malnutrition and various diseases

Political
- Dictatorship
- Political corruption
- Oppressive and repressive regime
- Brutal and violent towards opposition
- The use of gangsters to squash any opposition
- Platt Amendment

Economic
- Us controlled the Cuban economy -banking, sugar production, oil refineries
etc
- More than half of Cuba’s export went to the US
- Profits went back to the US
- US drained the Cuban economy

What were the terms of the Platt Amendment?

- The Cuban government should give the US the right to intervene in Cuba in
order to protect her independence
- The Cuban government will sell or lease land to the US for coaling or naval
stations
- The government of Cuba should not enter into any treaty with any nation
that will affect its independence, nor should the government allow any
foreign nation to establish naval bases or coaling stations in Cuba.
Changes brought about by Fidel Castro?
Social
- Increase in the number of school
- Made healthcare and education free
- Decrease in the illiteracy rate
- Health centres were built
- There was an end to the discrimination against Afro-Cubans
- He established housing schemes for the masses
- More jobs opportunities through the opening of new industries

Political
- The police, army and airforce were purged
- Agrarian Reform-land was taken from the Americans and given to the poor
(¼ acre given to each family )
- Nationalisation of Cuban assets- came under the control of the government
- Development of a friendly relationship with the USSR
- Became a communist state

Economic
- By getting rid of the American influence both economically and politically,
Cuba and the US developed an antagonistic relationship

What was America’s response to the Changes brought about by Fidel?

- Trade embargo- ban on all trade with Cuba except in food and drugs. (1960)
- US warns its citizens not to travel to Cuba- decline in the tourism industry
- This led Cuba to develop a trade partnership with the USSR and other
communist states.
- Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961)- group of Cuban exiles living in the US
launched an attack on the Castro led government.
- Missile Crisis (1962) - US planes discovered launch pads and missiles being
installed by the Soviet technicians.Missiles were later removed

Effects of the Cuban Revolution on other Caribbean Countries?

- Trading took place between Cuba and some of the Caribbean countries for
the first time.
- The Castro Revolution has been a part of the History syllabus since the
1980’s.
- The Cuban government donated a Secondary School to the people of
Jamaica during the Michael Manley regime
- Grenada, Jamaica and Guyana decided to adopt some of Cuba’s social
welfare policies to improve the conditions of the masses.
- Castro sent doctors and nurses to help with the health sector in a number of
Caribbean countries.
- Some countries such as Barbados were afraid to lose the support of the
United States so they did not recognize Castro or his government.