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| {{Infobox Military Conflict | |||
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| |conflict=Cuban Revolution | |||
| |date= ], ], to ], ] | |||
| |place= ] | |||
| |causes= Attack on Moncada Barracks | |||
| |result= Overthrow of ] government | |||
| |combatant1= ] ] | |||
| |combatant2= ] ] | |||
| |commander1= ] <BR> ] <BR> ] | |||
| |commander2= ]}} | |||
| {{Cuban Revolution}} | |||
| The '''Cuban Revolution''' refers to the revolution that led to the overthrow of General ]'s regime on ], ] by the ] and other revolutionary elements within the country. The Cuban Revolution also refers to the ongoing implementation of social and economic programs by the new government since the overthrow of the Batista government, including the implementation of ] policies. | |||
| == Pre-December 1956 == | |||
| {{main|Moncada Barracks}} | |||
| The starting point of the Cuban Revolution is generally accepted to be ], 1953, the date on which a group of about one hundred poorly armed ] attacked the ]. Many of them were killed in the battles after the attack. The survivors, among them ] and his brother ], were captured shortly afterwards. In a highly political trial, Fidel Castro spoke for nearly four hours in his defense, ending with the words; "Condemn me, it does not matter. ]." Fidel Castro was sentenced 15 years in the ''presidio modelo'' prison, located on ]; Raúl was sentenced to 13 years. | |||
| In 1955, due to pressure from civil leaders, the general opposition, and the Jesuits who had helped educate Fidel Castro, and perhaps because he had known the Castro brothers in their youth, Batista freed all political prisoners, including the Moncada attackers. The Castro brothers went into exile in ], where they gathered more exiled Cubans to fight in the Cuban revolution for the overthrow of Batista. During that period, Castro also met ], who joined their forces. They were trained by ], a former military leader of the failed "loyalists" in the ]. | |||
| The group trained in Mexico under the leadership of Fidel Castro and returned to Cuba in November 1956, on a small yacht named ''].'' They hoped their landing in Eastern Cuba would coincide with planned uprisings in the cities and a general strike, coordinated by the ''llano'' wing of the ]. It was their intention to launch an armed offensive and swiftly topple the Batista government. | |||
| == December 1956 to Mid-1958 == | |||
| The '']'' arrived in Cuba on 2 December 1956. It was delayed in route to Cuba, arriving late and at a location further east than was planned. This dashed any hopes for a coordinated attack with the ''llano'' wing of the movement. After arriving and exiting the ship, the band of rebels began to make their way into the ] mountains, a range in Southwestern Cuba. Shortly after their trek began, they were attacked by men from the army. Most of the ''Granma'' participants were killed in this attack, but a small number, between ten and two dozen, escaped. The survivors were separated from one another, and alone or in small groups, wandered through the mountains, looking for other survivors. Eventually, this small group of persons, would find one another with the help of peasant sympathizers. This small group of people, which included Fidel Castro, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, ], ], and ] would form the core leadership of the guerrilla army. | |||
| There was another group of revolutionaries, who carried out the most dramatic act of the Revolution since the Moncada Barracks attack of 1953. This second group of revolutionaries were members of the decidedly anticommunist, Student Revolutionary Directorate (RD; Directorio Revolucionario), who in plain daylight and in the middle of Havana traffic stormed the Presidential Palace in an attempt to decapitate the government from the top-- i.e., to assassinate President Fulgencio Batista-- on March 13, 1957. | |||
| But it was the RD that was virtually decapitated after this suicidal attack. Jose Antonio Echeverria, student leader of the group, died of gun-shot wounds fighting Batista's forces after seizing a Havana radio station to broadcast the anticipated news of the success of the operation and the death of the dictator. Only a handful of the assailants (and RD leaders) survived, among them Dr. Humberto Castello, who became Inspector General in the Escambray, Comandante Rolando Cubela and Comandante Faure Chomon, the last two, dual leaders of the pro-freedom, 13 of March Movement, in the Escambray Mountains in Las Villas Province. <ref> Faria (2002) Notes pp.40-41</ref> | |||
| From 1956 through the middle of 1958, Castro, with the aid of ], Ramos Latour, ], and many others, staged successful attacks on small Batista garrisons in the Sierra Maestra mountains. Batista forces tried bloody repression to retain control and the cities in Cuba remained under Batista's control until the end. Che Guevara and Raúl Castro helped consolidate political control in the mountains through executions of suspected Batista Loyalists and potential rivals to Castro. The irregular poorly armed ] harassed the Batista forces through the foot hills and the plains of Oriente Province; in addition these much maligned forces provided Castro's main forces with moderate military support, intelligence, and protected supply lines. Thus Castro achieved military control of these mountains. | |||
| In addition to the physical attacks endured by Batista, further insult came from a pirate radio station called Rebel Radio (]), created in February 1958. It was on these airwaves that Castro and his forces broadcast their message to everyone, from within enemy territory. The radio broadcasts were made possible by ], a previous acquaintance of Castro and Cuban exile now living in ]. | |||
| During this time, Castro's forces were quite small, at times less than 200 men, while the Cuban army and police force numbered between 30,000 and 40,000 in strength. Yet nearly every time the army fought against the revolutionaries, they were the ones who retreated from the fight. The Cuban military was remarkably ineffective. A growing problem for the Batista forces was an arms embargo imposed on the Cuban government by the United States government on ] ]. The Cuban air force rapidly lost its power as planes could not be repaired without spare parts from the U.S. | |||
| In the question of support and supply for the insurgency, too, the official figures available from both the U. S. Government and the Cuban government are somewhat suspect. In fact, the 26th of July columns were constantly supplied with ammunition, ordnance, and certain specialized communications equipment, by air and sea, from various locations in Florida and Louisiana. The bulk of the ordinary military stores were drawn from the armories of the ], which served as the 'augmentation' for the para-military operations conducted by the ] in Latin America. Towards the final stages of the conflict, limited numbers of aircraft and armored vehicles were supplied to the insurgents directly from the U.S. Naval Station at ], so that the handful of early, cast-hull M4A3 Shermans (equipped with the low-velocity 75mm gun) of the Cuban Army found themselves facing 'Easy Eights' (M4 Shermans with upgraded armor, high-velocity 76mm guns, and HVSS) 'issued' from U.S. Army National Guard and Reserve stores.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} | |||
| Batista forces finally responded with an attack on the mountains called ] (the rebels called it "la Ofensiva"). Some 12,000 soldiers (more than half new, untrained recruits) attacked into the mountains. In a series of small-scale fights, the Cuban army was defeated by Castro's determined soldiers. In one battle (the ]) which lasted from July 11 till July 21, Castro's forces defeated an entire battalion, capturing 240 men, while losing just 3 of their own. The tide nearly turned on July 29 when Castro's small army (some 300 men) was almost destroyed at the ]. With his forces pinned down by superior numbers, Castro asked for, and was granted, a temporary cease-fire (August 1st). Over the next seven days, while fruitless negotiations took place, Castro's forces gradually escaped from the trap. By August 8th, Castro's entire army had escaped back into the mountains. Operation Verano had been a failure for the Batista government. | |||
| == Mid-1958 to January 1959 == | |||
| ] during the Cuban Revolution, 1958.]] | |||
| On ] ], after the defeat of the Batista "ofensiva", Castro's forces began their offensive. There were four fronts in the "Oriente" province (now divided into ], ], ] and ]) directed by ], Raúl Castro and ]. Descending from the mountains, with weapons captured during the ofensiva and smuggled in by plane, Castro's forces won a series of victories. The major Castro victory at ], and the succeeding capture of several towns (Maffo, Contramaestre, Central Oriente, etc.) consolidated victory on the Cauto plains. | |||
| Meanwhile, three columns under the command of ], ] and ] proceeded westward toward the provincial capital of Santa Clara. Jaime Vega's column was ambushed and destroyed. The surviving two columns reached the central provinces, where they joined efforts with several other resistance groups not under the command of Castro. According to Faria, when Che Guevara's column passed through his native province of Las Villas, specifically through the Escambray Mountains — i.e., where the anticommunist Revolutionary Directorate forces (13 of March Movement) had been fighting Batista's army for many months — friction developed between the two groups of rebels. Che's 26th of July Movement troops were found to be heavily infiltrated by communists, such as the polemicist Armando Acosta and the more dangerous Comandante Felix Torres. But the combined rebel army continued the offensive and Cienfuegos won a key victory in the ] on December 30, 1958 (earning him the nickname "The Hero of Yaguajay"). | |||
| ] yacht in late 1956 and the rebels' stronghold in the ]. The map also shows Guevara and Cienfuegos's route towards ] via ] in December 1958.]] | |||
| The next day (the 31st), in a scene of great confusion, the city of ] was captured by the combined forces of Che Guevara, Cienfuegos, Revolutionary Directorate(RD) rebels led by Comandantes Rolando Cubela, Juan ("El Mejicano") Abrahantes , and ]. News of these defeats caused Batista to panic. He fled Cuba for the ] just hours later on ] ]. Comandante William Alexander Morgan, for his part and leading RD rebel forces, continued fighting and captured the city of Cienfuegos on January 1 and 2, during, and in, the wake of Batista's departure. <ref>Faria, Cuba in Revolution, 2002, pp.69</ref> | |||
| Castro learned of Batista's flight in the morning and immediately started negotiations to take over ]. On January 2nd, the military commander in the city, Colonel Rubido, ordered his soldiers not to fight and Castro's forces took over the city. The forces of Guevara and Cienfuegos entered Havana at about the same time. They had met no opposition on their journey from Santa Clara to Cuba's capital. Castro himself arrived in Havana on January 8th after a long victory march, his choice of President, ] taking up office on the 3rd.<ref>], Cuba: The pursuit of freedom, pp. 691–3</ref> | |||
| ==Post-1959: After the Revolution== | |||
| Hundreds of suspected Batista-era agents, policemen and soldiers were put on public trial for human rights abuses and war crimes, including murder and torture. Most of those convicted in revolutionary tribunals of political crimes were summarily executed by firing squad, and the rest received long prison sentences. One of the most notorious examples of revolutionary justice was the executions of over 70 captured Batista regime soldiers, directed by Raúl Castro after capturing ]. For his part in Havana, Che Guevara was appointed supreme prosecutor in ]. This was part of a large-scale attempt by Fidel Castro to cleanse the security forces of Batista loyalists and potential opponents of the new revolutionary regime that could launch a counter-revolution. Others were fortunate to be dismissed from the army and police without prosecution, and some high-ranking officials in the '']'' were exiled as military attachés.<ref>Juan Clark Cuba: Mito y Realidad: Testimonio de un Pueblo (1992), Saeta Ediciones, Miami, pp.53-70</ref> | |||
| In 1961 after the ], the new Cuban government also nationalized all property held by religious organizations including the ]. Hundreds of members of the clergy, including a ], were permanently expelled from the nation, with the new Cuban government being officially ]. Faria describes how the education of children changed as Cuba became officially an atheist state: private schools were banned and the progressively Socialist state assumed greater responsibility for children.<ref> Faria (2002), op.cit. pp.215-228</ref> | |||
| According to geographer and Cuban Comandante ], 75% of Cuba's best arable land was owned by foreign individuals or foreign (mostly U.S.) companies. One of the first policies by the newly formed Cuban government was eliminating illiteracy and implementing land reforms. Land reform efforts helped to raise living standards by subdividing larger holdings into ]s. Comandante Sori Marin, nominally in charge of land reform, objected and fled and eventually was executed. Many other anti-Batista, but not Marxist, rebel leaders were forced in to exile, purged in executions, or eliminated in failed uprisings such as those of the Beaton brothers. | |||
| To expand his power base among the former rebels and the supportive population, shortly after taking power the new Cuban government also created a Revolutionary militia. Castro also initiated ] or CDRs in late September of 1960. Informants became rampant within the population. The CDR’s were tasked with the responsibility of keeping "vigilance against counter-revolutionary activity." Local CDR’s were also tasked with keeping a detailed record of each neighborhood’s inhabitant’s spending habits, level of contact with foreigners, their work and education history, and any "suspicious" behavior.<ref>Juan Clark Cuba: Mito y Realidad(1992),pp.131-158</ref> | |||
| Cuba began expropriating land and private property in Cuba under the auspices of the Agrarian Reform law of May 1959. Cuban lawyer Mario Lazo writes that farms of any size could be and were seized by the government. Land, businesses, and companies owned by upper and middle class Cubans were also nationalized, including the plantations owned by Fidel Castro's family. By the end of 1960, the revolutionary government had nationalized more than $25 billion of private property owned by Cubans.<ref>Lazo, Mario, ''American Policy Failures in Cuba--Dagger in the Heart''(1970)Twin Circle Publishing Co., New York, pp.198-200, 204, Library of Congress Card Catalog Number:68-31632</ref> Cuba also nationalized all United States and other foreign-owned property in the nation on ], ]. The ], in turn, responded by freezing all Cuban assets in the US and tightening the ], which is still in place after more than 45 years.<ref> Faria (2002), op.cit. p.105</ref> | |||
| Many attempts have been made by the U.S. to overthrow Cuba's government. One of the most notorious is the failure of the ] at the height of the ], but after the ], it promised verbally to never invade the island. | |||
| In July 1961, the ''Integrated Revolutionary Organizations'' (IRO) was formed by the merger of Fidel Castro's '']'', the ''People's Socialist Party'' (the old Communist Party) led by ] and the ''Revolutionary Directorate March 13th'' led by ]. On ], ] the IRO became the ''United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution'' (PURSC) which, in turn, became the ] on ], ] with Castro as ]. | |||
| Desperate but unsuccessful rebellions known as the ] continued until about 1965. | |||
| In 2008, Fidel Castro resigned and his brother Raúl Castro took control over Cuba. | |||
| ==In popular culture== | |||
| The events of January 1, 1959, are portrayed in ]'s ] winning film ]. | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| <div class="references-small"><references/></div> | |||
| Fermoselle, Rafael ''The Evolution of the Cuban Military: 1492-1986'' Miami, Ediciones Universal, 1987 | |||
| Pawley, William D. ''Unpublished manuscript and notes - A Concise Overview of the Central Intelligence Agency's paramilitary operations in the Caribbean, 1945 to 1965'' Miami, 1977 | |||
| Servicio de Inteligencia Militar ''Situation report, dated 23 November 1958'' (Via LCOL Irenaldo Garcia Baez) | |||
| - Marquez Sterling, Carlos & Manuel ''Historia de la Isla de Cuba'' New York, Regents Publishing, 1975 | |||
| - Portell Vila, Dr Herminio ''Nueva Historia de la Republica de Cuba'' Miami, La Moderna Poesia, 1986 | |||
| - Fernandez Miranda, Roberto ''Mis Relaciones con el General Batista'' Miami, Ediciones Universales, 1999 | |||
| - Dorschner, John & Fabricio, Roberto ''The Winds of December'' New York, Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1980 | |||
| Another available reference on post-Revolutionary Cuba is Cuban Revolutionis Post-Revolutionary Cuban Spanish: A Glossary of Social, Political, and Common Terms (Glosario de términos socio-políticos y autóctonos de actualidad (español-inglés)) by Jesus Núñez Romay . | |||
| ==Bibliography== | |||
| {{portalpar|Cuba|Flag of Cuba.svg}} | |||
| *Bonachea, Ramon L. and San Martin, Marta. ''The Cuban Insurrection: 1952–1959''. New York, Transaction Books, 1974. | |||
| *: Fidel Castro's Rise To Power, 1953–1959. Bockman, Larry (Major USMC), 1984. | |||
| *Faria, Miguel A. ''Cuba in Revolution--Escape from a Lost Paradise''. Haciendapub.com, 2002. | |||
| *Clark, Juan. ''Cuba: Mito y Realidad: Testimonio de un Pueblo''. Saeta Ediciones, Miami, 1992. | |||
| *Sweig, Julia E. ''Inside the Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro and the Urban Underground''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002. | |||
| *Lazo, Mario. ''American Policy Failures in Cuba--Dagger in the Heart'' Twin Circle Publishing Co., New York, Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 68-31632, 1970. | |||
| * Radio broadcasts | |||
| ** . | |||
| ** : 'Clandestine Radio'. | |||
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Revision as of 18:24, 8 May 2008
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