A Review of:
[The Cuban Revolution]
Thomas, Hugh. The Cuban Revolution. New York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers. 1971. (755 pages).
Section I:
This book is the second half of a larger work, Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom. The purpose of the larger work is to give a detailed history of Cuba’s struggle for freedom, beginning in 1762. This volume starts in 1952, with Batista’s rise to power, and concludes in 1970, with the Ten Million Ton Harvest.
Thomas endeavored to write an encyclopedic, complete history of the complex political struggles in Cuba. The book is organized in such a way that it can either be used as a reference book, or simply read straight through. The book is divided into five main sections: The Struggle, 1952-9; Victory: L’Illusion Lyrique, 1959; Old Cuba at Sunset; The Clash, 1959-62; and the Epilogue. The Struggle (section 1) is the longest and most detailed part, while Victory (section 2) is the shortest. This reflects many things, such as the length of each time period, noteworthiness of events and circumstances during the period, and available information about the time period. It may also reflect not only the author’s interest in each phase of history, but the assumed interest of the reader.
The book contains mostly text, but also quite a few photographs, maps, and statistical charts. The maps are not detailed, only giving a general sense of the area, but the statistical tables are fairly detailed. Overall, though, the photographs are the most helpful device in illustrating and giving additional depth to the text.
Section II:
The second chapter of the book described Fidel Castro’s childhood and youth. It describes Castro’s father, Angel, and the influence he had on his son. One such influence was Angel’s violent hatred of "The Monster of the North" (North America). Angel, who had been part of the Spanish Army, felt that the US had cheated the Spanish out of victory over Cuban rebels. He developed a deep grudge against the US, and passed that feeling along to his children.
Fidel Castro’s childhood was one of comfort and privilege. While young, he was already heading down the path to becoming a revolutionary. At age thirteen, he organized a strike against his own father. But, everything he did in his young life was also funded by his father.
The Cuban revolution was one that transformed Cuba into an independent socialist society. This revolution sent a message around the globe. The message: “ Socialism can be achieved and capitalism, with its culture stripping mechanism’s can be supplemented”. However, the revolution did leave its mark on Cuba. This can be seen in the events that took place during the early stages of the revolution. The effects of the revolution were positive for certain sections of the population and negative for others.
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.
Long before our involvement, the Cubans had been leading revolts and revolutions against Spain. The Spanish empire considered Cuba to be its jewel, not only for its beauty but also for its economics. Cuba’s main source of income was from its expansive sugar plantations that greatly contributed to its wealth (more so to the Spanish Empires wealth). Ironically, even due to the high regard to Cuba, it was neglected and oppressed, as the Spanish Empire began its decline in the middle of the nineteenth century. The Empire was falling due to it slowly loosing its control over its territories, closer to the US then to Spain, because of a lack of industrializing. The Spanish would claim ownership, but never contribute back to their land. This opened the door for what is known as the 10-year war and the struggle for Cuban Independence. The United States never got directly involved, but it sympathized greatly with the Cuban’s cause, for ...
“Cuba - A Case of Communist Take-Over.” The New York Times Magazine July 1961: 59-64 Guido, Jessica.
The U.S.’s relationship with Cuba has been arduous and stained with mutual suspicion and obstinateness, and the repeated U.S. interventions. The Platt agreement and Castro’s rise to power, served to introduce the years of difficulty to come, while, the embargo the U.S. placed on Cuba, enforced the harsh feelings. The two major events that caused the most problems were the Bays of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis.
Paterson, Thomas G. Contesting Castro: The United States and the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. Pp. 352.
In 1961, Fidel Castro, Cuba’s dictator, introduced the Marxist-Leninist ideology to the Cuban people, “by grafting it onto the images, symbols, values, and concepts of Cuban nationalism” (Medin 53). This ideology was promoted through what Medin describes as a world where there are no "in-betweens," but instead only "good and evil", and any straying from that perceived norm was seen as counter-revolutionary and must be removed so they wouldn’t corrupt the process of developing a “homogenous revolutionary social consciousness” (Morales-Diaz 1). “The notion of ‘counter-revolutionaries’ and the connection to capitalist nations epitomizes the revolutionary government's contempt for anyone who is not on the side of the communist revolution" (Medin 40). In that way, Castro was creating enemies of any Cubans who weren’t up to his standards. According to Arenas, this new idea of unifying Cuba came at the expense of the persecution of a large segment of the population an...
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on the 13th of August, 1926, the third of six children, and the son of a wealthy sugar plantation owner. After Castro graduated from El Colegio de Belen in 1945, he entered law school at the University of Havana. It was during this period that Castro began to become involved politics, taking an interest in the political climate of Cuban nationalism, anti-imperialism, socialism, and social justice (http://www.biography.com/articles/fidel-castro-9241487, 2009). Castro immediately became involved with student protests, whose student groups were known to be violent and often armed, which can be attributed to the fact that there had been a government crackdown on these protesters, with students sometimes being killed or terrorized (The Real Fidel Castro, p16-17, 2003). Brutality was already present in the political system, perhaps a sign that brutality would be needed to change it.
“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.
Perez, Louis A., Cuba Under The Platt Amendment, 1902-1934. 1986 University of Pittsburgh Press, Pa.
Clarke, Philip. “Cuba’s Newest Revolution Bloodless but Plenty Bewildering as New President Breaks Army Grip, Aims at Democracy.” The Washington Post. 22 July. 1945: B3. ProQuest. James Madison University library. 16 September 2003
The legacy of slavery and the legacy of systematic racial discrimination imposed on Afro-Cubans are grim realities that are imbedded in Cuban societal and cultural fibers. Despite the abolition of slavery in 1886 and its gaining of independence in 1902 Cuban society, politics, and ideology have been haunted with the specter of the ‘race issue.’ According to Aline Helg, "the myth of Cuban racial equality has proved remarkably enduring, even since the revolution of 1959" (p. 247). Thus, in order to comprehend the current political and social conditions in Cuba as well as the conditions that led to the revolution in 1959 one must examine the afro-Cuban struggle for equality that emerged at the turn of the 20th century.
The specter of colonial repression, imposed by the institutions of slavery and the plantation system, has incessantly haunted Cuban society, culture, politics, and ideology. The legacies of slavery and the plantation system imposed a structural and systematic practice of racial discrimination against Afro-Cubans, which suppressed any ambition for the pursuit of liberty and equality. Despite Cuba’s abolition of slavery in 1886 and its winning of independence in 1902, Afro-Cubans remained destitute, marginalized, and in the periphery of political autonomy within Cuban society. Thus, the origins of Cuba’s disdainful race relations emerge during the Spanish colonial tenure in Cuba.
On this day 191 years ago John Quincy Adams expressed his prediction for the future of Cuban-American contact. The Cuban wars of independence were only 15 years away from his prediction when he estimated. These independence wars continue to influence Cuba’s cultural and political attitude toward Europe and the United States; This in part due to the externalities involved in the remodeling of social structure in the aftermath of the revolution. The intentions and motives of each faction: rebels, United States government, Spanish government, United States public, and the Cuban public, varied widely to an extend that caused even more concern in the future. Depending on the point of view of an outsider the situation in Cuba seemed to be a continuation of revolution...
In the final days of 1958, ragged rebels began the process of driving out forces loyal to Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. By New Year’s Day, the nation was theirs, and Fidel Castro, Ché Guevara, Raúl Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos and their companions rode triumphantly into Havana and history. The revolution began long before, however, and the eventual rebel triumph was the result of many years of hardship, guerrilla warfare and propaganda battles.