“In the international “Cold War” climate of the time Cuba needed and got support and solidarity from the Soviet Union. The rapprochement between the two countries led the vast majority of specialists to interpret
the events surrounding Cuba in terms of the East-West confrontation. The commonplace Western explanation of the Cuban Revolution—including its causes and origins—has been to see it as arising from that
antagonism, as if Cuban national life had started in 1959, as if Cuba had no history and was merely a product of events beyond its shores. Half a century later and nearly twenty years after the end of the Cold War, that
is still the deciding factor in the mindset on Cuba of a large part of the West’s “liberal” academia.”
In this quote from the first page of the Cuban article, the author suggests that the Cuban Revolution occurred for more reasons than just the Cold War, or the struggle between communism and anti-communism. Based upon your reading of the article, in 100 words, describe three causes other than the Cold War that led to the Cuban Revolution.
Please post your responses between Noon and 5 pm on Saturday, March 12.
[9] There are a number of events other than the cold war that led up to the Cuban Revolution. The first being that the Cuban people were fed up with Fulgencio Batista's corrupt government and looked to Fidel Castro to offer them equality and a better way of life. Castro eventually overthrew Batista and Cuba became a communist country and immediately formed a tight relationship with the Soviet Union. The second event that I believe contributed to the revolution was the fact that the US failed be a participant in the Bay of Pigs invasion. President Kennedy refused to directly involve the U.S. armed forces leading the Soviet Union to believe the U.S. would do little to resist Soviet Expansion, although that was not the case. The US stepped in when they began installing missile sites in Cuba and threatened an invasion, causing the Soviet Union to withdraw from Cuba. The US then cut off all trade to the Soviet Union, causing its economy, as well as Cuba’s, to collapse. All 3 of these events contributed to the Cuban Revolution.
ReplyDelete(14) The Cold War was not the start of the Cuban revolution. The event helped the revolution push its way to independence and gain the necessary economic aid since the United States political strategy was to sabotage the economic framework of Cuba to regain control of the island. The heart of the Cuban Revolution revolves around the Cuban nationals thinking independently and uniquely Cuban, rather than being influenced by foreign thoughts and propaganda. From this foundation, revolutionary leaders such as Jose Marti and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes could use their talents to gather manual laborers, seasoned veterans and slaves alike to fight for this uniquely Cuban way of thinking. Even though these leaders led disastrous defeats, the molding of a nation under a single true Cuban identity was a victory. Lastly, Cuban revolution persisted because of the constant poking and prodding by American Imperialism in a way that made life worse off than under Spanish colonialism. Therefore, Fidel Castro and the Cold War just put the puzzle together. The pieces already existed.
ReplyDelete[24] The most obvious reason for the Cuban Revolution is the genuine dislike for Batista. They believed that the government was corrupt, and they wanted a new type of government. So when Fidel Castro and his followers attempted to take over the government - the people of Cuba believed that everything would eventually get better. Secondly, human rights in Cuba was almost nonexistent. Most of this dealt with the transportation of African slaves to their country for many years. This surprisingly was one of the main reasons for the Spanish-American war. Finally Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr an American historian stated this about Batista's Cuba,
ReplyDelete"The corruption of the Government, the brutality of the police, the regime's indifference to the needs of the people for education, medical care, housing, for social justice and economic justice ... is an open invitation to revolution."
Basically all of these reasons come together to state the most obvious reasons for the Cuban Revolution.
[22] One of the causes, other than the Cold War, that led to the Cuban Revolution was the liberation of slaves. On October 10, 1868, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes asked the slaves to join him to fight for their freedom and the freedom of their country. By doing this, Céspedes eventually emancipated one of Cuba’s very important cities, Bayamo. Another cause of the Cuban Revolution was José Marti and his ideas on politics. He was the first person to warn Cubans of the threat U.S. imperialism imposed upon them. The neocolonial period kept the revolution continuing. People of this generation had a major impact on the revolution. They even formed a “revolutionary government,” but it only lasted a hundred days.
ReplyDelete[21] Three causes other than the Cold War that led to the Cuban Revolution are: slaves, coveting of Cuba, and the United States. Early on, slaves made up the majority of the population. The slaves began to develop their own way of life and wanted freedom. This was one of the first independence attempts in Cuba. Also, Cuba was always trying to be coveted from another country. Over the years, Spain, Europe, and the United States have tried to take stake in Cuba. When always under a watchful eye, revolts are soon to follow. Finally, the United States did everything in its power to conform Cuba. They would send whatever aid was necessary to make sure Cuba was becoming what they wanted. Due to that fact, constant changing and instability leads to tension.
ReplyDelete[18] The Cuban revolution developed for many reasons, the first being the national distress of the Cuban people under the rule of Fulgencio Battista, who ran a brutal and corrupt government which did not contribute to the betterment of Cuba as an independent nation. A second reason is that the major industries of Cuba were predominantly run be American companies, thus preventing Cuba from profiting from industry as well as limiting Cuban influence over major industries. Finally, Fidel Castro, who was very educated and idealistic, inspired the people of Cuba. He believed strongly in helping the poor, educating the people of Cuba, and establishing independence from other countries' political and economic influences.
ReplyDelete[6] On March 10, 1952, General Fulgencio Batista, with the aid and support of the U.S., overthrew the current president of Cuba, Carlos Prìo Socarrás, and Batista canceled all elections. From the very beginning of its establishment and Batista’s rise to power, it was conspicuous that both dictator and government were corrupt. The Cuban people were fed up with Fulgencio Batista's corrupt government, and it was rumored the government held ties to organized crime. Secondly, human rights were nonexistent; exploitation of African slaves was a ubiquitous problem. Lastly, aggressive imperialistic U.S. expansion policies made life worse than when under Spanish colonialism.
ReplyDelete[12] The Cold War was not the start to the Cuban Revolution although it did help push it. Batista, who was backed by the United States, had a terrible and violent reign as dictator of Cuba. The people did not like him so they assumed an "anything is better than this" attitude and when Castro came in they thought things would get better. The United States could have also been considered part of the reason the Cuban Revolution begun since they were the ones who put Batista into power in Cuba. In the article "The Long March of the Cuban Revolution" Quesada states that "Slavery -and its after-effect-racism would be the predominant issue during the first two-thirds of the nineteenth century Cuba..." Slavery caused many caused many rebellions. The Creole oligarchy knew how much slave labor made for was important to their economy. But they did not restrict whites and blacks from intermixing so there ended up being a diversity among the people that made slave labor more difficult. These are reasons other than the Cold War that could have contributed to the Cuban Revolution.
ReplyDelete[4]The root of Cuba’s national identity is the search for a truthful, different and independent path that started 100+ years prior to the Cold War. From the Political Revolt of 1812, to Felix Varela pushing and supporting the national independence movement, and then Carlos Manuel de Cespedes liberating Bayamo and installing a revolutionary government. Searching and fighting for freedom didn’t begin in 1958 for Cuba, its been in their lifeblood, trying to achieve the truly unique Cuban approach.
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ReplyDelete[17] There were many events that led up to the Cuban Revolution. The Cold War played a big factor in the occurrence however, it was not the only one. First, Cuba had a very corrupt government. For example, Batista put all of the country’s resources into the rich Americans he did business with. Cuba was being led by a corrupt government. Any country would scream for a change if this were happening to them. Next, the government abused human rights. Many Cubans were not treated fairly in terms of freedom of expression, association, assembly, and press. Many Cubans were also faced with problems such as torture and unfair trials. Last, there was a lot of brutality of the police. Cubans were not being fairly treated by the police and simply being abused. Not only were they being abused but, they were not able to speak out and receive proper justice. All of these issues would lead any country in to a revolution. It is obvious the Cuban people needed a change because this kind of treatment is unnecessary.
ReplyDelete[5] The Cuban revolution was marked by several other reasons besides the Cold War. For one, the dictator, Fulgencio Batisita, and the way in which he treated his people during his reign of tyranny can be seen as one of the causes of the Cuban revolution. For the people of Cuba, the corruption in government, lack of medical care and deplorable living conditions with Batisita in reign was the final straw, leading to the revolutionary movement on January 1, 1959 by Fidel Castro, which overthrew Batisita. Another cause for revolution came before Castro’s uprising, being U.S. military intervention and occupation on several occasions. This made Cuba a vassal state with conditions more appalling then when Cuba was under Spanish rule. Finally, Julio Antonio Mella, who voiced the struggles of workers, students, and farmers in Cuba, expressed the third cause for revolution being that Cubans are human beings and deserve to make their own decisions based on their own thoughts and understanding. These thoughts according to Mella should be a Cuban’s own and not influenced by foreign ideologies.
ReplyDelete[11]One of the causes of the Cuban Revolution was a corrupt government which was led by former president Batista. Even though he had the support of the U.S., many Cubans opposed him. One of them was Fidel Castro. He decided to take action against Batista and the government in 1953, by leading approximately one hundred guerrillas to attack the Moncada Barracks. Another cause was the inequality within Cuban society which eventually sparked the revolution. Relations between the U.S and Cuba was another cause of the revolution. Following the Spanish-American War of 1895, the United States emerged as both Cuba’s protector and primary trade partner. By the mid 1950’s American business interests controlled about 40 percent of Cuba’s sugar production and over 90 percent of Cuba’s utilities, such as electricity and communications.
ReplyDelete[15]While there is no doubt that international issues (the Cold War), played a significant role in Cuba’s Revolution, domestic and historic problems proved to be even more relevant. Cuba’s history of slavery and oppression of the indigenous people allowed for deep resentment towards colonial rule and authoritarian leaders. The constant struggle for freedom resonated throughout the 20th century, making revolution inevitable. Western influence in Cuba’s natural resources and trade, specifically in regards to sugar cane proved to amplify resentments from an economic stand point. As the century progressed, social unrest began to permeate throughout the country. With dedicated rebels and the backing of Castro, the Cuban Revolution was in the making.
ReplyDeleteAs we all know and have discussed, the Cold War was definitely one of the main factors of the Cuban Revolution. But, there are many others that have played roles in the Cuban Revolution, too. One of the other main causes was the rule of Fulgenico Batista. He was a violent man, and did no good for Cuba. John F. Kennedy stated that he killed 20,000 Cubans in seven years. The second cause in my opinion would be slavery. Slaves in Cuba at this time were very adamant about having their own freedom since they barely had any rights. The third cause would be the industries in Cuba. Many of them were run by Americans, and this never allowed them to benefit from any type of industry.
ReplyDelete23. From the beginning of Latin America, Cuba was mostly populated by slaves. The article discusses how many slaves were brought in to work and as they multiplied, they dominated the population. This set the foundation for a bitter and angry place to live. I feel that this is one of the many reasons, the Cubans revolted. The dictator Batista ran Cuba with fear and violence. He treated the people badly for too long and they wanted anything that would be better than him. Then Castro came along and they saw the chance for a brighter future. A third reason for this revolution I feel is the influence of the United States. Cuba wanted to be independent country and fought the longest to try and stay that way but failed. Once again this set the stage for a revolution in the making.
ReplyDelete[10] Three causes of the Cuban Revolution other than the Cold War are as follows Cuba became known as the Sugar Bowl. They strived to maintain that status and in doing so created a surge of slaves to remain that status. With the surge of slavery then came the issue of racism within Cuba causing rift amongst the people and slaves. The third issue that affected the Cuba Revolution was the effect of the Haitian Revolution
ReplyDelete[2] There are many causes of the Cuban Revolution besides the influence of the Cold War. I believe that one of the most important reasons was that the slaves and indigenous people of the island were fed up with the Creole influence and integration of the slave trade. Cuba became the go-to place for slaves for the Creole oligarchy. Another issue that caused Cuban independence was that other various mother countries were constantly trying to annex them as a part of their own territory. One of the most noticeable of these countries was our own, the United States. The Cubans were not being given the land that they deserved, or at least what they thought that they deserved. Finally, it is important to note that these people were influenced under a corrupt ruler, Batista. It was not until he was overthrown by Fidel Castro where people began to shout the need for change.
ReplyDelete[19] I believe the forefront cause of the Cuban revolution was the resentment the Cuban people felt towards Batista's form of government. Many people saw the government as corrupt and not serving the people of Cuba as a government should. Also the diplomatic stances that the US took with Cuba also contributed to the revolution by forcing Cuban's to seek reform within their own government as a means of appeasing the US and others (this would eventually backfire during Castro's tenure.)The lack of human right's consideration on the part of Batista could also be considered a trigger for the revolution. He not only ran a corrupt for of government but he neglected the many needs of his citizens which led to their hatred for him.
ReplyDelete[7] Cuba has long been a country founded rich in ethnic ideals and capable of bringing several positive advancements to society. However when the country fell to communism many people in western society believed, and still do today, that the Cuban people are merely defined by their turn to communism and revolution while at the same time were thought to have initiated their contributions on global-political stage at this point. However, the Cold war was not the sole cause of revolution. The Cuban’s animosity toward their current leader, Fulgencio Batista, spurred them in the direction toward revolution with the vibrant and emotional Fidel Castro. A second possible cause was the heavy reliance and influence by the slave population. The slave class, as any other oppressed group, desired freedom and began to fight for it, which lead to early glimpses of revolution in the country. Finally there were heavy influences of American capitalist businesses in Cuba. With this in place, the embargo when issued upon the country had astronomical effects. These economical trials acted as a catalyst toward the revolution.
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