WEBVTT

00:00:03.639 --> 00:00:06.359
In 1952, former Cuban president Batista

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:06.359 --> 00:00:08.269
led a military coup and seized power

NOTE Paragraph

00:00:08.269 --> 00:00:10.049
when it became clear he was not going

00:00:10.049 --> 00:00:12.209
to be re-elected. He placed Cuba under

00:00:12.209 --> 00:00:13.861
a repressive military dictatorship

00:00:13.861 --> 00:00:15.781
and began to establish close relations

00:00:15.781 --> 00:00:16.969
with the United States.

00:00:16.969 --> 00:00:18.475
This allowed American companies

00:00:18.475 --> 00:00:19.724
to buy up the majority of

00:00:19.724 --> 00:00:21.576
Cuba's natural resources, plus, under

00:00:21.576 --> 00:00:23.316
his rule, the country became a haven

00:00:23.316 --> 00:00:25.489
for organized crime syndicates, 
all of which

00:00:25.489 --> 00:00:26.864
angered a young lawyer named

00:00:26.864 --> 00:00:28.477
Fidel Castro. Castro put together

00:00:28.477 --> 00:00:29.882
a group of 138 men,

00:00:29.882 --> 00:00:32.388
and on July 26th, 1953, attacked an

00:00:32.388 --> 00:00:34.423
isolated Barracks in Moncada

00:00:34.423 --> 00:00:36.399
in the hope of securing 
more weapons.

00:00:36.399 --> 00:00:37.631
The attack was a disaster

00:00:37.631 --> 00:00:39.321
and the rebels were fought back.

00:00:39.321 --> 00:00:41.283
Most of those who were not killed were

00:00:41.283 --> 00:00:43.557
captured, including Fidel and 
his brother Raúl.

00:00:43.557 --> 00:00:45.163
The public trial of the captured

00:00:45.163 --> 00:00:46.927
Rebels helped turn public opinion and

00:00:46.927 --> 00:00:48.737
Castro's favor when he argued against

00:00:48.737 --> 00:00:50.687
the dictatorship and said, "History will

00:00:50.687 --> 00:00:52.656
absolve me". He was sentenced to 15 years

00:00:52.656 --> 00:00:54.231
in prison, but Batista was under

00:00:54.231 --> 00:00:56.156
international and domestic pressure for

00:00:56.156 --> 00:00:57.876
reforms and released the political

00:00:57.876 --> 00:00:59.421
process in just 2 years

00:00:59.421 --> 00:01:03.118
Fidel and Raul fled to Mexico to regroup
and make new plans for the revolution

NOTE Paragraph

00:01:03.118 --> 00:01:05.848
They met with
other Cuban exiles and an Argentinian

00:01:05.848 --> 00:01:07.773
doctor named Che Guevara, who joined the

00:01:07.778 --> 00:01:09.847
'26th of July Movement'. 
In the meantime, a

00:01:09.847 --> 00:01:12.341
In the meantime
controversial election and increasing

00:01:12.341 --> 00:01:14.456
unemployment in Cuba, led to more and

00:01:14.456 --> 00:01:16.303
more anti-Batista riots, although they

00:01:16.306 --> 00:01:18.153
weren't necessarily socialist. Batista

00:01:18.153 --> 00:01:19.645
responded by becoming even more

00:01:19.645 --> 00:01:21.634
oppressive, which led to even more people

00:01:21.634 --> 00:01:23.677
calling for him to resign. Back in Mexico,

00:01:23.677 --> 00:01:25.524
the revolutionaries purchased a small

00:01:25.524 --> 00:01:27.767
yacht named 'Granma' and in November 1956,

00:01:27.767 --> 00:01:30.007
82 Men set sail for Cuba. The Cuban

00:01:30.007 --> 00:01:31.868
government, however, was aware that the

00:01:31.868 --> 00:01:33.444
rebels were returning to Cuba and

00:01:33.444 --> 00:01:35.212
attacked them. Only a handful of them

00:01:35.212 --> 00:01:37.162
survived to escape up into the mountains.

00:01:37.162 --> 00:01:38.971
From their Mountain Base they gathered

00:01:38.971 --> 00:01:40.741
new supporters and launched guerrilla

00:01:40.741 --> 00:01:42.737
attacks on Military targets. Plus, foreign

00:01:42.737 --> 00:01:44.051
journalists were allowed to visit, and

00:01:44.051 --> 00:01:45.894
along with their Pirate Radio Station,

00:01:45.894 --> 00:01:47.734
this gave their struggle International

00:01:47.734 --> 00:01:49.644
attention and ultimately increased their

00:01:49.644 --> 00:01:51.609
popularity. Meanwhile, in the cities too,

00:01:51.609 --> 00:01:53.468
new rebel groups were launching attacks

00:01:53.468 --> 00:01:55.463
against Batista. Angered and desperate, in

00:01:55.463 --> 00:01:57.379
1958, Batista sent a large army into the

00:01:57.379 --> 00:01:59.173
mountains to try and flush the rebels

00:01:59.173 --> 00:02:01.137
out once and for all. However, this was a

00:02:01.137 --> 00:02:02.802
disaster and the hardened guerrilla

00:02:02.802 --> 00:02:04.647
fighters were able to fight them back,

00:02:04.647 --> 00:02:06.608
causing many in the Army to switch sides.

00:02:06.608 --> 00:02:08.491
The rebels then saw this as the perfect

00:02:08.491 --> 00:02:10.350
opportunity to launch a Counterattack.

00:02:10.350 --> 00:02:12.416
Che Guevara took control of one arm of the

00:02:12.416 --> 00:02:14.218
Rebel Army and headed to Santa Clara.

00:02:14.218 --> 00:02:16.182
Cienfuegos took another and marched into

00:02:16.182 --> 00:02:18.551
Yaguajay and Castro followed with the

00:02:18.551 --> 00:02:20.385
reinforcements. As they passed through

00:02:20.385 --> 00:02:22.166
towns and villages, they were largely

00:02:22.166 --> 00:02:24.128
welcomed, demonstrating to the world that

00:02:24.128 --> 00:02:25.843
Batista's regime was on the brink of

00:02:25.843 --> 00:02:27.564
falling. The International Community

00:02:27.564 --> 00:02:29.443
persuaded Batista to flee, allowing the

00:02:29.443 --> 00:02:31.250
rebels to move into Havana in January,

00:02:31.250 --> 00:02:32.739
1959, relatively unopposed. The

00:02:32.739 --> 00:02:34.675
revolutionaries took control of Cuba and

00:02:34.675 --> 00:02:36.349
their leaders, Fidel, Raúl and Che,

00:02:36.349 --> 00:02:38.177
consolidated their power by wiping out

00:02:38.177 --> 00:02:40.086
all remnants of Batista from the island,

00:02:40.086 --> 00:02:41.852
and arrested and killed many of those

00:02:41.852 --> 00:02:43.664
old supporters. This, as well as a few

00:02:43.664 --> 00:02:45.809
other repressive laws, led to a large

00:02:45.809 --> 00:02:47.679
number of people fleeing to the US. On

00:02:47.679 --> 00:02:49.439
the other hand, they nationalized the

00:02:49.439 --> 00:02:51.406
land that was owned by us companies, shut

00:02:51.406 --> 00:02:53.152
down the Mob's casinos and set about

00:02:53.152 --> 00:02:54.662
reforming and improving health

00:02:54.662 --> 00:02:56.471
facilities, housing and schools. These

00:02:56.471 --> 00:02:58.445
socialist policies angered the Americans,

00:02:58.445 --> 00:03:00.329
who decided to place economic sanctions

00:03:00.329 --> 00:03:02.314
on them. The US would also go on to aid a

00:03:02.314 --> 00:03:04.173
group of Cuban Exiles, in an attempt to

00:03:04.173 --> 00:03:06.290
oust Fidel Castro in 1962. 
But, the infamous

00:03:06.290 --> 00:03:08.260
'Bay of Pigs' invasion was a disaster. In

00:03:08.260 --> 00:03:09.914
the aftermath of the 'Bay of Pigs'

00:03:09.914 --> 00:03:11.834
invasion, Castro announced that Cuba was

00:03:11.834 --> 00:03:13.560
a Socialist Republic and rushed into

00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:15.529
seeking an alliance with the Soviets, and

00:03:15.529 --> 00:03:17.364
this friendship led to one of the most

00:03:17.364 --> 00:03:19.284
infamous consequences of the revolution,

00:03:19.284 --> 00:03:21.300
'The Cuban Missile Crisis'. The revolution

00:03:21.300 --> 00:03:23.180
spurred on left-wing idealists in Latin

00:03:23.180 --> 00:03:25.498
America, whose actions indirectly led to

00:03:25.498 --> 00:03:27.525
far-right reactionary dictatorships in

00:03:27.525 --> 00:03:29.546
countries like Argentina and Chile.