In 1952, former Cuban president Batista
led a military coup and seized power
when it became clear he was not going to
be re-elected. He placed Cuba under a
repressive military dictatorship
and began to establish close
relations with the United States.
This allowed American
companies to buy up the majority of
Cuba's natural resources, plus under his
rule, the country became a haven for
organized crime syndicates, all of which
angered a young lawyer named Fidel Castro.
Castro put together a group of 138 men
and on July 26th, 1953, attacked an isolated
Barracks in Moncada in the hope of
securing more weapons. The attack was a
disaster, and the rebels were fought back.
securing more weapons. The attack was a
disaster, and the rebels were fought back.
Most of those who were not killed were
captured, including Fidel and his brother
Raúl. The public trial of the captured
Rebels helped turn public opinion and
Castro's favor when he argued against
the dictatorship and said, "History will
absolve me". He was sentenced to 15 years
in prison, but Batista was under
International and Domestic pressure for
reforms and released the political
prisoners in just two years. Fidel and Raúl
fled to Mexico to regroup and make new
plans for the revolution. They met with
other Cuban exiles and an Argentinian
doctor named Che Guevara, who joined the
'26th of July Movement'. In the meantime, a
controversial election and increasing
unemployment in Cuba, led to more and
more anti-Batista riots, although they
weren't necessarily socialist. Batista
responded by becoming even more
oppressive, which led to even more people
calling for him to resign. Back in Mexico,
the revolutionaries purchased a small
yacht named 'Granma' and in November 1956,
82 Men set sail for Cuba. The Cuban
government, however, was aware that the
rebels were returning to Cuba and
attacked them. Only a handful of them
survived to escape up into the mountains.
From their Mountain Base they gathered
new supporters and launched guerrilla
attacks on Military targets. Plus, foreign
journalists were allowed to visit, and
along with their Pirate Radio Station,
this gave their struggle International
attention and ultimately increased their
popularity. Meanwhile, in the cities too,
new rebel groups were launching attacks
against Batista. Angered and desperate, in
1958, Batista sent a large army into the
mountains to try and flush the rebels
out once and for all. However, this was a
disaster and the hardened guerrilla
fighters were able to fight them back,
causing many in the Army to switch sides.
The rebels then saw this as the perfect
opportunity to launch a Counterattack.
Che Guevara took control of one arm of the
Rebel Army and headed to Santa Clara.
Cienfuegos took another and marched into
Yaguajay and Castro followed with the
reinforcements. As they passed through
towns and villages, they were largely
welcomed, demonstrating to the world that
Batista's regime was on the brink of
falling. The International Community
persuaded Batista to flee, allowing the
rebels to move into Havana in January,
1959, relatively unopposed. The
revolutionaries took control of Cuba and
their leaders, Fidel, Raúl and Che,
consolidated their power by wiping out
all remnants of Batista from the island,
and arrested and killed many of those
old supporters. This, as well as a few
other repressive laws, led to a large
number of people fleeing to the US. On
the other hand, they nationalized the
land that was owned by us companies, shut
down the Mob's casinos and set about
reforming and improving health
facilities, housing and schools. These
socialist policies angered the Americans,
who decided to place economic sanctions
on them. The US would also go on to aid a
group of Cuban Exiles, in an attempt to
oust Fidel Castro in 1962. But the infamous
'Bay of Pigs' invasion was a disaster. In
the aftermath of the 'Bay of Pigs'
invasion, Castro announced that Cuba was
a Socialist Republic and rushed into
seeking an alliance with the Soviets, and
this friendship led to one of the most
infamous consequences of the revolution,
'The Cuban Missile Crisis'. The revolution
spurred on left-wing idealists in Latin
America, whose actions indirectly led to
far-right reactionary dictatorships in
countries like Argentina and Chile.