Detail the factors that brought about the Cuban revolution of 1958/59 and evaluate the successes and failures of the subsequent communist government.
The first part of this essay will explore and analyze the many factors that brought about the Cuban revolution of 1958/59.
These factors stretch back to when Colon first landed in Cuba in 1942.
Cuba's location in the Carribean has always been the key aspect which foreign powers have most wanted the island for. This factor has meant the Cuban people have always had to live with external influences dictating their national policies which in turn has dictated their day to day lives. The main effect of this influence had been poverty and oppression for the average Cubano until the 1958/59 revolution.
For William McKinley the Cubanos were a nuisance who got in the way of trade, ' [It] injuriously affects the normal functions of business and tends to delay the conditions of prosperity to which this country is entitled to.
Fidel Castro becomes the leader of Cuba as a resul...
Fidel Castro, president of Cuba, at a meeting of t...
Fidel Castro under arrest in July 1953 after the M...This quote refers to the Cuban uprising against the Spanish.
I believe the U.S is the one continuous thread that led to the revolution and the strong anti-Yankee sentiment that dominated Castro's policies.
Cuba gained its independence from Spain in 1898. This was at a cost to Cuba as they had to ally themselves with the U.S to finally defeat the Spanish. Cuba was never officially portrayed to be part of the U.S. Cuba was independent with a republican constitution. This constitution stood for little as Cuba still held a huge contingent of U.S troops. The U.S also made sure of its stranglehold on Cuba by placing the Platt Amendment in the new constitution in 1901. This amendment ensured that U.S troops had licence to step into Cuba at any time for any reason:
The government of...