Cuban Revolution Timeline

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The timeline of Cuban history includes several important territorial changes and political events that caused several different disturbances within the country. The changes began when Cuba was first held by Spain after Columbus’s arrival to the land, officially becoming a Spanish colony in 1492. Cuba was later temporarily held by Great Britain in 1762, before being returned to Spain in an exchange for Florida. Several rebellions during the 1762-1902 period failed to end Spanish rule. However, the Spanish-American war officially ended Spain’s rule over the island in 1898 following with three and a half years of U.S. military rule. The citizens of Cuba sought after their independence from colonial rule and soon after gained official independence …show more content…
For the years followed, Batista would continue to run the country from behind the scenes, controlling politicians and policies for over thirty-years of corruption.
Batista was officially elected into office as the President of Cuba from 1940 to 1944. While in office, he instated the 1940 Constitution of Cuba, which was considered one of the most progressive documents at the time it was created. The constitution was influenced by the ideas that started the Sergeants Revolt of 1933. Some of the policies the 1940 Constitution of Cuba provided for was a fair minimum wage, voting rights, and protection of social rights.
Batista decided to run for president again in 1952. However, it soon became clear that he would not win the election and right before the elections took place, he seized power and cancelled the election entirely. The Cuban people were angry and disgusted at the power seize they witnessed, preferring a voice of the people of Cuba. One of these angered citizens, Fidel Castro, recently out of law school, had ambitions to run for public office and did so in the 1952 election. Fidel Castro would’ve likely won a seat in Congress if the elections weren’t cancelled. Castro soon after began plotting against Batista downfall by organizing an insurgency campaign to end Batista’s
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Only a handful of them survived, including Fidel and Raul, and escaped up into the mountains. From their mountain base, they were able to gather weapons, supplies, and more support to grow their movement. The revolutionizers allowed foreign journalist to visit their camp to conduct interviews which spread the news of the movement around the world. Once the movement gathered enough support, the movement launched several military campaigns in the Sierra Maestra Mountains using guerrilla warfare led by Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and Camilo Cienfuegos.
As the movement continued to grow in 1958, other smaller rebellious groups took up arms against the regime and allied with Castro to defeat their common enemy, Batista’s regime. Batista tried to deliver a blow to Castro’s movement by sending a large portion of his army into the Mountains where they were located. The move backfired on Batista as the soldiers were hit with several guerrilla warfare attacks on the soldiers. As the movement continued to gain grown, government officials were attempting to negotiate with Castro. Castro was not set on negotiating and continued to advance his

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