Revolutions Essay Research Paper Almost every nation

Revolutions Essay, Research Paper

Almost every nation in the world has experienced a revolution. A revolution can be simplydefined as “a change.” When a country undergoes a revolution, its ideals that it once believed in arebeing modified. Sometimes revolutionaries act intellectually, yet others may respond physically throughdestruction. Some may be peaceful, some short lasting, and some pointless. Historians do argue onidentifying whether a revolution has occurred. Revolutions usually follow a rupture in the nation’sevents, are directed by a hero, have an ideology and belief system, and use symbols or tools to get itspoints across to the people. Cuba and its leader today, Fidel Castro, have their own roots in arevolution that took place only some forty years ago. The causes of the Revolution itself laid behindthe military dictatorship of General Batista. The overthrow of the June 1952 elections by Batista indirectly led to the Cuban Revolution. Withthis event the weakness behind Cuba’s politics was revealed to the people. Their economy also fluctuatedbetween high and low profits. Because Cuba, after the destruction of land in Europe in WWII, had themost sugar production in the world, small farm owners prospered. Yet because sugar was the only majorcrop they produced, Cubans suffered when economies in other nations prospered. This in turn resulted inunemployment in the cities. With these circumstances, Cubans showed more oppression to their governmentand soon began to be rebellious. However, Batista jailed, exiled, executed, and used terror and threatsof violence against all the challenges he faced. The people became even more unhappy, until finally arupture occurred. While earning a doctorate of law in Havana, Fidel Castro began to participate in student protestsagainst Batistan polices. Castro housed weapons and prepared his supporters in the university campus inHavana. He organized a surprise attack on the Moncada barracks in the Oriente Province on July 26, 1953,where Batista’s military stayed, hoping to destroy the army that persecuted other rebels. Castro did notrealize one major problem: the odds of taking over a nation’s military base are small. Allrevolutionaries except Castro and his family were massacred. Although this rupture failed, Castro’smovement gained popularity and prestige all over the world. In fact, Castro called the Revolution the 26of July Movement. Castro himself was caught and sentenced to jail for two years. Between 1955 and 1956,Castro went to United States and Mexico looking for supporters and money to fund his revolution. OnDecember 2, 1956, eighty-two men including Castro and the physician E!rnesto “Che” Guevara, set sail once again for the Oriente on their yacht, the Granma. The campaign wasdoomed from the beginning. “Nobody could navigate the boat properly, everybody was seasick, most of thesupplies were jettisoned in a storm, and the expedition landed in the wrong place.”(Sinclair,15) On oneoccasion Guevara followed the wrong star to travel North, and on another, his comrade put the only thedrink they had, milk, upside down in his pocket. By the end of the day the milk was gone. On December 5in the battle of Alegr a de P o, Batista’s troops killed all of the rebels except twelve. Among thesesurvivors, coincidentally, were Castro and Guevara. Meanwhile, in the cities and universities, a revolutionary movement was also taking place. TheOrtodoxo political party favored a violent revolution against Batista. Its leader and University ofHavana Professor Rafael B rcena organized the National Revolutionary Movement, which gained support fromstudents. Castro refused to join, partly because he was leading his own revolts. In 1953, Batista’sgovernment found out about an upcoming attack that B rcena planned, and sent him to prison. ColonelCosme de la Torriente sought a peaceful answer to Batista by having elections. Knowing he would lose,Batista disregarded Torriente. By this time the Cubans knew that a violent revolution was unavoidable. The police under Batista fiercely put down a student protest on November 27, 1955 with beatings. Laterduring a baseball game being broadcasted on television, students showed anti-Batista banners, which ledto a demonstration that was also put down by the police. In another !demonstration, they killed a popular student, Ciego de +vila. His funeral on December 10 turned into aprotest that increased the support of the growing Cuban Revolution. In 1956 University of Havana waspartly destroyed by the government in hopes of preventing any public meetings or protests. On March 13,

1957, the leader of the rebellious students, Jos Echeverr a, and his supporters attacked thepresidential palace in order to kill Batista. Immediately after this, he declared on national radio thatthey killed Batista. Minutes later, police entered the studio and shot him, while the Cubans rejoiced tohear that their dictator had been killed. Later, it was confirmed that Batista had actually escaped theattack. Today, March 13 is a national holiday. The Cuban Revolution, however, was double-fronted. “In a taped interview shown in the United states in May, Castro called it a useless waste ofblood. The life of the dictator is of no importance. . . . Here in the Sierra Maestra is where tofight.’”(Suchlicki,170) After the unsuccessful battle of Alegr a de P o, Castro and his few followersfled to the Sierra Maestra mountain range. Here Castro healed his wound