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Batista leads a series of puppet presidents
At the beginning of Batista’s surge of power, he had a group of 7 puppet presidents that he controlled. They ran the country for him and they could only enact measures approved by Batista and the US -
Washington abrogates the Platt Amendment
US intervened in Cuba to help Batista oust Grau. Once Cuban politics returned to normal, US had no trouble agreeing to abrogate the amendment. The US naval base in Guantanamo was not affected. -
Batista ruled Cuba directly for the first time
At the beginning of Batista’s power, he ran the country through a series of puppet presidents. However in 1940 Batista was elected president and ruled directly for the first time. -
Castro leads attack on Moncada barracks
The attacks on Moncada barracks was Castro’s first attack on the Batista government. This resulted in police killing and attacking suspects. Fidel and Raul Castro were sentenced to 15 years in prison. -
Castro gives his first manifesto
Castro’s first manifesto was the Manifesto of the Revolutionaries of Moncada to the Nation. It indicated the kind of revolution he had in mind--independence from foreign control, social justice, and restoration of the 1940 constitution. -
Castro makes his history will absolve me speech
After getting arrested from the attack on Moncada barracks, Fidel and his brother were put on trial. At the trial, Fidel gave his history will absolve me speech. This became a sacred text of the revolution -
Castro comes back to Cuba in the Granma
Once out of jail, Castro and his 26 July group organized the revolution in Mexico. After almost a year in Mexico, Castro brought the group back to Cuba on the Granma -
Cuban communists begin to support Castro in the revolution
As Castro’s movement began to pick up speed, the communist PSP gave its support to Castro. The movement began to discuss plans for revolutionary general strike in the cities. -
ORPC founded
The Office of Revolutionary Plans Coordination was a committee of Castro’s closest advisors. It created a dual power system between the cabinet and ORPC. -
Prior to this date only 15% of rural inhabitants had running water
Cuba was a relatively undeveloped country during this time period. The majority of the population was living without basic necessities such as running water. -
Castro makes his proclamation against discrimination speech
This speech was a campaign against racial discrimination. In response, the government repealed pre-1959 laws that allowed or enforced racial discrimination. -
In this period 40,000 immigrants left Cuba
Cuba had experienced numerous economic downturns as well as political instability which caused many of its citizens to flee the country. -
Agrarian reform act passed
This act expropriated 40% of Cuban farmland and divided it into individual plots for landless plantation workers and small farmers. The US viewed it as a clear leaning to Communism. -
Cuba signs trade deal with the Soviet Union
With the US increasing economic embargo, Cuba was forced to go to the Soviet Union for help. Castro asked for help from the Soviets and in response Khrushchev approved the temporary purchase of Cuban sugar in exchange for Soviet fuel. -
All US owned business and public utilities were nationalized `
Castro nationalized all public utilities and US owned business in an attempt to further themselves from the US and decrease independence. Very similar to ISI in Brazil, as the goal was to make the country less dependent and have a stronger economy. -
Eisenhower administration severs diplomatic relations with Cuba
Eisenhower closed the US embassy in Havana as a statement of the US’s resentment towards the Castro regime. Not wanting to support communism, the US severed all relations to Cuba -
Bay of Pigs incident occurs
The US CIA planned to destroy Castro’s air force in an attempt to restrict Cuban military. Castro found out about the raid, and moved his planes out of harm’s way. The invasion was a disaster for the US. -
Mass literacy campaign begins
Due to a lack of schools and teachers, literacy in Cuba was extremely low. The campaign constructed new schools and gave teachers better work wages and benefits in order to increase the literacy rate. -
Economic embargo by US on Cuba
As Castro’s revolution continued, US began reducing its support for Batista’s dictatorship. They placed an arms embargo on both sides which weakened Batista’s hold over his military and civilian supporters and made resistance to Castro’s forces more difficult. -
Castro launches attack on PSP party leader, Animal Escalante
Once Escalante was accused of packing the party with his own relatives, Castro launched the attack. Castro was fighting against this corrupt behavior during the rebellion, so it was unacceptable for an ally to do that as well. -
The Cuban Missile Crisis occurs
13-day political and military standoff between the US and Soviet Union over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba. US threatened to enact a naval blockade around Cuba and was prepared to use military force if necessary to prevent nuclear war. -
Castro goes to Russia to visit Khrushchev
In an effort to keep their relations strong Khrushchev invited Castro to his country for a 40 day trip. They made treaties promising their allyship. -
Battle for sugar takes place
Cuba had agreed to provide the Soviet Union with sugar, however, the 1968 harvest fell short of what they needed. To keep up relations between Cuba and Russia, Castro created a plan to increase the country’s yield in the coming years. -
Castro gives his let the shame be welcome speech
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Family code adopted in this year
This code changed the way households were run. This obliged husbands to 50% of all family chores, along with other household changes.
