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Batista leads a series of puppet presidents
Batista and his army controlled Cuba's government from behind for 25 years keeping United States economic interests in mind. They did this through several civilian presidents who acted in their favor. -
Washington abrogates the Platt Amendment
The Platt Amendment was directly related to the Teller amendment, which stated that it would not establish any permanent control over Cuba after the Spanish American war. After the war the Teller amendment was put into the new Cuban constitution stating that the US could buy land for naval and army bases; also saying that the US could control who cuba made treaties with. It was repealed in 1934 as a part of Roosevelt's ‘Good Neighbor Policy.’ -
Batista ruled Cuba directly for the 1st time
The Autenticos government was considered one of the most corrupt and undemocratic governments of the time. Fed up with this Batista cancelled the 1952 elections and declared himself president directly ruling for the next 7 years. -
Castro Gives His First Manifesto
Castro believed that manifestos were necessary for propaganda so that the public could understand the goals of the government. They were also a campaign tactic to gain support from the public and minimize other possible rebellions against the new government. -
Castro attacks Moncada Barracks
Castro and his Brother Raul lead 165 youths to attack army barracks in hops to get weapons for their rebellion. However, the police were waiting for them and many were immediately slaughtered anyone they thought to be a suspect. The rest were arrested and put on trial. -
History Will Absolve Me Speech
In jail Castro wrote the ‘History will absolve me’ speech which later would become the manifest for what he named the 26 July movement. In it he explained the 5 revolutionary laws that would have been if the barack attacks had been successful. -
Castro comes back to Cuba in the Granma
Castro and his fellow rebels left cuba for Mexico in the hopes of being able to train and better plan their rebellion. The Mexican authorities caught on and they decided to go back on the Granma yacht to Cuba planning to arrive at eh same time as a fight was going to start. Unfortunately for them however they arrive two days late, at the wrong place welcomed by authorities. -
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Cuban communists begin to support Revolution
The Communist PSP gave Castro their support helping to plan general strikes in cities, widening the support base. -
Prior only 15% of rural inhabitants had running water
Cuba was relatively undeveloped country with the majority of the population living without basic necessities as well as being illiterate. -
ORPC founded
Office of the Revolutionary Plans and Coordination was the new government once Castro gained power. -
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40,000 immigrants left Cuba
During this period of time Cuba experienced economic downturns and political instability causing many of its citizens to flee to neighboring countries. -
Proclamation against discrimination speech
Castro made his first speech about the racial discrimination. He acknowledged that it wasn't just the elite that still had discriminatory practices but also that it was everywhere in the country. He stated that the cubans must educate themselves and become aware and proud of their heritage. -
Agrarian Reform Act passed
Cuban agriculture had always been at the base of the cuban economy. After Castro's revolution much of the agriculture had been destroyed along with many of the ties to the countries that Cuba had exported to. The reform changed the socioeconomic base of the country allowing for a strong base to emerge. -
Cuba signs trade deal with the Soviet Union
Seeing as cuba US relations were starting to fall away Cuba and the USSR signed a treaty saying the USSR would agree to buy sugar from Cuba. -
US owned business and public utilities nationalized
Wanting to further themselves from the US and decrease independence Castro Nationalized all public utilities in hopes of making the country more independent and strengthening the economy. Similar to ISI in Brazil. -
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Mass literacy campaign
Before this time literacy was extremely low in Cuba because of a lack of access to schools and instructors. To try to improve the literacy rate schools were constructed and teachers were given better pay and benefits in hopes of them teaching for longer. -
Eisenhower administration severs diplomatic relations with Cuba
Eisenhower closed the US embassy in Havana as a bold statement of the US’s dislike in the Castro regime. Relations between the two countries had declined throughout Castro's rebellion and further declined when Cuba signed treaties with Russia. Not wanting to support communism the US severed all relations to Cuba. -
Bay of Pigs
By 1961 the CIA had planned a full scale invasion of Cuba. The US had trained cubans who had fled during the revolution to fight in this attack. However it was woefully unsuccessful and resulted in the US side being outnumbered by Castro's men as well as a major embarrassment for President Kennedy. -
Economic embargo by US on Cuba
The first embargo was an arms embargo in 1958, where the US refused to supply either the Batista government or the rebels with supplies. Later it was expanded to include all kinds of imports and exports. It was enforce militarily, until 2016 when president Obama lifted it. The embargo was meant to punish Cuba for its communist affiliations. -
Castro launches attack on PSP party leader, Anibal Escalante
Castro launched an attack on Anibal Escalante when Escalante was accused of packing the party with his own relatives. This was what Castro was fighting against during the rebellion so this was unacceptable. -
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October 16, 1962 – October 28, 1962 The Cuban Missile Crisis occurs
The Cuban missile crisis was a tense 13 days between the US and the USSR with Cuba in the middle. US U-2 planes had taken pictures of military bases with missiles on it. Kennedy decided to enact a naval blockade. During this time the Cold War almost boiled over into a hot war. -
Castro goes to Russia to visit Khrushchev
Trying to keep their relations strong Khrushchev invited Castro to his country for a 40 day trip. They made some treaties promising their allyship. -
Let the Shame be Welcome Speech
After a few failures and negatives, Castro made a speech admitting that he, his movement and some of the plants he had tried to execute had their faults. Cubans across the country praised him for this speech because it was one of the first time in their recent government history that a politician had recognized their faults. -
Family Code adopted
Family code is a series of laws that covers everything from marriage and divorce to adoption and equal rights of marital partners. The code was advertised on every platform available so that every cuban was aware of the law. However civilians were still welcomed to discuss its strengths and weaknesses in the country's schools.
