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Moncada Barracks
Fidel Castro's military revolutionary movement in Santiago de Cuba which eventually toppled Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship in 1959. -
'History Will Absolve Me'
Fidel Castro's speech in his own defense against the charges brought against him for the Moncada Barracks. -
Che Guevara
Che Guevara arrives in Mexico City. -
Cuban General Election
Batista dissolves parliament and is elected constitutional president without opposition. -
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Batista grants amnesty to Castro
Under an amnesty from Batista, Fidel and surviving members of his movement are released from prison. Castro starts plotting invasion of Cuba. -
Castro introduced to Che Guevara
Fidel Castro and his brother, Raúl Castro are introduced to Che Guevara in Mexico City. -
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Set sail for Cuba
Fidel Castro, with some 80 insurgents including Raúl Castro, Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos set sail from Mexico for Cuba on the yacht Granma. They land in Oriente Province on 2nd December. -
The Guerrillas First Success
Castro's guerrillas score their first success by pillaging an army outpost on the south coast. He started gaining followers in both Cuba and abroad. -
Unsuccessful attack
University students mount a failed attack on the Presidential Palace in Havana. -
El Uvero attack
Castro's '26 July' movement overwhelm an army post in El Uvero. -
Frank País murdered
Cuban revolutionary Frank País is killed in the streets of Santiago de Cuba by police while campaigning for the overthrow of Batista government. -
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Sierra de Cristal front
Raúl Castro opens a front in the Sierra de Cristal on Oriente's north coast. -
Shipment of Arms suspended
U.S. suspends shipments of arms to Batista's forces. -
Call for a General Revolt
Castro calls for a general revolt. -
General Strike
A general strike is partially observed, organised by the '26 July' movement. -
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Army vs. Rebels
Batista sends an army of 10,000 into the Sierra Maestra to destroy Castro's 300 armed guerrillas. By August, the rebels had defeated the army's advance and captured a huge amount of arms. -
The First Cuba-U.S. hijacking
A Cuban aircraft en route from Miami to Havana is hijacked by militants but crashes. The hijackers were trying to land at Sierra Cristal in Eastern Cuba to deliver weapons to Raúl Castro's rebels. It is the first of what was to become many Cuba-U.S. hijackings. -
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Santa Clara attack
Guevara directs a rebel attack on Santa Clara. On 28th December, Guevara's guerrilla troops seize Santa Clara. On the 31st, Camilo Cienfuegos leads revolutionary guerrillas to victory in Yaguajay. -
Downfall of the Havana mob
Fidel Castro leads his troops into Havana, and the president flees the city. -
New Government
The rebel leader Fidel Castro became the Prime Minister, and elections were set up to elect other officials. -
Castro visits the U.S.
The people in America greeted Castro like a hero, but some were nervous around him because they had heard he was a communist. They later learn they were right.