The Cuba Revolution
Guiding questions
Causes:
How important were long-term factors in causing the Cuban Civil War?
How important were short-term factors in causing the Cuban Civil War?
How significant were economic, ideological, territorial factors in causing the Cuban Civil War?
Practices:
How was the war fought by Castro and his troops?
To what extent did guerilla tactics detemine the outcome of the war?
How significant was foreign involvement in determining the outcome of the Civil War?
Effects
What was the impact of the War on Cuba?
Causes:
How important were long-term factors in causing the Cuban Civil War?
How important were short-term factors in causing the Cuban Civil War?
How significant were economic, ideological, territorial factors in causing the Cuban Civil War?
Practices:
How was the war fought by Castro and his troops?
To what extent did guerilla tactics detemine the outcome of the war?
How significant was foreign involvement in determining the outcome of the Civil War?
Effects
What was the impact of the War on Cuba?
The Cuban Revolution - Key information
Causes of the Civil War
Practices of War
See key information and Guerrilla Warfare
Read Sources A, B and C and answer the questions that follow.
Source A
‘Although Castro and Guevara believed that a guerrilla group in the country should be the flag bearer of Revolution, the support of an urban underground was essential to supply arms, money and recruits. Cuban official historians, wise after the event, have blown up the military importance of the guerrilla band out of all proportion: the heroic ‘battles’ which are recounted in such exhaustive detail were in fact little more than skirmishes involving 20 or so guerrillas. The opposition in the cities was probably much more significant in keeping relentless pressure on Batista’s regime. Without the struggle in the cities, there would have been no guerrilla army. At the same time, it is equally true that without the myth of the invincible guerrillas in the Sierra, the urban movement would not been so effective or inspired.’
Peter Marshall. Cuba Libre. 1987.
Source B
…the United States sought to persuade Batista to leave office, [however] the revolutionary momentum had sealed the fate of the regime. The failure of government offensives and the success of the guerrilla counter-offensives had a galvanizing effect on Cubans, provoking spontaneous uprisings across the island. Large amounts of arms and equipment fell into the control of civilians in the wake of the army retreat, including artillery, tanks and small arms of every type. In the closing weeks of 1958, both the ranks of the urban resistance and the guerrilla columns increased rapidly.
Louise A Perez in Cuba a short History. Ed. Leslie Bethell. 1998.
Source C
Castro… stepped into a power vacuum that was not entirely of his making. He had skillfully seized the opportunities offered by a conjunction of historical conditions that were unique to Cuba. His success, moreover, owed as much to his imaginative use of the mass media as the guerrilla campaign… By 1959 Castro had become the repository of many disparate hopes for Cuba’s regeneration. As he had made his slow triumphant way by road from Santiago to Havana, he was treated as the last in the long line of Cuban heroes – the last, unlike the others, he had survived and prevailed.
Sebastian Balfour. Castro. 2008.
Questions:
Source A
‘Although Castro and Guevara believed that a guerrilla group in the country should be the flag bearer of Revolution, the support of an urban underground was essential to supply arms, money and recruits. Cuban official historians, wise after the event, have blown up the military importance of the guerrilla band out of all proportion: the heroic ‘battles’ which are recounted in such exhaustive detail were in fact little more than skirmishes involving 20 or so guerrillas. The opposition in the cities was probably much more significant in keeping relentless pressure on Batista’s regime. Without the struggle in the cities, there would have been no guerrilla army. At the same time, it is equally true that without the myth of the invincible guerrillas in the Sierra, the urban movement would not been so effective or inspired.’
Peter Marshall. Cuba Libre. 1987.
Source B
…the United States sought to persuade Batista to leave office, [however] the revolutionary momentum had sealed the fate of the regime. The failure of government offensives and the success of the guerrilla counter-offensives had a galvanizing effect on Cubans, provoking spontaneous uprisings across the island. Large amounts of arms and equipment fell into the control of civilians in the wake of the army retreat, including artillery, tanks and small arms of every type. In the closing weeks of 1958, both the ranks of the urban resistance and the guerrilla columns increased rapidly.
Louise A Perez in Cuba a short History. Ed. Leslie Bethell. 1998.
Source C
Castro… stepped into a power vacuum that was not entirely of his making. He had skillfully seized the opportunities offered by a conjunction of historical conditions that were unique to Cuba. His success, moreover, owed as much to his imaginative use of the mass media as the guerrilla campaign… By 1959 Castro had become the repository of many disparate hopes for Cuba’s regeneration. As he had made his slow triumphant way by road from Santiago to Havana, he was treated as the last in the long line of Cuban heroes – the last, unlike the others, he had survived and prevailed.
Sebastian Balfour. Castro. 2008.
Questions:
- What does Source A suggest about the role of guerrilla warfare in determining the outcome of the Cuban civil war?
- Identify one comparison and one contrast between Source A and Source B’s accounts of the war.
- In Source C, what factor is seen as important as guerrilla warfare in Castro’s victory?
Effects of the Cuban Revolution
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