In 1953, Cuba resembled quite little of a proud and decent state; torn apart by the controversies and conflicts within, it was in desperate need for help. Both the economical and the political state were shocking to say the least; with a dictator at the helm and corruption within the state system, there was little left for people to hope for. As Strange, Oyster & Sloan (2011) explain, “Before the revolution, tourism boosted the Cuban economy and prostitution was common” (366).
As one must have probably guessed, there were more than enough reasons for Cubans to be disappointed in the political regime of the 1950ies. However, the causes for the revolt to occur were not the desperate stage of the economy and the increasing levels of prostitution.
As Cernak (2011) explained, the key factor that spawned the Cuban Revolution was the unbearable dictatorship of Batista: “In Cuba, revolutionary leader Fidel Castro led a guerilla army against Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Batista was a brutal dictator who controlled the pres and Cuba’s Congress” (Cernak, 2011, 54).
Like most revolutions that the history has ever known, the Cuban one was, in fact, headed by a single leader, Fidel Castro. While hit brother, Raul, did take part in the revolution as well, Fidel is yet the most memorable person and the only man at the helm of the revolution process.
Hugo Chavez, the then president of Venezuela, also contributed to the Cuban Revolution, while famous Che Guevara commanded the troops (Farber, 2006). Finally, the USSR was also interested in the results of the Cuban Revolution, which made the former assist the Cuban revolutionaries (Blight & Benner, 2007, 259).
As for the exact date at which the revolution started, there are various ideas on the issue. Technically speaking, the armed insurrection started on July 26th in 1953, when “Fidel Castro’s guerilla force attacked the Moncada Barracks” (Chomsky, 2010, 18).
However, digging a bit deeper into the history, one can see distinctly the premises for the Cuban Revolution in Taino Indian Hatuey’s going against the Spanish colonists in 1511 (Chomsky, 2010, 18). However, the date when the battle finally ended has been established clearly; as Chomsky claims, this is January, 1, 1959 (Chomsky, 2010, 48).
It goes without saying that the revolution had great impact on the way Cuba developed. To be more exact, the reforms concerned the field of agriculture – every farmer obtained 170 hectares of farmland, as Socialist Workers Party (1984) claims.
In addition, the spheres including “health care, education, childcare, rent and meals at work” (Socialist Workers Party, 1984, 46) were thoroughly improved. However, some of the issues were left unsolved, e.g., the idea of democracy has been turned into a one-men reign. In addition, the HRM strategies could have been better – as Spencer explains, Cuba depends highly on foreign human resources (Spencer, 2010, 16).
Therefore, it can be considered that the revolution did lead to the major results. It must be admitted, though, that these results left much to be desired and that the country’s economics was ruined completely in the course of the revolution; however, out of these ruins, something new and progressive was going to appear, and the whole nation gasped in the anticipation of changes.
Even realizing the fact that in the current globalization process Cuba has to resort to the capitalist economical approach, Raul Castro, Fidel Castro’s successor, claims that the country development is in full swing.
Reference List
Blight, J. G., & Benner, P. (2007). Sad and luminous days: Cuba’s struggle with the superpowers after the missile crisis. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, Ltd.
Cernak, L. (2011). Totalitarianism. North Mankato, MN: ABDO.
Chomsky, A. (2010). A history of the Cuban Revolution. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Farber, S. (2006). The origins of the Cuban Revolution reconsidered. Chapel Hill, BC: The University of North Carolina.
Socialist Workers Party (1984). The Cuban Revolution and its extinction: Resolution of the Socialist Workers Party. Australia: Pathfinder Press.
Spencer, R. (2010). Development tourism: Lessons from Cuba. Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
Strange, M. Z., Oyster, C. K., & Sloan, J. E. (2011). Encyclopedia of women in today’s world. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.