...The year was 1953 and Fidel Castro was a dashing and daring reformer that was determined to make a impact in a country that was ruled by an unjust president. With the Movement strong and confident, Castro delivered these strong words to his group of men: “In a few hours you will be victorious or defeated, but regardless of the outcome – listen well, friends – this Movement will triumph. If you win tomorrow, the aspirations of Martí will be fulfilled sooner. If we fail, our action will nevertheless set an example for the Cuban people, and from the people will arise fresh new men willing to die for Cuba. They will pick up our banner and move forward... The people will back us in Oriente and in the whole island. As in '68 and '92, here in Oriente we will give the first cry of Liberty or Death!” These words by Castro illustrates what type of leader he was and still is to this day. Castro is one of the most polarizing figures in Cuban history, with many natives of Cuba arguing that he was the central cause of the destruction of Cuba, while others consider him to be the visionary that saved Cuba from the destruction that would have come about if a capitalist system had been instituted instead of a communist one. Actions taken by Fidel Castro during the Cuban Revolution shaped Cuba politically and socially to what we know it to be today. Fidel Castro was born in southeast Cuba, in the Oriente Province on August 13, 1926. Castro’s father was Angelo Castro y Argiz, who was an immigrant...
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...Bay of Pigs Invasion The Bay of Pigs was a significant event in world history. In 1959, Fidel Castro overthrew the dictatorial President Fulgencio Batista. After this occurred the string of events began to ensue. “American corporations and wealthy individuals owned almost half of Cuba’s sugar plantations and the majority of its cattle ranches, mines and utilities. Batista did little to restrict their operations. He was also reliably anticommunist. Castro, by contrast, disapproved of the approach that Americans took to their business and interests in Cuba. It was time, he believed, for Cubans to assume more control of their nation. “Cuba Sí, Yanquis No” became one of his most popular slogans” (History.com, 2009). This was just the start of a war between the U.S. and Castro. After Castro started taking over Cuba, some of the citizens were upset and exiled into Florida. The exiles were a key component to the invasion in April of 1961 along with the CIA of the United States. Before the Invasion It is important to understand some of the events that ensued prior to the actions of the U.S. in the Bay of Pigs. This is vital to...
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...Thomas Hughes (Candidate Number: 006362 – 0036) How did Fidel Castro affect the relations between both the USA and the USSR? IB History Internal Assessment Centre Number: 6362 Doha British School Plan of Investigation Summary of Evidence Evaluation of Source Analysis Conclusion Contents A. Plan of Investigation 2 B. Summary of Evidence 3 C. Evaluation of Sources 5 Section D: Analysis 7 Section E: Conclusion 8 Bibliography (Written Sources) 9 Bibliography (Non-Written sources) 9 A. Plan of Investigation This study will seek to answer the question of how Fidel Castro affected the relations between the US and the USSR during the Cuban Missile Crisis. I chose this question because I’ve always had a passion for learning about the Cold War, especially the Cuban perspective of the whole situation. With this in mind, this is why I found the topic relevant, as the whole incident has been a standing point in time representing the effects of unstable relations in times of nuclear crisis. In order to answer...
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...process. In this essay I will be focusing on the events that led up to the terrifying 14 day event of the Cuban Missile Crisis as well as looking at the crisis from an individual level of analysis and from a realist point of view. In order to fully understand the Cuban Missile Crisis, we must first take a look at all of the events that had lead up to the crisis. Among many of the factors leading up to the nuclear standoff between the countries, one of the factors, of course, was the genuine concern of defense of each leader, John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, and Fidel Castro. Each leader would act in uncertainty trying to offset the actions of the other leaders out of fear of what the others might do. One major event that had raised lots of concern, was in April, 1961, during the Bay of Pigs. This was an unsuccessful invasion by the untrained CIA of the United States to overthrow the Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro. Due...
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...United States and the former Soviet Union. The conflict had historical roots in the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union, as well as in the history of relations between the United States and Cuba. The strife between the United States and Cuba culminated when Fidel Castro overthrew a government publicly supported by the United States, although political and military officials in the United States secretly welcomed the events. However, it soon became clear that the takeover of Cuba by Castro would result in escalating conflict between it and the United States, something that quickly became more evident in the Bay of Pigs invasion and Operation Mongoose; both designed to eliminate Castro from the political field in Cuba. The Soviet Union supported Castro’s regime and Cuba’s stand, and forced its hand with the placement of nuclear missiles on the island. The United States countered, and the two countries played out their hands to determine the fate of the world. In the end, the United States and the Soviet Union came to an agreement, both sides attempting to avoid a nuclear war. To this day, the way in which the threat was diffused remains an important model in studying how to avoid future conflicts that threaten the world. The history of relations between the United States and the former Soviet Union paved the foundation that would culminate in the Cuban Missile Crisis. The battles between the two superpowers started after the end of World War II, mostly in...
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...to make their way towards U.S. soil all at once if he and his administration did not act to deter this from happening. When looking at each country President Clinton had good reason to be cautious and somewhat fearful of a swell in immigration based off of his past experiences in office. Clinton, while concerned with the Cuban-American community, had greater concerns for a potential Mariel boat lift as the previous one is why he saw to be the main reason he was not reelected as the governor of Arkansas (Pastor). In 1980 the Mariel boatlift...
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...On October 16th, 1962, the entire world witnessed what they believed might be the last week of their lives, or the human species entirely. The ongoing Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union had finally escalated to the unthinkable; legitimate nuclear threats, whose true wrath was displayed in the bombings of Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki following World War II. This was no minor conflict, however. Both countries were in fear of the other, and completely willing to fire the nukes the second the other did. With such unexplainable tensions, it’s understandably difficult to comprehend why both the US and USSR would sink to such dangerous circumstances. The question still stands, though: Could the Cuban Missile Crisis have...
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...themselves with a vast national security apparatus, consisting of intelligence agencies and the National Security Council, it is not at all clear that presidents have been effective as crisis managers. They often lack crucial information, use incomplete or misleading analogies to understand crisis situations, find it difficult to micromanage events, and are unable to project force effectively. Even when they are successful, it is often in spite of, rather than because of, the resources of the institutionalized presidency at their disposal. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 provides a case study of how John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev almost blundered into a nuclear war through the crisis management approaches of their advisory systems, but then managed to extricate themselves using personal diplomacy and old-fashioned political horsetrading. They did so without revealing to the world how they had defused the crisis, a decision to maintain confidentiality with far reaching consequences for subsequent presidential crisis decision making. The illusion that presidential crisis management can compel an adversary to submit and that a nuclear crisis can be successfully managed left Kennedy's successors with impossible burdens of public expectations. The United States and the Soviet Union were on the brink of nuclear war between 22 October, the evening that President Kennedy announced a "quarantine" on Soviet ships carrying weapons...
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...the idea of democracy when he was beaten in the 1944 selection, and quietly passed energy over to his competitors. He had partners to US companies (and is alleged to have had partners to organized criminal activity, just like in Godfather Aspect 2). In 1951 he joined the competition to become President again, but when a study revealed him in last position he organized a second hen house and seized energy again. After the 1952 hen house Batista experienced large community disapproval and municipal disobedience, along with a revolt cause by Fidel Castro which was mashed (don't fear, Castro becomes essential again later). The US had many linked with Cuba, which legalized betting in and create an effort to woo United states travel and leisure. Prostitution also became very typical. Cuba encounters large extensive hardship because Batista put all the nation's sources into offering vacations for the wealthy Individuals in america he did company with. He announced an election in 1954, but with himself as the only lawful applicant. Student demonstrations and road riots became very typical and Batista organized energy only with the aid of an army that many suspicious was funded by the United States. Gradually Fidel Castro's put back together army dislodge him and in 1959 Batista left to Individuals from France, which was then a fascist dictatorship under Oliviera Salazar, and also remained for a while in Italy, which was also a fascist dictatorship, under Common Franco. Castro's 26th...
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...knows as politics comes in many forms. Examples of these include democracy, monarchies, totalitarian, and communist governments. Yet while some forms of government have died out due to unpopularity among the people, some still exist today. Enter Karl Marx, creator of what is known as communism. The Prussian born philosopher is indeed a major influence on politics of recent history. Through writing and the spread of ideas, Marx reached a point where his ideas flourished. People all around the world soon Marx’s ideas to use and create societies of modern history. Marx dedicated his life to the dissection of 19th century politics and philosophy, and his findings fueled many people into executing Marx’s plans. Karl Marx’s ideas...
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...In 1959, Fidel Castro and a group of revolutionists overthrew the Cuban government, changing it to a Communist country, which then created a strong relationship between Cuba and Soviet Union. During this time, the United States was at a stalemate war with the Soviet Union, now known as the Cold War. As Cuba’s relationship grew with the Soviet Union, their relationship with the United States quickly faded. As communism grew it began to ruin the United States’ idea of containment, which caused havoc within the economy. Cuba then became an enemy of the United States. Since that pivotal moment in history, the relationship between the United States and Cuba have experienced turmoil, which the current U.S. president Barack Obama, and the Cuban leader Raul Castro, have been trying to end the disorder between the two countries. In 1953 Fidel Castro and a group of 130 revolutionaries attempted to overthrow the dictatorship of Cuba but ended in a failure and later led to Castro’s imprisonment. The current dictator of Cuba, Fulgencio Batista, pardoned Castro, which was a major mistake. In 1956 Castro lead another revolt and promised the people of Cuba that he would replace Batista’s dictatorship with free elections and also promised that he would end the corruption in the Cuban government. (Dowling) Castro wanted to overthrow Batista because of his corruption and violence. Batista was known as a cruel, corrupt man who was out of touch with the Cuban people, and simply did not care about...
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...exchange for a salary. This socialist ideology has been enforced in two countries for several years; Cuba and Venezuela, but this has not been solved yet, and it’s a topic that everybody should knew something. I will start with Cuba and then Venezuela, and then I will compare them so the reader can know the similarities between them. The first intentions to implement socialism in Cuba come with Fidel Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara and his attempts to overthrow the dictatorship of then-President Fulgencio Batista, the dictatorial president was unconditional ally of the United States . They had already had approaches with communist leaders especially from Mexico, there was brewing a plan for the dissemination of communist ideas and policies, especially at the head of Leon Trotsky. In the Cuban revolution that culminated in Batista fled and the establishment of Fidel Castro in power in 1959, who in four years as the island proclaimed socialist who raises concerns in the US ahead in the time of President Eisenhower proposes immediate action The geostrategic importance because the island had for American power, however most concern by the government of the United States was the growing communist influence and the improvement in relations Moscow-Havana in terms of economic and political aspects that USA had neglected during the...
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...was greeted by the native Taino people who thought that he was a god that ascended from the heavens. They gave him, gold, food, and valuable information about the island. He returned the favor with disease, rape, murder, and enslaving them. The white man took over their precious home and destroyed all traces of Taino civilization. Cuba’s economy started failing before the 1760s due to Spanish trade regulations. Spain had set up a monopoly in the Caribbean and their primary objective was to protect Cuba. They did not allow the island to trade with any foreign ships. Spain was primarily interested in the Caribbean for its gold. The Spanish thought that if the colonies traded with other countries they could not gain anything. This slowed the growth of the Cuban economy. This effect was particularly bad in Cuba because Spain kept a tight grasp on it. It held great strategic importance in the Caribbean and had extreme potential for the monarchy. Spain noticed how valuable sugarcane from Cuba would be and took action. They aggressively forced sugarcane onto the island and started cultivating. By the 1800’s Cuban sugar plantations became the most important world producer of sugar, thanks to the expansion of slavery in Cuba. Cubans were torn between the profits generated by sugar and a disgust for slavery, which they saw as morally, politically, and racially dangerous to their society. By the end of the 19th century, slavery was abolished. However, leading up to the abolition of...
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...nations were obliged to come to an agreement, and overcome their differences. To reach the phase of a resolution however, states underwent a series of events, which escalated the conflict. In order to understand how and why the USSR agreed to remove its missiles from Cuba and why the United States, though in secret, agreed to remove its armaments from Turkey and Italy, one must take a look at and analyze the events from that period. An idea of why the crisis occurred should be taken into account. Then, an overlook of the events during the crisis would fully reveal how and why the exact resolution was agreed. For a start, looking at the structural level, three important events which brought the crisis, could easily be distinguished. First of all, it was the policy of the United States towards Cuba. US’ elite was greatly disturbed by the Revolution that took place in Cuba. Americans were very discontent with a country leaning towards leftist politics in the region. They thought that socialist ideas would more easily be spread throughout the western hemisphere, if such a state existed. So it happened as Cuban revolutionaries proclaimed the socialist ideas in countries in Central and South America. In addition, with his coming into power, Castro enforced a nationalization of property on the island. This proved disastrous for a lot of American corporations, based on Cuba in that period. United States’ political elite was determined to remove Castro from power. And so in 1960 the...
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...world that compromising and discussion can in-fact prevent war. As Khrushchev said in 1962, "They talk about who won and who lost. Human reason won. Mankind won." 1 The world had almost seen another world war, the effects of which would have been devastating because of the weapons involved. Humanity, indeed, was the prevention of the war. The Cuban Revolution was a background cause to the crisis. On January 1st, 1959 a Marxist regime in Cuba would have seemed unlikely. To the communist party in Cuba, Fidel Castro appeared tempestuous, irresponsible and stubbornly bourgeois. In 1943 President Batista appointed a communist to his Cabinet, as he used communists as leaders of the labor unions. Batista started to fail the Cuban communists and their loyalties transferred gradually to Castro, completely by 1958. On December 1st, 1961 Castro declared himself a Marxist and claimed he had always been a revolutionary, studying Das Kapital of Karl Marx. Most Cubans idolized Castro, supported his government and at least accepted his measures.2 He claimed to have a desire to help the poor and said he would have found it impossible to follow the...
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