Castro's Revolution

Paper Summary:

This paper explores the political, social, and economic factors that led to Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba. The paper first describes the rightist rule of Fulgencio Batista and his brutal and unfair treatment of the population. The paper then explains how leftist movements are reactions to massive inequities in the economic, social and political structure within a nation. In light of this information, the paper then explains why Castro's promise of democracy and social equity succeeded in appealing to the masses and how this led to his successful revolution.

From the Paper:

"From 1962, Cuba has been politically aligned with the archetypal Soviet Communist political structure. Under the singular leadership of Fidel Castro, Cuba turned from just another North American / Western European playground of excesses that so much of the Caribbean has become to a violently anti-American communist nation directly aligned with the Soviet Union and simultaneously the biggest failure and success in the political life of President John F. Kennedy. Cuba has taken on many roles over the course of the past several centuries. First, it was a stopping point prior to landing in the U.S. for slave ships, then it became the location where the U.S.S. Maine was supposedly sunk by Spanish saboteurs which led to the U.S. involvement in the Spanish American war, then it became an industrialist / capitalist haven where the raw materials of the Caribbean and the moral corruption of gambling, prostitution, drugs, and organized crime were the rule of the day. Then, with the people of Cuba increasingly disconnected from the wealth their land was generating, disenfranchised from within their own government, and led by a young and charismatic farmer, Fidel Castro, overthrew the pro-U.S. government and replaced it with a Leftist ideology that purported to be dedicated to the people."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Farber, Samuel. "Cuba: The One Party State Continues." New Politics 5.3 (1995): 212-21.
• Joes, Anthony James. From the Barrell of a Gun: Armies and Revolutions. Chicago: Pergamon-Brassey's, 1986.
• Paterson, Thomas G. Contesting Castro: The United States and the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
• Scheina, Robert L. Latin America's Wars. Chicago: Brassey's, 2003.

More papers on Castro's Revolution:

• Book Review # 120732 : "Balfour's "Castro"
• Analytical Essay # 147812 : "Che Guevara and the Politics of Revolution"
• Essay # 61213 : "Cuba's Future after Fidel Castro"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: