By Chris Marino

Overview The Cuban Revolution began on March 10, 1952 when General Fulgencio Batista overthrew the president of Cuba A lawyer named Fidel Castro defeated Batista after 2 years and took power on January 1, 1959, killing over 550 of his associates. Castro had the support of the U.S. until he embraced communism. support was lost and they even attempted to overthrow him by sending American trained Cuban exiles into Cuba. The army, known as La Bragada invaded on Cuba’s Bay of Pigs on April 17, It was unsuccessful and 1200 of the Cuban exiles were captured cost the United States $53 million dollars in food and supplies to have the captives freed.

Overview cont. Nikita Khrushchev saw that the U.S. would not be directly involved and took the opportunity as an advantage for expansion of the Soviet Union. In July of 1962 he began setting up missiles in Cuba. This was discovered by the Americans which resulted in the blockading of Cuba and the United States threatening to invade. known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was resolved under the agreement that the missiles would be taken out of Cuba if The United States did not invade. Khrushchev vs. Kennedy

General Fulgencio Batista Batista was a U.S.- backed Cuban general, president, and dictator. He gained power from 1933–1944, and 1952–1959 as a result of the Cuban Revolution he was overthrown by Fidel Castro.

Fidel Castro grew up in a wealthy family and graduated from law school. His main reason for taking control of Cuba was the fact that he was a member of the Ortodoxo Party, a social-democrat party that strongly criticized the government of Batista. After taking control, he became a communist. Today he is widely despised for his unjust acts of violating human rights as a dictator.

Nikita Khrushchev Was involved later in the revolution. During the Cold War, Khrushchev was in power of the Soviet Union and planted missiles in Cuba hoping this would be an advantage during the Cold War. This created the highest amount of tension for the Cold War and created more conflict for the occurring revolution in Cuba at the time.

Importance of the Revolution It completely isolated Cuba from the surrounding world after failed attempts at rebellions in nearby areas. During the Cold War it gave the U.S.S.R. an ally neighboring the United States, which brought about the high expectation of a nuclear war.

French Revolution vs. Cuban Revolution

French Revolution vs. Cuban Revolution cont. FranceCuba Involved absolute rulers. People of each country were overall poor and suffering. People wanted reform/ change in government. Over 40,000 citizens who opposed leaders killed of the Cuban exiles were captured that invaded. Common people had few political rights, women had none. Other countries such as Austria and Prussia apposed the idea of the Revolution. Began conflict with the United States and created tension in the cold war. Cuba was under a communist and citizens had no involvement in the government.

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