La Historia de Cuba

From the Spanish American War in 1898 to Fidel Castro

La bandera de Cuba

El mapa de Cuba

El mapa de Cuba

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean.

It is only 90 miles south of Miami, Florida.

It belonged to the Spanish until 1898.

Cubanos nativos

The original inhabitants of Cuba suffered the same fate as the rest of the indigenous Caribbean Indian: they were killed of by, slavery, small pox and war by the Spanish settlers.

Cuba española

Spanish control of Cuba began in the early 1500s with the arrival of the Spanish.

The island was ruled by governors obeying the rules of the King from Spain back in Europe.

La economía de Cuba

La economía de Cuba

The Cuban economy was based mainly on the production of sugarcane for the global market.

Europeans developed quite a taste for sugar after its discovery.

El negocio de esclavos

The free labor that slavery provided helped Cuba’s agriculturally based economy prosper.

Slaves brought over from Africa did the majority of the work while Spanish landowners profited immensely.

La Havana, capital de Cuba

La Havana, Capital de Cuba

The prosperity of the Cuban economy allowed Havana to be one of the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities in the New World.

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes freed slaves on October 10, 1868 on his La Demajagua plantation near Manzanillo, starting the Ten Year War for Cuban liberation.

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes is considered by many Cubans to be the 'Father of the Nation'.

He was later killed by the Spanish Army.

Diez años de guerra

The 10 years of Civil War was eventually crushed by the Spanish army, but the causes for the insurrection did not go away.

Inequality, poverty, racism, and lack of opportunity for slaves was still rampant in Cuba.

José Martí

José Martí was a prolific writer on the topic of Cuban independence.

He was eventually exiled from Cuba for protesting the Spanish rule there.

He fled abroad but continued to conspire against the Spanish government form abroad.

José Martí

Martí returned to Cuba to fight in a second war for political independence form Spain in 1895.

José Martí would later die in the initial conflicts of the Cuban-Spanish War for Independence in 1895.

It was not until 1898, after three years of fighting, that the United States would declare war on Spain.

Spanish-Cuban-American War

Spanish-Cuban-American War

You probably don’t recognize that War, but that is how the Cubans call it.

The Cubans had been struggling for years against the Spanish rule.

You see the bias in the name of the Spanish-American War. Up until now you may not even have known that Cubans fought in this war.

The USS Maine

February 15, 1898

The USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor in Cuba.

As a result, McKinley petitioned Congress for War and on April 18, 1898 the US was at war with Spain.

President McKinley

The Teller Amendment

On April 18,1898 an amendment to the U.S. declaration of war against Spain which proclaimed that the United States would not establish permanent control over Cuba. It stated that the United States "hereby disclaims any disposition of intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island except for pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people."

Spanish-American War Propaganda

The Spanish-American War

The Spanish-American War

The Spanish-American War lasted 3 months.

American Secretary of State John Hay referred to it as “a splendid little war”.

Not a single Cuban was allowed to be present present at the surrender negotiations between the Spanish and American officials.

General Calixto García

General Calixto García

General García was a leading General in the fight against Spain in Cuba.

His army and supporters were not even invited to be present at the peace treaty between Spain and the United States.

American authorities keep many Spanish officials in their posts after the surrender.

Después de la guerra

García wrote to the General of the US forces at the end of the war: “I have not been honored with a single word from yourself informing me about the negotiations for peace or the terms of the capitulation by the Spaniards ... when the question arises of appointing authorities in Santiago de Cuba….I cannot see but with the deepest regret that such authorities are not elected by the Cuban people, but are the same ones selected by the Queen of Spain.”

Ocupación militar

After the War, American troops maintained a military presence in Cuba.

Also after the war, American businesses began to pour into the country.

United Fruit Company bought 1,900,000 acres at 20 cents an acre.

Timber companies moved in to harvest the 10,000,000 acres of virgin forest in Cuba.

American tobacco companies and steel companies also moved onto the island to exploit Cuba’s wealth of natural resources.

The Platt Amendment

Platt Amendment of February 1901 allowed the United States "the right to intervene for the preservation of Cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty..." The Platt Amendment was finally abrogated on May 29, 1934.

Fidel Castro, comunistaAfter 50 years of

military dictatorships supported by the US, in 1953 Castro attempted to overthrow the US backed military dictator, Fulgencio Batista.

His attempt was feeble and he was sentenced to jail for 1 year.

Cuban Revolutionary War Castro was released from jail and fled to

Mexico to begin preparations for a military takeover of Batista.

In Mexico he gathered together many Cuban exiles to fight for his cause.

There he met Ernesto “Che” Guevara, a young communist who despised US political involvement in Cuban politics.

In 1956, Castro and 81 supporters returned to Cuba on a boat called the Granma and began a gorilla insurgency against Batista from the mountains of the Sierra Maestra in western Cuba.

Cuban Revolutionary War

20,000 people had been killed in the liberation war. As he entered Havana on 8 January, 32-year-old Castro reportedly ordered 50,000 rifles and machine guns to be imported to defend the Revolution.

Reforma agraria

After Castro seized power, many wealthy Cuban landowners lost their land as Castro expropriated (stole) I tand turned into state farms.

The US owned United Fruit Company lost much of theirt land and was turned over to small farmers.

In total, 1,000,000 acres were redistributed to the poor.

Los resueltos del gobierno comunista On 2 January 1959, the government

announced that 50-60% of casino profits would be directed to welfare programs. The first of a series of land reforms was enacted on 17 May.

The Cuban government offered to discuss compensation for US-owned farms and mineral properties. The US Secretary of State declined the offer.

Castro y los Estados Unidos

Ever since his rise to power in 1959, Cuban Premier Fidel Castro struggled to survive America's efforts to "encourage" his political demise”

When Castro came to power, the U.S. stopped buying Cuban sugar and refused to supply its former trading partner with much needed oil and other trade.

The Bay of Pigs

The CIA began to recruit Cuban exiles to return to Cuba to overthrow Castro in the late 1950’s.

These troops were trained in Guatemala and outfitted with American weapons.

Invasión cubana

On April 17, 1961, the US supported troops attempted to invade Cuba.

The invasion was crushed by Castro’s military.

There is little proof the public would have supported Castro’s removal from power.

La bahía be chanchos

Cuban air force pilots managed to destroy ships just off the beach that were to supply the invaders with needed ammunition and communication equipment. Cut off from this lifeline and running short on bullets, the exile brigade struggled in vain for a few days before almost all of its members were killed or captured.

When the shooting was over, 114 members of the brigade were dead and 1,189 had become Castro's prisoners.

La crisis nuclear de Cuba

Fueled by concerns that the U.S. had some nuclear missiles based a mere 150 miles from its boarders, in Turkey, the Soviet leadership grew increasingly desperate to somehow tip the balance of power in its favor.

El crisis nuclear de Cuba

The Soviet Union offered Castro new trade opportunities, to ease the effects of U.S. sanctions, and a promise of protection from U.S. hostilities. The cozy alliance which ensued between Castro and Khrushchev laid the ground for what culminated in a Soviet missile base in Cuba and ended in the Cuban missile crisis.

Amigos comunistas, Castro y Khrushchev

El crisis nuclear de Cuba

On October 22, 1962, after reviewing newly acquired intelligence, President John F. Kennedy informed the world that the Soviet Union was building secret missile bases in Cuba, a mere 90 miles off the shores of Florida. After weighing such options as an armed invasion of Cuba and air strikes against the missiles, Kennedy decided on a less dangerous response.

Presidente J.F. Kennedy Jr.

El crisis nuclear de Cuba In addition to demanding that Russian

Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev remove all the missile bases and their deadly contents, Kennedy ordered a naval quarantine (blockade) of Cuba in order to prevent Russian ships from bringing additional missiles and construction materials to the island.

In response to the American naval blockade, Premier Khrushchev authorized his Soviet field commanders in Cuba to launch their tactical nuclear weapons if invaded by U.S. forces.

¿Guerra nuclear?

El crisis nuclear de Cuba

Deadlocked in this manner, the two leaders of the world's greatest nuclear superpowers stared each other down for seven days - until Khrushchev blinked. On October 28, thinking better of prolonging his challenge to the United States, the Russian Premier conceded to President Kennedy's demands by ordering all Soviet supply ships away from Cuban waters and agreeing to remove the missiles from Cuba's mainland..

Guerra nuclear

After several days of teetering on the brink of nuclear holocaust, the world breathed a sigh of relief.

CIA y Fidel Castro

Since the Bay of Pigs, the CIA has made various attempts to kill Castro.

Castro stepped dwon from the Cuban Presidency in 2008, and was seceded by his brother Raúl.

American tourism to Cuba is severely restricted to this day.