Tuesday 27th January
History- Homework
Fulgencio Batista:
Born on the 16th of January 1901 in Orient province in Cuba.
Batista joined the army in 1912, and in 1933 he held the rank of sergent when he joined in a military coup against the liberal President Machado.
He was promoted to the rank of Colonel and became leader of a facist-inspired corporative state.
In 1937 he allowed the formation of rival political parties.
In 1935, one of Batista’s opponents (Antonio Guitaras) was murdered almost certainly by a government gunman due to being more vocal about the opposition of Batista’s rule. Other opponents simply just disappeared.
In 1939, Batista was elected the President of Cub.
Batista built support with the USA and in 1944 he introduced war taxes to the people of Cuba to help America pay for their war effort. This was unpopular with the people of Cuba because many remained poor. In 1944, he went into voluntary exile (voluntary left) in the Dominican Republic before moving to Daytona Beach, Florida. He then ran a campaign to return to Cuban politics.
In 1948 Batista won a seat in the Cuban Senate.
Batista put himself head of another military coup and on March the 10th 1952 it proved to be successful and the US recognised both his positioning officer and his government. This meant that he now held the self-appointed rank of General.
Under Batista’s rule, the rich in Cuba did well as long as they ensured that they ‘rewarded’ Batista, but the little was done for the poor.
On July 26th 1953 a small group of people opposed to Batista attacked a group of buildings which was used to house military soldiers in Santiago.
From December 1956 onward, Batista faced a challenge from the left-wing movement. The number of poor Cubans who had not benefited from the vast sums of money that had been invested and spent in Cuba far outweighed those who had benefited. These people were ideal targets for the likes of Castro and Ché Guevara who had gone to Cuba to assist Castro.
Castro’s men copied the tactics of the Chinese communists, they helped the poor of the island. This created more support for the Castro and communism spread nearer and nearer to Batista’s power base in Havana.
Batista lost the support of the Cuban Army and on December the 31st 1958 he had to flee Cuba for the Dominican Republic.
Fidel Castro:

Born on the 13th of August 1926 in Biran, a small town in Cuba.
In 1950, Castro graduated from the University of Havana and opened a law office.
In 1952 he ran for election to the Cuban House of Representatives.
In July 1953, Castro led about 120 men in an attack on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Castro was captured and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Castro was released from prison in 1955 by the US backed Batista as a part of the general amnesty.
In 1956, Castro and 81 other men sailed to the eastern coast of Cuba where government forces ambushed them.
By 1957 Castro was attacking recruits and winning small battles against Rural Guard patrols.
Castro nationalised all US owned business in 1960,