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Chapter Reference: Revolution; Reaction
The Cuban Revolution has been the most radical, durable, and significant in the history of Latin America. A paper on the Cuban Revolution should not limit itself to the period of military insurrection before 1959. Instead, the students should approach the Cuban Revolution as an ongoing project of social engineering that, between 1959 and 1989, transformed Cuban society on a socialist model. After 1989, with the fall of Cuba's Communist allies in Europe, the Revolution entered a period of deterioration and retrenchment, which the Castro regime has optimistically dubbed "the special period." A paper on the Cuban Revolution might well concentrate on Fidel Castro, who has led the Revolution since the beginning of its military phase in the mid 1950s. It is, in fact, almost impossible to imagine the Cuban Revolution without Fidel Castro running it, precisely the reason why such a big question mark now hangs over the island as the aging dictator moves inexorably toward immortality.
Questions for Analysis and Further Reflection:
- In contrast to the way the Revolution is seen in the U.S.—through the Cold War lens as a movement associated with dangerous radicals—the Revolution is seen in a positive light by many Latin Americans. Why has the Cuban Revolution been a source of inspiration in Latin America? What factors shaped the U.S. government's position on the Revolution?
- What did the revolutionary project achieve from 1959 to 1989? What types of primary and secondary sources could be used to explore this question more in depth?
- The way our parents think about politics and how the world works often colors our initial understanding of such things, or our "world view." How do your family members, especially those of older generations, think about Fidel Castro, and how has that affected your own understanding of the Cuban Revolution? Do you share similar ideas or oppose them, and why?
Bibliography: (Titles with ** are good starting places.)
Castañeda, Jorge G. Compañero: The Life and Death of Che Guevara. Translated by Marina
Castañeda. New York: Knopf, 1997.
Castañeda's is one of a handful of recent biographies of the central revolutionary figure of Guevara. It would complement a reading of Guevara's political writings or his Motorcycle Diaries.
** Guillermoprieto, Alma. Dancing with Cuba: A Memoir of the Revolution. Translated by
Esther Allen. New York: Pantheon Books, 2004.
Leonard, Thomas M. Castro and the Cuban Revolution. Greenwood Press Guides to Historic
Events of the Twentieth Century. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999.
This book offers a concise overview of the military insurrection of the 1950s, a look at the key figures of the Cuban revolution, and a brief selection of primary sources of the revolution.
Lievesley, Geraldine. The Cuban Revolution: Past, Present and Future Perspectives. New
York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.
Paterson, Thomas G. Contesting Castro: The United States and the Triumph of the Cuban
Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Contesting Castro is a scholarly treatment of the period of military insurrection in the 1950s.
Pérez, Jr., Louis A. Cuba: Between Reform and Revolution, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1995.
The last three chapters of Pérez's general history of Cuba present the story of the origins of the Revolution and socialist Cuba since 1959.
** Pérez-Stable, Marifeli. The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course, and Legacy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Pérez-Stable provides a sound and compact overview of the revolution in historical perspective.
** Sweig, Julia E. Inside the Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro and the Urban Underground. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002.
This book recounts the history of one group of insurgents led by Castro in order to provide a new interpretation of how the military phase of the revolution was successful.
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