THECUBANREVOLUTION-PoliticalScience.ppt

THE CUBAN REVOLUTION Political Science 4396 Dr. Arthur K. Smith Fall Semester 2006 Cuba Central America and the Caribbean Prevailing Myths About the Cuban Revolution ● The Ernesto “Che” Guevara version: “That a handful of bearded rebels with a rural peasant base singlehandedly took on and defeated a standing army, thereby overthrowing the dictator and bringing the revolutionaries to power.” ● That 1959 represented a “watershed” year for the Cuban Revolution, a break with the past rather than the culmination of more than six decades of virtually continuous struggle. ● That Fidel Castro “had his hands in all of the major and minor decisions of the 26th of July Movement during the insurrection and was responsible for all of its failures and successes.” Questions to be considered: ● What are the historical antecedents of the Cuban Revolution? ● Did M-26-7 prevail in 1958 primarily through guerrilla warfare, or were other tactics equally crucial to victory? ● What has been the role of the United States in shaping Cuban political and economic history? ● What role will the U.S. play in the post-Fidel era? ● How best to understand the role of Fidel Castro as Cuba’s revolutionary leader? ● How best to understand the recent “temporary” transfer of power to Raul Castro? ● What role has been and will be played by the Cuban exile community? ● What is likely to happen after Fidel’s death? Cuba in the Early Spanish Colonial Era, 1492-1800 ● Structure of Spanish Colonial Administration ● Spain’s conquest of the New World ● Contrast with England’s colonization of North America ● Role of Cuba in Spain’s colonial economy ● Mercantilism ? Dominant economic system from about the 16th through the 18th centuries ? Rise of the nation-state in Europe ? Fueled rise of imperialism ● From about 1531 to 1660, Spain extracted from its LA colonies some 181 tons of gold and 16,000 tons of silver (of