Why were us businesses upset by spanish reactions to the cuban revolution during the late 1800s?

• Antonio Maceo (1845-1896): José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales was born in 1845 to a Venezuelan father and an Afro-Cuban mother. Growing up, Maceo
  
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  • Why did the US get involved in the Cuban revolt against Spain?
  • How did the Spanish react to the Cuban revolution?
  • What was the cause of the conflict between Cuba and Spain in the late 1890s?
  • Why did the US object to Spanish actions in Cuba?

  Portrait of Antonio Maceo

  was heavily influenced by his mother, Mariana Grajales, who is an important icon in Cuban history in her own right for her dedication to Cuban independence. Maceo spent his early years working for his father as a farmer and in various other odd jobs.In 1868, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes called for a revolt against Spanish control over Cuba, starting what later came to be known as the Ten Years’ War. Maceo and his other male family members quickly joined the revolt. Throughout the war, Maceo showed exceptional skill and courage. His almost legendary strength and ability to overcome physical injury earned him the name “The Bronze Titan.” Maceo rose through the ranks of the army and by 1872 had become a general of the revolutionary forces. Ultimately, he was prevented from progressing any higher in the military hierarchy or from leading a true revolution across the island nation because of his mixed-race status. As the Ten Years’ War progressed, the tide began to turn in favor of the Spaniards, who convinced the rebels to lay down their arms in exchange for small concessions. In 1878, the leaders of the rebellion signed the Peace of Zanjón, officially ending the war. Maceo refused to accept the peace and continued to march his soldiers across Cuba. With mounting pressure from the Spanish army and his former allies, Maceo decided to flee Cuba. Maceo’s self-imposed exile began first in Jamaica. He then moved on to New York City where he attempted to raise support for his revolutionary efforts. While in New York, Maceo organized along with Major General Calixto Garcia an uprising in Cuba known as La Guerra Chiquita. This revolt too failed and Maceo chose not to return to Cuba. Maceo instead traveled across Latin America for the next several years, participating in different military activities but always committed to the liberation of Cuba. Maceo received his chance in 1893 when he was contacted by Jose Martí, the leader of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. For the next two years, Maceo and Martí collaborated in planning for a final revolt against Spanish rule, and in 1895 Maceo landed in Cuba to join in the fighting. Martí’s death early in the rebellion did not discourage Maceo, who continued to fight against Spanish forces until 1896. On December 7th of that year, Maceo and his troops were attacked by a column of Spanish forces and the Bronze Titan was killed in action.

• Jose Martí (1853-1895): Jose Martí was a Cuban poet who played an instrumental role in the movement for Cuba’s independence from Spain. Born in Havana in 1853, Martí quickly showed artistic talent and enrolled in the Professional School for

  Jose Martí – 1895

  Painting and Sculpture of Havana as a teenager. Despite his skill, Martí did not find success as a painter, and as a result he turned to writing. In this field he fared much better and by the late 1860s his poetry was being published in local newspapers. In 1868, the Ten Years’ War for Cuban independence began and the revolutionary spirit infected Martí just as it did for many young intellectuals on the island. Martí wrote poems calling for independence and also started to experiment with political writing. As a response, the Spanish government of Cuba accused Martí of treason and arrested the young man. Martí’s parents intervened on his behalf but could not get him released from prison. Instead, Martí was repatriated in Spain, where he enrolled in law school and graduated with a degree in civil rights. After that, Martí traveled back to the Western hemisphere, living for a time in Mexico and Guatemala. He was not, however, able to escape the pull of Cuban independence. In 1878, Martí returned to Cuba with his wife, but once again was accused of trying to overthrow the government and was exiled to Spain. From Spain, Martí went to New York City. In New York, Martí worked as a foreign correspondent for a number of newspapers and also continued to write poetry. His collection of poetry from this time is often considered his best work. Martí renewed his call for Cuban independence and met regularly with Cuban exiles in New York City to find allies for a potential revolution. In 1892, Martí and his allies met in Key West and formed the Cuban Revolutionary Party. The party’s platform called for “absolute independence for the island of Cuba… by means of a war waged with republican methods and spirit.”[1] Martí continued to travel around the United States asking Cuban exiles for support in the revolution.In 1894, the revolution began as Martí and his colleagues landed in Cuba. The initial excursion failed, but a year later a more concerted independence effort began. Led by famous Cuban military men including Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo, José Martí’s rebellion plunged the island nation into war once again. Martí was never a fighter, however, and was killed in one of the war’s early battles. Despite his death, the rebellion continued. As the Spanish army increasingly resorted to atrocious acts of violence to put down the revolt, the United States was brought into the conflict, eventually leading to the Spanish-American War and Cuban independence, at least in name. Martí, for his role in the independence movement and for his patriotic writing, became one of the most important figures in the Cuban historical pantheon.

• Máximo Gómez (1836-1905): Máximo Gómez y Baéz was born on November 18, 1836, in the Dominican Republic. As a teenager, Gómez joined the Spanish army and trained at the military academy in Zaragoza, Spain. Gómez fought with the army in the Dominican Annexation War between 1863 and 1865, and after the Spanish lost the war and were forced to flee the Dominican Republic, Gómez and his family

  Máximo Gómez – 1905

  settled in Cuba. Shortly after arriving in Cuba, Gómez retired from the Spanish army and instead took up arms with rebels seeking Cuban independence. Gómez transformed the rebel army from a conventional military unit into a guerilla group. He also developed the machete charge: a tactic that proved to be extremely effective against the Spanish soldiers. Leading troops in the Ten Years’ War, Gómez was unable to bring about Cuban independence and retired from the military after the Pact of Zanjòn formally ended the fighting. For the next several years, Gómez traveled across Latin America and held various odd jobs, often military in nature. In 1884, during a trip to New York, Gómez met with José Martí and learned of his plan to lead a new rebellion in Cuba. The two men at first disagreed on the details of the revolution, with Gómez favoring a more military approach to Martí’s civilian-led uprising. Despite their differences, Gómez agreed to join Martí’s revolutionary party when he was contacted again in 1892. Three years later, after much preparation, Gómez led the revolutionary forces as they landed in Cuba and began the Cuban War of Independence. Like in the Ten Years’ War, Gómez relied on guerilla tactics to undermine Spanish control of the island. He also implemented a scorched earth policy that led to the destruction of entire towns and plantations. In 1898, with the United States on the brink of declaring war against Spain and invading Cuba, the Spanish monarchy attempted to compromise with the rebels. Gómez was asked to lead Spanish troops against the Americans. He refused and retired from military activity once again. After the Spanish were defeated in the War of 1898, the United States occupied Cuba, thereby blocking its truly independent status yet again. Gómez was disgusted with the Americans’ treatment of Cuba and for that reason refused to accept the Cuban presidential nomination in 1901. He died in 1905 in Havana.

• Che Guevara (1928-1967): Ernesto “Che” Guevara was born in Rosario, Argentina, in 1928. He graduated from the University of Buenos Aires with a degree in medicine and then took several trips across Latin America. On these trips, which Guevara wrote about in his memoir The Motorcycle Diaries, he observed the grinding poverty

  Che Guevara on 5 March 1960

  and miserable conditions in which Latin America’s masses lived. It was during this time that he first began to see a Marxist-type liberation of Latin America from capitalism as the only effective way to improve the lives of his neighbors. Guevara eventually settled in Guatemala, where he witnessed the CIA-organized coup against democratically elected President Jacobo Árbenz after Árbenz instituted a number of economic reforms that undermined the authority of the United Fruit Company, an American corporation. Che attempted to organize an armed resistance to the coup, but later left the country and traveled to Mexico City. There, he made contact with Fidel and Raúl Castro, who told Guevara of their plans to start a revolution in Cuba. Guevara quickly joined the Castro brothers’ 26th of July Movement. In 1956, the members of the revolutionary movement landed in Cuba and immediately became engaged in deadly combat with soldiers commanded by Cuban President/dictator Fulgencio Batista. For the next two and a half years, Guevara and the Castros orchestrated a guerilla war against the Batista regime from the Sierra Maestra. Guevara was an integral part of the revolutionary effort and became a close friend and confidant of Fidel Castro. On January 1st, 1959, Batista fled the country. The next day, Guevara entered Havana and finally captured the capital for the rebels. Fidel Castro then appointed Guevara Commander of La Cabaña Fortress, a prison for those accused of treasonous acts against the revolution. While in this position, he ordered the execution of scores of prisoners. As the revolution was consolidated and institutionalized, Guevara also took on political responsibilities. He developed and spearheaded the implementation of a Four Year Plan for the Cuban economy, which called specifically for a diversification of agricultural and for increased industrialization. The purpose of this plan was to reduce Cuba’s reliance on sugar exports, thereby leaving it open to foreign intervention. Guevara also called for complete collectivization of the economy and the creation of a central authority to oversee and plan economic activity. Fidel Castro initially sided with Guevara’s policies, although the Four Year Plan failed to bring about desired economic improvement. Guevara also convinced Castro of the need to export the revolution to other countries across the world. In 1965, he traveled to the Congo where he led Cuban forces in supporting the overthrow of President Mobutu. The excursion was a failure and Guevara left Africa after only a few months. The next year, Guevara set his sights on bringing about revolution in Bolivia. Establishing camp in the forests, he led a small guerrilla army in battle against the Bolivian military. Like in the Congo, Guevara failed to bring about a mass uprising in Bolivia. In October 1967, American-trained Bolivian Special Forces captured Guevara and executed him. Despite his failure in inciting revolution, Guevara continued to inspire revolutionaries across Latin America and the world. He became the symbol of liberation and grassroots revolution to some and of violent uprising and radical Marxism to others. There is perhaps no more controversial or discussed in figure in Latin American history.

• Raúl Castro (1931- ): Raúl Castro was born in 1931 to a Spanish father and a Cuban mother of mixed-descent. A true socialist even in his early years, Raúl was a member of a communist youth group. This was in sharp contrast to his brother Fidel, who did not officially aligned himself with communist ideology until after the Cuban

  Raul Castro – July 2012

  Revolution. In 1953, the Castro brothers organized an attack against the Moncada barracks as part of a larger goal to start a popular uprising in Cuba. The attack was easily crushed by Fulgencio Batista’s troops, and Raúl served 22 months in jail as a result. He was later exiled to Mexico where he and his brother continued to plot to overthrow Batista and establish a new order in Cuba. It was during his time in Mexico that Raúl met Che Guevara, a medical student and Marxist revolutionary. The two became friends and Raúl introduced Che to his brother Fidel. In 1956, Raúl and the other members of the 26th of July Movement, named after the date of the Moncada barracks attack, landed in Cuba and began an armed insurrection against Batista. Raúl was appointed commander of the revolutionary forces and led them into battle across the island. Unlike Che and Fidel, Raúl did not score any major victories over the next two and a half years of rebellion, but his leadership was undoubtedly important in ultimately bringing about Batista’s departure from the island on January 1st, 1959. With the revolutionary regime in power, Fidel appointed Raúl head of Cuba’s armed forces. He also became First Vice President of the Cuban Council of State and of the Council of Ministers when these positions were created in 1976, effectively making him second-in-command of Cuba after his brother. Raúl continued to serve as First Vice President until 2006, when Fidel Castro announced that he would provisionally turn over the role of President to Raúl so that he could undergo medical treatment. Over the next few years, Fidel Castro’s health did not seem to improve, and as a result, Raúl was formally elected President in 2008. At the time of Raúl’s ascension to power in Cuba, foreign opinion on the future of the island was mixed. Some commentators believed Raúl would act in accordance with his professed Communist beliefs, potentially undoing the liberal reforms that had slowly been implemented under Fidel. Others believed that as a pragmatist Raúl would speed up reforms and open Cuba to a new wave of foreign investment. Both sides seemed to agree that Raúl lacked Fidel’s charisma, seen as such an important tool in keeping the revolutionary spirit alive in Cuba. In reality, Raúl Castro has proven himself to be a similar leader to his brother. Reforms, mainly economic, have continued to be implemented at a slow but steady pace in Cuba under Raúl, but personal liberties like free speech continue to be obstructed.

• Fidel Castro (1926- ): Fidel Castro was born in 1926 to Angel Castro and Lina Ruz Gonzalez, the maid to Castro’s wife. When Fidel was a teenager, his father divorced his wife and married Ruz, thereby legitimizing Fidel as his son. Angel Castro was

  Fidel Castro – 1959. Entering Havana after the overthrow of Batista.

  wealthy, and as a result Fidel was educated in some of the best schools in Cuba. In 1945, he enrolled in the University of Havana to study law. It was in university that Fidel was first exposed to and became active in political activities as an advocate for Cuban nationalism and anti-imperialism. After a brief trip to the Dominican Republic to join a failed attempt to overthrow Rafael Trujillo, Fidel Castro returned to Cuba and registered with the Partido Ortodoxo, a left-wing political party founded by Eduardo Chibás. Castro was especially drawn to Chibás’s promise to end the corruption and greed in the Cuban government. For the rest of the 1940s and early 1950s, Castro remained very active in Cuban politics, although with increasing frustration at the seeming inability to reform the political system. He considered running for President in the 1952 elections, but the Partido Ortodoxo passed over him because party officials thought Castro was too radical to be electable. Any chance of a victory for the party was crushed in 1952 when General Fulgencio Batista seized control of the government in a coup. In 1953, Fidel and his allies attempted to incite an uprising against Batista by attacking the Moncada barracks. Batista’s troops easily counterattacked and Castro was arrested. During his subsequent trial, Fidel gave a speech that later came to be known as “History Will Absolve Me” in which he argued that he was justified in overthrowing the Batista regime. The speech also outlined an early plan for a post-Batista Cuba. Ultimately, Castro was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. Only two years later, Castro struck a deal with the Batista government to be freed from jail on the promise that he would be exiled to Mexico. Once in Mexico, Castro wasted no time organizing a second attempt at revolution. His brother Raúl introduced Fidel to Che Guevara, an Argentinian doctor and Marxist revolutionary who would play a key role in the revolution and the subsequent Cuban state. Amassing a small army of allies, Fidel renamed his revolutionary group the 26th of July Movement in reference to the date of the Moncada attacks. On December 2, 1956, the members of the Movement returned to Cuba on a small yacht called the Granma and were immediately attacked by Batista soldiers. The survivors of the attack retreated to the Sierra Maestra, where they waged a guerrilla war against Batista that lasted for the next two and half years. During this time, Fidel emerged as the singular leader of the revolution. On January 1st, 1959, Batista fled Cuba, and several days later the revolutionary forces had taken over Havana. By the end of the year, a revolutionary government was in place with Fidel Castro acting as Prime Minister.

  Fidel Castro – 26 September 2003.

  In his early years as leader of Cuba, Castro carefully avoided labeling himself a socialist or, even more extreme, a communist. He was by best description a populist, enacting programs that were meant to improve the conditions of the Cuban masses. This failed, however, to avoid generating hostility toward Castro in the United States. In May of 1959, Castro implemented the Agrarian Reform Law, which expropriated large land holdings with reimbursement in the form of government bonds. The law greatly angered Cuba’s northern neighbor, which saw agrarian reform as a measure to undermine capitalism and U.S. influence. In 1960, tensions between the two countries increased when American oil companies in Cuba refused to refine Soviet crude oil, prompting Castro to nationalize first the oil companies and later all U.S. property. At the same time, Cuba was moving slowly into the fold of the Soviet Union, with whom it increased trade and political interactions. The political situation reached a head in 1961 when American President John F. Kennedy authorized a small army of Cuban exiles to land at the Bay of Pigs and attempt to overthrow Castro. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a resounding failure for the United States and further reason for Cuba to reject American intervention in favor of closer relations with the Soviets. The next year, the United States and the Soviet Union narrowly avoided war after the Soviets placed nuclear missiles in Cuba in what came to be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. At home, the policies of the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as public agitation for farther-reaching measures, pushed Castro down a new path. Starting in 1962, he proclaimed a Marxist-Leninist vision for the country that led the Cuban ruler to completely nationalize the economy and establish a central planning committee to make economic decisions. Castro also established the Communist Party of Cuba as the official state party, appointing himself as President. In 1963, Fidel Castro promised that the 1970 sugar harvest would yield 10 million tons, a sign to the world that Cuba had a fully functioning economy. The results in 1970 were disappointing as complete mobilization of the workforce to harvest sugar resulted in only 8.5 million tons. After the failed harvest of 1970, Castro turned toward a more pragmatic economic policy, increasing the role of the private sector and trade with the West. The 1970s also saw Cuba strengthen ties yet again with the Soviet Union. As the years passed since the revolution, real success was observed in the areas of literacy and healthcare. At the same time, Castro’s regime squashed dissension and prevented freedom of speech. Relations with the United States continued to be estranged as a formal embargo of Cuban goods was enacted. Castro faced new problems in the 1990s with the fall of the Soviet Union. Cuba lost its most powerful ally, and the economic impact was immense. Fidel responded to this so-called “Special Period” with a renewed appeal to the spirit of the revolution as well as a series of economic reforms aimed at opening Cuba to foreign investment. In 2006, Fidel Castro stepped down as President of Cuba for the first time since assuming power due to health concerns. He handed the reigns of state to his brother, Raúl, widely considered to be more radically Communist but also less charismatic. Despite no longer officially leading the government, Fidel continues to play an important role in Cuban affairs as symbol of the revolution. Cuban politics since 1959 cannot be seen as merely a result of American or Soviet foreign policy. It must instead be understood as a pragmatic and varied series of decisions by the revolutionary state, with Fidel as its principle decision-maker.

[1] (1946.)“Platform of the Cuban Revolutionary Party.” Obras completas de Jose Martí.  Retrieved from http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/marti/platform.htm.