ia_2009_d_rod

__ Importance of the investigation: __ Fidel Castro’s defeat of the Cuban government, ruled by military dictator, Batista, was, and still is recognized as an event of word-historical significance. Because it highlighted the American influence that had infected Cuba and it showed a very important turning point in the relationship between communist influenced Cuba and the United States of America. However on a higher scale, it was historically important because it was the first time that a socialist rebellion occurred without the leadership of a Communist Party, and it was the first time that one of the neutral nations joined the Communist world. The Cuban Revolution is still historically important today as still has meaning for the Cuban Government, now ruled by Raul Castro, Fidel’s brother, who helped him rebel in the attempts to overthrow Batista’s Government [not finished]  **- ok - this is not a bad opening at all - you could mention here that the USA have always been keen to depict Castro as a terrorist without genuine popular support among the Cuban people, as a way of trying to justify a takeover of the country - the rights and wrongs of this argument, as Castro declines and the future direction of Cuba needs to be decided, is more important now than it ever has been...** __ Why did Castro overthrow the Cuban Government? __ The main reason for Castro’s decision to remove Batista from power was because he allowed American Business men and the Mafia to make huge profits in a country where most people lived in poverty. Castro basically wanted to get rid of the American influence in Cuba. As soon as he came into power he shut down all the gambling casinos and the brothels. He nationalised American owner sugar mills and refineries and he seized $1000 million worth of American property. __ How did Castro overthrow the Cuban Government? __**[irrelevant in the analysis - this is purely descriptive - use this in your Summary of Evidence, or simply chop it out - you get no marks for the following paragraph, it just eats into your word count]** July 26th 1953, was generally accepted to be the starting point for the Cuban Revolution. On this day, Castro led an attack against the military barracks in Santiago; however he was defeated, and arrested. Fidel Castro was sentenced to 15 years of prison; however Batista released him in 1955. Castro did not back down, and gathered a new group of rebels in Mexico, and on the 2nd December 1956, he was once again defeated by Batista’s army, and fled to Sierra Maestra, where he begun using guerrilla tactics to fight Batista’s armed forces, and with the help of other rebellions. He managed to march into Cuba’s capital, Havana, and he successfully overthrew the government, “forcing Batista to resign and feel the country on January 1, 1959” [1] __ Different interpretations __ The interesting part of the Cuban Revolution, is how did one man, who was imprisoned once after one attempt to attack the government, and exiled after the second attempt, manage to overthrow the Cuban Government. There are two different interpretations of why Fidel Castro was able to seize power in Cuba. The first interpretation was that Fidel Castro managed to overthrow Batista because of his resilient determination to take down this military dictator. The second interpretation is that Batista was too naïve, and by freeing Fidel Castro from the prison he was kept in, after being arrested following his first attempt to overthrow the government, he simply gave Fidel another chance to overthrow the government. However, what is attention-grabbing is what made Batista free Castro, why did Batista let Castro leave the prison, after he had received his sentence of 15 years? Some arguments say that Batista let Franco go so that he could “show his power” [2]. Yet others say that Batista let Franco go due to “political pressure” [3].

[1] http://library.thinkquest.org/20176/crevolution.htm [2] http://library.thinkquest.org/20176/crevolution.htm [3] Ramonet, Ignacio, ibid, p. 174