History of Cuba

History of Cuba

Timelines of History. (2016). Timeline of Cuba. Retrieved January 23rd, 2017 from http://www.timelines.ws/countries/CUBA.HTML

A quick overview of Cuba’s history starts with when Christopher Columbus sailed and discovered Cuba in 1492. The Spanish soon conquered the Cuban natives and founded Cuba in 1515, which is also when Havana was founded. In the 16th and 17th century there were a lot of gold expeditions. Some of the winners of these voyages were Hernando de Soto and Andres Contreras. This continued for quite a while until Cuba got attacked. The British, in 1740, attacked the Spanish in Santiago de Cuba as part of the War of Jenkin’s Ear. They briefly occupied Guantanamo Bay blocking Spanish trade interests, but Cuba was soon taken back. The British again attacked and captured Cuba from Spain in 1762 (Timelines of History).

Library of Congress. History of Cuba. Retrieved January 22nd, 2017 from http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/Cuba-history.htm

In 1763 Havana returned to Spain by the Treaty of Paris after the American Revolutionary War. Not much happened in Cuba after it was returned to Spain until the Ten Years War of independence that ended in a truce with Spain and lasted from 1868 to 1878. Another transition of Cuba happened in 1898 when the US defeated Spain and claimed Cuba. Afterward the US let Cuba launch its nationhood in 1902. The Socialist Party is founded in Cuba forming the basis of communism that continuously grew throughout their history. In 1933 their president is overthrown by Fulgencio Batista. He ruled all the way up until another revolution that occurred in the 1950s. The revolution took place because of the corrupt and oppressive rule that Batista was enforcing among the citizens. The Guerrilla War starts in 1956 as Fidel Castro landed in eastern Cuba. He was assisted by Ernesto "Che" Guevara. In 1959 Castro became successful in the war and the US had to break from diplomatic relations in Cuba.

Once breaking, the US issued the CIA to operate the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 because during this time Cuba became allies with Russia (USSR). From 1970 to the 1980s Cuba got involved in interventions in Africa. Again, not a lot happened for a little while until 1993 when the US embraced an embargo on Cuba hoping to deteriorate its economy. This embargo became permanent after Cuban military shot down 2 US aircrafts in 1996. Making matters worse during the 1990s was a Cuban-US Cold War where nuclear tension arose through the early 2000s (Library of Congress).