10/14/2011
The Cuban Missile Crisis
I: Introduction—Revolutionary Nostalgia?
By 1959, when Castro leads revolution, USSR existed for four years and most of people running
the Soviet Union were very young men at the time of the Bolshevik revolution, and they are
swept off their feet by the Cuban revolution. Fidel represents for Soviet leadership their lost
youth, and they see and authentic revolution that seems to be swept up by popular enthusiasm.
The Cuban revolution comes at a very opportune time for the Soviets (even with debate with the
Chinese on how the Soviet fit into Third World communism).
II: Cuba and The New Wave of Revolutions
•
January 1959:
Cuban Revolution
(largely self-funded, and has a lot in common with the
Chinese revolution than the Bolshevik revolution because is a guerrilla movement with
the complaint of the countryside against the elite; Efforts for Batista to put down this
revolution are futile);
Castro overthrows Batista
(Batista leaves the country, shows sign
that the gov’t has lost its legitimacy, of whom came to power in the 30s through a
military coup, and had a lot of support from the West)
•
Fidel Castro (1926— )
;
Ernesto “Che” Guevara (1928-1967)
: Both representatives of
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- Fall '11
- Granieri
- USSR, Bay of Pigs, Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Fidel Castro, Castro regime
-
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