The+1950s

=**Castro and Cuban Politics in the 1950s**=

Castro's stint at the University of Havana studying law honed his ability to give speeches. Castro was a brilliant spokesperson and was incredibly famous for his animated speeches. He would have also encountered many great thinkers, who would show their influence in his "History will absolve me speech." - Dante, Knox, Milton amongst others.
 * How did Castro's legal experience after 1950 shape him?**

As Batista's seizure of power followed the extreme corruption of Carlos Socarras's government, it was initially met with approval from the Cuban public. He was also approved by the USA, but in a short while, he suspended the 1940 Constitution and Congress and effectively made his rule a dictatorship. Amongst the social changes he suppressed were worker's rights to strike. His links with Meyer Lansky opened up Cuba even further to large scale gambling investments and the Mafia. He quickly resorted to using censorship and martial law to crack down on any resistance in the press or universities.
 * How did Batista's coup in 1952 impact on Cuban life?**

By this time, it looked like Cuba was starting to go around in circles. With each new leader, nothing but more corruption and venality would follow. With the death of Chibas, it seemed like nobody would step up to clean up Cuban politics. Hence, Castro believed that the Cuban political system itself was flawed, and would need a radical overhaul or a revolution in itself to create a better Cuba.
 * How did it confirm Castro's place belief in the need for revolution?**

The CTC was influenced notably by Communist union leaders up until 1947, who also supported Batista. In addition to this, his seizure of power in 1952 was greeted by an unprecedented sugar harvest of 7 million tons, in which Batista consulted the CTC in how to sell and distribute the profits "fairly".
 * Why did the CTC (Cuban Labour Federation) decide to collaborate with Batista?**

First of all, Batista had muzzled the press and shut down the universities. Furthermore, his suspension of the Constitution and Congress were definitely viewed by the students as acts of a dictator-to-be looking to clamp down on democracy.
 * Why did the student movement oppose the coup?**

The younger members of the Ortodoxo were annoyed by the timidity of the Ortodoxo leadership and their reluctance to follow violent methods. In addition, Chibas' dramatic suicide on radio removed one of the Ortodoxo's founding members and strongest leaders.
 * Why were they disillusioned with the Ortodoxo leadership at this time?**

Up until the Moncada raid, most of Castro's recruits were from the Ortodoxo youth coming from the western provinces of Cuba. They were not a working class organization, and although they had some popular roots, Castro had not yet established himself as the leading opposition to Batista.
 * How did Castro organise a clandestine movement/network of revolutionaries?**

The Moncada raid of 26th July 1953 was a military failure, and ended up in the deaths and capture of the rebels. However, this served to put Castro's movement and goals into the public eye, and his heroic actions along with the later failures of other anti-Batista movements (the Directorio Revolucionario, the Autenticos) made him the undisputed champion of Anti-Batista opposition.

His time spent in gaol with his fellow comrades were what Castro needed to lay the foundations for the 26th of July Movement. When he was amnestied in 1955, Castro had realized that a revolution would need arms, recruits and logistical support. After Castro left Cuba to escape possible assassination or rearrest, Frank País lead the movement on Cuba, gaining enough support from frustrated Ortodoxo members in order to allow the Movement to break away from the main Ortodoxo party.

Castro toured the United states in order to gain funds, and was supported by various wealthy sympathisers as well as the Movement itself. He was not adverse to joining with other groups if it benefited his own goals - he organized a joint invasion with the Directorio Revolucionario and sought reapproachment with the PSP when he realized he would need their grassroots organization to help in the revolution.

The Moncada Baracks coup failed for several reasons.
 * Why did the Moncada Barracks coup attempt in 1953 fail?**
 * It relied on the theory that the people of Oriente would spontaneously rebel against the Batista regime once arms were distributed to them.
 * Castro at that time had no organization in Oriente, so nobody was there to organize a strike or uprising amongst the people. It assumed that normal citizens would have the initiative to overthrow the Batista regime once they were given the opportunity.
 * Both the Moncada and Bayamo raiders encountered patrols before getting into the compound, ending the coup attempts prematurely.

The speech was based on the Moncada programme originally intended to be broadcast on radio after taking over the Moncada barracks. The speech helped to define Castro's manifesto for Cuba, which would be important when appealing to the Ortodoxo youth and setting up the foundations of the 26th of July Movement. The Moncada Program highlighted the corruption and brutality of the Batista regime. It described what Castro would have done if the Moncada raid had succeeded - including Agrarian reform, industrialization, granting social rights - and Castro directly made an appeal to //el pueblo//, which included most of Cuba's working class and excluded "the well-off and conservative sections of the nation" which would make his Movement seem a lot more appealing.
 * Why was Castro's speech [|'History will absolve me'], presented at his trial, so significant?**
 * **What were the main aspects of the [|Moncada Programme]?**

Batista was rapidly losing popularity due to his brutality and corruption by 1955, so in an attempt to look benevolent he released Castro and his comrades from prison. Almost immediately, Castro continued to work towards his revolution and left six weeks later, to avoid assassination or rearrest.
 * Why were Castro and his collaborators freed from prison by Batista in 1955?**

The July 26th Movement had learnt several things. First, that it was important to have grass-roots organization within the Cuban people to provide support in the form of arms, recruits and logistics; and later, to help agitate the people and push them towards rebellion or strikes. Secondly, relying on a single, heroic action such as the Moncada raid to spark a spontaneous revolution would be verging on arrogance. The movement would follow a more sustained series of sabotage and strikes, to finally culminate in a strike against Batista. The July 26th movement post-Moncada had much more publicity than it originally had, Batista's brutality in executing and torturing most of the Moncada heroes resonated with the stories of past Cuban heroes and made the Cuban public sympathetic to the 26th's cause. Che Guevara influenced Castro with his more communist ideology. However, what was probably most important was the anti-American, wider South American view that Che brought to the Movement. An anti-American stance resonated greatly with many Cuban people, who felt greatly offended by the Platt Amendment, American control over the Cuban economy, the fact that most large businesses in Cuba were foreign owned, and the exploitation of Havana by the Mafia and foreign Casinos. The PSP opposed the Movement's more violent methods, preferring to bring about change through popular support. Castro also distanced the 26th of July movement away from the PSP, as many of the working class were against the communists for their support of Batista. Castro did not shy away from painting a picture of Batista being in cahoots with the Communists - in fact, this was not too far from the truth in the beginning - in the 1940s, the Communists had supported Batista as they felt they could flourish underneath his government.
 * How was new 26th movement different?**
 * **What impact did Che Guevara have on the movement?**
 * **How did the PSP view the movement?**