The Cuban Revolution
Discover the Cuban Revolution of 1959 — how Fidel Castro and a small guerrilla force overthrew a dictator and created the Western Hemisphere's first communist state.
The Cuban Revolution (1953–1959) transformed a Caribbean island into a Cold War flashpoint and inspired revolutionary movements across Latin America and the developing world. Led by Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and a small band of guerrillas who launched their campaign from the Sierra Maestra mountains, the revolution overthrew the corrupt, US-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.
Castro's movement initially presented itself as nationalist and democratic, drawing support from a broad coalition frustrated by Batista's brutality and corruption. But as the revolutionary government nationalized American-owned properties and moved toward the Soviet Union, the United States imposed an embargo and backed the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. Cuba's alliance with the USSR produced the 1962 missile crisis and made the island a central theater of the Cold War.
The Cuban Revolution's legacy is deeply contested. Supporters point to achievements in education, healthcare, and racial equality that surpass those of comparable developing nations. Critics emphasize political repression, economic failure, the suppression of press freedom, and the forced exile of over a million Cubans. The revolution's influence extended far beyond Cuba — Che Guevara became an icon of global rebellion, and Cuba actively supported liberation movements in Africa and Latin America.