Republic of Cuba República de Cuba | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902–1906a 1909–1959 | |||||||||||||
| Motto: Patria y Libertad (Fatherland and Liberty) | |||||||||||||
| Anthem: La Bayamesa "The Bayamo Song" | |||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||
| Status | Sovereign state (1902–1906), (1909–1959) Occupied territory (1906–1909) | ||||||||||||
| Capital and largest city | Havana | ||||||||||||
| Official languages | Spanish | ||||||||||||
| Demonym | Cuban | ||||||||||||
| Government |
| ||||||||||||
| President | |||||||||||||
• 1902–1906 (first) | Tomás E. Palma | ||||||||||||
• 1952–1959 | Fulgencio Batista | ||||||||||||
• 1959 (last) | Carlos Piedra | ||||||||||||
| Vice President | |||||||||||||
• 1902–1905 (first) | Luis Estévez y Romero | ||||||||||||
• 1955–1959 (last) | Rafael Guas Inclán | ||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||||||
• 1940–1942 (first) | Carlos S. Zayas | ||||||||||||
• 1959 (last) | José M. Cardona | ||||||||||||
| Legislature | Congress | ||||||||||||
• Upper chamber | Senate | ||||||||||||
• Lower chamber | House of Representatives | ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
| 12 June 1901 | |||||||||||||
| 20 May 1902 | |||||||||||||
| 17 February 1903 | |||||||||||||
| 1906–1909 | |||||||||||||
| 29 May 1934 | |||||||||||||
| 10 October 1940 | |||||||||||||
| 10 March 1952 | |||||||||||||
| 26 July 1953–1 January 1959 | |||||||||||||
| 16 April 1961 | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 110,860 km2 (42,800 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
• Water (%) | 0.94 | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
• 1958 est. | 6,950,289[2] | ||||||||||||
| Currency | Peso (CUP) | ||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC−5 (CST) | ||||||||||||
• Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (CDT) | ||||||||||||
| Calling code | +53 | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
TheRepublic of Cuba (Spanish:República de Cuba), covering the historical period inCubanhistory between 1902 and 1959, was anisland country comprising theisland of Cuba, as well asIsla de Pinos (after 1925) and several minor archipelagos. The period began in 1902 following the end of its first U.S. military occupation years after Cuba declared independence in 1898 from theSpanish Empire. This era included various changing governments and U.S. military occupations, and ended with the outbreak of theCuban Revolution in 1959. During this period, the United States exerted great influence on Cuban politics, notably through thePlatt Amendment.[3][4][5][6]
The governments of Cuba between independence from Spain and theRevolution have been regarded asclient state of theUnited States.[7] From 1902 to 1934, Cuban and U.S. law included thePlatt Amendment, which guaranteed the United States right to intervene in Cuba and placed restrictions on Cuban foreign relations.[8][9] In 1934, Cuba and the United States signed theTreaty of Relations in which Cuba was obligated to give preferential treatment of its economy to the United States, in exchange the United States gave Cuba a guaranteed 22 percent share of the U.S. sugar market that later was amended to a 49 percent share in 1949.[10]
The country continued to use the1940Constitution until the new constitution was promulgated in1976.
After theSpanish–American War, Spain and the United States signed the1898 Treaty of Paris, by which Spain cededPuerto Rico,Guam, and thePhilippines to the United States for the sum of $20 million (equivalent to $760 million in 2024).[11] With the end of U.S. military government jurisdiction, Cuba gained formal independence on 20 May 1902, as the Republic of Cuba.[12] Under Cuba's new constitution, the U.S. retained the right to intervene in Cuban affairs and to supervise its finances and foreign relations. Under thePlatt Amendment, the U.S. leased theGuantánamo Bay naval base from Cuba.
Following political purging and a corrupt and rigged election in 1906, the first president,Tomás Estrada Palma, faced an armed revolt by veterans of the war.[13] As in the independence war, Afro-Cubans were overrepresented in the insurgent army of 1906. For them, the August Revolution revived hopes for a 'rightful share' in Cuba's government. On 16 August 1906, fearing the government ready to smash the plot, former Liberation Army general Pino Guerra raised the banner of revolt. Immediately, Palma arrested every Liberal politician within reach; the remainder went underground. In an effort to avert intervention, Roosevelt sent two emissaries to Havana to seek a compromise between the government and the opposition. Regarding such neutrality as a censure of his government, Estrada Palma resigned and made his entire cabinet resign too, leaving the Republic without a government and forcing the United States to take control of the island. Roosevelt immediately proclaimed that the U.S. had been compelled to intervene in Cuba and that their only purpose was to create the necessary conditions for a peaceful election.[14]
In 1909, home-rule government was restored whenJosé Miguel Gómez was inaugurated as Cuba's second president, while the U.S. continued intervening in Cuban affairs. In theWar of 1912, thePartido Independiente de Color attempted to establish aseparate black republic inOriente Province,[15] but was suppressed by theCuban National Army under GeneralMonteagudo, with considerable bloodshed.
Sugar production played an important role in Cuban politics and economics. In the 1910s, during and afterWorld War I, a shortage in the worldsugar supply fueled an economic boom in Cuba, marked by prosperity and the conversion of more and more farmland to sugar cultivation. Prices peaked and then crashed in 1920, ruining the country financially and allowing foreign investors to gain more power than they already had. This economic turbulence was called "the Dance of the Millions".[16][17]
In 1924,Gerardo Machado waselected president, "capitalizing on widespread unrest at growing dependence on the United States and at rampant corruption".[18] During his administration, tourism increased markedly, and American-owned hotels and restaurants were built to accommodate the influx of tourists. The tourist boom led to increases in gambling andprostitution in Cuba.[19] He developed theCentral Highway, increased spending on public education, and promoted industrialization.[20] Machado initially enjoyed support from much of the public and from all the country's major political parties. However, his popularity declined steadily.
Machado had pledged to serve only one term. However, in 1928, he directed a constitutional convention that amended theConstitution of Cuba to extend the term of the presidency, and that called for him to serve an additional term. In 1928, Machado heldan election which was to give him another term, this one of six years.[21]
TheWall Street crash of 1929 led to a collapse in the price of sugar, political unrest, and repression.[22] Protesting students, known as theGeneration of 1930, turned to violence in opposition to the increasingly unpopular Machado.[22] The political opposition groupUnión Nacionalista led an unsuccessful revolt in 1931.[21] Labor unions also opposed the Machado government, calling a general strike in 1930, followed by "a long series of militant work stoppages" and the organization of the first national union forsugarcane workers.[21] "By 1933, Cuban labor was more highly organized and more radically led than almost any proletariat in Latin America."[21]
The Generation of 1930 and a clandestine terrorist organization known as theABC turned to violence in opposition to the increasingly unpopular Machado.[22] U.S. ambassadorSumner Welles arrived in May 1933 and began a diplomatic campaign which involved "mediation" with opposition groups in including the ABC. This campaign significantly weakened Machado's government and, backed with the threat of military intervention, set the stage for a regime change.[23]
A general strike (in which thePopular Socialist Party sided with Machado),[24] uprisings among sugar workers, and an army revolt forced Machado into exile in August 1933. He was replaced byCarlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada, son of Cuban patriotCarlos Manuel de Céspedes and formerambassador to the U.S.[22]
In September 1933, theSergeants' Revolt, led by SergeantFulgencio Batista, overthrew Céspedes.[25] GeneralAlberto Herrera served briefly as president ( 12–13 August) followed byCarlos Manuel de Céspedes y Quesada from 13 August until 5 September 1933. A five-member executive committee (thePentarchy of 1933) was chosen to head a provisional government.[26] They were ousted by a student-led organization, theStudent Directory, which appointedRamon Grau San Martin as provisional president and passed various reforms during the ensuingOne Hundred Days Government.[26] Grau resigned in 1934, after which Batista dominated Cuban politics for the next 25 years, at first through a series of puppet-presidents.[25] The period from 1933 to 1937 was a time of "virtually unremitting social and political warfare".[27]
Anew constitution was adopted in 1940, which engineered radical progressive ideas, including the right to labor and health care.[28] Batista was elected president in the same year, holding the post until 1944.[29] He is so far the only non-white Cuban to win the nation's highest political office.[30][31][32] His government carried out major social reforms. Several members of theCommunist Revolutionary Union held office under his administration.[33] Cuban armed forces were not greatly involved in combat during World War II, although president Batista suggested a joint U.S.-Latin American assault onFrancoist Spain to overthrow its authoritarian regime.[34]
Batista adhered to the 1940 constitution's structures preventing his re-election.[35]Ramón Grau San Martin was the winner of the next election,in 1944.[29] Grau further corroded the base of the already teetering legitimacy of the Cuban political system, in particular by undermining the deeply flawed, though not entirely ineffectual,Congress andSupreme Court.[36]Carlos Prío Socarrás, a protégé of Grau, became presidentin 1948.[29]
Before the presidential election in 1952,Batista staged acoup.[37] Back in power and receiving financial, military, and logistical support from the United States government, Batista suspended the 1940 Constitution and revoked most political liberties, including the right to strike. He outlawed thePopular Socialist Party in 1952.[38] He then aligned with the wealthiest landowners who owned the largest sugar plantations, and presided over a stagnating economy that widened the gap between rich and poor Cubans. Eventually, it reached the point where most of the sugar industry was in U.S. hands, and foreigners owned 70% of the arable land. As such, Batista's repressive government then began to systematically profit from the exploitation of Cuba's commercial interests, by negotiating lucrative relationships with both theAmerican Mafia, who controlled the drug, gambling, and prostitution businesses in Havana, and with large U.S.-based multinational companies who were awarded lucrative contracts. To quell the growing discontent amongst the populace—which was subsequently displayed through frequent student riots and demonstrations—Batista established tighter censorship of the media, while also using hisBureau for the Repression of Communist Activities secret police to carry out wide-scale violence, torture, and public executions. These murders mounted in 1957, as socialism became more influential. Many people were killed, with estimates ranging from hundreds to about 20,000 people killed. Cuba had Latin America's highest per capita consumption rates of meat, vegetables, cereals, automobiles, telephones, and radios, though about one-third of the population was considered poor and enjoyed relatively little of this consumption.[39]
While Cuba had the highest ratio of hospital beds to population in Latin America, around 80% of these beds were located in the city ofHavana, there was only one rural hospital, and it was equipped with only 10 beds.[40] In 1951, theWorld Bank reported that between 80 and 90% of children in rural areas suffered from some form ofintestinal parasites, in 1956 about 13% of the rural population had a history of typhoid and 14% at one point hadtuberculosis.[41] A study conducted in 1959 by public health authorities found that throughout the country around 72% of the population was afflicted with parasitism and in the rural areas this percentage was as high as 86.54%.[40] Only 11% of farm worker families drank milk, and rural infant mortality stood at 100 per 1000 live births.[42] Only 1 in 4 peasants were able to afford regularly eating meat, eggs and fish and chronic unemployment was at 25%.[43] Cuba was a very unequal society with a mere 8% of landowners owning approximately 75% of the land, and while one-fifth of the population took in 58% of the national income, the bottom fifth got 2% of it, the lowest rates for the bottom 20% in the world then and even now.[44]
Cuba was also under a lot of influence from the United States to the point where the U.S. controlled 80% of Cuba's trade.[44] In 1959, around 40% of Cuban sugar land, almost all the cattle ranches, 90% of mines, and 80% of the utilities were owned by American firms.[45]
In 1958, Cuba was a relatively well-advanced country by Latin American standards, and in some cases by world standards.[46] On the other hand, Cuba was affected by perhaps the largest labor union privileges in Latin America, including bans on dismissals and mechanization. They were obtained in large measure "at the cost of the unemployed and the peasants", leading to disparities.[47] Between 1933 and 1958, Cuba extended economic regulations enormously, causing economic problems.[30][48] Unemployment became a problem as graduates entering the workforce could not find jobs.[30] The middle class, which was comparable to that of the United States, became increasingly dissatisfied with unemployment and political persecution. The labor unions supported Batista until the very end.[30][31] Batista stayed in power until he was forced into exile in December 1958 during theCuban Revolution.[37]
Between 1915 and 1930, Havana hosted more tourists than any other location in the Caribbean.[49] The influx was due in large part toCuba's proximity to the United States, where restrictiveprohibition onalcohol and other pastimes stood in stark contrast to the island's traditionally relaxed attitude to leisure pursuits. Such tourism became Cuba's third-largest source of foreign currency, behind the two dominant industries of sugar and tobacco. Cuban drinks such as thedaiquiri andmojito became common in the United States during this time, after Prohibition was repealed.
A combination of theGreat Depression of the 1930s, the end of prohibition, and World War II severely dampened Cuba's tourist industry, and it wasn't until the 1950s that numbers began to return to the island in any significant force. During this period, Americanorganized crime came to dominate the leisure and tourist industries, a modus operandi outlined at the infamousHavana Conference of 1946. By the mid-1950sHavana became one of the main markets and the favourite route for thenarcotics trade to the United States. Despite this, tourist numbers grew steadily at a rate of 8% a year and Havana became known as "the LatinLas Vegas".[49][50]
The sugar industry was one of the largest industries in the country and had been for centuries.[51][52]
Cuba in 1950 was the first country in Latin America to broadcast television. Eight years later, the first color television broadcasting was done, and it was one of the first countries in the world to do color broadcasts. Television in Cuba grew dramatically in the 1950s, and by the late 1950s, it had the 9th highest number of TV sets out of any country in the world and the 4th highest number of TV channels out of any country.[53]
Cuba had close relations with the United States during this period.[54]
Cuba was involved in World War 1 committing 10,000 soldiers to be used in Europe[55] along with declaring war being on the side of theAllied Powers.[56] The most meaningful impact on Cuba thatWorld War I had was on its sugar trade as much of the world's European supply was cut off with demand exploding along with profits from the industry.[57] Cuba later ended up signing theTreaty of Versailles. Cuba was a member of theLeague of Nations and later on its successor, theUnited Nations (UN).[54] During the Spanish Civil War the Cuban government had an official position of neutrality.[58]
Similar to the United States when World War II began Cuba declared its neutrality.[59] Prior to entering the war the Cuban government would take measures such as: banning all Axis media, interning foreign nationals and signed a lend-lease agreement with the United States in November 1941 for $7.2 million USD in equipment but received little aid as it was a low priority for the Americans during the war and other theatres were more pressing. It would later declare war on the Axis powers after theAttack on Pearl Harbor. During the war a number of civil liberties were restricted.[54][59]
Two elections later, in 1917, U.S. Marines returned to Cuba to quell a revolution and restore the President. That same year, Cuba, following the United States, declared war on Germany and committed 10,000 men to the disposal of the U.S. military in Europe.
Media related toRepublic of Cuba (1902–1959) at Wikimedia CommonsCuba articles | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| History |
| ||||||||||
| Geography | |||||||||||
| Politics |
| ||||||||||
| Economy | |||||||||||
| Culture |
| ||||||||||
._LOC_2003623399.jpg)
