Cuban Revolution: Geography

Introduction

The Cuban Revolution is a communist revolution across the country of Cuba, putting into power Fidel Castro in January 1, 1959, thus ending the intense influence that the United States possessed over the country. The end result of the conflict greatly changed the structures of the Cuban economy and social system. The significance of this conflict was that this event established the only communist state in the western part of the world. It is said that Cuban communism, during the early stages, was the closest that any government had been to true communism, much unlike the governments of the USSR and Maoist China.

Location of the Conflict

Early Stages – The Sierra Maestra Mountains

The Cuban Revolution obviously occurred on the small island of Cuba, a country in the Caribbean, known for its proximity to the USA and as a point of distress of this superpower, now boasting a population of more than 11 million people.

In the early stages of the conflict, from December 1956 to mid-1958, the majority of the conflict took place in a mountain range on Cuba known as the Sierra Maestra Mountains. Many of the revolutionaries were separated in this mountain range, having been attacked by the Cuban army.

The few original survivors from violent clashes with the Cuban Army found each other, usually due to peasant sympathisers, and formed the core leadership for future guerrilla attacks on the Cuban Army.

Once the group of revolutionaries organised themselves, many successful attacks were staged on Bastita garrisons located in the Sierra Maestra Mountains. These attacks were lead by Castro.

Through continued harassment and successful attacks, the Sierra Mountains became under Fidel Castro’s control.

It was in these mountains that Fidel Castro was able to defensively fend off a massive attack, involving 12000 Bastita troops. Castro’s soldiers managed to defeat the Cuban Army, in many small scale skirmishes. The two main battles of great contrast were the two battles fought at “La Plata” and “Las Mercedes”. A temporary cease-fire was announced on the 1st of August, but these futile negotiations just gave Castro time to retreat back into the mountains and secure his victory.

Capturing Cities and Overthrowing Bastita

In the second stage, from mid 1958 to January 1959, the revolutionaries started their own offensive, creating four fronts, and moving the conflict at first to the “Oriente” province.