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Cuban history
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| March 10, 1952 |
Fulgencio Batista carries out coup d’état in Cuba. |
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| July 26, 1953 |
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Fidel Castro leads an armed attack on the Moncada army garrison
in Santiago de Cuba, launching the revolutionary struggle to
overthrow the Batista regime. The attack fails and Batista’s
troops massacre more than 50 captured combatants. Castro and
other survivors are soon captured and imprisoned.
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| May
15, 1955
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Fidel Castro and other Moncada survivors are freed from
prison in Cuba due to a massive public campaign in defense of
their civil rights.
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| July 7, 1955
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Fidel Castro arrives in Mexico with the goal of organizing
an armed expedition to Cuba.
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| November 25, 1956
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Eighty-two combatants, including Ernesto
"Che" Guevara as doctor, sail for
Cuba aboard the small cabin cruiser Granma, leaving from Tuxpan
in Mexico.
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| November
30, 1956
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Frank País leads uprising in Santiago de Cuba, timed to
coincide with scheduled arrival of Granma expeditionaries.
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December 2, 1956
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Granma reaches Cuba at Las Coloradas beach in Oriente
Province.
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December 5, 1956
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The rebel combatants are surprised by Batista’s troops at
Alegría de Pío and dispersed. A majority of the guerrillas are
either murdered or captured.
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December 16-18, 1956 |
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Fidel Castro and Raul Castro reunite at Cinco
Palmas.
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December 21, 1956
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Guevara’s group reunites with Fidel Castro; at this point
there are 15 fighters in the Rebel Army.
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January 17, 1957
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Rebel Army overruns an army outpost in the battle of
La Plata.
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January 22, 1957
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Rebel Army ambushes government column at Arroyo del
Infierno.
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| March
13, 1957
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Fighters from the Revolutionary Directorate attack the
Presidential Palace in Havana. The attack fails and a number of
students are killed, including José Antonio Echeverría. |
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| May 27–28, 1957
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Battle of El Uvero takes place in the Sierra
Maestra, with a
major victory for the Rebel Army as it captures a well-fortified
army garrison.
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| July 1957
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Rebel Army organizes a second column. Che Guevara is selected to
lead it and is promoted to the rank of commander.
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| April 9, 1958
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July 26 Movement calls for a general strike throughout
Cuba. The
strike fails.
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| May
24, 1958
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Batista launches an all-out military offensive against the
Rebel Army in the Sierra Maestra. The offensive eventually
fails.
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| July 1958
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Battle of El Jigüe; decisive Rebel Army victory marks
beginning of Rebel counteroffensive.
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| August
31, 1958
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Che Guevara leads an invasion column from the Sierra Maestra
toward Las Villas Province in central Cuba, and days later signs
the Pedrero Pact with the March 13 Revolutionary Directorate,
which had a strong guerrilla base there. Several days earlier
Camilo Cienfuegos had been ordered to lead another column toward
Pinar del Río Province on the western end of Cuba.
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| October 16, 1958
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The Rebel Army column led by Che Guevara arrives in the
Escambray Mountains.
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| December 1958
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Rebel columns of Che Guevara and the March 13 Revolutionary
Directorate, and Camilo Cienfuegos with a small guerrilla troop of the
Popular Socialist Party, capture a number of towns in Las Villas
Province and effectively cut the island in half.
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| December 28, 1958
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Guevara’s column begins the battle of Santa
Clara, the
capital of Las Villas.
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| January 1, 1959
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Batista flees Cuba. A military junta takes over. Fidel
Castro opposes the new junta and calls for the revolutionary
struggle to continue. In
the military barracks of Santa Clara, Batista's troops surrender to Che Guevara
and the Rebel Army. Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos are ordered immediately to Havana.
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| January 2, 1959
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Cuban workers respond to Fidel Castro’s call for a general
strike and the country is paralyzed. The Rebel Army columns of
Guevara and Cienfuegos arrive in Havana. Che Guevara’s column
occupies La Cabaña
fortress, a former bastion of Batista’s
army.
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| January
5, 1959
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Manuel
Urrutia, the designated choice of the July 26
Movement, assumes presidency. |
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| January 8, 1959
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Fidel Castro arrives in Havana, greeted by hundreds of
thousands of people. |
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| February
16, 1959
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Fidel Castro becomes prime minister. |
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| February 27, 1959
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Revolutionary government approves law reducing electricity
rates. |
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| March 6, 1959
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Revolutionary government approves law reducing rents by
30–50 percent. |
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| March 1959
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Revolutionary government outlaws racial discrimination. |
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| May 17, 1959
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Proclamation of the first agrarian reform law, fixing legal
holdings at a maximum of 1,000 acres and distributing land to
peasants. |
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| July 16–17, 1959
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Castro resigns as Prime Minister because of government
crisis stemming from Urrutia’s opposition to revolution’s
measures. In response, a massive popular outpouring forces
Urrutia to resign from presidency and he is replaced by
Osvaldo Dorticós. |
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July 26, 1959
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Castro returns to post as Prime Minister. |
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October 21, 1959
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Following an attempt to initiate a counter-revolutionary
uprising, Huber Matos, military commander of Camagüey
Province, is arrested by army chief of staff Camilo
Cienfuegos. |
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| October
26, 1959
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Announcement of creation of National Revolutionary
Militias, to incorporate thousands of workers and peasants
into the fight against counterrevolution. |
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October 28, 1959
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Camilo Cienfuegos’s plane goes down over sea. Cienfuegos
is lost at sea. |
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March 4, 1960
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La
Coubre, a French ship carrying Belgian arms, explodes
in Havana harbor as a result of sabotage, killing 81 people;
at a mass rally the following day, Fidel Castro proclaims the
slogan of the Cuban revolution: “Patria or muerte!” |
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March 17, 1960
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President Eisenhower orders the CIA to begin preparation
of Cuban exile army to invade Cuba. |
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May 8, 1960
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Cuba and the Soviet Union establish diplomatic relations. |
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June 29–July 1, 1960
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Revolutionary government nationalizes Texaco, Esso and
Shell refineries following their refusal to refine petroleum
purchased by Cuba from the Soviet Union. |
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July 6, 1960
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Eisenhower orders reduction by 700,000 tons of sugar that
the United States has agreed to purchase from Cuba. |
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| July
9, 1960
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Soviet Union announces that it will purchase all Cuban
sugar that the United States refuses to buy. |
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August 6, 1960
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In response to U.S. economic aggression, the Cuban
government decrees the nationalization of major U.S. companies
in Cuba. |
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October 13, 1960
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Revolutionary government nationalizes Cuban and
foreign-owned banks as well as 382 large Cuban-owned
industries. |
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October 14, 1960
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Urban reform law approved, nationalizing housing; Cubans
are guaranteed the right to their dwellings. |
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October 19, 1960
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U.S. government decrees a partial embargo of trade with
Cuba. |
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| October
21, 1960
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Fusion of revolutionary youth movements into Association
of Young Rebels. |
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October 24, 1960
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Cuban government nationalizes remaining U.S. companies in
Cuba. |
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January 3, 1961
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Washington breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba. |
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January 17, 1961
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U.S. government imposes ban on travel by U.S. citizens to
Cuba. |
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March 31, 1961
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President Kennedy abolishes Cuba’s sugar quota. |
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| April
15, 1961
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As a prelude to planned invasion by U.S.-organized
mercenary army, planes attack Santiago de Cuba and Havana. |
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April 16, 1961
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At a mass rally
at
the corner of Calle 23 and Calle 12 in Havana, to honor the victims of the previous
day’s attacks, Fidel Castro proclaims socialist character of
the Cuban revolution; Cuba is put on alert in anticipation of
the impending attack. |
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| April 17–19, 1961
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1,500 Cuban-born mercenaries, organized and backed by the
United States, invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs on the southern
coast. The aim was to establish a “provisional government”
to appeal for direct U.S. intervention. They are defeated
within 72 hours, with the last ones surrendering at Playa Girón
(Girón Beach), which has come to be the name used by the
Cubans for the battle. Fidel Castro leads the
counter-attack from the sugar mill at Jaguey
Grande. |
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| December 22, 1961
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Cuba completes year-long nationwide literacy campaign. |
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| January 31, 1962
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OAS votes to expel Cuba. |
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| February 3, 1962
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President Kennedy orders total embargo on U.S. trade with
Cuba. |
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| March 8, 1962
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National Directorate of the Integrated Revolutionary
Organizations (ORI) is established, based on fusion of the
July 26 Movement, Popular Socialist Party and Revolutionary
Directorate. Che Guevara is a member of the National Directorate. |
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| October
22, 1962
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President
Kennedy initiates the “Cuban Missile Crisis,” denouncing Cuba’s
acquisition of missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads for defense
against U.S. attack. Washington imposes a naval blockade on Cuba. Cuba
responds by mobilizing its population for defense. Che Guevara is assigned
to lead forces in Pinar del Río Province in preparation for an imminent
U.S. invasion. |
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| October
28, 1962
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Soviet
Premier Khrushchev agrees to remove Soviet missiles in exchange for U.S.
pledge not to invade Cuba. |
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| 1963
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United
Party of Socialist Revolution (PURS) is formed. |
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| October
1, 1965
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The
Communist
Party of Cuba (PCC) is officially formed. |
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| January
3–14, 1966
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Tricontinental
Conference of Solidarity of the Peoples of Asia, Africa and Latin
America is held in Havana. |
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