1. Why did Castro rise to power in Cuba by January 1959?

2. Features of the rise to power
1 .Dissatisfaction with the current government & Inability of the government (or other groups) to respond to needs of the people
2. A group or individual who wants to take power
3. Ability by that group or individual to gain support
4. Inability of the government to respond to threat from individual/group
Context – several statements about the nature of Cuba by 1950s – US economic and political influence back to 1898, struggle for democracy & human rights in a country with a history of military coups and dictatorships

3. Dissatisfaction with the current government & Inability of the government (or other groups) to respond to the needs of the people
Batista had an unpopular dictatorship. Although he promised change, he didn’t break with the past. People realised that Batista’s dictatorship ruled out the possibility of the progress of democracy. Castro’s attempts to overthrow Batista’s government took place in a context of revolt. Political violence was an old tradition in Cuba. Other small and independent groups were preparing to act violently against Batista’s regime, such as the Federacion Estudiantil Universitaria (FEU), in Havana, the sugar-workers led by Conrado Becquer and young officers, led by Colonel Ramon Barquin.
A further advantage for Castro, however was the fact that many of these rivals of Castro had been weakened or destroyed by the middle of 1957, so that his was the only alternative to Batista.

4. Cuban Revolution trigger points :
(i) The Assault on the Moncada Barracks
On July 26, 1953, Cuba exploded into revolution when Fidel Castro and about 140 rebels attacked the federal garrison at Moncada. Although the operation was well-planned and had the element of surprise, the greater numbers and weapons of the army soldiers, coupled with some remarkably bad luck afflicting the attackers, made the assault a near-total failure for the rebels.
Many of the rebels were captured and executed, and Fidel and his brother Raúl were put on trial. They lost the battle but won the war: the Moncada assault was the first armed action of the Cuban Revolution, which would triumph in 1959.

5. A group or individual who wants to take power
Castro
Brilliant student orator. Had been preparing for elections of 1952, which were interrupted by Batista’s coup. Castro attempted to overthrow Batista’s government on 26 July 1953, by attacking the Moncada fortress and Bayamo barracks.
Impact
Failed (they were arrested), but lay the groundwork for the July 26 movement.
Made Castro’s name known across Cuba.
The fact that Batista ordered the execution of more than 70 guerrillas did much to turn public opinion against his regime.
Castro had great strategic vision. Talent for organisation. Involved in Ortodoxo party until 1955.Time in prison after 1952 gave Castro the opportunity for extensive reading
Che Guevara (in order to access the higher grades you need to identify Guevara’s impact) He was an Argentinean revolutionary, who met Castro in Mexico. Heavily influenced by his experience of the U.S. backed defeat of the Guatemalan government.
He was an Argentinean revolutionary, who met Castro in Mexico. Heavily influenced by his experience of the U.S. backed defeat of the Guatemalan government.

6. Ability by that group or individual to gain support
Castro went to Mexico in 1955 to organise a guerrilla force to carry out a revolution.
Money slowly flowed in from Venezuela, US and Cuba. By May 1956 Castro had enough to rent a farm. Supporters arrived from Cuba in small groups. Alberto Bayo, who had fought against Franco in the Spanish Civil War, trained them in guerrilla warfare. Castro and Guevara arrested in June, but intervention from former Mexican president Cardenas secured their release. Future military training had to take place in a more distant part of the country.
Castro secured significant funds through negotiations with former president Socarras, enabling Castro to purchase a small motor yacht, the Granma. At the end of November 1956 he and 82 guerrillas boarded the boat at Tuxpan and sailed to Cuba, landing in the south-west of the Oriente province (Marti had landed in Oriente 61 years earlier). It was scheduled to coincide with an uprising in Santiago , with an attack on the Moncada barracks and the Police headquarters. The landing itself was an uncoordinated disaster. They had to turn to a prolonged guerrilla war in the countryside.

7. Cont/d
Other Latin Americans sought to reproduce the success of the rural guerrilla warfare, not realising that revolutionaries in Cuba’s towns had played an equally important role in their success. Castros group were able to establish regular contact with Frank Pais, the leader of the July 26 movement in Santiago. Pais secured weapons, ammunition, food and medicine that were essential to the survival of the guerrillas. A national ‘civic resistance movement’ was established in Havana, headed by Enrique Oltuski, and supported by July 26 movement and middleclass Ortodoxos. The rural and urban movements differed, particularly in regard to their attitude towards America.

8. Inability of the government to respond to threat from individual/group
Batista used a strategy of the Spanish General Weyler who had crushed resistance in 1896 by ‘concentrating’ peasants in the towns, preventing them from making contact with the guerrillas. Those found in the cleared area would be bombed (p ). He also recreated the voluntarios of 1896 in the form of Los Tigres, a paramilitary group led by Rolando Masferrer. A general strike organised for 9 April 1958 was a disaster.
Nevertheless Castro’s guerrillas held out against an onslaught of 10,000 of Batista’s soldiers. This was a turning point in the war. Castro took the opportunity to launch an invasion of western Cuba at the end of August 1958, following in the footsteps of Gomez and Maceo in Che Guevara invaded the central province of Las Villas and Cienfuegos went for the westerly province of Pinar del Riom. Once this was achieved by October, Castro came from the Sierra to march towards Santiago and Raul advanced from the north