History of the Cuban Revolution

The life and travels of the revolutionary before he was known as Che, from his birth in Argentina to blue blooded parents to meeting Fidel in Mexico as a wandering political seeker. 

Fidel goes to jail and deals with family drama while Batista consolidates his rule.

The Trial of Fidel and the Moncada defendants gets underway. Fidel makes a famous speech.

Castro's first truly revolutionary act against a Batista regime will hurl him on a path he cannot walk back from. It will be a complete, embarrassing failure. 

Had a bit of a cold for this one, either way, welcome back. Castro's life from 1926-1953 is covered.

A primer episode summarizing the entire first season, 500 years of Cuban history condensed in 1 hour.

This is the season finale of the show. Conditions get so bad in Cuba that nobody minds much democracy comes to an end. The revolution is coming. 

We bring the Grau administration to an end with one last caper and take account of its failures and successes. 

The corruption and violence of the Grau regime takes a toll on the Autenticos, as their firebrand, Senator Eddy Chibas, causes a split in the party. 

President Ramon Grau San Martin and his party, the Autenticos, come to power in 1944 and make a mess of things. 

Batista inaugurated as President with great fanfare. We explore where this new, promising democratic experiment will lead and cover the second World War. 

We explore the theory of historical materialism, and how Marxism survives the voyage across the Atlantic and adapts to the different conditions of Cuba. 

In this episode I take a break from Cuban history to explain Marxism as we get closer to the revolution. Indebted to Alex Callinicos's The Revolutionary Ideas of Karl Marx for helping me summarize the theory. 

Cuba enters the rough 1930s, a decade marred by violence, economic hardship, and military rule. It exits with a new, progressive constitution, and a Republic. 

The One Hundred Days Government, in an uneasy alliance with Batista, battles its opposition and is swept away by counter-revolution. 

Batista's mutiny turns into a revolution as a pentarchy briefly forms, only to be swept away in 5 days by a reformist student government. 

Batista's mutiny turns into a revolution as a pentarchy briefly forms, only to be swept away in 5 days by a reformist student government.     

In the chaos after the fall of Machado, an ambitious sergeant leads an unlikely army mutiny that would transform into a revolution. 

We cover the bloody years of the Machadato in Cuba, as President Gerardo Machado tries to suppress a political awakening on the island. 

In this episode we explore the early Republic's instability while the U.S. grows bolder in asserting its demands. 

The first Cuban elections are underway, let's watch the young republic sink into corruption and chaos. 

The American eagle descends upon the island to begin occupation and ready it for democratic transition. 

In this episode we finally bring the United States into the war, turning the struggle for Cuban Independence into an international war between industrialized powers. We finally see the Cubans achieve some sort of independence.

In this episode we cover Captain General Weyler bringing total war to Cuba during its struggle for independence. 

In this episode we begin the definitive Cuban War of Independence from Spain, which will transform into the Spanish-American War. 

In this episode we finish off the 1868 War of Independence and introduce a titan of Latin American liberation movements, Jose Marti. 

This episode was brought to you by https://www.teslarents.com/, a top notch car rental service in Boston that let's you rent Teslas at a great price. We begin the 12 years war, starting the Cuban revolutionary cycle. In retrospect, this episode is a bit overwhelming, don't let it scare you, podcast goes back to normal next one. 

Exploring Cuba's rapid development during the 19th century, as well as the powers that fought over control and survival on the island.