Cuba

During a short-lived phase of expansionism the United States wrested Cuba and the Philippines from their Spanish rulers. 

From Jefferson onwards, writes Arnold Whitridge, many nineteenth century United States leaders hoped that Cuba could be induced to “add itself to our confederation.”

Alex von Tunzelmann reassesses a two-part article on the troubled relationship between the United States and Cuba, published in History Today 50 years ago in the wake of the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Michael Dunne remembers the US-backed invasion of Fidel Castro's Cuba.

In 1959 Fidel Castro came to power in Cuba after a masterly campaign of guerrilla warfare. Drawing on this success, Castro and his followers, including Che Guevara, sought to spread their revolution, as Clive Foss explains.

As Fidel Castro finally hands over the reins of power after forty-nine years, Michael Simmons finds his country poised between past and future.

John Swift examines the events that led the world to the brink of nuclear catastrophe.

Fidel Castro's first, unsuccessful attempt at overthrowing the Cuban regime began on December 2nd, 1956.

Mark Weisenmiller explains how, forty years ago, the ‘Sunshine State’ played a pivotal role in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

General Batista seized power on March 10th, 1952.