Cuba History 1952-1959 Timeline (Text version)

We have been pleased to see the popularity of Manuel Márquez-Sterling’s Cuba 1952-1959 timeline with key events in Cuban history from Fulgencio Batista’s March 1952 coup through the seizure of power by Fidel Castro’s forces and the establishment of the Castros’ dictatorship.

As a companion to that interactive graphical timeline, beginning this week we’ll be publishing a version in text form, as a series of posts each containing the events for a calendar year over the period of 1952-1959. We’ll update these with links to posts about these events as they are published. We hope this will be useful both as an alternative to those who would like to see this information in textual form, and as a navigational aid to blog posts about these events.

The timeline gives particular attention to the activities of the two wings of Batista’s opposition: the constitutionalist/electoralist; and the revolutionary, which included student militant groups (DRE, FEU) and Castro’s 26th of July Movement. The timeline includes events within Cuba and related events in other countries, particularly those concerning US-Cuba policy, Cuban revolutionaries in exile, and international press coverage of Castro and his forces.