Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Cuba on 28 October 1492 during his first westward voyage. Cuba was initially named Juana to honour the daughter of King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I of Spain, who had sponsored Columbus’ voyage. Upon the death of King Ferdinand in 1516, Cuba was renamed Fernandina as an honour to the late Monarch. Other name changes included Santiago (in honour of Spain’s Patron Saint) and even Ave Maria, in homage to the Blessed Virgin.
However, the name was later changed to Cuba, a derivative of its aboriginal name of Cubanacan. At the time of Columbus’ arrival, the island was populated by a group of Amerindians called the Ciboney who were believed to be related to the Tainos of Jamaica.
Shortly after the end of the Spanish-American War, Cuba was granted independence in 1902. The country’s political and social structures experienced major changes over the course of the twentieth century.
In the first half of the nineteenth century, Cuba became the region’s major sugar producer and a major trading partner with the United States. Terrible conditions in the Island’s sugar plantations however caused many slave rebellions in this period of Cuba history and it was in 1868, that Cuban landowners also began to resist the situation, therefore launching the first Cuban War of Independence.
Many national heroes of Cuba rose to prominence during this period of Cuban history, i.e. Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, Maximo Gomez, Antonio Maceo, and Jose Marti. Memorials to these figures from history on Cuba are widespread.
The ‘Ten Years War’ against Spain ended in 1878 with the Pact of Zanjon, which granted concessions to the Cuban rebels. However, Jose Marti and other revolutionaries continued their resistance to the Spanish authorities, some of them from exile in the United States and then in April 1895, Maceo, Marti, and Gomez landed in Cuba to begin the second War of Independence. In 1898, with the rebels largely in control of the island, the United States used the explosion of the USS Maine in the Havana harbour to begin aggression against Spain, starting the Spanish-American War.
In December 1898, Spain surrendered control of the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Cuba to the United States. The next 60 years of history on Cuba featured a strong U.S. presence and in the December 1941, the Cuban Government declared war on Germany, Japan, and Italy; resulting in Cuba becoming charter member of the United Nations (UN) in 1945. The presidential election of 1944 resulted in victory for Grau San Martin who was the candidate of a broad coalition of parties. The first year of his administration was quite disastrous for a number of reasons including widespread food shortages but the following year he obtained an agreement with the U.S. Government for an increase in the price of sugar therefore regaining his popularity. In 1948 Cuba joined the Organization of American States (OAS).
In the 1950s, Cuba was ruled by a very unpopular military dictatorship led by Fulgencio Batista. A resistance campaign led by Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevera, gained increasing support and power. In January 1959, Castro gained control of Cuba and began a revolutionary reordering of Cuban society, investing in health care, education, and athletics and instituting land reform while moving into a close relationship with the Soviet Union and imprisoning thousands of political opponents. Castro’s policies and relations became quite fraught and a failed invasion by U.S.-trained forces in April 1961 brought Cuba more firmly into the Soviet camp in the worldwide cold war.
The US and Soviet Union nearly came to war after the USSR established nuclear missile bases in Cuba in 1962, known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. The USSR agreed to dismantle its nuclear bases in return for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba or depose Castro.
The next 30 years of Cuban history were marked by a close alliance with the Soviet communist bloc. Soviet imports of Cuban sugar propped up the islands economy. When the USSR collapsed in 1989, Cuba was faced with tragic economic hardship and this period saw the Island become increasingly self-sufficient.
Cuba’s economic fortunes were assisted by the opening of the Island to tourists from all over the world in the early 1990s. Today, thousands love to holiday in Cuba not only for its beauty and fantastic climate but also to learn and discover its unique culture and history.