History of Cuban Nation, from Colonial Days to the Present

The perception that we have about pre-Columbian inhabitants from Cuba (named  as aboriginal, indigenous or incorrectly Indians) comes to us through the stories of the conquerors, called chroniclers of the Indies, for what is tinged by the europeanizing and Christian vision of the same ones ... read more.

After the discovery of Cuba by Christopher Columbus at october 28 of 1492, the spanish settlement started in the Island. The Colonizers arrived and once and for all they imposed customs, culture and ways, that anything had to see with who they constituted the autochthonous population until then ... read more.

Havana's inability to resist invaders was dramatically exposed in 1628, when a Dutch fleet led by Piet Heyn plundered the Spanish fleet in the city's harbor. In 1662, on the eastern part of the island, English admiral and pirate Christopher Myngs captured and briefly occupied Santiago de Cuba ... read more.

The depletion of the gold-bearing sands and the population's drastic reduction - included the Spaniards, enlisted in great number in the successive expeditions for the settlement of the continent - they transformed to the stockbreeding into the main source of wealth of Cuba. The Spanish settlers established the cattle raising and the sowing sugar cane and tobacco like the main economic objectives of Cuba. This way the wealth of Cuba between 1823 and the end of the XIX century rose a lot ... read more.

During the Fights for Independence several battles took place in Cuba against Spain Colony for freedom. The three more impportant wars are: Ten Years’ War (1868-1878), Smallest War (1879-1880), Independence War (1895-1898) ... read more.

After the Spanish troops left the island in December 1898, the government of Cuba was handed over to the United States on 1 January 1899. The first governor was General John R. Brooke. Unlike Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, the United States did not annex Cuba because of the restrictions imposed in the Teller Amendment ... read more.

Fidel Castro quickly purged political opponents from the administration at january 1st, 1959. Loyalty to Castro became the primary criteria for all appointments. Groups such as labour unions were made illegal. Quickly, an agrarian reformation was thrown on May 17 of 1959, confiscating lands to the North Americans; the refineries of sugar and of petroleum were nationalized ... read more.

The collapse of the Soviet Union, ending 1991, decimated the Cuban economy. The country lost approximately 80% of its imports, 80% of its exports and its Gross Domestic Product dropped by 34 percent. Food and medicine imports stopped or severely slowed. Perhaps most immediately impactful, however, was the loss of nearly all of the oil imports by the USSR; Cuba's oil imports dropped to 10% of pre-1990 amounts ... read more.