Cuba: A Brief History

08/11/21 • 43 min

In October of 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on an island in the Caribbean Sea and christened it âJuanaâ in honor of Prince Don Juan, son of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. From there, Cuba would remain under Spanish rule for over 400 years. Eventually, the United States would help the Cuban people overthrow their colonial rulers just as America had done a century before. Thus began a long and contentious relationship between America and Cuba. Ironically, it was America who also assisted a young Cuban revolutionary named Fidel Castro to overthrow a corrupt government and set up his own government. That was 1959 and Castro would remain in power for over 50 years while surviving more than 600 assassination attempts and outlasting 11 American presidents. With his death in 2016 and the resignation of his brother, Raul, in April of 2021, there have been new rumblings in Cuba. Will the Cuban people finally demand freedom, or will they continue under Communist rule? Will America once again involve herself in Cuban affairs? It seems there is more Cuban history yet to be written.
BOOKS

Cuba: A History by Hugh Thomas
The History of Cuba by Clifford Staten
Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Robert Kennedy
Modern Times by Paul Johnson
America: A Narrative History by George Tindall and David Shi

FILM

Cuban Missile Crisis: Three Men Go to War (2012) Documentary
JFK: A President Betrayed (2013) Documentary with Morgan Freeman narrating
Fidel (1971) Documentary
The Fidel Castro Tapes (2014) Documentary

Cuba: A History by Hugh Thomas
The History of Cuba by Clifford Staten
Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Robert Kennedy
Modern Times by Paul Johnson
America: A Narrative History by George Tindall and David Shi

FILM

Cuban Missile Crisis: Three Men Go to War (2012) Documentary
JFK: A President Betrayed (2013) Documentary with Morgan Freeman narrating
Fidel (1971) Documentary
The Fidel Castro Tapes (2014) Documentary

Previous Episode

Famous Spies: The Male Edition

Spy: (noun) âA person employed by one nation to secretly convey classified information of strategic importance to another nation.â When someone says the word spy, the image that pops into most peopleâs minds is James Bond (for us here at Historically Speaking that would be Sean Connery, the original,) but the father of modern-day espionage can be traced all the way back to the court of Queen Elizabeth I. But no matter what century you are playing your deadly game, spying often times isnât as glamorous as it seems. Yes, you may be hobnobbing with the elites of society, but in order to not reveal your cover you have to be tough enough to survive some extraordinarily perilous circumstances, while at the same time being clever enough to convince your adversaries that youâre truly on their side. John le CarrÃ©, Ian Fleming and Frederick Forsyth had to base their novels on someone, could it possibly be one of these three gentlemen that we discuss here in Episode 26? Weâll let you decide.
BOOKS

Sir Francis Walsingham:

The Reign of Elizabeth: 1558-1603 by J. B. Black
Queen Elizabeth I by J.E. Neale
Elizabethâs Spymaster: Francis Walsingham and the Secret War That Saved England by Robert Hutchinson

Wilhelm Canaris:

Canaris: The Life and Death of Hitlerâs Spymaster by Michael Mueller
The Secret War: Spies, Ciphers and Guerrillas, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings

Richard Sorge:

An Impeccable Spy: Richard Sorge, Stalinâs Master Agent by Owen Matthews
Stalinâs Spy: Richard Sorge and the Tokyo Espionage Ring by Robert Whymant
The Oxford Companion to World War II

FILM

Richard Sorge: Master Spy (2019) â Russian miniseries 12 episodes

Next Episode

Joan of Arc

Almost six centuries have come and gone and weâre still talking about an illiterate peasant girl who only lived to be nineteen years old. Why? Not only did she inspire her nation by leading thousands of men into battle, but she also ushered in the end of the Hundredâs Year War thus saving her nation of France from English rule. Was she divinely inspired or was she a schizophrenic who heard the voices of martyred saints in her head? We may never know the answer to that question, but here in Episode 28 we unpack a lot about Joan of Arc.
Episode Edit:
In the interest of accuracy and fairness, in 1450, almost twenty years after Joan's death, King Charles VII did himself have a retrial of Joan which vindicated her. This was before Pope Calixtus III (1455-1458) also had a retrial. To Charles' credit, he couldn't have the retrial until he did because it wasn't until late 1449 that he and French forces were able to take Rouen where Joan's trial and burning occurred and where all the papers and documents related to the trial were located.
Books: