ABSTRACT
In a little over six decades, Cuba transitioned from a Spanish colony, to a nominally independent U.S. Protectorate, to a sovereign state and close U.S. ally, to a revolutionary state and Cold War, U.S. adversary. The United States was intimately involved in this progression. U.S. intervention in Cuba’s war of independence helped end Spanish rule; the Platt Amendment turned Cuba into a U.S. Protectorate; the abrogation of Platt gave Cuba its sovereignty; U.S. support helped sustain Cuba’s governments in times of democracy and dictatorship; the 1959 revolution was a reaction against the U.S.-supported dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista; and revolutionary Cuba sought to sustain its independence from U.S. influence by forging an alliance with the Soviet Union. Cuba’s revolution changed its relationship with the United States dramatically and, in important ways, it affected hemispheric relations throughout the Cold War and beyond.
