The Cuban Revolution: The Causes Of Revolutions

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From Russia to Cuba, revolutions have boiled up to cause significant institutional change and societal mobilization in order to achieve the ideological goals of a certain movement. At times, it is difficult to differentiate between other social processes like strikes and civil wars from the distinction that is a revolution. Jack Goldstone thoroughly distinguishes the difference between the other mechanisms and revolutions as well as the principle causes of them. Along with this, there are a diverse set of cases that display how a country’s instability in structure, social issues, and international relations eventually lead to quick mobilization of like-minded groups that look to overthrow the government in order to establish a precise change…show more content…
The revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, mobilized individuals from all social classes that despised the Batista regime and along with other allies set forth a different vision for Cuba. Castro and his movement convinced people to join his side by highlighting the problems of poverty and an unfair system that only benefited a few instead of the whole community. According to Goldstone, revolutions are when governments are overthrown by huge masses that are mobilized under a resilient ideology and new social vision for a country. The Cuban revolution embodies that definition due to its outcome which saw the capitalist system being replaced by a socialist one as well as social problems like illiteracy, healthcare, and education being thoroughly addressed by the new government. Social justice is a reoccurring theme that is seen in various revolution throughout the globe. In the Cuban revolution, the new government led by Castro and his colleagues focused on providing new social service for isolated rural areas. Goldstone discusses how revolutionary groups look to create political institutions that can help address social issues that were plaguing the country under the past regime. The post-revolutionist government eventually started seeing results and gains in life expectancy, literacy rates, and education. These societal problems are what build up groups…show more content…
Besides this, Russia was deeply involved in the World War which significantly affected the country due to the government throwing all their resources and money towards funding the war. A mixture of these elements cleared the way for a revolution to gain traction and eventually topple the Tsarist government. The ascent of the Soviet Union started to form which came with numerous reforms for workers and farmers. This revolution fits in the path that Goldstone discussed where there are is a combination of the international climate, a declining regime, unstable economic system, and a trend of oppression of certain groups. The Russian revolution embodies these elements which led to the formation of the post-revolutionist government that became to be known as the Soviet Union. A revolutionary movement was able to take advantage and put a spotlight on the conditions that the Russian people were facing under this government. This inevitably permitted the rise of the socialist movement in Russian and claimed its power for the next few

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