Initiation of Revolution :The Significance of September 30, 1930 in Cuba

Abstract

The revolution of the thirties was the most pronounced political event in the history of republican Cuba. This revolution, although not as well known as the more famous revolution led by Fidel Castro several decades later, produced significant changes to republican Cuba’s political structure born in the aftermath of the wars for independence from Spain in the latter half of the nineteenth century and the United States military occupation of, and political interference in, the island republic early in the twentieth century. The revolution of the thirties, which can be roughly dated from the university students’ demonstration of September 1930 to the crushing of the general strike of March 1935, resulted in the replacement of the republic’s political class made up of the independence generation, i.e., politicians who derived their political legitimacy from their participation in the wars for independence, to a new generation from the professional classes, including professors and students from the University of Havana, and the enlisted men of the lower ranks of the military. Members of both social sectors played prominent roles in the unfolding of the revolutionary events of the first half of the decade of the 1930s. The old political parties were swept away by the revolutionary tide in the first half of the decade of the thirties and replaced with new political parties, with nicknames such as “authentic” and “orthodox,” the leaders of which derived political legitimacy from their participation in the revolution. The four most prominent politicians in Cuba from the mid-1930s until the triumph in 1959 of what would become the socialist revolution were : two ex-students of the University of Havana,Carlos Prío Socarrás (President of Cuba from 1948‐1952) and Eduardo Chibás (the founder and leader of the progressive and main oppositional political party), an exprofessor of the same university, Ramón Grau San Martín (leader of the revolutionary government in the autumn of 1933 and later President of Cuba from 1944‐1948) and an ex-sergeant of the Cuban military, Fulgencio Batista (“strong man” of Cuba in the latter half of the 1930s, President of Cuba from 1940‐1944, and dictator of the republic from the coup d’état of March 10, 1953 until being overthrown himself on the first of January, 1959. This is not to deny the active participation of other sectors of Cuban society, especially the laboring classes, in the revolution of the thirties, but the influence of the middle sectors of society on the subsequent history of the Cuban republican era was predominant. At the end of the third decade of the twentieth century, Cuba was not only suffering from the social changes that had emerged after formal independence, but also from economic collapse and a strain on the political system of the republic. The stock market crash in the United States had an immediate and severe impact on the Cuban economy. Not only did workers suffer from significant job losses, full time employment became part time work for many. By the early 1930s, lower and middle level civil servants were not being paid their full salaries and their remuneration was several months in arrears. Small and medium sized businesses were drastically affected by the dropping demand for goods from consumers without the wherewithal to purchase articles for sale at rates prior to the economic collapse. Of course, agricultural laborers and small farmers were also hit hard. At the same time, the president of Cuba, Gerardo Machado Morales, had completely upset the formal understanding among Cuba’s political oligarchs and had shown clearly his dictatorial tendencies, first by prolonging his term of office by two years, and then by insuring his own reelection for a new and lengthened term of six years. Moreover, by maneuvering the three main political parties to support his “unitary candidacy,” opposition could no longer be expressed through the legal political system.The revolution against this creeping dictatorship of President Machado began in earnest in the autumn of 1930. The event that began this struggle was a demonstration led by students of the University of Havana. The demonstration was attacked by the authorities and resulted in the death of the student Rafael Trejo. The repercussions from Trejo’s martyrdom were felt throughout the island and almost succeeded in toppling the regime. From the day of the university students’demonstration on September 30, 1930, until Gerardo Machado fled the island on August 12, 1933, a relentless campaign of protests, impromptu demonstrations, bombings, political killings, and rebellions against him was unleashed not only by the students, but also by various sectors of the population. Still, Cuba’s revolution of the 1930s was sparked by an act of the university student movement. The preparation of this act, the demonstration itself and its immediate effects, is the subject of this paper.