History

Time and Place:1959 Havana: Revolution in Latin America

Module code: V1477D
Level 5
15 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Not yet finalised

On 1 January 1959, Cuban revolutionary forces took control of the city of Havana, sending shock waves through the world. Led by Fidel Castro and Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, the Cuban Revolution achieved the unthinkable: the creation of a revolutionary socialist government on the doorstep of the United States. This module uses Havana 1959 as a starting point to explore the wave of revolutionary movements that swept Latin America in the 1960s and 70s. Looking at case studies from Mexico, Chile, Peru and Argentina, we examine how a new generation of revolutionaries proposed and enacted radical new solutions to the region’s endemic poverty and political oppression. Culminating in the 1979 Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua, this was an era marked by growing anti-imperialist sentiment, armed guerrilla warfare, the assertion of indigenous identities, and rising Third World solidarity. Using source materials translated from Spanish and other languages, the module explores the revolutionary fervour of the era in all its complexity, from the pronouncements of political leaders and intellectuals, to the daily struggles of peasants, workers and students.