The Neocolonial Republic and the National Question (1902–1958)
Between 1902 and 1958 Cuba was formally independent but structurally dependent. The exam probes the Platt Amendment framework, the sugar cycle, the 1933 revolution and the 1940 Constitution, and the debate over cubanidad in a racially divided republic.
The political framework
The Republic opened on 20 May 1902 with Tomás Estrada Palma under the Platt Amendment (1901), which authorized US intervention and was abrogated only in 1934; the Guantánamo base lease dates from 1903. US troops returned in 1906–1909 under Charles Magoon, and intervened again in 1912 and 1917. Gerardo Machado ruled 1925–1933 and was overthrown by a general strike and the September 4 sergeants' revolt led by Batista; Grau San Martín's "100 days" produced the 1933 reforms. The 1940 Constitution (labour rights, land, education) was the republic's high point, but Batista's coup of 10 March 1952 buried electoral politics.
Sugar, dependency and race
Sugar monoculture tied Cuba to the US market. The First World War brought the danza de los millones, then the 1920 crash ruined many. Between zafras, the tiempo muerto meant unemployment and hunger in the countryside, while land concentrated in latifundios. In 1912 the Partido Independiente de Color was crushed and its leaders killed-an episode the exam often uses to test racial analysis. Illiteracy, rural poverty and emigration framed the social question.
The national question
Identity was debated as a problem, not a decoration. Fernando Ortiz coined transculturación (1940) to describe how Spanish and African elements produced something new; Nicolás Guillén's Motivos de son (1930) made Afro-Cuban speech and rhythm national poetry; Martí's legacy was claimed by opposing projects. Later historians-Cepero Bonilla on sugar and abolition, Moreno Fraginals in El Ingenio-tied culture to the plantation economy.
Worked example
Prompt: explain the 1933 revolution. Structure the answer: long-term dependence on sugar and US capital, medium-term Machado's dictatorship and the 1929 crash, short-term the mediation of Ambassador Welles, which discredited Machado and let the sergeants move. Then weigh: economic crisis created the opportunity, but the political outcome came from the military revolt and the labour movement.
Traps
Confusing the 1901 Platt Amendment with the 1940 Constitution; calling 1933 socialist; assuming the 1940 Constitution governed until 1959 (Batista suspended it in 1952); and describing Batista as elected in 1952 rather than as a coup-maker.