Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T02:42:47.087Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Army Politics, Diplomacy and the Collapse of the Cuban Officer Corps: the ‘Sergeants’ Revolt' of 1933

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2009

Extract

In August 1933 a bitter revolutionary struggle reached its climax in Havana. Pressure from the United States during mediations conducted by American Ambassador Sumner Welles, a general strike and a military coup combined to topple the government of Gerardo Machado. National tensions made acute during the machadato and contradictions generated in the anti-Machado struggle converged in the newly constituted administration of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 For an excellent summary of these events, see Luis, E. Aguilar, Cuba, 1933: Prologue to Revolution (Ithaca, New York, 1972), pp. 55162.Google Scholar

2 Sumner, Welles to Secretary of State, 19 08 1933, United States Department of State, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1933 (Washington, D.C., 1952), v, 367–8 (hereinafter cited as FRUS).Google Scholar

3 Mario, Menocal to Horacio, Ferrer, 28 06 1933,Google Scholar in Horacio, Ferrer, Con el rifle al hombro (La Habana, 1950), p. 304.Google Scholar

4 Phillips, R. Hart, Cuba: Island of Paradox (New York, 1959), p. 55.Google Scholar

5 Sumner, Welles to Secretary of State, 19 08 1933, FRUS, v, 367–8.Google Scholar

6 Sumner, Welles to Secretary of State, 24 08, President Secretary's File, Cuba, 1933–5, 1942–4,Google Scholar Box 5, Franklin, D. Roosevelt Papers, Hyde Park, New York.Google Scholar

7 Ferrer, , Con el rifle al hombro, p. 342.Google Scholar

8 See Decreto, Número I, 262, Gaceta Oficial de la República, 31 (31 de agosto de 1933), 2914.Google Scholar

9 ‘La espada rota’, El Liberal, I (Marzo 30, 1935), 4.Google ScholarMario, Riera Hernández, Historial obrero cubano, 1574–1965 (Miami, 1965), pp. 87–8.Google Scholar

10 Mario, Torres Menier, ‘Mi diario: Batista, Belisario y yo’, Bohemia, 26 (Febrero 25 de 1934), 1213.Google Scholar

11 Ferrer, , Con el rifle al hombro, p. 348.Google Scholar

12 ‘La espada rota’, pp. 4–5. Ferrer, , Con el rifle al hombro, p. 347.Google Scholar

13 Riera, Hernández, Historial obrero cubano, 1574–1965, pp. 87–8. Phillips, , Cuba: Island of Paradox, pp. 87–8.Google Scholar

14 Phillips, , Cuba: Island of Paradox, p. 89.Google ScholarManuel Costales Latatu, ‘Una revolución efímera en el tiempo y gloriosa en los hechos’, Bohemia, 36 (Septiembre 12 de 1954), 63.Google Scholar See also Rubén, Martínez Villena, ‘The Rise of the Revolutionary Movement in Cuba’, The Communist, 12 (06 1933), 567–8.Google Scholar

15 New York Times, 13 08 1933, p. 23.Google Scholar

16 Lieutenant-Colonel Gimperling, T. N., Military Attaché, ‘Loyalty’, G-a Report, 16 08 1933, File 2012–133 (6), Records of the War Department, General and Special Staffs, Record Group 165, National Archives, Washington, D.C. (hereinafter cited as WD/NA, RG 165).Google Scholar

17 Edwin, Schoenrich, American Consul, Santiago de Cuba, to American Embassy, Havana, Cuba, 26 08 1933, File (1933) 800, American Embassy, Havana, Cuba, Correspondence, Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State, Record Group 84, National Archives, Washington, D.C. (hereinafter cited as FSP/NA, RG 84).Google Scholar

18 ‘Memorandum of Press Conference’, 14 Aug. 1933, General Records of the Department of State, Record Group 59, National Archives, Washington, D.C. (hereinafter cited as DS/NA, RG 59).

19 Lieutenant-Colonel, T. N. Gimperling, Military Attaché, ‘Causes of the Recent Revolt of Armed Forces against Machado’, G-2 Report, 21 08 1933, File 2012–133 (7), DW/NA, RG 165.Google Scholar

20 During periods of fraternization, Katherine Chorley suggests, revolutionaries link ‘their grievances to revolutionary propaganda during the period of education and preparation for a revolt. They will exploit discontent with the practical conditions of service under the old regime suggesting that under a new regime the grievances could be remedied’. Armies and the Art of Revolution (London, 1943), p. 136.Google Scholar

21 Ferrer, , Con el rifle al hombro, p. 340.Google Scholar

22 Costales, Latatu, ‘Una revolución efímera en el tiempo y gloriosa en los hechos’, pp. 63, 80.Google Scholar

23 ‘Circular de 3 de septiembre desmintiendo el rumor de 12 rebaja de sueldos a las tropas’, in Ferrer, , Con el rifle al hombro, p. 347.Google Scholar

24 New York Times, 5 09 1933, p. 22.Google Scholar

25 Ricardo, Adam y Silva, La gran mentira. 4 de septiembre de 1933 (La Habana, 1947), pp. 62–3, 75–6.Google Scholar

26 Ulpiano, Vega Cobiellas, La personalidad y la obra dcl General Fulgencio Batista y Zaldivar (La Habana, 1943), p. 31;Google ScholarEnrique, Lumen, Le revolución cabana (México, 1934), pp. 93–4;Google ScholarMario, Riera Hernández, Un presidente constructivo (Miami, 1966), p. 6;Google ScholarTorres, Menier, ‘Mi diario: Batista, Belisarlo y yo’, p. 62.Google Scholar

27 In Edmund, A. Chester, A Sergeant Named Batista (New York, 1954), p. 101.Google Scholar

28 Adam, y Silva, La gran mentira, pp. 173–4.Google Scholar

29 Lieutenant-Colonel, T. N. Gimperling, Military Attaché, ‘Summary of Army Mutiny of September 4–5, 1933’, G-2 Report, 26 09 1933, File 2012–133 (12), DW/NA, RG 165.Google Scholar

30 Adam, y Silva, La gran mentira, pp. 773–4.Google Scholar

31 Gerardo, Castellanos G., Panorama histórico (La Habana, 1934), p. 1558.Google ScholarLieutenant-Colonel, T. N. Gimperling, Military Attaché, ‘War Department’, G- Report, 6 10 1933, File 2012–133 (15), DW/NA, RG 165.Google Scholar

32 New York Times, 14 10 1934, p. 3.Google Scholar

33 Adam, y Silva, La gran mentira, p. 121.Google Scholar Years later, Cosme de la Torriente, enjoying the confidence of President Batista, reported that the former sergeant had told him that the 4 September movement never intended to change governments. See El Mundo (Havana), 18 de julio de 1952, p. A7.Google Scholar

34 Rafael, García Bárcena, ‘Razón y sinrazón del 4 del de septiembre’, Bohemia, 44 (Septiembre 7 de 1962), 60.Google Scholar ‘Such words’, García Bárcena recalled, ‘surprised us when we were under the impression that we were there to depose the Cépedes government.’ ibid., p. 61. Rubén, de León, ‘La verdad de lo ocurrido desde el cuatro de septiembre’, Bohemia, 26 (Febrero 4 de 1934), 29.Google Scholar

36 Francisco, Masiques Landeta, ‘Puntos sobresalientes del septembrismo’, Bohemia, 31 (Septiembre 11 de 1949), 54.Google ScholarRamón, Grau San Martín, La revolución cubana ante América (Mexico, 1936), p. 92.Google Scholar

37 García, Bárcena, ‘Razón y sinrazón del de sepriembre’, pp. 60–1.Google Scholar

38 Castellanos, G., Panorama histórico, p. 1559. Céspedes happened to be in the interior inspecting damage produced by a hurricane days earlier.Google Scholar

39 Varona, M. Franco, La revolución del 4 de septiembre (La Habana), pp. 4451.Google Scholar

40 ‘La gran tragedia de la verdadera oficialidad cubana’, Bohemia, XXVI (Enero 7 de 1934), 36.Google Scholar

41 Adam, y Silva, La gran mentira, p. 27;Google ScholarHugh, Thomas, ‘The Origins of the Cuban Revolution,’ The World Today, 19 (10 1963), 455;Google Scholar and the same author's Cuba, Thc Pursuit of Freedom (New York, 1971), p. 583.Google Scholar

42 Adam, y Silva, La gran mentira, p. 24.Google Scholar

43 ‘Relación de oficiales que continuan en el actual Ejército Nacional’, File 2012–133 (60), DW/NA, RG 165.

44 Cuba, , Estado Mayor General del Ejército, Lista directorio y escalafones (La Habana, 1916), and ‘Relación de oficiales que continuan en al actual Ejército Nacional’, File 2012–133 (60), DW/NA, RG 165.Google Scholar

45 Lieutenant-Colonel, T. N. Gimperling, Military Attaché, ‘Loyalty’, G-2 Report, 9 10 1933, File 2012–133 (19), DW/NA, RG 165.Google Scholar

46 Hartwell, Johnson, American Vice-Consul, Matanzas, ‘Political Affairs in the Province of Matanzas, Cuba’, 27 11 1933, File (1933) 800, Matanzas, Cuba, Correspondence, FSP/NA, RG 84.Google Scholar

47 Edwin, Schoenrich to Samuel, S. Dickson, 26 12 1933, 837.00/4593, DS/NA, RG 59.Google Scholar

48 Raymond, Leslie Buell et al., Problems of the New Cuba (New York, 1935), pp. 33–4;Google ScholarRamón, Eduardo Ruiz, Cuba, The Making of a Revolution (Amherst, 1968), p. 158.Google Scholar

49 Lieutenant-Colonel, T. N. Gimperling, Military Attaché, ‘Alleged Dissension and Communism in the Cuban Army’, G-a Report, 30 10 1933, File 2012–133 (27), DW/NA, RG 165.Google Scholar

50 Alberto, Arredondo, El negro en Cuba (La Habana, 1939), pp. 158–9.Google Scholar

51 The ‘sudden end of the Cépedes regime’, Bryce, Wood suggests, ‘was a surprise and must have been a great shock to Welles, for in a real sense the Céspedes government was his government, and the mutiny was a blow to his newly-gained prestige no less than an attack on the position of the traditional ruling groups in Cuba’. The Making of the Good Neighbor Policy (New York, 1961), p. 71.Google Scholar

52 Sumner, Welles to Secretary of State, 5 09 1933, 837.00/3757, DS/NA, RG 59.Google Scholar

53 ‘Memorandum of Telephone Conversation between Secretary of State Hull and Welles’, 5 Sept. 1933, 837.00/3800, DS/NA, RG 59.Google Scholar

54 In Cronon, E. David, ‘Interpreting the New Good Neighbor Policy: The Cuban Crisis of 1933’, The Hispanic American Historical Review, 34 (11 1959), 546.Google Scholar

55 ‘Memorandum of Telephone Conversation between Secretary of State and the Ambassador in Cuba’, 5 Sept. 1933, 837.00/3756, DS/NA, RG 59.

56 Sumner, Welles to Secretary of Stare, 5 09 1933, 837.00/3756, DS/NA, RG 59.Google Scholar

57 Sumner, Welles to Secretary of State, 5 09 1933, 837.00/3778, DS/NA, RG 59.Google Scholar

58 del Valle, P. A., Squadron Marine Officer, to Commander, Special Squadron, 29 09 1933, File (1933) 800, American Embassy, Havana, Cuba, Correspondence, FSP/NA, RG 84.Google Scholar

59 Harold, L. Ickes, The Secret Diaries of Harold L. Ickes (3 vols., New York, 19531954), 1, 87.Google Scholar

60 Cordell, Hull, The Memoirs of Cordell Hull (2 vols., New York, 1948), 1, 313.Google Scholar

61 Lieutenant-Colonel, T. N. Gimperling, Military Attaché, to Chief, Military Intelligence, 29 09 1933, File 2012–147 (1), DW/NA, RG 165.Google Scholar

62 Henning, F. R., Commanding Officer, to Commander Special Service Squadron, 21 09 1933, File EF19/P9–2(330921), General Records of the Department of the Navy, Record Group 80, National Archives, Washington, D.C. (hereinafter cited as GRDN/NA, RG 80).Google Scholar

63 Freeman, C. S., Commanding Officer, to Commander, 21 09 1933, File EF 19/P9–2(330921), GRDN/NA, RG 80.Google Scholar Freeman reported seeing Cuban automobiles displaying signs on the windshields pledging ‘moriremos combatiendo la intervención’. ibid.

64 ‘Memorandum of Telephone Conversation between Hull and Welles’, 5 09 1933, FRUS, v, 1933, 390.Google Scholar

65 Sumner, Welles to Secretary of State, 8 09 1933, 837.00/3798, DS/NA, RG 59.Google Scholar

66 Sumner, Welles to Secretary of State, 16 10 1933, FRUS, v, 1933, 489.Google Scholar

67 León, , ‘La verdad de lo ocurrido desde el cuatro de septiembre’, p. 39;Google ScholarCharles, A. Thomson, ‘The Cuban Revolution: Reform and Reaction’, Foreign Policy Reports, 11 (1 01 1936), 263.Google Scholar

68 Lieutenant, Colonel T. N. Gimperling, Military Attaché, ‘Army Officers Defy Present Regime’, G- Report, 11 09 1933, File 2012–133 (8), DW/NA, RG 59.Google Scholar

69 ‘Memorandum of Conversation Between Secretary Hull at Washington and Ambassador Welles at Habana’, 9 09 1933, 837.00/3939, DS/NA, RG 59.Google Scholar

70 New York Herald Tribune, 11 09 1933, p. 1.Google Scholar

71 Lieutenant, Colonel T. N. Gimperling, Military Attaché, ‘Army Officers Defy Present Regime’, G-2 Report, 11 09 1933, File 2012–133 (8), DW/NA, RG 165.Google Scholar

72 Fulgencio, Batista, Piedras y leyes (México, 1961), p. 19.Google Scholar

73 New York Times, 7 09 1933, p. 3.Google Scholar

74 Cronon, , ‘Interpreting the New Good Neighbor Policy: The Cuban Crisis of 1933’, p. 550.Google Scholar

75 Eddy, Chibas, ‘Los gobiernos de Cuba: Grau San Martín (1933–1934)’, Bohemia, 30 (Junio 5 de 1938), 95.Google ScholarRiera, Hernández, Un presidente constructivo, pp. 89.Google Scholar

76 In Phillips, , Cuba: Island of Paradox, pp. 90–2. Cf. Alfred Betancourt to Secretary of State Cordell Hull, 5 11 1933, Correspondence, Box 5, Cordell Hull Papers, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division.Google Scholar

77 Sumner, Welles to Secretary of State, 24 10 1933, 837.00/4289, DS/NA, RG 59.Google Scholar

78 Lieutenant, Colonel T. N. Gimperling, Military Attaché, ‘Commissioned Personnel’, G-a Report, 9 09 1933, File 2012–133 (9), DW/NA, RG 165.Google Scholar Ruby Hart Phillips similarly recalled hearing that the American Ambassador promised intervention if government forces attacked the Hotel Nacional. Phillips, , Cuba: Island of Paradox, p. 71.Google Scholar

79 Sumner, Welles to Secretary of State, 9 09 1933, 837.00/3807, DS/NA, RG 59.Google Scholar

80 Torres, Menier, ‘Mi diario: Batista, Belisario y yo’, p. 63.Google Scholar

81 Lieutenant, Colonel T. N. Gimperling, Military Attaché, ‘Battle at National Hotel, on October 2’, G-2 Report, 6 10 1933, File 2012–133 (9), DW/NA, RG 165.Google Scholar

82 ‘Relacón de los nombramientos y ascensos hechos durante el desgobierno de los Auténticos’, File 2012–133 (60), DW/NA, RG 165.Google Scholar

83 ‘Decreto nümero 408’, Gaceta Oficial de la República, XXXII (Febrcro 9 de 1934), 1915.Google Scholar