Historical Organization
26th of July Movement
26th of July Movement
Also known as: M-26-7
Details
Organization Timeline
Released prisoners are welcomed at Havana station
đź“… 15 May 1955Supporters publicly greeted the Moncada prisoners, demonstrating that the failed assault had become a national political symbol.
HaydĂ©e SantamarĂa and Melba Hernández resume organizing
📅 15 May 1955After the amnesty, the two surviving Moncada participants helped rebuild clandestine networks and preserve the movement’s political memory.
The July 26 Movement is organized
đź“… 12 June 1955Revolutionaries created the July 26 Movement, named after the Moncada attack, to unite urban resistance with preparations for armed struggle.
Fidel Castro leaves Cuba for Mexico
đź“… 7 July 1955Facing surveillance and repression, Fidel Castro departed for Mexico to organize an expeditionary force.
Fidel Castro begins exile in Mexico
đź“… 8 July 1955Castro arrived in Mexico, where Cuban exiles recruited supporters, raised funds and prepared for guerrilla warfare.
Fidel Castro meets Che Guevara in Mexico
📅 9 July 1955Soon after Castro’s arrival, the Argentine doctor Ernesto Che Guevara joined the planned expedition and its anti-imperialist project.
Castro raises support among Cuban emigrants in New York
đź“… 30 October 1955In a speech to expatriates, Castro defended insurrection against Batista and appealed for money and political support for a return to Cuba.
Mexican police arrest Cuban revolutionaries
đź“… 20 June 1956Mexican authorities arrested Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and other expedition members, temporarily disrupting their preparations.
Mexico Pact links student and July 26 movements
đź“… 30 August 1956Fidel Castro and JosĂ© Antonio EcheverrĂa agreed to coordinate opposition to Batista while maintaining their organizations’ autonomy.
Celia Sánchez prepares support for the Granma landing
📅 25 November 1956Inside Cuba, Sánchez and the Oriente underground organized guides, supplies and contacts for the expedition expected from Mexico.
Granma departs from Mexico
đź“… 25 November 1956Eighty-two revolutionaries sailed from Tuxpan aboard the overcrowded yacht Granma to begin an armed struggle in Cuba.
Santiago uprising supports the expected landing
đź“… 30 November 1956Frank PaĂs led an armed urban uprising intended to divert Batista’s forces and support the Granma expedition.
Rebels display July 26 uniforms in Santiago
đź“… 30 November 1956Urban fighters openly confronted the dictatorship, demonstrating that resistance extended beyond the future rural guerrilla front.
Vilma EspĂn participates in the Santiago uprising
đź“… 30 November 1956EspĂn worked with Frank PaĂs’s underground network during the armed action that challenged Batista in Cuba’s second city.
Granma lands in Oriente
đź“… 2 December 1956The expedition landed late at Las Coloradas in difficult mangrove terrain, far from its planned meeting with the urban underground.
Peasant networks assist Granma survivors
đź“… 2 December 1956Local residents and organizers helped scattered expeditionaries evade government patrols and reach the Sierra Maestra.
Ambush at AlegrĂa de PĂo
📅 5 December 1956Batista’s troops surprised and dispersed the exhausted expeditionaries. Only small groups survived to regroup in the Sierra Maestra.
Survivors reunite at Cinco Palmas
📅 18 December 1956Fidel and Raúl Castro’s groups met again. Their small surviving nucleus became the foundation of the Rebel Army.
Sierra Maestra Manifesto is signed
📅 12 July 1957The manifesto called for Batista’s removal, a provisional government, civil liberties and elections, seeking a broad opposition alliance.
Sierra Manifesto promises free elections
📅 12 July 1957The opposition platform proposed civil liberties and elections after Batista’s departure, reflecting the broad democratic aims of the coalition at this stage.
Santiago residents mourn Frank PaĂs
đź“… 30 July 1957Large crowds joined the funeral procession despite repression, turning mourning into a public demonstration against the dictatorship.
Police kill Frank PaĂs
đź“… 30 July 1957Santiago police killed the leading organizer of the urban underground. His death provoked mass mourning and protest.
General strike protests the killing of Frank PaĂs
đź“… 5 August 1957Workers and communities in eastern Cuba stopped work, revealing the breadth of anti-Batista resistance beyond the mountains.
Government forces retake Cienfuegos
📅 5 September 1957After sailors and civilians seized much of the city, Batista’s air and ground forces crushed the revolt with heavy casualties.
Cienfuegos naval uprising
đź“… 5 September 1957Naval personnel and civilian revolutionaries seized key positions in Cienfuegos before government forces crushed the revolt.
Women help sustain Radio Rebelde
đź“… 24 February 1958Couriers and underground organizers carried equipment, messages and news between the guerrilla zone and urban networks.
Castro calls for total war against the dictatorship
đź“… 17 March 1958A rebel appeal urged coordinated civil resistance, sabotage and armed action to remove Batista.
Workers face repression during the April strike
đź“… 9 April 1958Police and soldiers occupied workplaces and streets, while participating workers risked dismissal, arrest and death.
Batista’s forces suppress the general strike
đź“… 9 April 1958Police and military units killed or arrested activists, exposing weaknesses between the urban underground and guerrilla leadership.
The April general strike begins
đź“… 9 April 1958The July 26 Movement called a nationwide strike, but inadequate coordination and government repression caused it to fail.
Pact of Caracas unites opposition organizations
đź“… 20 July 1958Cuban opposition groups agreed to coordinate the struggle against Batista and support a provisional government after victory.
Pact of El Pedrero coordinates Las Villas forces
đź“… 1 December 1958The July 26 Movement and Revolutionary Directorate agreed to cooperate militarily against Batista in central Cuba.
Revolutionary forces enter Sancti SpĂritus
đź“… 23 December 1958July 26 and Revolutionary Directorate fighters expanded control of central Cuba during the final offensive.
Workers assist the attack on Santa Clara
📅 28 December 1958Local activists supplied intelligence, guides and support as rebel columns entered Cuba’s central city.
Castro declares that the revolution will not be frustrated
đź“… 1 January 1959Speaking in Santiago, he warned against replacing Batista with another military arrangement and called for continued popular mobilization.
Revolutionaries call a general strike
đź“… 1 January 1959A nationwide strike prevented remnants of the old regime from consolidating a military junta.
The revolutionary general strike secures the victory
đź“… 2 January 1959Workers kept transport, communications and major workplaces halted until the military succession collapsed and the Rebel Army controlled the capital.
Fidel Castro enters Havana
📅 8 January 1959Castro’s Caravan of Freedom reached the capital after a journey from Santiago marked by mass rallies.
Peasants rally in Havana
đź“… 26 July 1959Large numbers of rural workers and beneficiaries of agrarian reform joined the anniversary celebration of the Moncada attack.