1959 - Political Events

Political Events

Cuban dictator Gen. Fulgencio Batista resigns January 1 after nearly 7 years of corrupt rule, flees to Dominica, and moves on to Miami with a fortune of more than $150 million as rebel leader Fidel Castro takes the provincial capital of Santa Clara, captures Santiago January 2, roars into Havana January 3, and assumes office as premier February 16 after a 5-year rebellion (see 1956). Now 32, Castro arrives at Washington on an unofficial visit April 15 and 2 days later calls his revolution "humanistic," not communist, but the government that he establishes with help from Che Guevara is decidedly Marxist. Guevara becomes a Cuban citizen and plays a prominent role in the new regime.

Fidel Castro
Cuba si! Yanqui no! Fidel Castro replaced a dictatorship with a Marxist regime, the first in the Western Hemisphere. (AP/Wide World Photos.)

Former Argentine foreign minister (and 1936 Nobel Peace Prize winner) Carlos de Saavedra Lamas dies at his native Buenos Aires May 5 at age 80.

Alaska enters the Union January 3 as the 49th state, Hawaii August 21 as the 50th.

Former Office of Strategic Services (OSS) chief William J. Donovan dies at Washington, D.C., February 8 at age 76; former secretary of state John Foster Dulles at Washington May 24 at age 71 (he retired in April and has been succeeded by Paris-born diplomat Christian A. [Archibald] Herter, 63); Admiral William D. Leahy, (ret.) at Bethesda, Md., July 20 at age 84; Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey (ret.) at Fishers Island, N.Y., August 16 at age 76; former U.S. Army chief of staff and secretary of state George C. Marshall at Washington October 16 at age 78.

Iraq's prime minister Abdul al-Karim Qasim appoints Naziha Dulaymi minister of muncipalities in July and she becomes the first Arab woman to hold a cabinet position (see 1958). A Baath Party gang headed by 23-year-old Saddam Hussein tries to assassinate Qasim in October; Saddam joined the Party in 1957; he is wounded in the attack on Qasim but escapes to Syria, makes his way to Egypt, and attends Cairo Law School. A code promulgated December 30 contains provisions that improve the status of women, with reforms of inheritance laws and new regulations governing marriage and divorce (see 1963; Kurdish revolt, 1961).

Former British foreign secretary Sir Samuel Hoare dies at his native London May 7 at age 79; Italian Christian Democratic Party leader Luigi Sturzo in the convent of the Canassian Sisters at Rome August 8 at age 87; former British foreign secretary Edward F. L. Wood, earl of Halifax, outside York December 23 at age 78; former Croatian fascist leader Ange Pavelic at Madrid December 28 at age 70, having survived an assassination attempt in Argentina 2 years ago.

Tibet's Dalai Lama escapes to India March 31 and receives asylum after a rising against the Chinese garrison at Lhasa (see 1951). The new Chinese puppet government seals the border to India, which refuses to recognize the Dalai Lama as head of a "separate" Tibetan government functioning in India. Chinese and Indian forces have border clashes.

Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) steps down as China's chief of state April 27 in favor of Liu Shao-qi (Liu Shao-chi) but remains chairman of the Communist Party.

Japan's prime minister Ichiro Hatoyama dies at Tokyo March 7 at age 76, having improved relations with other Asian nations, reached an agreement to resume trade with the Soviet Union, and been the first politician in Japan to use radio and television for campaign purposes. Gen. Shiro Ishii dies of throat cancer at Tokyo October 9 at age 67, having headed his country's biological weapons program in World War II and given his secrets to the Americans in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Moscow urges Japan to end her agreement permitting U.S. bases on Japanese soil. The May 4 note from the Kremlin invites Tokyo to accept a Soviet guarantee of permanent neutrality. The MiG-21 delta-wing fighter jet that goes into production at Gorky has limited range and carries minimal armament but with improvements will gain huge success (see 1953).

Singapore becomes self-governing June 3 after 13 years as a British crown colony. Singapore-born Cambridge-educated lawyer Lee Kuan Yew, 36, is prime minister of the new state and will rule wisely but strictly until 1990 over an entrepot that lacks agriculture or natural resources but is gaining importance as a world-class port and financial center (see 1963).

Indonesia's president Sukarno dissolves the constituent assembly July 5 and moves his nation toward a new "Guided Democracy" regime that will grow progressively more authoritarian as Sukarno's Communist Party (PKI) gains more power.

Ceylon's prime minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike dies at his native Colombo September 26 at age 60 just 3½ years after taking office; a disgruntled Buddhist monk has shot him the day before, 3 months after conclusion of a trade pact with Beijing (Peking) (see 1960); former Philippines president José Laurel dies at Manila November 6 at age 68.

The Federal State of Mali is created January 17 by a merger of the African republics Senegal and French Sudan a week after Michel Debre is installed as premier of France's Fifth Republic. Novelist-statesman Modibo Keida, 45, is elected first president of Mali but is overthrown later in the year and will reportedly be held in detention at Bamako until his death in 1977.

Former South African prime minister Daniel F. Malan dies at Stellenbosch February 7 at age 83. Transvaal-born assemblywoman Helen Suzman, 41, quits the United Party that has opposed the ruling National Party and helps found a new Progressive Party under the leadership of Jan van A. Steytler that initially advocates a central government with sharply defined but limited powers and "qualified" franchise for all South African citizens regardless of race or color (see human rights, 1963).

Premiers of the 12 autonomous republics in Africa's French Community confer at Paris in early February with President de Gaulle (see 1958; 1960).

Rwanda is torn in November by a great uprising of Hutu (Bahutu) tribesmen, who constitute 85 percent of the population, against the minority Tutsi (Batutsi) aristocracy. The country has been a Belgian protectorate since 1918 and Belgium continues to rule under a UN mandate. Rwanda's monarchy is abolished and thousands of Tutsi refugees flee across the borders into the Belgian Congo (where anti-European riots at Leopoldville killed 71 in early January), Uganda, and Tanganyika (see 1994).

The Antarctic Treaty signed at Washington, D.C., December 1 pledges 12 governments to ensure free and peaceful status for the entire continent. President Eisenhower sent notes on May 2 of last year to Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, and the Soviet Union proposing such status; the United States has joined with the other 11 nations in agreeing to reserve Antarctica for free and nonpolitical scientific investigation, renouncing all prior claim rights. The treaty will be ratified and become operative June 23, 1961.