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The 26th of July Movement (Spanish: Movimiento 26 de Julio; M-26-7) was the revolutionary organization planned and led by Fidel Castro that in 1959 overthrew the Fulgencio Batista government in Cuba. The 26th of July Movement fought Batista on both rural and urban fronts.

The 26th of July Movement's name originated from the failed attack on the Moncada Barracks, an army facility in the city of Santiago de Cuba, on July 26, 1953. The movement was reorganized in Mexico in 1955 by a group of 82 exiled revolutionaries (including Fidel, his brother Raúl Castro, Camilo Cienfuegos, and the Argentinian Che Guevara). Their task was to form a disciplined guerrilla force to overthrow Batista.

Flag of the 26th of July Movement

On December 2, 1956, 82 men landed in Cuba, having sailed in the boat Granma from Tuxpan, Veracruz, ready to organize and lead a revolution. The early signs were not good for the movement. They landed in daylight and were attacked by the Cuban Air Force, killing most of those who landed. The landing party was split into two and wandered lost for two days, most of their supplies abandoned where they landed. Of the 82 who sailed aboard the Granma, only 16 eventually regrouped in the Sierra Maestra mountain range. There they encountered the Cuban Army. Guevara was shot in the neck and chest during the fighting, but was not severely injured. (Guevara, who had studied medicine, continued to give first aid to other wounded guerrillas). This was the opening phase of the war of the Cuban Revolution, which continued for the next two years. It ended in January 1959, after Batista fled Cuba on New Year's Eve when the movement's forces marched into Havana.

The Museo Historico in Cienfuegos

After Castro gained control of Cuba, the 26th of July Movement was joined with other bodies to form the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which in turn became the Communist Party of Cuba in 1965.

The flag of the 26th of July Movement is on the shoulder of the Cuban military uniform, and continues to be used as a symbol of the Cuban revolution.

Cuba Portal

• Political movement

• Guide to the Cuban Revolution Collection, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library
• Fidel Castro and the founding of the 26th of July Movement: [1]. References to this article include(1) Robert E. Quirk. Fidel Castro. New York, WW Norton and Co. 1993, pp.3-30; (2)Carlos Alberto Montaner. Viaje al Corazon de Cuba. 1999, pp. 13-31.