IB Authoritarian States

Fidel Castro

Rise to Power

- Son of wealthy landowner in Cuba who grew among poor families of his father's plantation.

- Married into rich family & decided to defend the poor

-Heavily criticized the Autentico gov't of Prio & became involved with the

Orthodox party for the elections of 1952 since he believed after getting

elected as representative

Moncada Baracks (1953)

Rise to Power

- Castro/followers attempted to overtake

barracks, take weapons, & inspire whole of Cuba to revolt but it failed

- Castro went to trial where he gave his "History Will Absolve Me" speech

(became manifesto of his M-26-7 movement)

Moncada Program

Rise to Power

5 laws would have been broadcasted if successful

- Reestablishment of 1940 constitution

- Ceding of land to tenant farmers, sharecroppers, & squatters

- Granting of right of workers & employees (30% of profits)

- Granting of right of tenant farmers to 55% yield of sugar production

- Confiscation of property that was fraudulently obtained as result of gov't corruption

Mexico

Rise to Power

- Castro fled to here and formed the M-26-7 Movement

-Met Che Guevara & Camilo Cienfuegos

- Less interested in communist ideals than them

- Granma Expedition

Granma Expedition

Rise to Power

Not meant to hold 82 & arrived 2 days late.

Batista forces chased them down and they had to hide in the Sierra

Mountains where they would regroup

Sierra Maestra Campaign

Rise to Power

Castro's forces regrouped to form guerilla army & planned campaign against Batista

Castro gained peasant support by...

Rise to Power

- Castro gained peasant support by treating them kindly.

- Focused on rural campaign --> to educate peasants

Operation Verano

Rise to Power

Batista's counter-attack; Castro army won the

Battle of las Mercedes and Batista forces ran away

1959

Rise to Power

Year Castro had victory in?

Castro states he was NOT a communist because...

Consolidation/Maintenance of Power

He knew that CIA was quick to stop forces that clashed w/ US business

interests, so he moved cautiously

Start of U.S embargo...

Consolidation/Maintenance of Power

made Cuba make a trade deal w/

USSR

After Bay of Pigs...

Consolidation/Maintenance of Power

- Castro moved to Communism

- Bay of Pigs was a failed military invasion of Cuba by the CIA that helped strengthen the position of Castro's leadership.

Response to oppostion - Castro

Consolidation/Maintenance of Power

Political parties banned, newspapers/radio

stations censored/forced to close if they angered gov't, firing squads

Escambray Rebellion (1960-65)

Consolidation/Maintenance of Power

Batista soldiers joined by others rose against Castro

Humer Matos (1918-2014)

Consolidation/Maintenance of Power

Wrote resignation letter about concerns over communism and sent 2 days after appointment of Raul Castro as Minister of Armed Forces. He was arrested for "rebellion" and sentenced to 20 years

--> He had fought alongside Castro and criticized the shift to Communism

William Alexander Morgan (1928-61)

Consolidation/Maintenance of Power

Joined Castro revolution

but due to beliefs of his involvement with the CIA & anti-Castro rebellion in Escambray, he was executed by firing squad

Aligned itself with the USSR (Khrushchev) ...

Consolidation/Maintenance of Power

... after Bay of Pigs invasion to

have safety from U.S. (Soviet oil replaced American oil)

- Accelerated nationalization process

- Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)

Castro Economic Policies

Domestic policies (Aims/Results)

changed Cuba as peasants found themselves

paid more fairly & given more rights

Rectification Campaign (1986-1987)

Domestic policies (Aims/Results)

Castro appeased trade unions by apologizing to them and undoing mistakes; relied on heightened political consciousness

INRA

Domestic policies (Aims/Results)

Agency of the gov't to invest money into agrarian industry and turn Cuba into sugar/tobacco producing powerhouse (trade w/ USSR)

Agrarian Reform Law of 1959

Domestic policies (Aims/Results)

Abolished large-scale landholdings,

tenant farming, & sharecropping (redistribution to peasants who worked

on lands)

Minorities under Castro

Domestic policies (Aims/Results)

- Castro made it illegal to discriminate against people on grounds of gender/race

- Intolerant attitude towards homosexuality still

Special Period (1989-2000)

Domestic policies (Aims/Results)

- The Ochoa Affair (USSR fell), Cuba's economy decimated and lost imports & exports

- Required the introduction of sustainable agricultural, bicycle use, changed industry, health, & diet

Weimar Republic

Rise to Power

- Gov't created after WWI (before Nazis) after monarchy

- Group of Germans tasked to negotiate treaty of Versailles but some quit b/c they didn't want to sign = heroes

- Those who signed were seen as traitors (surrendered prematurely)

- Large % identified as Jewish/Socialist

- Germany became republic in 1918. Position of president created:

- Hyperinflation: value of currency gets low

- Used industrial goods as value (coal)

-Germans resented the Treaty of Versailles which allowed Hitler to use it as

a platform

Hitler's Methods

Rise to Power

Demonization (groups/individuals identified as hate symbols),

Violence/intimidation/murder, propaganda (published weekly newspaper,

the Attack, Joseph Goebbels appointed as Minister)

National Socialist German Workers Party

Rise to Power

- Far-right political party in Germany that was active between 1940 &

1945, that created/supported ideology of Nazism

- Initially, focused on anti-big business, anti-bourgeois, & anti-capitalist rhetoric but later downplayed to gain support from industrial entities in 1930s --> shifted to anti-Semitic/anti-Marxist

themes

- Nazi started as socialist/political party à essentially populist to gain

popularity

- Nazis sought to improve stock of Germanic people through eugenics

Beer Hall Putsch

Rise to Power

- A failed coup d'etat by Adolf Hitler to seize power in Munich, Bavaria, Nov 1923

- Approx 2,000 Nazis marched in city center when confronted by police

cordon, resulting in deaths of 16 Nazis & 4 police officers.

- Hitler escaped immediate arrest. After 2 days, he was

arrested/charged w/ treason à wrote Mein Kampf

- Brought Hitler to attention of German nation/generated front page headlines, followed by 24-day trial widely publicized & gave him

platform

Reichstag Elections

Consolidation/Maintenance of Power

- Two successive federal elections left Nazis as largest party in Reichstag

--> Hindenburg reluctantly appointed Hitler as Chancellor of Germany in Jan 1933

• Finished Hindenburg's term

• Election held where Hitler wins as Prime Minister of

Germany

Burning of the Reichstag

Consolidation/Maintenance of Power

- Arson attack on Reichstag building (home of German

parliament) in Berlin on Feb 1923

- Hitler blamed Marinus van der, Dutch communist & attributed fire to communist agitators in general

- Used for excuse for SS (Nazi police force) to round up

leftists/put in jail

Response to opposition - Hitler

Consolidation/Maintenance of Power

abolition of trade unions/political parties, the

Gestapo (secret police), banning of KPD

Success of foreign policy - Hitler

Consolidation/Maintenance of Power

- expansion of Germany

Public Works Projects - Hitler

Domestic policies

- Building houses, schools, hospital, canals, etc...

- offered employment and give them a sense of purpose to many Germans.

Four Year Plan - Hitler

Domestic policies

- Was introduced as major expansion in war-related industrial production

Social policies on Women - Hitler

Domestic policies

- Kinder, Kuche, Kirche (children, kitchen, church)

--> promote nuclear family, housewife, piety

- Hitler's concern of birth rate dropped.

--> Fewer women allowed into universities

--> Abortion made illegal

Law for the Encouragement of Marriage --> money can be claimed by birth of children.

Social policies on minorities:

Domestic policies

- Exclusion of Jews from public life

- The Holocaust

Comparison btwn Castro and Hitler

Similarities:

- Failed attempt to seize power by force (Moncada Barracks & Beer Hall)

- Failed coup led to popularity

- Spent time in prison

--> Mein Kompf

--> History Will Absolve Me Speech

- Switch in platform to maintain power

- Use of propaganda

Differences:

- Gained power through different means

- Hitler followed fascism and supporting corporations

- Castro followed communism and the peasants