Compare & Contrast : Aims & Results of Policies

Economic Policies

Compare: Both leaders established centrally direct command economies to eliminate Western capitalist influence

Economic Policy #1

Industrialization

Stalin: Stalin implemented First 5 Year Plan (1928) -” priotritized heavy industry (e.g. steel, oil) over consumer goods to modernize state for war

Castro: after the US trade embargo, Castro nationalized US-owned businesses & small enterprises to end foreign economic dominance

Economic Policy #2

Agrarian Reform

Stalin: enforced collectivization of agriculture (1929)—merged 50-100 peasant holdings to fund industrialization

Castro: Castro created INRA (1959) to break up large foreign estates & distribute land to 200,000+ peasants

Economic Policy #3

Targets & Outcomes

Stalin: Stalin’s high industrial quota led officials to falsify production figures → created an illusion of success

Castro: (1970) Castro’s mobilization for 10 million-ton zafra (sugar harvest) failed to reach its target → led to economic exhaustion & reliance on Soviet subsidies

Political Policies

Compare & Contrast: Though both leaders sought to establish single-party states, Castro used more mass mobilization, whereas Stalin relied on state terror

Political Policy #1

Monitoring the Public

Stalin: Stalin used NKVD (secret police) to enforce conformity.

Castro: (1960) Castro established CDRs to monitor neighborhoods & suppress counter-revolutionary dissent

Political Policy #2

Treatment of Rivals

Stalin: Stalin utilized the Great Terror & show trials (i.e. Kamenev & Zinoviev) to eliminate political threats

Castro: Castro consolidated power through televised trials & executions of Batista-era officials & imprisonment of rivals like Huber Matos

Political Policy #3

Constitutions

• Stalin: 1936 Constitution → aimed at presenting the USSR as democratic, progressive & fully socialist state

  • in actuality, extensive civil/social rights were a facade/theoretical → routinely violated

• Castro: 1976 Constitution → aimed at establishing a revolutionary socialist system & enshrining its achievemnts

  • social/economic rights related to welfare, healthcare & education were significantly implemented; political rights were suppressed

Social & Cultural Policies

Contrast: culturally both regimes shaped society to conform to revolutionary ideology → Castro’s policies emphasized education, whereas Stalin’s late policies trended toward social conservatism

Social/Cultural Policy #1

Artistic Expression

Stalin: enforced “Socialist Realism” → required art to serve Party’s ideology & goals & be understandable to workers

Castro: Castro censored non-proletarian culture but launched 1961 literacy campaign → used 300,000+ volunteers to edcuate/indoctrinate the poor

Social/Cultural Policy #2

Family & Gender Laws

Stalin: Salin oversaw “The Great Retreat” (1936) → made divorce more difficult & outlawed homosexuality to stabilize the family unit

Castro: Castro implemented the 1974 Family Code → aimed to mandate gender equality in household & childcare

Social/Cultural Policy #3

Religion

Stalin: regime looted the Orthodox Church & adopted atheism as a replacement for religious belief

Castro: regime intitally persecuted religious groups & jailed Jehovah’s Witness → later allowed for a little religion provided it didn’t threaten state security

Impact on Women & Minorities

Contrast: both states claimed to champion equality, though where Stalin entrenched minorities further in social hierarchies, Castro’s reforms improved the social mobility and economic well-being of certain groups

Impact on Women & Minorities #1

Labour Training

Stalin: 15 million women entered the industrial workforce by 1945 → but were exploited

Castro: FMC (Federation of Cuban Women) rehabilitated prostitutes and trained women for technical and mechanical roles

Impact on Women & Minorities #2

Domestic Burdens

Stalin: Soviet women carried a “double burden” of workign full-time while maintaining all domestic chores → no comparable reward

Castro: regime sought to address gender disparity by increasing women’s participation in decision-making → women comprised 40% of Cuban workforce by 2012

Impact on Women & Minorities #3

Ethnic & Racial Minorities

Stalin: his final years were marked by persecution of Soviet Jews (e.g., the Doctors’ Plot).

Castro: illegalized racial discrimination and sought to integrate Afro-Cubans into all levels of society

Extent of Control Achieved

Comparison: both leaders achieved nearly total control over their states, though the nature of their authority was built on different institutional frameworks

Extent of Control Achieved #1

Repressive Mechanisms

Stalin: Stalin achieved control thorugh “total terror” & vast network of Gulag labor camps

Castro: Castro uniquely maintained control by allowing mass exoduses to allow malcontents to leave country → labelled “traitors of state & revolution”

Extent of Control Achieved #2

The Leader Image

Stalin: Stalin cultivated a quasi-divine cult of personality that made his word law & detached him from political accountability

Castro: used legendary oratory skills & mass speeches to speak directly to masses → grounded his authority in personal charisma

Extent of Control Achieved #3

State Resilience

Stalin: adopted a “siege mentality” kept nation on guard against internal & external threats/enemies

Castro: system proved resilient enough to survive the collapse of USSR & subsequent Special Period of severe economic famine