Paper 2- Authoritarian States Rise/Consolidation

What economic weaknesses in Cuba helped Castro rise?

• wealthy Latin American nation by GDP, but economy was not diversified and profits were not distributed equally

  • Monoculture: dependant on sugar crop, 3/5 of Cuba’s workforce and ¼ of exports

• US was Cuba’s biggest trading partner

  • They would pay inflated rates for Cuban sugar and then American products and goods would be sold to Cuban markets

• American investors supported Cuban gas, electricity, rail, and banking systems

  • HUGE wealth disparity between cuban elites and impoverished peasants

  • elites could invest in Cuban business like the US and make money

  • peasants worked tireless hours in the fields but did not get any of the money

• Unemployment was rising —> grew from 8% in January 1958 to 18% in December 1958

What political weaknesses in Cuba helped Castro rise?

• 1903: Platt Agreement following Cuban Independance which gave US control over cuba

  • The right to militarily intervene in Cuba is situations weren’t favorable in the US

  • Cuba could not enter any political agreements with 3rd powers without the US approval

  • US got land in Guatanamo Bay and Eastern Cuba

• Cubans felt controlled by US government and resented them for it

• They felt they had never been independant because the US acted imperialistically towards them

Who was Fugencio Batista and what role did he play in helping Castro rise?

• Military general and former president of Cuba in 1940s

• 1952: launched a military coup and overthrew the democratically elected Pres. Carlos Prio Socarràs and suspended the Cuban constitution

• Batista supported by wealthy cuban elites and business allies in United States

  • He opened up Cuba to corrupt dealings with US Mafia, turning Havana into a popular casino/party/tourism hotspot for Americans

• Alongside this, the wealth and poverty gap grew because peasants and middle class Cubans did not benefit from these policies

  • Student groups, rural agricultural workers, and communist party began to oppose him

• Castro’s government became increasingly corrupt and he took away many civil liberties such as press freedom

  • US government lost support for him because of this

• Having such an awful leader was a breeding ground for a revolution

• Having a leader who was so in favor of the upper class and elites was a breeding ground for a socialist/communist revolution specifically

Who was Fidel Castro and how did he begin his rise?

• Castro was an educated lawyer who advocated for poor workers for Cuba

• Late 1940s: Castro began taking part in revolutionary movements outside of Cuba, for example in the Dominican Republic and Colombia which made him want to bring the same to Cuba

• Castro joined ‘Partido Orthodixo’ —> left wing, anti-corruption, pro-nationalizing foreign business group

What was the Moncada Barracks attack and how was it significant to Castro’s rise?

• July 26th 1953: Castro launched an attack on the Moncada military barracks hoping to overthrow Batista

  • only had 200 lightly armed followers, hoping it would generate something more

  • failed and members were arrested or killed by the military (Castro arrested)

• Castro arrested and put on trial —> gives 4 hour speech to bring attention towards him and his revolution

  • “History will absolve me” speech calls for restoration of constitution, land reforms, education reforms, and an end to corrpution

  • Castro arrested but only served two year sentence out of 15 years

• The speech resonated with many cubans which brought attention to Castro and his motives/goals

• July 26th movement was born and guerilla campaign in Sierra Maestra mountains began

• Movement gained increasing traction as Batista grew more authoritarian and corrupt, cancelling future elections

What was the Granma attack and how was it significant to Castro’s rise?

• Castro orchestrated an invasion of Southern Cuba with the July 26th movement aboard the ‘Granma’ boat

  • wanted to overthrow Santiago and start a revolution that would then move further North

• Failure: Castro was unsuccesful and nearly all of his 82 men were captured (Castro, his brother Raul and Che Guevara managed to escape)

• Success: Peasants/Sierra Maestra movement grew because they got to see more of Castro and his ideas, and his commitment to his cause

How was propaganda significant to Castro’s rise?

• Radio Rebelde: radio station used to spread anti-Batista propaganda and share Castro’s speeches

• Herbert Matthews: NYT reporter who did multiple pieces on Castro and presented him as a humble, strong, freedom fighter who supported the poor against Batista

• Castro used propaganda to compare himself to Jose Marti, a well respected Cuban Nationalist and martyr

How did Castro overthrow Batista?

• Batista’s government/military was starting to lose support for him

  • Soldiers especially lost motivation because they hated killing/arresting innocent civilians

• 1957: US pulls support from Batista and placed an embargo on the Cuban government

• 1958: Batista tries to crush Castro and his rebels using Operation Verano, a military offensive attack aimed at dismantling them

  • this was very demoralizing for Batista AND his army

• 1959: Batista flees cuba and a small placeholder government filled with members of his cabinet takes over —> Castro and his men take over this government within days with help of the people and little opposition

• Castro is in power

What were the initial stages of Castro’s consolidation?

• Fundamental law of the republic drafted —> council of ministers created that would be led by Castro as Prime Minister

• Public show-trials and executions for supporters and members of Batista’s regime

  • people supported this and did not mind the ‘authoritarian nature’ of it all because they felt it was deserved

• Agrarian reform law: land taken from elites and redistributed to peasants —> fulfills his promise which makes him look trustworthy

How did Castro form a one-party state in his consolidation?

• Castro pushed elections citing it was ‘for the revoution’

  • by being in power for longer, he could ‘fix’ the nation

  • he argued Cuba needed stability for real change, people believed this

• All revolutionary organizations united under the Integrated Revolutionary Organization which became the United Party of the Socialist revolution

What were US/Cuba revolutions like in the earliest days of Castro’s rule/consolidation?

• the US was originally supportive of Castro’s rise to power because they did not like Batista

• Castro, however, wanted to move away from American dependency —> nationalized US businesses such as Shell, Coca-Cola, Standard Oil —> 85% of business was now under Cuban control

  • US responded by pulling their economic support and refusing to buy cuban sugar

What were Soviet/Cuban revolutions like in the earliest days of Castro’s rule/consolidation?

• Following the US embargo, USSR leader Nikita Khrushchev afraid to buy tons of sugar from Cuba to support their economy

• USSR agreed to sell crude oil to Cuba at a low price

• These relations helped Castro maintain a relatively stable economy after losing his largest trading partner (the US)

What was the Bay of Pigs and how was it significant to Castro’s rise?

• CIA began training Cuban exiles in Guatamala, planning to orchestrate an attack on Castro that would start an uprising against him

• April 1961: CIA exiles attack at Bay of Pigs —> Castro’s men succeed —> USA/Kennedy embarrassed and looked aggressive

  • This was also bad in the Cold-War context of Castro’s rise

• Castro announces he is a Marxist-Leninist to solidify soviet support

What historical context is valuable for Hitler’s rise to power?

• The awful impact of WW1 on Germany —> forced Germany to sign an armistice before they Germans even came home. Germans thought they were winning the war and were disillusioned by losing without expecting it.

  • “Stab in the back” theory and anti-semitism begins to emerge

• The Treaty of Versailles was also humiliating —> reperations, loss of territory, demilitarization, war-guilt clause

  • Germans started to resent the world

  • They had suffered terribly in the war and now had to pay the price for the actions of their previous government and army

• The Weinmar government was also not popular (see political factors)

What economic factors led to Hitler’s rise to power?

• Reparations had detrimental economic impacts on Germany

  • Hyperinflation —> value of dollar became $0

  • Got worse because of Great Depression (also caused by hyperinflation)

  • Industrial production dropped 40% and unemployment grew to 30%

• Germans became very unhappy with life and depressed

• Weinmar culture arose as people felt life was pointless after what had happened

  • illegal substances, lots of seggs

  • led to further economic turmoil because people were unmotivated to work

• Hitler’s nationalism appealed to people who felt their country had been lost by the war, depression, and youth had been lost to Weinmar culture

What political factors led to Hitler’s rise?

• The Weimar constitution was fundamentally flawed

  • President elected every 7 years and could rule by decree

  • Chancellor would be appointed by the President

  • seats in Reichstag would be gained by party gaining votes

    • this made it extremely difficult for any party to ever be a majority, they had to form coaliutions

    • coalitions often failed which made the government unsuccessful at passing legislation and getting stuff done

  • Article 48: chancellor can rule by decree

  • Article 25: they can dissolve the reichstag

  • People were so unhappy with the government that they started forming their own militas

    • Spartans league for communists and Freikcorps founded

• Beer Hall Putcsh:

  • Hitler fails to overthrow the government but shares propogranda while on trial

  • writes Mein Kampf

What methods did Hitler use to establish his regime?

• Member of Nazi Party —> deeply anti-communist and anti-semitic rhetoric

  • 25 point programme —> nationalist, socialist, racist, anti-semitic, anti-democratic document that cited nazi party goals

• The SA/Brown-shirts were Hitler’s bodyguards and were used a method of controlling opposition

  • they would beat up SPD/KPD members on the street and attacked their printing presses so they couldn’t publish propoganda or rhetoric

• Joseph Goebells helped further establish Hitler’s propoganda by depicting him as a hero and a strong leader

  • lots of propoganda towards the working class that inspired them to work hard and said they deserved more

  • Lower class/working class was where support for KPD/SPD was most likley to grow

Politically, how did Hitler take power?

• Nazi popularity gradually grew in Reichstag votes (around 30%, seems small but it was more than other parties)

• coalitions kept failing —> Hindenburg takes power by decree

• Hindenburg offers Hitler vice-chancellorship with Papen which Hitler declines because he wants full power

• Hindeburg then appoints Hitler as chancellor because he thinks him and Papen will be able to control Hitler through legislation

What was the significance of the Reichstag fire?

• Dutch communist accused of burning the Reichstag bulidng

  • Nazis used this to paint the communists in an dangerous light even the fire was a lone-arsonist attack and unaffiliated with the communist party

• SA also used this as an opportunity to target and arrest German Communist Party members

• Increased Nazi vote, still lacked 2/3 majority to make any real change

What was the Enabling Act and how was it significant to Hitler’s rise?

• Hitler used power and force to pressure Reichstag members into voting for enabling act

  • soldiers surrounded the building and lined the walls of the reichstag

  • people voted for the enabling act which gave Hitler full power (no constitutional restrictions against his authority)

• those who voted against it were arrested

Gleichsaltung

• The ‘nazification’ of Germany

  • outlawed every political party except for the Nazis

  • parliament and legal system came under nazi control

  • Jews removed from public office

  • Nazi begins tactic to integrate control of all german life (see rule)

Night of the long knives

• German army did not like that there essentially a second army, the SA

  • Hitler needed the army under his control

• orchestrated an attack against SA

  • arrested and killed SA leader Ernst Rohm as well as hundreds other SA members

• Hitler’s SS replaced SA but army came under Hitler control

• Army takes oath of allegiance to Hitler, not to Germany

  • Hitler becomes commander in chief of German Army