Compare and contrast the methods used to maintain power in two authoritarian states, each from a different region.
HITLER
CASTRO
Similarities
Differences
THESIS
HISTORIOGRAPHY
An authoritarian state is one in which there is one political party in control of the matters of the individual, society and state, headed by a dictator. Fidel Castro and Adolf Hitler were both such leaders that rose to power in the 20th century in their respective states of Cuba in 1959 and Nazi Germany in 1933. While their methods of maintaining their power were similar, there were notable differences in how they were carried out.
Legal Methods
For the poorer majority of the agricultural farmers, land was confiscated from large companies and then redistributed to the peasants
A difference in the implementation of reforms by the two leaders was the degree of opposition they faced in response
For Castro, the inevitable resistance to these changes was rather small and limited in their influence.
With many people believing that the social order of the country had to be changed following countless years of repressive governments, only small groups opposed the revolution and took up arms in some parts of the country.
Because at this stage, Castro still allowed those against the revolution to leave the country, this local opposition was also controlled by the government and did not lead to major crises, but only the leaving of 250,000 people, including batistianos, middle-class citizens who feared the radicalisation of the revolution, and members of religious congregations.
Use of Force
Ochoa Affair in 1989 when four senior military and intelligence figures and several others were arrested on charges of corruption and drug smuggling as a response to a speculation that they were planning a coup favouring Gorbachev-style reforms.
Similarly in 1992, another source of opposition led by Carlos Ardana emerged, calling for political pluralism.
In response, Castro created Rapid Response Brigades of volunteers to harass the group, and in September 1922, Aldana was sacked from his party and other reformists in the party were purged.
They were tried by military tribunals, four of whom were condemned to death and executed on 13 July.
this violence was only mainly towards those that had previously supported the corrupt regimes that had preceded his, and internal figures whose opposition would be detrimental to the success of his authoritative rule.
Propaganda
Following his use of propaganda in rising to power until 1959, Castro continued to use propaganda to spread his influence around the population in the form of posters, visual mass media
Castro was able to use propaganda in a way that revolved around his speeches and supplement it with his oratory skills
Immediately following his rise to power in 1959, Castro passed legislation that sharply reduced rents and increased wages, and adding onto this in 1961, all private schools were nationalised, boarding schools opened and a large scholarship programme for gifted students established.
Propaganda
Use of Force
Legal methods
Replaced old Weimar system with a new system which emphasised race and the community above the individual
Under the new system, highest duty of to Fuher citizen was obedience and to show disrespect was a crime
Judges had to swear an oath of allegiance to Hitler
decree for the Protection of People and State (1933) allowed for indefinite detention without trial
Abolishment of Trade Unions in My 1933 and made it compulsory to join the German Labour Front (DAF)
Most workers enjoyt he highest standard of living under the Nazis between 1933-39
unemployment fell from nearly 6 million to only a few hundred thousand in 7 years
DAF took over the responsibilities of the workers Leisure and Recreation
Non-Nazi recreational clubs shut down
Concentration Camps
Dachau = opened March 1933
Never fewer than 10000 prisoners in the camps
Gestapo and SS
Rooted out and dealt with political offenders and opponents of the Regime
Rounded up and killed thousands of Jews, gypsies and slavs in Poland and Russia from 1939 onwards
Fuhrer Cult
the book "The Hitler no-one knows sold 420000 copies between 1932 and 1940
Hitler's birthday celebrated with mass rallies and parades
Ian Kershaw
argues that Hitler was an increasingly victim of the Fuhrer myth and began to confuse fantasy with reality especially in foreign policy
media and arts controlled
Speeches and rallies
Writing, art, film, theatre and music all had to align with Nazi ideology and expectations
Hitler had small resistance groups but saw groups of people just as Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals as opposition and these people were dealt with in a way Hitler saw fit
Hitler's Nazi Germany was more controlled - Gestapo and SS- in order to ensure everything was the way he intended and that if there was any talk about opposition, it was dealt with
Use of legal methods, propaganda, and force were all needed in order to maintain their control
Similar personalities in terms of use of public speaking skills to appeal to their audiences
Cult of Personality created in both Authoritarian states
Richard Evans
Argues that the Nazi regime went to a lot of trouble to keep consulting masses and seeking their endorsement of its policies
"hysterical mass adulation of its Leader would surely have an effect in persuading many otherwise sceptical or neutral Germans to swim with the tide of popular opinion