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Castro's Cuba

          Authoritarian State Checklist

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Emergence of authoritarian states

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  • Conditions in which authoritarian states emerged: economic factors; social division; impact of war; weakness of political system

  • Methods used to establish authoritarian states: persuasion and coercion; the role of leaders; ideology; the use of force; propaganda

 

Consolidation and maintenance of power

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  • Use of legal methods; use of force; charismatic leadership; dissemination of propaganda

  • Nature, extent and treatment of opposition

  • The impact of the success and/or failure of foreign policy on the maintenance of power

 

Aims and results of policies

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  • Aims and impact of domestic economic, political, cultural and social policies

  • The impact of policies on women and minorities

  • Authoritarian control and the extent to which it was achieved

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(1) How did Fidel Castro rise to power in Cuba?

- book icon at the top...

 

Read and make notes on: (red - conditions; weaknesses of others; black - methods, tactics used by Castro)

60    - 19C Cuba

60-1 - Cuban independence

61-2 - USA involvement

62-3 - 1930s Cuba + revolution

63-4 - 1940s Batista's Cuba + Autentico Presidencies

65.   - 1952 + Batista's revolution

65-6 - Emergence of Fidel Castro

66-8 - 1953 Moncado Barracks attack

68-9 - Moncado trial 

69-70 - 1955-56 Exile and return

71.   - 1956 Granma + Santiago uprising

71-2 - Sierra Mastra

72-3 - Peasant support

73-4 - Rural campaign

74-5 - Urban revolutionary campaigns

75.   - Propaganda

75-6 - Batista's counterattack

76-7 - Castro's victory

77-8 - Reasons for Batista's collapse

79 - C+C Hitler and Castro's RTP

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Summarise Castro's rise to power in terms of:

- methods used

- conditions faced; mistakes + weaknesses of others

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Compare and contrast the role of propaganda in the emergence of two authoritarian states, each from different regions

 

 

(2) How did Fidel Castro consolidate and maintain his power? 

- book icon at the top...

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80-81 - What threat did the US pose to this 'new' Cuba?

81      - What was Castro's early ideology based around?

81-82 - What events and influences caused him to adopt an increasingly Communist position?

82      - How did Castro establish his government, and what challenges arose?  What did this demonstrate about 

            Castro as a leader?

83      - How did Castro's policies on elections + INRA reflect this shift?

83      - How did Castro deal with Lanz + Urrutria, and how did this reflect on him as leader?

83-84 - Why did Castro try to consolidate the revolution by banning free elections and how is this regarded?

84      - How did he consolidate power?

85-86 - What challenges did he face in 1959 and how did he overcome them in the years that followed?

87      - How did the US respond to the Cuban Revolution?

87-88 - What internal threats existed to Castro and how were they dealt with?

88-89 - What other external threats existed?

89      - How did the USA use economics to try and destabilise Castro?  What impact did this have?

90-92 - How did Castro deal with the continuing US attempts to oust him? (Bay of Pigs; Cuban Missile Crisis)

 

Summarise how Castro established control, and how he dealt with external and internal enemies...

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'Maintenance of power was reliant upon the silencing of opposition"

- Discuss this view, with reference to two authoritarian states you have studied from different regions.

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(3) How did Castro's domestic policies affect Cuba?  How successful were they?

- book icon at the top...

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Castro's ideology

94        - How Communist was Castro?  What were his aims economically and socially?

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Economic policy

93-4     - Outline the relationship between Cuba + the USSR over the 1960s

94-5     - What economic problems did Cuba face?

94-5.    - What solutions were implemented?

95        - Outline why the Rectification Campaign of 1986 was launched, and what were the results'

95-6.    - How was land reform implemented from 1950s onwards?  How successful was it?

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99-100 - What was the Ochoa Affair and how did it affect Cuba?

99-100 - What was the 'Special Period' and why did it result from this?

100.     - How did the collapse of the USSR affect Cuba?

100.     - How did Cuba survive this economic crisis according to Balfour?

100-01 - What economic policies did the Government introduce to deal with the issues that Cuba faced?

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Social policy

96        - How did Castro see social policy?  How consistent was this vision to Cuba in reality?

96.       - Outline Castro's health and education policies

97-       - How did Castro deal with the media?  How consistent was this with Castro's overall vision for Cuban society?

97.       - Explain the repeated waves of escape and the establishment of Little Havana in Florida

98-9     - Outline the use of coercion by Castro as a form of social control

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How successful was Castro's domestic policy in meeting his aims for Cuba?

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'Domestic policy rarely managed to achieve its aims'

Discuss how far you agree with this statement with reference to two authoritarian states you have studied, both from different regions

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