To what extent was political instability the most important factor in the emergence of an authoritarian state? (Castro)
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Course
IB History HL
Institution
Oxford University (OX)
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Access to History for the IB Diploma: The Cold War: Superpower tensions and rivalries Second Edition
This document is a detailed essay about how political instability, social divisions, the spanish american war, guerilla warfare, economic weakness, Batista's rule, sugar exports and the use of force led to the uprising of Castro's authoritarian state. Within the essay I debate which was the most im...
To what extent was political instability the most important factor in the emergence of an
authoritarian state?
The Cuban revolution of 1959 was a turning point in the history of the country which brought the
nationalist, guerilla leader Fidel Castro, and his supporters in power. The success of Castro’s
revolution indicates the importance of the methods used to take power in Cuba, but there were a
variety of social, economic and political conditions that made revolution more easily obtained.
Firstly, political instability is the most important factor in the emergence of Cuba’s authoritarian
state because it was the root of Cuba’s other issues which led to the rise of an authoritarian state.
Corruption, which had long been a feature of Cuba’s government and in which Batista was
personally involved, worsened. Given Cuban subordination to the USA, it followed that all national
movements seeking Cuba’s complete independence regarded the breaking of US dominance.
However, this political aim had to come 2nd place to Cuba’s economic needs. It was in this context
that contacts Batista had made both officially with US government representatives and with the
American Mafia during his years in the US proved important. In return for dollars for the regime,
Batista allowed corruption to flourish. One aspect of this was that Americans brought plentiful of
dollars to Cuba, but they also brought vice. It was a 2-way traffic. This shows that Batista’s poor
connections and putting wrong priorities in the government led to social issues such as Drugs,
prostitution and racketeering flourishing in Havana. With so much American influence in Havana,
the elite’s children copied Amercian ways and fashions and in doing so detached themselves even
further from their poorer Cuban compatriots. This shows Batista’s reliance on America led to
political instability, loss of Cuban identity in some areas and deepened social divisions between the
rich and poor. The corrupt government causing social divisions and high crime rates led to Batista’s
regime slowly growing unpopular leading to an easier rise to an authoritarian state.
Another reason political instability is the most important factor in the emergence of Cuba’s
authoritarian state because it led to disillusionment in Batista’s policies and the rise of opposition.
Due to the government being corrupt, there was a lot of opposition as Batista’s policies after 1952
offended his former Cuban polticial allies who saw him as a turncoat who sold out to the USA for
financial benefit. After the accusations, Batista gained a reputation as a fierce dictator as his rule
became increasingly coercive. The reaction to this was that a number of opposition groups fprmed
which, whatever their differences, were united in opposition to Batista. These included; student
organizations, rural agricultural workers and the communist party. This proves the political
instability was so severe, that there was a bigger diversity in who opposed Batista than who
supported Batista. People from all over were disillusioned in his policies and had the opportunity to
join any opposition group against him as there was a variety of choices for opposition, whether you
were a student, a worker etc. The amount of opposition and the variety shows how bad the extent
politics were in Cuba.
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