IB History Review Guide/The Rise and Rule of single-party States
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
Contents |
[edit] The Rise and Rule of Single-party States
-
- The 20th century produced many single-party states. The origins, ideology, form of government, organization, nature, and impact of these should be studied in this topic. Questions will be set on major themes. Some of these will require knowledge of two regions.
Major Themes
-
- Origins of single-party states
-
- conditions which produce single-party state
- emergence of leader: aims, ideology, support
-
- Establishment of single-party states
-
- methods: force, legal
- form of government, ideology (left and right wing)
- totalitarism, treatment of opposistion
-
- Rule of Single Party states
-
- political, economic, and social policies
- role of education, the arts, the media, and propaganda
- status of women, treatment of minorities, and religious groups
-
- Regional and Global impact
-
- foreign policy as a means of mantaining the regime
- impact of regime outside the state
- as a factor in the Cold War
-
- Examples of material for Detailed Study
-
- China: Mao Zedong
- Cuba: Fidel Castro
- Germany: Adolf Hitler
- Italy: Benito Mussolini
- Russia: Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin
[edit] The Emergence of single party states in Europe after 1917
Lenin rose to power in Russia because of four main factors:
-
- Witte's reforms attempting to industrialize Russia disrupted society.
- Both the tsarist regime and the provisional government were unstable.
- WWI had a crippling effect on Russia.
- The Whites sided with the provisional government and ex-tsarists.
Emergence of Mussolini and Hitler
-
- Post war governments faced many difficulties- very unstable.
- Fear of Communism
- Shame of WWI
[edit] China- Mao Zedong
[edit] Italy- Benito Mussolini
Mussolini was born into a socialist house. He remained a socialist until he returned from WW1 with a new perspective. He then started the facist party. He and his facist black shirt marched on Rome and claimed to have forced the government to allow Mussolini to be prime minister. Yet, the truth is the president of Italy feared Mussolini and gave him the minitership without conflict. From this point, Mussolini gained support until he became leader of Italy.
[edit] Germany- Adolf Hitler
Rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi power in Germany (1919-1933/34) -German Workers party -1921 Hitler was the Nazi party leader -Due to people being afraid and due to the bad state of Germany people joined the Nazi party. -Totalitarian states want to test their power and start war. “War is ultimate test” -People knew what Hitler was thinking, people knew of “Mein Kampf” -Master race, sub-human, Aryan race -After Weimar Republic was over, Hitler breaks all laws and does what he wants, he ignores the Treaty of Versailles and no one hinders him. -1921: Nazi party sets up SA -1923: Tried to seize power in Munich (capital of Bavaria), Beer hall putsch, walked through street, stopped by police and shot at, Hitler wounded and later arrested and sent to prison. -1923: Nazi party choses Judge and the judge allows Hitler to speak freely/propaganda of the Treaty of Versailles and that they are the true traitors 1923: Sentenced to 5 years but comes out after 9 months -1923/4: Writes Mein Kampf in prison, he has his own secretary -1924: Comes out of prison 1925: re-establishes Nazi party 1929: Slowly Nazi party gains power again after Weimar Republic was over, problems came back, people seek powerful leader 1933: Hitler Chancellor
[edit] Russia- Josef Stalin
[edit] Cuba- Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro began his rise to power with his attempt to overthrow the then-dictator of Cuba, General Fulgencio Batista. He began with the attack on the Moncada Barracks on 23 July 1953. The attack failed and most of the rebels involved were captured, tortured, killed, and/or imprisoned. Fidel Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison and Raul Castro to 13, but due to calls from members of the Catholic Church and other notable international figures, and possibly because Batista himself knew the Castros as boys, they served only two years and were then exiled to Mexico. There, the Castros joined with Cienfuegos and Che Guevara, among others, to form the crew of the Granma, the yacht that would sail for Cuba in December 1956. This was the official beginning of the M-26-7, named for the date of the failed Mancada Barracks attack. The crew landed but the initial crew of over 100 was quickly diminished to between 10 and 20, because the Granma's landing date and location were off, throwing their meeting with the llano (urban guerrilla) section of the rebellion. The remaining warriors retreated into the Sierra Maestra, which became their headquarters. After several battles with the Cuban army, numbered 30-40,000, Castro's forces, at their peak numbering 800, were able to take the country. Batista fled in the early hours of January 1, 1959, fulfilling Castro's promise that they would take the country by 1959. From there, Castro went to set up his revolutionary government, incorporating the sierra (mountain guerrilla) forces from the revolution as top of the government, and eventually naming himself head, where he would remain until February 2008.
One of the most significant aspects of Castro's rule was his relation with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Castro formed close relations with the USSR, adopting a more hardline Marxist-Leninist ideology, in response to actions by the United States to limit or eliminate trade with Cuba. Contrary to the claims of many US leaders, the Cuban Trade Embargo only forced Cuba closer to the USSR and communism, due to the nation's desperate need for a trade partner. The US is the only major country that still supports this embargo, with the OAS, EU, and other countries and international organizations having denounced it.
Other events worth researching to fully understand Castro's rule include the revolutionary exploits of Che Guevara in Bolivia, Africa, etc. Guevara was sent to spread what Castro wished to be an eternal, worldwide revolution throughout Latin America and the Third World. Many of these attempts were unsuccessful and the Bolivian attempt led to Guevara's death. Also significant are the Cuban Missile Crisis, in which the hardline policies of President Kennedy and, to a lesser extent, Khruschev, nearly led to nuclear war.
