Authoritarian states Flashcards
conditions in which an authoritarian state emerged: economic
ITALY:
Inflation caused by war economy
Indebtedness left no money to rebuild Italy
Soldiers returning from war had reduced employment opportunities
Gross inequalities in rural areas (latifundia, lack of peasant control) and urban centres (exploited industrial workers)
**CUBA: **
nationalisation of US businesses - US economic dominance
poor economy so many Cuban people viewed Batista’s dictatorship in a bad way, causing them to favour democracy and revolution
quota placed upon Cuban sugar exports by the USA, trade barrier caused sugar demand to fall drastically causing great fall in Cuba’s income
January 1958 economic crisis cause 8.9% unemployment rate, December further rise to 18%
Inflation caused decline in wealth and rising poverty for middle class caused support for alternative government
During Batista rule GDP per capita fell by 18%
1956-7 major inflation increasing food prices by 40%
conditions in which an authoritarian state emerged: social
ITALY:
Peasants demanded land, in exchange for support fo the war
Major divisions between N and S unresolved
Lack of a single, national character/identity
**CUBA: **
Guerilla attacks by July 26th movement mostly successful: attracted recruit from the local population, Castro organised bigger offensives
conditions in which an authoritarian state emerged: political
**ITALY: **
Crisis of Italian Liberalism: short-lived coalitions and frequent changes of PM. Trasformismo
Inability of govt. to solve econ. and social problems
Italy emerged on the side of the victors of WW1 but left the Paris Peace Conference (1919) with less than promised in the 1915 Treaty of London (Northern Dalmatia) was rejected in the T.O.V. as it was overwhelmingly ethnic Croat.
**CUBA: **
1952 Batista’s coup met little resistance, promised elections for 1954
Moncada attack-Fidel (1953) and 165 youth attacked Moncada army barracks( fail) to obtain weapons
→ half killed, wounded, arrested
Platt Amendment 1901 → US intervention when needed → undermined US independence
ones put on trial defended by Fidel (26 found guilty including Fidel for 15 years)
During trial Castros’ History will absolve me’ speech helps him gain popularity
26th July movement:
May 15 1955- Fidel and others released from prison and started planning movement, Castro and supporters go to Mexico for planning
Failed armed rebellion on Dec. 2nd 1956: Castro and 81 revolutionaries- 2 days of fighting, only 16 remained free
main factor in Castro’s rose to power was guerilla war against Batista
conditions in which an authoritarian state emerged: ideological
**ITALY: **
Failures of Italian Liberalism which disappointed expectations of the Risorgimento.
Contest between Communist/Socialist ‘internationalism’ and Italian Nationalism, esp. regarding participation in WW1.
Biennio Rosso (1919-20): syndicalism (strikes and protests) on the Left caused economic chaos. Government failed to break strikes. Fasci di Combattimento stepped-in to restore order => cult of violence.
Irredentism fuelled nationalist sentiment, esp. after Paris Peace Conference (e.g. seizure of Fiume in 1919)
**CUBA: **
26th of July had a manifesto → looked like a classic socialist reform program
Constitution which Cubans wanted to reinstate → Cuba Libre, 1940
methods used to establish control: persuasion
ITALY:
Creation of PNF in 1921 to bring Fasci under more direct control of Mussolini → started after the Biennio Rosso → bad blood bt/ fascist and socialists
Pact of Pacification (1921) with socialists to end street violence: a short-lived truce but enough to divide the Left and ruin their chances of seizing power.
CUBA:
Much of support due to Castro’s skillful use of radio and press
Regular broadcasts and Radio Rebelde-increasing popularity and helped to build support
methods use to establish control: use of force
**ITALY: **
Fasci di Combattimento/Squadristi used violence against opponents on the Left and in Catholic leagues.
March on Rome (Oct 1922) was a political stunt but it frightened the establishment who failed to stop it (King refused to call out the Army).
methods use to establish control: ideological appeal
**ITALY: **
Fascist Programme of 1919 promised a radical ‘third way’ between Liberalism and Socialism
National renewal seemed very necessary after the devastation of war and the disappointments of Paris
→ linked to appeal to irredentism
Fascism promised to create a ‘new man’: dynamic, war-like and decisive.
**CUBA: **
Adopted aspects of communist ideology after 1960
Richard Gott: “nationalism was more important in his ideology than socialism”
Martì = more influential than Marxist ideology with its emphasis on class conflict
Ideological aims = publicised in various manifestos issued before 1959
Manifestos:
Castro: “propaganda must not be abandoned for a minute, for it is the soul of every struggle”
First manifesto: Preached independence from foreign control, social justice based on economic and industrial modernisation, and restoration of the 1940 Constitution
→ 23 July 1953
→ “Manifesto of the Revolutionaries of Moncada to the Nation”
Second manifesto: “History will absolve me” speech (16 October 1953)
Two manifestos showed no signs of communism or Marxism-Leninism + lacked any systematic ideas or ideology
While castro wanted a radical social revolution for all Cubans, he angrily rejected claims that he was inspired by communism
By July 1958, Carlos Rodriguez (one of leaders of PSP) had joined the rebels in the Sierra
→ growing cooperation between the movement and the PSP
While castro was prepared to accept support from all quarters, he made it clear that he was in charge
Nationalism and Cubiana
Main source of inspiration for Castro’s ideology = more radical version of Cuban nationalism
→ First War of Independence (1868)
→ student rebellions of 1920s-1930s
→ idea of cubiana
Castro’s political ideas before 1959 appear to have been more nationalistic and less radical than those of his two closest allies: Raúl Castro (brother) + Che Guevara
Castro = inspired by various Latin and Central American anti-imperialist movements of the 1930s and 1940s
Castro’s movement was similar to these national liberation movements, which mobilised the masses against powerful traditional élites and attempted to escape from the controlling influence of US economic interests
methods use to establish control: leader’s qualities
ITALY:
Mussolini’s speech-making and journalistic skills made him compelling to listen to.
Editor/founder of ‘Il Popolo d’Italia’, a Fascist newspaper.
Brutality of ras (e.g. Farinacci in Cremona) appealed to many war-hardened youth.
→ ras = leaders of fascist groups mostly in northern Italy
CUBA:
Batistas brutality and repression increased opposition to him and brought additional support for Castro
methods use to establish control:nsolidation: legal changes
**ITALY: **
Mussolini made PM of a coalition government in Oct 1922
Used his position to persuade most liberal and conservative parties to support Fascist repression of the Left.
Acerbo Law (1924) proposed a change to the electoral system to reward the coalition with the largest share of the vote with an absolute majority.
Incorporation of squadristi into MVSN, a voluntary state militia. Legalised violence.
Restriction of press freedom: all journalists had to write with the national interest in mind. Newspapers frequently censored.
CUBA:
Poder Popular (1975) makes Castro President but allows local and regional elections
-in Jan 1959 new government installed where president was manuel Urrutia but real power layed with Castro who was the appointed commander in chief
-Jan 1959 castro formed ORPC( office of revolutionary plans and coordination) amd created a situation of dual power, the ORPC pushed revolution that Castro wanted
consolidation: use of force
**ITALY: **
Intimidation of political critics such as Amendola and Gramsci.
Assassination of political rivals, e.g. Matteotti (1924)
Creation of OVRA (secret police)
Internal exile: practice by which political opponents would be incarcerated in special detention centres in remote areas, including islands.
**CUBA: **
Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR’s)
Arrest of political opponents (3,500 in Havana alone in April 1961) after the failed bay of pigs which amplified Catro’s paranoia and radicalised his revolution
General Ochoa affair: popular leader of the successful war in Angola → Castro was afraid of a military coup
consolidation: charismatic leadership
**ITALY: **
Cult of Il Duce (‘Ducismo’)
**CUBA: **
Quality of Castro’s commanders, including Che Guevara, Raul Castro and Camillo Cienfuegos
→ Cienfuegos member of initial 26th July movement
→ machismo image - bearded, powerful pose
consolidation: propaganda
ITALY:
Role of LUCE in promoting the regime’s socio-economic achievements (e.g. draining of the Pontine Marshes, construction of hydro-electric power stations), as well as presenting Mussolini as the embodiment of the masculine virtues. LUCE also produced extravagant feature films about Roman themes e.g. Scipio Africanus.
Use of archaeology to politicise the past: Roman artefacts re-valorised in the service of Romanità.
Use of architecture: Fascist architects created a stark and brutal modernism, reflecting ideas of the power of the state and the insignificance of the individual.
→ ‘the state is everywhere, the state is everything, I am nothing’ mentality
CUBA:
Press control by INRA → kept the press pro Castro and eliminated US ideas → censorship
nature and extent of opposition
**ITALY: **
Political opponents: high-profile politicians who opposed Fascism were attacked (Amendola in 1926) or arrested and imprisoned (Gramsci); others were assassinated (Matteotti in 1924). Other political opponents faced internal exile to the remote South (e.g. Carlo Levi).
Jews: Jews who formed resistance organisation during WW2 would face the harshest reprisals: execution or deportation to work or death camps in Nazi-occupied Europe (e.g. Primo Levi deported to Auschwitz)
**CUBA: **
Many opponents of regime in early years- many disliked the growing influence of communists
Some opponents restored to counter-revolutionary guerilla warfare (often supported by the USA)
Thousands died in this civil war between 1960-1966, by 1966 most opponents were defeated
1961 Bay of pigs: led to immediate arrest of all suspected counter-revolutionaries( about 3500 in Havana alone)
Ochoa Affair (1989)
→ june 1989
→ put on trial for drug smuggling + corruption
→ condemned to death, others long term prison sentences
→ executed 13 july
→ speculation that ochoa (favoured Gorbachev-style reforms) was planning a coup
Aldana and the 1992 purge
→ gorbachev reformist opposition during “special period”
→ opposition led by Carlos Aldana
→ called for political pluralism
→ collapse of USSR + eastern bloc states caused castro to act against this opposition
→ september 1992: aldana sacked from party
“Remoralisation”
→ 2003: castro decided on a partial return to anti-market centralisation
→ involved re-moralisation of economic life
→ Further moves against political opponents, dissidents and human rights activists
→ Minister of economics and planning and the minister of finance = replaced by ministers favouring centralised political control of economy + society
→ both ministers were closely connected to the liberalisation policies under the Special Period
Varela Project
→ campaigning for law of democratic reform + more private enterprise
US Actions 1992-96
Move against political opponents were also a response to increased threats from the USA
Torricelli Act (1992) + Helm-Burton Act (1996) tightened US economic sanctions against Cuba + sought actively to “assist” in the creation of the USA’s form of democracy in Cuba
March 1996: Castro acted against academics in the Centre for the Study of America (CEA)
→ workers moved to different posts
19 October 1959: Huber Matos, governor of Camagüey province + one of leading figures of the revolutionary war, resigned in protest
→ along with others, put on trial for “rebellion”
→ used this crisis to further establish his own position by creating armed militias as part of the new revolutionary structure of power
Some opponents, whose social and economic interests were threatened by the revolution, resorted to counter-revolutionary guerrilla warfare
→ often supported by USA
→ 1960-66: thousands of cubans died in civil war
→ 1966: opponents had been convincingly defeated
US-sponsored Bay of Pigs incident in April 1961 had led to immediate arrest of all suspected “counter-revolutionaries”
→ 3,500 counter-revolutionaries were detained in Havana alone
→ resulting wave of nationalism and pride following Cuba’s victory meant that those opposed to Castro’s regime could be seen as traitors
→ political centralisation + state control that followed was partly a response to genuine feelings of insecurity
successes of foreign policy
**ITALY: **
Corfu (1924): showed that Italy could gain from threats against its neighbours; Lateran Treaties (1929) were a diplomatic triumph which gained the loyalty of the Church for Fascist policies; Stresa Front (1935) showed that Italy was taken seriously as a Euro power; conquest of Abyssinia (1935-6) was a devastating use of military force; Rome-Berlin Axis (1936) and Pact of Steel (1938) shifted IT onto GY’s side which was seen as a rising power; annexation of Albania (1939) enabled Italy to carve-out a sphere of influence in the Balkans.
CUBA:
Bolivia 1966:
US backed military dictatorship under Réne Barriendos:
→ nov 1966 Ernesto Guevara & other fighters went to help the ENL guerillas to overthrow the military dictatorship
→ Guevara’s death (oct 1967): Guevara became a worldwide symbol for communism and the revolution → enhanced popularity for Castro’s regime
Chile:
→ gave success to the liberation groups
→ Allende (socialist) came to power in 1970 → Castro saw this as a victory → was a way of ending Cuban isolationism
→ Allende’s victory was used as propaganda, headline in the Granma (Cuban gov. newspaper) → “Anti-Imperialist victory in Chile)
failures of foreign policies
**ITALY: **
Involvement in Spanish Civil War (1936-9): a very costly and largely ineffective intervention; WW2 campaigns in the Balkans (1940-1): neither Yugoslavia nor Greece were conquered and Italy had to be bailed-out by GY; WW2 campaigns in Libya (1941-2): tank battles with GB and US led to loss of the colony; collapse of regime following invasion of Italy (1942-3): brutal fighting for 2 years but eventually led to Mussolini’s overthrow.
CUBA:
Bolivia:
→ oct 1967 → Guevara was wounded and murdered by order of the CIA → overall failure
Chile:
→ Castro didn’t help following the sep 1973 coup (Us backed) that led to Pinoche’s military dictatorship
Cuban missile crisis:
→ Soviet nuclear weapons being stored in Cuba 1962 bc US had missile in Turkey
→ U2 spy planes took pictures of missiles
13 day crisis
→ Kennedy didn’t invade but did impose a blockade → resolved w/ Castro furious that Kruschev bt/ USA and USSR
→ humiliation for Cuba → demonstrated their weakness → CB felt betrayed by the USSR
→ Castro’s “machismo” and egoism meant that he wasn’t willing to negotiate with the USA
→ Castro didn’t get the leverage he wanted by storing the misiles
domestic policies: economic
ITALY:
battle over the Southern problem 1924:
aim: make N=S to fix poverty and illiteracy and deal with the Italian mafia (it was an economic organisation, a form of financial exhortation)
positives: villages were built and used as propaganda in Luce films
negatives: villages were very $, very few were built
*M. wanted to destroy the Mafia but didn’t to reinforce their copperation with the government
the “syndacs” (mayors) were replaced with “podesta”, many of which were Mafia leaders
battle for grain 1925:
aim: to produce more wheat
positives: increased Italian prestige, used in propaganda, new trading currency, chemical, mechanical and other Northern companies benefited (Fiat and Montecatini chemicals)
negatives: other crops (olives, citrus fruits) were turned over to produce wheat - IMPORTED
IT didn’t have ideal growing conditions, peasants didn’t have $ to buy equipment - moved to cities or the USA
money went to the Northern industries, not the poor S.
wheat was used as a trading currency, rather than food for ITs
battle for land 1926:
aim: to produce more productive farm land in Italy by draining swamps and marches in the South
positives: successful in “Littoria” and created more jobs and opportunities
negatives: took up a lot of time, expensive, massive project, not much was achieved
battle for the the Lira 1926:
aim: to increase the value of the IT currency (Lira)
positives: helped IT in the short term & to some degree in the Great Depression
negatives: hard to fight unemployment because they weren’t exporting as much bc other countries were dying after the G.D & Lyra was pushed up too much, making exports expensive
IRI and Autarky:
IRI: “instituto per la Ricostuzione industrial” - non profitable companies were taken over by gov and sold to bigger companies - monopolies
positives: enterprises stable during the G.D bc gov was buying products
made rearmament easy - only one company
corporate state - could change prices bc no competition
negatives: standard of living declined
smaller businesses fell under (in lower middle class and private sector)
CUBA:
Agriculture:
Minimum wage introduced in 1959 for sugar cane cutters
Agrarian Reform act: May 1959
→ made up of a lot of peasants; Castro broke up the latifundia system + redistributed land as well as seized US private property
Led to the oil embargo 1962
Gained success; Castro promised land to peasants in 1953
Exchanged sugar for oil with USSR
Collectivization of land → Soviet Model → adopted by Cuba in 1960s
Peasants changed land owners → Latifundia taken over by the state
Battle for Sugar - (Nov. 1969-July 1970)- goal set to increase sugar harvest to 10 million tons (unrealistic target)
Organoponicos:
→ Cuba very dependant on USSR; had to pay full market price after 1991 ⇒ forced to diversify economy
→ Castro imposed restrictions on anything capitalist
→ “Organoponicos” self sustaining + organic crops ⇒ cheaper bc no fertiliser, placed in urban areas
Industry:
Main aim was rapid industrialization
Most industry previously owned by USA ⇒ crisis for Cuban economy
Law 890 ⇒ ordered nationalisation of all industry + commercial companies
Law 891 ⇒ nationalised private banks
More centralized approach to economy, command economy, was seen as the quickest way to ensure econ growth
“Juceplan” ⇒ central planning board in charge of drawing up a 4 year plan on how to diversify the industry (introduced by Che Guevara 1961/1962)
→ historian Bethel: “these plans were
unrealistic and unrealizable”
The Special Period
Agriculture
March 1990: farmers were urged to use draught animals such as oxen or horses, and food was rationed
September 1993: establishment of agricultural cooperatives (UBPC) to replace state farms
→ reduced in size, as was number of workers
2002: government announced that 71 of the 156 sugar mills would be closed, half of land devoted to sugar would be given over to other crops
Organopónicos (7000 small organic plots mainly located in urban areas) have been a success
→ produce 90% of cuba’s fruits and vegetables
→ obviously require no expensive (or harmful) pesticides/fertilizers
→ sustainable agricultural system
Industry
March 1990: gas, water, and electricity supplies were cut off for short periods throughout the country
August 1990: oil and gas deliveries were cut by 50% across the island, electricity consumption was cut by 10%
By 1993: it was clear that cuba’s internal economy was still experiencing huge problems
→ castro brought in team of young economists
→ led by Carlos Lage (youthful vice-president) + José Luis Rodriguez (minister of finance)
Decree-Law 141 (August 1993) made US dollar legal tender in Cuba
→ september: reintroduced self-employment in some occupations
→ by 1995, more than 200,000 cubans (5% of workforce) were registered as self-employed
→ yet, throughout special period, castro maintained his opposition to capitalism
To help cuba’s economy survive, tourism was strongly promoted and soon became cuba’s largest earner of foreign currency
→ worked with partner companies from Spain, France and Canada in particular
2000: first Cuba-Venezuela agreement to provide cuba with considerable amounts of oil (Hugo Chavez)
→ 2006: cuba was importing 100,000 barrels of oil a day from Venezuela at a preferential price well below average world market prices
→ 2008: russia agreed to help fund oil production off the coast of cuba
2003: new programme of anti-market re-centralisation was introduced
→ dollar was no longer legal tender
→ ministry for foreign trade was recreated to re-establish control over exports and imports
domestic policies: women
**ITALY: **
women and politics:
could not hold political office, could vote in local election until 1925
1919: creation of the Fasci Feminili (FF) to coordinate women’s actions in promoting: fertility, pride of race, Romanita
battle for births: 1925-1938:
aim: to increase IT population from 40 million (1929) to 60 million by 1950 by encouraging early marriage, offering jobs to married men over single men, gov would offer large amounts in child benefits
single men had to pay higher taxes, families w/ 6 or more children - exempt from tax
target, 5 per fam, 5 < medal
1933: decree to restrict female employment - only 10% of jobs could be held by women, was also bc there was a raise in male unemployment
battle for births didn’t succeed bc:
- emotional appeal was not strong enough
- propaganda didn’t explain state’s aims and reasons
- insufficient funds to act as real incentive
- women were trained to be educated mother and find pleasure in life
women in propaganda:
“Donna rurale” - ideal fascist woman - national, rural robust mother
called the “new woman” in charge of the “fascisation” of the family - raising good soldiers who would sacrifice themselves for IT - shift back to traditional values
some could be virile but feminine, in the case of the competitors for the 1936 Olympics Berlin - showed IT’s “aesthetic of power” to the world
women could and did work but couldn’t occupy a position of power over any man
“Donna crisi” - represented the danger of modern female “liberation” - unwed, childless, skinny, hysterical
OMNI and Massaie Rurale:
“organisation for Motherhood and childbirth” - created in 1925 - aimed to spread medical & hygiene info to new mothers & emphasise duty to reproduce
1933: Massage Rurale - rural housewives section of OMNI - emphasises joys of rural life, to fight against ppl moving to the cities
- supplemented by Visitatrci (wealthy women) who volunteered to educate rural women - became an important organisation for expressing themselves - expression in a male dominated community - many women worked to supplement family income, creates a community
CUBA:
1960 ⇒ Federation of Cuban Women (FMC); played a role in changing sexist opinions and behaviours
→ Vilma Espin: president of FMC
→ Castro permitted these advances but did not necessarily a support them
Egalitarian family code 1975: obliged husbands to do half of all family chores; however surveys suggest the persistence of latin american gender stereotyping, “machismo” mentality, in home still persists, domestic violence was still widely accepted
→ was useful as it codified a societal norm, which paves the way for change
Plan Jaba → women could leave shopping lists in morning & it would be done by the evening
Holiday camps and weekends for the children of working women
1974 Maternity law → paid maternity leave
1979 → Cuba was the first country to sign the UN’’s convention on the elimination of discrimination against women (CEDAW)
Child care was still only available to the wealthy classes
Mid 1980s only 13% of women in central committees, in the top governing agencies
By 1986 80% of women had joined the FMC
Easier divorce, subsidized family planning
Women were guaranteed equal pay; highest paying jobs were in mining, fishery and construction and those were restricted to men only
37% of active labour force was women, however, there were very few women in the government
→ women’s salaries were also 15% lower than men’s
Increase of women throughout the education system ⇒ highest enrollment of young women, more than 60% of university students are women, 47% of university instructors are women
In medicine ⇒ women outnumbered men (70% of students)
2003 ⇒ women formed over 30% of active membership of PCC, 52% of union leadership, 31% of all managers
Cuba ranks 5th in the americans in terms of overall equality of women
Proportion of women in the labour force doubled by 1980
Despite the advances made, due to the omnipresence of the machismo mentality, it remained similar to how it originally was
domestic policies: political
**ITALY: **
Attempt to eliminate Mafia in the South
Undermining of local democracy with replacement of elected mayors with podesta nominated by the PNF.
Lateran Treaties (1929): Vatican City as a Catholic; financial compensation for loss of Papal States; right to religious education.
Attempt to eliminate Mafia failed => compromise in which many mafioso were appointed as podesta
CUBA:
domestic policies: social
ITALY:
Creation of Dopolavoro organisation which aimed to control leisure time and secure loyalty of ordinary Italians.
Creation of youth organisations such as the ONB and GUF.
1934 World Cup
**CUBA: **
Same Sex Relations:
Not illegal, but homophobia persistent
1965 - Revolutionary Armed Forces forcibly recruited gay men into UMAP work battalions (Military United to Help Production)
1971 - Government described same sex relationships as incompatible with the revolution ⇒ gay individuals expelled from the party and lost jobs
1975 Supreme Court overturned this - government pursued more liberal approach
CNES - Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual (National Center of Sexual Education) - developed approaches to educating society; and accomplished some changes in attitudes and laws
1979 - homosexuality not a crime any more
(2008 - free hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery)
Religion:
1992 amendments to Constitution declared the state to be secular rather than atheist, and PCC allowed religious believers to join
Same Sex Relations:
Same sex relations see as “bourgeois decadence” resulting from capitalism; similar attitudes throughout 1960s and 70s as Cuba moved closer to USSR
1967 - after criticism Castro ordered UMAP to be disbanded
Still no recognition of same sex marriage, and protess and organisations have been banned
Religion:
Catholic church not as strong in Cuba as they were in other Latin American countries
Numbers of Catholics and Protestants, and followers of other religions combined was less than 5 million
Church had accepted revolution but after secularisation of education and reduction of church’s role in government changed their attitudes
Churches did not condemn US embargo on Cuba
1998 Pope John Paul II visited Cuba
domestic policies: cultural
**ITALY: **
Romanità: attempt to link Roman past with Italian present by valorising Roman cultural achievements. Role of archaeology, public exhibitions in raising awareness. Role of architecture in modernising the Roman style to project the power of the State. Mussolini compared with Caesar Augustus in Fascist propaganda
Novecento: reaction against avant-garde styles which were seen as too international; Futurism: emphasised ideas such as technological progress, speed, dynamism which could be made compatible with Fascist ideas
domestic policies: minorities
ITALY:
M. and fascist IT didn’t have a history of anti-semitism prior to the close relationship with GY, the Jews were not segregated
changed in the 1930s, especially w/ the Rome-Berlin axis (1936), when IT foreign policy drew closer to that of GY - IT adopted racist ideologies
M. began to see Jews sas a threat bc many were part of the anti-fascist group “justice and liberty” (lead by a Jewish man)
racial laws of 1938:
- Jewish businesses were “Aryanised” - confiscated by non-Jews
- Jews were banned from jobs (in gov, banking, education, law,…) & Jewish written books were banned
- citizenship (granted after 1919) was removed from foreign Jews and they were required to leave within 6 months
- property confiscated, forbidden to serve in military
- banned from education centres
- consensus that led to thousands of arrestations of Jews
- jews were banned from marring non-Jews for “racial purity”
→ these laws didn’t apply to jews who fought in WW1
→ overall these laws weren’t very effective bc catholic church opposed them & Jews were well integrated into the society
racial laws of 1943:
policies around Jews became stricter, especially w/ GY invasion
→ 7,500 Jews sent to concentration camps, only 600 survived
all laws were for “la difesa della razza”
success?:
1938-1943: → policies largely ignored bc well integrated into soc.
→ pope openly criticised these racial laws, many IT trusted the church more than the gov
→ laws were unpopular amongst senior fascists
→16% of 47,000 deported
80% of 7,500 sent to the camps survived
not much opposition to the manifesto of race
CUBA:
Radical improvement of treatment of black people after 1959
→ “Proclamation against Discrimination” speech – campaign against racial discrimination, states that differences in skin color are not important
→ Castro did not support black separatism
Speech repealed pre-1959 discriminatory laws
Living standards for black and mulatto population improved considerable after 1959
Black people significantly underrepresented in government
→ 1986 Castro announced it to be a priority to increase share of top political jobs amongst the minorities
