Welcome to Mr. Hutchings History! In this episode, we compare how Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany and Fidel Castro in Cuba consolidated power through control of the civil service and government bureaucracy. Hitler co-opted the existing bureaucracy to align with Nazi ideology, implementing the Gleichschaltung process and purging opposition, while Castro restructured the Cuban civil service to align with revolutionary ideals after the 1959 revolution. We’ll dive into their strategies, the historical context, and the key policies that shaped their control over government institutions. We’ll also integrate four schools of thought to provide a nuanced analysis of how both leaders solidified their authority through bureaucratic control.
#HitlersGermany #CastrosCuba #Authoritarianism #CivilServiceControl #Bureaucracy #NaziGermany #CubanRevolution #Gleichschaltung #Totalitarianism #GovernmentReforms #PoliticalPower #IBHistory #WorldHistory #NaziIdeology #RevolutionaryState #SocialistState #PoliticalControl #Historiography #Historians #PowerConsolidation
Works Cited
Evans, Richard J. The Third Reich in Power. Penguin, 2005.
Farber, Samuel. Cuba Since the Revolution of 1959: A Critical Assessment. Haymarket, 2011.
Gott, Richard. Cuba: A New History. Yale UP, 2004.
Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: A Biography. W.W. Norton & Co., 2008.
Thomas, Hugh. Cuba: The Pursuit of Freedom. Harper & Row, 1971.
