Culture in the Third Reich as a Means of Control Flashcards
what was the main aims of Nazi propaganda?
- win the hearts and minds of the people
- indoctrinate people with their Weltanschauung (worldview), seeking to turn them into committed members of the Volksgemeinschaft (People’s community)
What kinds of art did Nazis dismiss as ‘degenerate’ and ‘un-German’?
Bauhaus architecture and abstract art
What was the ‘Fuhrer Cult’?
The glorification of Adolf Hitler by focusing on his supposedly heroic and superhuman qualities
What kind of literature that thrived in the WR?
Communist and pacifist
Eg. of communist and pacifist artists
- Communist playwright Bertholdt Brecht
- pacifist author Erich Maria Remarque
Nazis wanted to pay homage to past heroes such as who?
Frederick the Great, 18th century gifted military leader and king of Prussia
When was the Reich Ministry of Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda (RMVP) established?
March 1933
Who was minister of the RMVP?
Josef Goebbels
When and who by was the Reich Chamber of Culture set up?
September 1933 by Goebbels
What were the seven sub chambers of the Reich Chamber of Culture?
- fine arts
- music
- theatre
- press
- radio
- literature
- film
What did the Reich Chamber of Culture do? (3)
- exercised control of artistic life
- compulsory membership for those involved in culture
- those seen as extolling non-Nazi views banned. Some fled abroad and other stayed quiet.
What did Nazis expect artists and writers to do?
commit themselves to moulding the people’s collective minds
Art presented heroic idealisations such as…
a healthy peasant, brave warrior or productive woman
Nazi art was conservative and often copied earlier works eg.
Arthur Kampf’s Venus and Adonis that was copied from 16th and 18th century paintings
When was the House of German Art set up?
1937
The HOuse of German Art held what exhibition?
Munich Exhibition of Great German Art
What did the Munich Exhibition of Great German Art include art with scenes of…
Scenes of - rural life
- valour on the battlefield
- aryan master race
Same day as the Munich Exhibition of Great German Art was another exhibition showcasing what
degenerate art
How many showed up to the ‘Degenerate’ art show compared to the Great German Art show?
Over 2million at degenerate art compared to 600 000 Great G Art
1935 how many art exhibitions were there in factories
over 120
1941 how many factory art exhibitions were there?
over 1000
When were there over 120 factory art exhibitions?
1935
When were there over 1000 Art exhibitions factory?
1941
Eg. exhibition titles (2_
‘Blood and Soil’ and ‘The autobahns of Hitler’
What were NAzi sculptures like?
Portrayed NAzi ideals in perfect but lifeless representations of physically perfect Germans
What year did Hitler order all public buildings to display sculptures typifying NAzi ideals?
1934
What sculptors did Hitler favour (2)?
Arno Breker and Josef Thorak
What were Hitler’s favoured sculptors provided with and why?
Studios to mass produce sculptures of healthy, virile young aryans and powerful animals like eagles to spread a message of superiority, purity and power
How did HItler describe the power of architecture?
“the word in stone”
What kind of style were Nazi buildings?
Neo-classical, monumental styles
Hitler wanted to create an architectural project called
‘The thousand year reich”
What did the thousand year reich mean to Hitler?
Had impressive public puildinfs and remained a major pre-occupation of Hiyler even in final days of war
Who was Albert Speer?
Hitler’s personal architect and General Architectural Inspector of the Reich 1937
What major thing did Albert Speer build?
Olympic Stadium for the Berlin Olympics of 1936
In 1what year did the NAzis close down the Bauhaus Art Show by who
1933 by Gropius
When was the major book-burning ceremony in Berlin?
MAy 1933
wHat did Nazis expect of novelists?
TO promote NAzi ideals or at least be neutral
Give two eggs of book authors that were banned?
HG Wells and Hemingway
How many copies did Mein Kampf sell as th best-selling book?
Over 6 million
What did Nazis use music for?
Stirring music and tales of German heroes used in music to stir up patriotic emotions esp in marches and rallies.
Who were Hitler’s favourite composers (3) who got special attention?
Wagner, Strauss and Bruckner
What was Bayreuth?
A festival promoted by Hitler which was dedicated to Wagner’s Operas
What kind of music was banned? (2)
Black Jazz and Jewish composers
eg. banned Jewish Composer
Mendelssohn
What kind of theatrical pieces were preferred by the Nazis?
Historical dramas and light entertainment
Who often organised theatre production?
KdF
eg. of a Nazi theatrical piece
‘Thingspielen’ which was a new drama glorifying Germany’s pagan past
What organisation kept a register of accepted editors and journalists?
Reich Association of the German Press
What was the NAzi-controlled News agency called
DNB
HOw much Newspaper content did the DNB pprovide
about half
Each morning, the propaganda ministry told newspapers…
which stories and headlines to use
What was the Editor Law of October 1933?
Editors were now responsible for infringement go government directives and it was considered treason to spread false rumours
News became dull and overall newspaper circulation dropped by —
10%
what org took over German Radio
Reich Radio Company
The Reich Radio company dismissed how much staff on what grounds
13% staff on political/racial grounds
What year did Hitler make 50 speeches?
1933
What ere people’s receivers
Radios that were produced cheaply and received only NAzi broadcasts
By what year did 70% households own a people’s receiver?
1939
What body regulated the content of foreign and home grown films?
Reich Film Chamber
HOW many feature films were produced during the regime
over 1000
what kind of films did Goebbels like to make
adventures, comedies and romances
Famous Nazi Germany film director
Leni Riefenstahl
What did Leni Riefenstahl do
Film director who recorded imp occasions and speeches
What was Riefenstahl’s most famous propaganda film
‘Triumph of the Will’ which celebrated the Aug 1934 Nuremberg Rally
In 1940 how many antisemitic films were produced eg
3 incl The Eternal Jew
