The Nazi-fascist New Order For European Culture
by Benjamin G. Martin /
2016 / English / PDF
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Following France’s crushing defeat in June 1940, the Nazis moved
forward with plans to reorganize a European continent now largely
under Hitler’s heel. While Germany’s military power would set the
agenda, several among the Nazi elite argued that permanent German
hegemony required something more: a pan-European cultural empire
that would crown Hitler’s wartime conquests. At a time when the
postwar European project is under strain, Benjamin G. Martin
brings into focus a neglected aspect of Axis geopolitics,
charting the rise and fall of Nazi-fascist “soft power” in the
form of a nationalist and anti-Semitic new ordering of European
culture.
Following France’s crushing defeat in June 1940, the Nazis moved
forward with plans to reorganize a European continent now largely
under Hitler’s heel. While Germany’s military power would set the
agenda, several among the Nazi elite argued that permanent German
hegemony required something more: a pan-European cultural empire
that would crown Hitler’s wartime conquests. At a time when the
postwar European project is under strain, Benjamin G. Martin
brings into focus a neglected aspect of Axis geopolitics,
charting the rise and fall of Nazi-fascist “soft power” in the
form of a nationalist and anti-Semitic new ordering of European
culture.
As early as 1934, the Nazis began taking steps to bring European
culture into alignment with their ideological aims. In
cooperation and competition with Italy’s fascists, they courted
filmmakers, writers, and composers from across the continent. New
institutions such as the International Film Chamber, the European
Writers Union, and the Permanent Council of composers forged a
continental bloc opposed to the “degenerate” cosmopolitan
modernism that held sway in the arts. In its place they
envisioned a Europe of nations, one that exalted traditionalism,
anti-Semitism, and the
As early as 1934, the Nazis began taking steps to bring European
culture into alignment with their ideological aims. In
cooperation and competition with Italy’s fascists, they courted
filmmakers, writers, and composers from across the continent. New
institutions such as the International Film Chamber, the European
Writers Union, and the Permanent Council of composers forged a
continental bloc opposed to the “degenerate” cosmopolitan
modernism that held sway in the arts. In its place they
envisioned a Europe of nations, one that exalted traditionalism,
anti-Semitism, and theVolk
Volk. Such a vision held powerful
appeal for conservative intellectuals who saw a European
civilization in decline, threatened by American commercialism and
Soviet Bolshevism.
. Such a vision held powerful
appeal for conservative intellectuals who saw a European
civilization in decline, threatened by American commercialism and
Soviet Bolshevism.
Taking readers to film screenings, concerts, and banquets where
artists from Norway to Bulgaria lent their prestige to Goebbels’s
vision, Martin follows the Nazi-fascist project to its disastrous
conclusion, examining the internal contradictions and sectarian
rivalries that doomed it to failure.
Taking readers to film screenings, concerts, and banquets where
artists from Norway to Bulgaria lent their prestige to Goebbels’s
vision, Martin follows the Nazi-fascist project to its disastrous
conclusion, examining the internal contradictions and sectarian
rivalries that doomed it to failure.