From Weimar to Nazism

Weimar Republic 1919 – 1933

Economics

  • 1918: Germany lost WW1 and condition for surrender decided by the allies at the Treaty of Versailles
    • Surrender resource-rich colonies
    • Pay enormous monetary compensation to their enemies
  • Weimar govt. printed more money to finance war debt = hyperinflation + massive unemployment, drop in living standards, deep national resentment against allies.
  • 1929: Wall Street Crash hits Germany especially hard as it relied heavily on US loans
  • 1931: Unemployment

Politics

  • Pessimism lead upper class, artists and intellectuals to various forms of decadence. Lower classes often forced into liver of crime, theft, prostitution.
  • Berlin symbolises these contradictions. One of the World’s “Sin Cities”
  • Desperate economic circumstances divided political parties into extremes
  • Lacking leadership, frequent violent conflicts
  • Weimar era begins with the appointment of Hitler

Culture

  • Dramatic rise in productivity
    • Expressionism, Dadaism
    • Cabaret culture
    • Robert Weiner
  • Dadaism: Anti-war cultural movement began in Switzerland (1916 – 1920) protested barbarianism of war

Expressionism

  • Leading art movement, roots before Weimar Republic
  • Lines typically not straight. Denial of order
  • Nosferatu 1922: Use of shadow distortion

Weimar Cinema

  • UFA: Super studio
    • Didn’t have to leave for anything
    • Vested interest from govt.: Ideals and income
    • Privatised in 1921
    • 600 films a year
    • 1 mil customers everyday
    • Serious threat to Hollywood
      • Watching German films + thought the films were equal or superior
    • Vast, technically superior and inventive
    • Expensive super-productions (Metropolis) – Financial decline + receivership by 1927
    • New studio head Alfred Hugenberg. Sympathetic to Nazism. Produced propaganda films after 1933.
    • Gobels controlled film content through politics.

Genre Motifs

  • Group collectivism as a form of social activism/ critique
  • Kameradschaft (1931)
  • Emil + the Dectectives (1931)
  • M (193!)
  • Parallel social order
  • Similar structures/ functions across social groups
  • Desire for social order/ social responsibility
  • Adherence to decisive leadership

Nazi Cinema (1933 – 1945)

The Propaganda Machine

  • Goebbels head of Nazi Germany’s Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
  • Aimed to win loyalty and cooperation of German people
  • all aspects of social life subject to official censorship
  • 15% contained overt Nazi propaganda but films accounted for 20% cinema admissions

Pro-Nazi Propaganda

  • Hitlerjung Quex (Steinhoff, 1933)
    • Celebrates spirit of sacrifice among Hitler Youth
    • Young protagonist defies his communist father to server the Nazi cause

Anti-Semetic Propaganda

  • Jud Suss (Harlan, 1940)
    • Historical costume melodrama
    • Perpetuates corrosive stereotypes in line with nazi ideology
    • internationally successful

Entertainment Cinema

  • Comedies, musicals, fantasy produced
  • Hollywood-esque musicals: Frau Luna
  • Münchhausen
    • Budget of 6.5 mil Reichmarks
    • 3rd film in AGFA colour
    • Politically innocuous, lavish production values

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