Cultural and Intellectual Trends
Gaven Busby and Charles West
Mass Culture: Radio and Movies
- First broadcasting facilities were made in 1921 and 1922.
- In 1926 there were 2.2 millions radios in Great Britain.
- By the end of the 1930s there were 9 million.
- Full length feature films weren't out until shortly before World War I.
- By 1939 about 40% of adults in industrialized countries went to one movie a week.
- Hitler used the radio to get his speeches out to people that couldn't attend the speech, or couldn't afford a TV.
Mass Leisure
- After World War I, people had different work schedules giving them leisure time to do whatever they wanted.
- By 1920, eight hour work schedules had become the norm for many workers in northern and western Europe.
- A huge part of the leisure time was sporting events and traveling.
- Mass leisure gave new ways for the totalitarian states to control the people.
- During time of from work, many people began going to concerts, operas, films, guided tours, and sporting events.
- Since so many people were participating in such events, the prices dropped significantly making it very affordable.
Artistic and Literary Trends
- The war left many people in despair with second thoughts about western values.
- After 1918 artistic trends mainly reflected developments made before the war.
- Abstract art became very popular during this time.
- "The world does not make sense so why should art".
- Gave rise to both the Dada movement and surrealism.
- The dadaist were artists who were obsessed with the idea that life has no purpose.
- The surrealist sought a reality beyond the material world and found it in the world of the unconscious.
- Salvador Dali was the high priest of surrealism.
Dutch students in world war 2