Ap European History Chapter 26 Section 4: the Expansion of Mass Culture and Mass Leisure

1. Ap European History Chapter 26 Section 4: the Expansion of Mass Culture and Mass Leisure

2. The Roaring Twenties was the name given to the decade of the 1920s, known for the exuberance of its popular culture. • Berlin, the capital of Germany, became the entertainment center of Europe with its theaters, cabarets, cinemas, and jazz clubs. • The Roaring Twenties was especially known for its dance crazes.

3. Radio and movies • A series of technological inventions in the late nineteenth century had prepared the way for a revolution in mass communications. • Especially important was Marconi’s discovery of “wireless” radio waves. • But it was not until June 16, 1920, that a radio broadcast (of a concert by soprano Nellie Melba from London) for a mass audience was attempted. • Permanent broadcasting facilities were then constructed in the United States, Europe, and Japan during 1921, while mass production of radios also began.

4. Of course , radio and movies could also be used for political purposes. • Hitler said that “without motor cars, sound films, and wireless, no victory of National Socialism.” • The Nazi regime encouraged radio listening by urging manufacturers to produce cheap radios that could be bought on the installment plane. • The Nazis also erected loudspeaker pillars in the streets to encourage communal radio listening, especially to broadcasts of mass meetings.

5. Film too, had propaganda potential, a possibility not lost on Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945), the propaganda minister of Nazi Germany. • Believing that film constituted one of the most modern and scientific means of influencing the masses, Goebbels created a special film section in his Propaganda Ministry and encouraged the production of both documentaries and popular feature films that carried the Nazi message.

6. Mass Leisure • Mass leisure activities had developed at the turn of the century, but new work patterns after WWI dramatically expanded the amount of free time available to take advantage of them. • By 1920, the eight-hour day had become the norm for many office and factory workers in northern and western Europe.

7. Professional sporting events for mass audiences became an especially important aspect of mass leisure. • Travel opportunities also added new dimensions to mass leisure activities. • The military use of aircraft during WWI helped improve planes and make civilian air travel a reality.

8. Mass leisure provided totalitarian regimes with new ways to control their populations. • Mussolini’s Italy created the Dopolavoro (afterwork) as a vast national recreation agency. • The Depolavoro was responsible for establishing clubhouses with libraries, radios, and athletic facilities in virtually every town and village.

9. The Nazi regime adopted a program similar to the Dopolavoro in its Kraft durchFreude (Strength Through Joy). • The purpose of Kraft durchFreude was to coordinate the free time of the working class by offering a variety of leisure time activities, including concerts, operas, films, guided tours, and sporting events.

10. More and more, mass culture and mass leisure had the effect of increasing the homogeneity of national populations, process that had begun in the 19th century with the development of the national state.