newman_d_a

=Plan of the Investigation (100-150 Words) Tips]=

Intro- "This study will seek to answer the question ‘compare and contrast the use of art and architecture as methods of propaganda in Stalin’s USSR and Hitler’s Germany’. I chose this question becauseI find the visual arts are the most expressive and distinctive style of a dictator’s way of expressing themselves and making their mark on society.For example, Hitler changed the design of several art galleries, designed new rally sites after the Nuremburg NSDAP site, and even in the last days before his death, he was still designing a plan for a new Reichstag. As can be seen, the arts and architecture were very highly valued as methods of propaganda in Hitler’s Germany. He had to get rid of the ‘decadence’ of the Weimar republic, and create his Third Reich, which of course had to look different from the previous government, not just rule differently. By changing the style of art and architecture, the Nazi party could effectively differentiate their party from all other political parties, and appeal to Germans as a whole, and not to any one particular social class.

The Bolshevik's use of architecture and political advertising (in the form of posters) was designed for the same purpose: The communists needed to expose people to the party's ideology on a wide scale- however, their focus was on the working class- the peasantry and proletariat of Russia primarily, as Russia's still-underdeveloped economy was primarily and agricultural one, and did not have the even spread of upper, middle and lower classes that were more common amongst the industrialiwed nations of Europe. Political posters were widely disseminated after the Bolshevik revolution, and their use and production evolved throughout the years from 1918 onwards. Russian architecture and design was at it's peak in the mid-20s and 30s, thanks to the rapid industrialization policies of Stalin, the well known '5 year plans'.

These works of art, posters and architectural designs are useful to the historian studying the topic of propaganda nowadays because, not only does the study of Nazi and Communist propaganda provide ideas as to what the party line was in Germany and Russia, it also gives the historian a crucial insight into what the socio-political mood of the population was at the time in these countries, such as during the split in 1919 due to the Russian civil war, and before, during and after the 1930s Anschluss with Austria in Germany, and other major events in History such as when these two countries clashed in WWII, and how the Governments then changed their policies, and encouraged itheir citizens to support the war effort in any way they could.

"In order to answer this question, I have structured my analysis section [d] using the following method: I will be comparing the similarities in the art of Nazi Germany and the USSR, followed by contrasting the differences of their art in purpose and origin, before following a similar plan for the analysis of their style of architecture, comparing their similarities and contrasting their differences in their purposes and origins.

In order to keep the scope of the study manageable, I have made use of a variety of carefully selected sources, in particular the following: Nazi testimonies from the book, Adolf Hitler: Pictures from the life of the Fuhrer, as well as the pictures from this book as well.The website [] which has been the source of these pictures, and an online version of the afore;entioned Adolf Hitler book. In order to examine the art and architecture of Bolshevik Russia, I have used excerpts and quotes from the book 'Iconography of Power', as well as pictures and illustrations from the book. Lastly, I have used for reference the pictures and commentaries from the book 'Building the Revolution: Soviet art and architecture fro; 1915-1935'.