Italian Architects and Fascist Politics: An Evaluation of the Rationalist's Role in Regime Building

1980 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Yvonne Ghirardo

The relationship between the thought and architecture of Italian Rationalists and the new Fascist state is commonly presented as a battle between revolutionary modernism and a reactionary regime. Most historians have ignored the ardent Fascism of the best architects, while others simply avoid the issue altogether and study the buildings as stylistic phenomena. This attitude in part derives from a post-war desire to extricate the best architects and their architecture from a thoroughly discredited political system. Consequently, the architects' own words about their architecture and their ideas about Fascist culture and the purposes for which their state-funded buildings were designed are ignored. Historians acknowledge that the Modern Movement in other European nations encompassed social programs, but Italian architecture of the inter-war period has been strangely exempt from discussion on this level. Despite years of heated polemics and debates during the 20s, Rationalists, traditionalists, and moderates in Italy reached a consensus on political and social objectives. The Fascist state claimed to offer revolutionary social programs, and the various architectural factions merely argued about the appropriate forms within which to house these programs. This article discusses the differences between the various groups of architects, examines the work and writings of some leading Rationalists with particular reference to Fascist notions of hierarchy, order, and collective action, and discusses the ways in which Rationalist architecture celebrated Fascism. It also offers an explanation for the fact that Modern Movement architecture received substantial state support in Italy as it did from no other major power in the decade before World War II.

Author(s):  
Sabine Lee

This chapter explores the relationship between soldiers and local women in various theatres of war during World War II, tracing in particular nationalistic and racial undercurrents in the development of national policies vis-à-vis,military-civilian relations. It traces in particular Nazi policies in both East and West with view to eugenics, as well as Allied policies in preparing for and implementing post-war occupations in Germany and Austria, including guidance for soldiers on relations with the (former) enemy. The final part of the chapter gives a voice to children born of war themselves. Using a variety of sources ranging from ego-documents including autobiographies and memoirs as well as interviews and narratives as well as contemporary media reports, it analyses the CBOW reflections on their lifecourses.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanchen Yu

This subject of this thesis is a collection of Bert Hardy photographs donated to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in 2007. Hardy (1913-1995), worked as a photojournalist for Picture Post from 1940 - 1957 during which time he covered many aspects of British life after World War II. Hardy’s contribution to British visual culture is traced in three chapters beginning with a literature survey that covers the context of his work in post-war British society. The second chapter gives a full description of the collection and further analyzes the style of Hardy’s photographs. The third chapter examines the history Picture Post and the context in which its editors worked. Looking at the the relationship between photographers and editors in the picture press, it examines how Stefan Lorant and Tom Hopkinson edited and captioned Bert Hardy’s photographs for use in the Picture Post.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanchen Yu

This subject of this thesis is a collection of Bert Hardy photographs donated to the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in 2007. Hardy (1913-1995), worked as a photojournalist for Picture Post from 1940 - 1957 during which time he covered many aspects of British life after World War II. Hardy’s contribution to British visual culture is traced in three chapters beginning with a literature survey that covers the context of his work in post-war British society. The second chapter gives a full description of the collection and further analyzes the style of Hardy’s photographs. The third chapter examines the history Picture Post and the context in which its editors worked. Looking at the the relationship between photographers and editors in the picture press, it examines how Stefan Lorant and Tom Hopkinson edited and captioned Bert Hardy’s photographs for use in the Picture Post.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 9-26
Author(s):  
Kamilla Biskupska

This study is an invitation to reflect on issues that fall within the area of collective memory, an area that awaits further in-depth analysis. More specifically, this article is a proposal of a broader study on cultural landscape and places of memory than that which is dominant in the sociological literature. In particular, I examine the relationship between the inhabitants of the Polish “Western Lands” and the material German heritage of the cities in which they happen to live. I mainly focus on the relation between socially constructed memory and greenery—a “negligible” part of the space of human life. As I demonstrate in the article, the “green” narrations about Wrocław created after World War II are lasting and are still present in the stories of city’s inhabitants today.


Author(s):  
Diego Gaspar Celaya

Professor Robert O. Paxton is one of the greatest historians who has most reflected on France, fascism and Europe during World War II. His research has changed the historical understanding of France’s Vichy régime, as he used exceptional empirical evidence to demonstrate that Vichy was a voluntary program, at least at first, more than one forced on France by German pressure. In this interview he is asked about some burning issues concerning fascism historiography today, the Spanish case, and also his personal point of view about the relationship between history and memory about World Word II in France. This gives him cause to review topics such as historiography, present tendencies in fascism studies, the specificities of Franco’s régime and the dominant post war memories in France.Key wordsFascism, memory, Resistance, francoism.AbstractLe Professeur Robert O. Paxton est l’un des plus grands historiens qui ait réfléchi sur la France, le fascisme et l’Europe pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Ses recherches ont changé la compréhension de l'histoire du régime de Vichy en France. Il a notamment démontre que Vichy était un programme volontaire, au moins au début, plutôt qu’une contrainte sous la pression allemande. Dans cette interview, il est interrogé à propos de questions brûlantes qui concernent l'historiographie du fascisme aujourd'hui, le développement du fascisme en Espagne, et aussi son point de vue personnel sur la relation entre histoire et mémoire de la seconde Guerre mondiale en France. Cette type de question a permis à monsieur Paxton d'examiner des thèmes tels que les tendances actuelles de l’historiographie sur le fascisme, les spécificités du régime de Franco et les souvenirs et mémoires qui dominent l'après-guerre en France par rapport à la période de Vichy et à la Résistance.Mots clé.Fascisme, mémoire, Résistance, franquisme.


2008 ◽  
pp. 177-205
Author(s):  
Adam Kopciowski

In the early years following World War II, the Lublin region was one of the most important centres of Jewish life. At the same time, during 1944-1946 it was the scene of anti-Jewish incidents: from anti-Semitic propaganda, accusation of ritual murder, economic boycott, to cases of individual or collective murder. The wave of anti-Jewish that lasted until autumn of 1946 resulted in a lengthy and, no doubt incomplete, list of 118 murdered Jews. Escalating anti-Jewish violence in the immediate post-war years was one of the main factors, albeit not the only one, to affect the demography (mass emigration) and the socio-political condition of the Jewish population in the Lublin region


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Henrietta Bannerman

John Cranko's dramatic and theatrically powerful Antigone (1959) disappeared from the ballet repertory in 1966 and this essay calls for a reappraisal and restaging of the work for 21st century audiences. Created in a post-World War II environment, and in the wake of appearances in London by the Martha Graham Company and Jerome Robbins’ Ballets USA, I point to American influences in Cranko's choreography. However, the discussion of the Greek-themed Antigone involves detailed consideration of the relationship between the ballet and the ancient dramas which inspired it, especially as the programme notes accompanying performances emphasised its Sophoclean source but failed to recognise that Cranko mainly based his ballet on an early play by Jean Racine. As Antigone derives from tragic drama, the essay investigates catharsis, one of the many principles that Aristotle delineated in the Poetics. This well-known effect is produced by Greek tragedies but the critics of the era complained about its lack in Cranko's ballet – views which I challenge. There is also an investigation of the role of Antigone, both in the play and in the ballet, and since Cranko created the role for Svetlana Beriosova, I reflect on memories of Beriosova's interpretation supported by more recent viewings of Edmée Wood's 1959 film.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Jenness

This paper explores the way American intellectuals depicted Sigmund Freud during the peak of popularity and prestige of psychoanalysis in the US, roughly the decade and a half following World War II. These intellectuals insisted upon the unassailability of Freud's mind and personality. He was depicted as unsusceptible to any external force or influence, a trait which was thought to account for Freud's admirable comportment as a scientist, colleague and human being. This post-war image of Freud was shaped in part by the Cold War anxiety that modern individuality was imperilled by totalitarian forces, which could only be resisted by the most rugged of selves. It was also shaped by the unique situation of the intellectuals themselves, who were eager to position themselves, like the Freud they imagined, as steadfastly independent and critical thinkers who would, through the very clarity of their thought, lead America to a more robust democracy.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-254
Author(s):  
Andreu Espasa

De forma un tanto paradójica, a finales de los años treinta, las relaciones entre México y Estados Unidos sufrieron uno de los momentos de máxima tensión, para pasar, a continuación, a experimentar una notable mejoría, alcanzando el cénit en la alianza política y militar sellada durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. El episodio catalizador de la tensión y posterior reconciliación fue, sin duda, el conflicto diplomático planteado tras la nacionalización petrolera de 1938. De entre los factores que propiciaron la solución pacífica y negociada al conflicto petrolero, el presente artículo se centra en analizar dos fenómenos del momento. En primer lugar, siguiendo un orden de relevancia, se examina el papel que tuvo la Guerra Civil Española. Aunque las posturas de ambos gobiernos ante el conflicto español fueron sustancialmente distintas, las interpretaciones y las lecciones sobre sus posibles consecuencias permitieron un mayor entendimiento entre los dos países vecinos. En segundo lugar, también se analizarán las afinidades ideológicas entre el New Deal y el cardenismo en el contexto de la crisis mundial económica y política de los años treinta, con el fin de entender su papel lubricante en las relaciones bilaterales de la época. Somewhat paradoxically, at the end of the 1930s, the relationship between Mexico and the United States experienced one of its tensest moments, after which it dramatically improved, reaching its zenith in the political and military alliance cemented during World War II. The catalyst for this tension and subsequent reconciliation was, without doubt, the diplomatic conflict that arose after the oil nationalization of 1938. Of the various factors that led to a peaceful negotiated solution to the oil conflict, this article focuses on analyzing two phenomena. Firstly—in order of importance—this article examines the role that the Spanish Civil War played. Although the positions of both governments in relation to the Spanish war were significantly different, the interpretations and lessons concerning potential consequences enabled a greater understanding between the two neighboring countries. Secondly, this article also analyzes the ideological affinities between the New Deal and Cardenismo in the context of the global economic and political crisis of the thirties, seeking to understand their role in facilitating bilateral relations during that period.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 142-156
Author(s):  
A. Yu. Timofeev

The article considers the perception of World War II in modern Serbian society. Despite the stability of Serbian-Russian shared historical memory, the attitudes of both countries towards World wars differ. There is a huge contrast in the perception of the First and Second World War in Russian and Serbian societies. For the Serbs the events of World War II are obscured by the memories of the Civil War, which broke out in the country immediately after the occupation in 1941 and continued several years after 1945. Over 70% of Yugoslavs killed during the Second World War were slaughtered by the citizens of former Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The terror unleashed by Tito in the first postwar decade in 1944-1954 was proportionally bloodier than Stalin repressions in the postwar USSR. The number of emigrants from Yugoslavia after the establishment of the Tito's dictatorship was proportionally equal to the number of refugees from Russia after the Civil War (1,5-2% of prewar population). In the post-war years, open manipulations with the obvious facts of World War II took place in Tito's Yugoslavia. In the 1990s the memories repressed during the communist years were set free and publicly debated. After the fall of the one-party system the memory of World War II was devalued. The memory of the Russian-Serbian military fraternity forged during the World War II began to revive in Serbia due to the foreign policy changes in 2008. In October 2008 the President of Russia paid a visit to Serbia which began the process of (re) construction of World War II in Serbian historical memory. According to the public opinion surveys, a positive attitude towards Russia and Russians in Serbia strengthens the memories on general resistance to Nazism with memories of fratricide during the civil conflict events of 1941-1945 still dominating in Serbian society.


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