Nazi views of art and history

To the Nazis, good art was created according to an ideal form in the classical tradition. In other words, ‘good’ art consisted of idyllic landscapes, perfect healthy bodies, or representations of an idealized Germany. ‘Bad’ art was basically anything that did not conform to these traditions, and included such traditions as cubism and surrealism. To simplify, the National Socialist view of art corresponded to an overall longing for some sort of ideal past, however unrealistic, that was free from the corruption of contemporary society. It seems as if the Nazi’s opinions on art were closely related to their opinions of history, and it would be difficult to see where one influenced the other or vice versa.

In history, the Nazis thought the German Empire’s loss in the First World War was caused by subversive elements in Germany, rather than by the victories of the Entente powers. They saw that late in the war, Germany had defeated Russia and penetrated deeper into France than ever before, and yet shortly thereafter was forced to capitulate. The real reasons for Germany’s loss are more complicated to explain than the myth that the Nazis and other right wing groups came up with: that they were “stabbed in the back” by Jews and Socialists. Thus, one of the goals of Nazism was to remove these elements from Germany. Artistically, the Nazis thought these ‘subversive’ elements to be destroying Germany as well. Instead of learning why new artistic styles were valid, they berated them as Jewish and Bolshevik perversions of ‘true’ German art.