The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Content Warning: This section references Fascist violence, the Shoah, and antisemitism.

This essay was written in the context of the rise of the Third Reich and other forms of Fascism throughout the world from the 1920s to the 1940s. In 1932, the Nazi Party became the largest party in the German Parliament. The Nazis were an antisemitic, Fascist party that sought to exterminate the Jewish people, control the German masses, and suppress all forms of dissent. In January of 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany. Following the false flag operation known as the Reichstag Fire, Hitler’s government passed a law allowing him to make laws without consent of the parliament or Reichstag. In 1934, following a referendum, Hitler was designated sole leader or Führer of Germany.

The rise of Nazi Germany and other forms of Fascist government in Europe, such as Mussolini’s regime in Italy, led to the persecution of minorities such as Jews, Roma, and people with disabilities throughout the continent. It also led to new forms of propaganda, such as the film The Triumph of the Will by Leni Riefenstahl (1935), which communicated the Fascist worldview and sought to create a willing public to accept the means necessary for returning Germany to a great world power.