The comparison of sculptures placed by national pavilions during the 1937 International Exhibition in Paris is revealing. Modern art was banned as being decadent, bourgeois and elitist. It was clear in Stalin’s Soviet Union, where diversity in the arts was proscribed and “ Socialist Realism” was instituted as the official style. Such style was anchored in a prestigious tradition – popular, easy to understand, and thus practical for propaganda aims. Here Realism refers to a representational, mimetic style, and not to an art deprived of idealization. In Europe, other totalitarian regimes adopted a similar stance on art and encouraged or imposed an official aesthetic, which was a form of Realism.

One exhibition displayed art that should be eliminated (“The Degenerate Art Exhibition”), while the other promoted, by contrast, the official aesthetic (“The Great German Art Exhibition”). In 1937 in Munich, two simultaneous events demonstrated the Nazis’ views about art. In terms of contents, this art should represent and convey the regime's ideals. This officially sanctioned art was conservative and figurative, heavily inspired by Greco-Roman art. The cultural cleansing was to be accompanied by a “rebirth” of German culture and society (Hitler had grand plans for several museums), which involved an exaltation of the “true spirit” of the German people in art. German culture and society were said to be in decline because forces of decadence had taken over and corrupted it (it is the idea of the “enemy within”). The first step was a “ cultural cleansing”. In Nazi Germany, Hitler's cultural politic was twofold. However, art and culture had a special importance because they have the power to influence people, and they embody the identity of a nation, a community, a group of people. It reflects totalitarianism’s aim to control every single aspect of society and the individuals’ lives. In totalitarian regimes (especially in Hitler’s Germany), the control of art and other cultural expressions was an integral part of the establishment of power.

Art of war 2 soundtrack