How would culture change in a central powers victory?

This is not a thread about teritorial changes after a central powers victory. I would like to know how live would be.
Would english still be the dominant language? Could Babelsberg replace Hollywood? After ww1 a lot of republics had been proclaimed and women got the right to vote. How would this pod change the european societies?
 
I doubt Germany could usurp the cultural influence of the British Empire worldwide, the empire was too big and English entrenched for this to happen. This would also facilitate the rise of Hollywood to at least one of if not the major player in world entertainment.

However Germany will become the cultural standard in central and southern Europe and likely much of the middle east. MittelAfrika will also foster German culture but given Africas persistent backwards this won't have a massive impact on world culture.
 
IOTL Babelsberg rose pretty fast because the German hyperinflation made filming there very cheap for foreigners. Of course, the victoriuos imperial government might help too - but they'd make other movies than those you know. Patriotic movies praising Germany. Many war movies.
 
Popular culture is already firmly into the Anglosphere, but high/intellectual culture could certainly tilt in a Teutonic direction in a world where Italy and France are driven down and the Soviets put the historical kibosh on the Russian artistic scene. I could see English and American media being seen as the "Poor Man's Fare": the language of the penny press,nickle-odean, and dime novel, while German takes the lead in arenas like theater, ballet, and orchestra.
 

NoMommsen

Donor
This is not a thread about teritorial changes after a central powers victory. I would like to know how live would be.
Would english still be the dominant language? Could Babelsberg replace Hollywood? After ww1 a lot of republics had been proclaimed and women got the right to vote. How would this pod change the european societies?
Well, first of ... Again, a lot depends on what kind of victory and (esp. ?) when :
  • a) early like 1915/early 1916
  • b) middle like 1916/midth 1917
  • c) late like later than IOTL 1918/1919
The longer the war, the more hardship experienced esp. also by the homefront, the deeper the changes to culture from pre-war to post-war. ... Evereywhere.

For the language :
English will - without a doubt - extend its role in the world of commerce and trade (against spanish and a smaller part also french) as IOTL ... though followed closer by german IOTL, as Germany with its control of middle and eastern europe as well as to quite some extend the Caucasus and the near east. In the latter regions it might well repulse the english influence - in commerce as well as language.
In general the world would be very likely - languagewise - bipolar.
It might to some extend by the lenght of the war regarding the early spread of german in the longer run (until today) ... colonies or not and if where and to what extend.

Filming industry :
The longer the war the more influence (and financing) the german goverment would take/gain in the filming industry in Germany, building it up to perhaps even extending Hollywood capacities ... at least regarding numbers of films made per time.
About the content ... well, yes the 'avantgardistic' films will be less, or rather less prominent with a mostly state-controlled - and to at least some degree censored - filming industry.

Though the artistic, avantgardistic elements/developments in film, literature, painting, architecture and all the other arts were already there before the war began (at least in Germany, France, Russia, don't know very much about remaining european/world powers). ITTL they might only go into a more ... positive direction compared to the dystopian fantasies developed and expressed IOTL in all of these spheres.
And here again : the longer the war, the more 'dystopian' the views on the world - worldwide - might become. ITTL perhaps even more dystopian in the 'loosers' countries/cultures (esp. GB and France ?).

Womens rights :
It might took some more time to become reality in Germany and the rest of central europe, but - esp. voting rights - were already well on their way though with less 'prominence' than in GB. In that respect GB and the rest of the 'anglosphere' were IOTL well behind central europe.
So ITTL we might see womens rights become common in the anglosphere as well as central europe during the early/midth twenties (as IOTL in the anglosphere).

In general :
IMHO there will be a heads-to head 'race' for the leading 'culture' in almost every sphere between the anglic and the germanic culture (in whatever way you might define 'culture') - victors and their 'ways of living' are ... sexy. :biggrin:


Popular culture is already firmly into the Anglosphere, ...
... and what are your reasons for this statement/claim?
I assume you're talking of world wide pop culture pre-war ?
 
But America remains neutral. They can still build their own film empire.

Funfact: In the 70s there was a german science fiction series called Raumpatrullie. Just thinking about a german version of star trek makes me smile.:)
And what about all these superheros like Batman or Superman? Can we also see a german version of this?
 
If the CP win the war would there be any significant state support of the Arts?

The Communists and Nazis supported Art and Film etc as propaganda tools for their single-party, ideological, dictatorships but Imperial Germany was a multi-party Constitutional Monarchy which would have undertaken political liberalisation due to their victory in WW1. They wouldn't need to use the Arts to manipulate he public mood to accept their lack of political freedom and material prosperity, because they'd have political freedom and material prosperity as such things were measured in the 1920s. Nor would they have some sort of monolithic political ideology to push either on their own citizens or on foreigners as part of an ideological struggle, because those conditions would be somewhat limited.

My guess is that state sponsorship of the Ats would be limited to ensuring the political fat-cats got good seat at the ballet and opera.
 

NoMommsen

Donor
If the CP win the war would there be any significant state support of the Arts?

...
What did the "Arts" do IOTL ?

The govermental support, as you seem to point to occured rather late after WW 1. Though Weimar - despite rather other financial necessities invested a damn awfull lot into 'culture' like museums, theatres. ballets, etc.
And this 'special support' - beside perhaps filming industry, which was already to quite some extend govermentally subsidized during Weimar as well as during the war for propagandistical reason, intra-war as well as post-war - it operated mainly by selection of artists for ordered works, prohibiting selected artists from exhibition or publicing.

... quite the same the imperial goverment did during the war ... and even before the war ...

So : there wasn't much of 'special' support for the arts by any post-war regime, different to what happened intra- and partially already before the war.
Pls don't forget : Kaiser Bill was - for his time - a 'media-maniac' very conscious of the 'new media' like photography and film.
Don't see this changing after a CP-victory. ... Cinemas flooded with "royalty'-clips. *shudder*
 
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I would watch a Star Trek alike with Imperialistic, Militaristic germans as human representatives. And somehow they would be the good guys.
Perhaps you should read up a little about the story. The commader is named Cliff Allister McLane who constantly pisses of his superior officers & gets demoted. Mario de Monti, Atan Shubashi, Hasso Sigbjörnson, Helga Legrelle are the names of his crew & he gets a secruity officer Tamara Jagellovsk to watch over him.
So much for OTL, but in a Central Powers victory...who knows.
 
Most of Europe is culturally close to Germany. I would see culturally except for France and Russia, Spain is a question mark?? German culture would rule in Europe. Just as important is that Europe is a major market. Hollywood, for example, would make films with the European market in mind. Then there is a large percentage of US population that is from northern, central and eastern Europe who would be looking at Germany.

Plus there is as others stated German science and philosophy which is ahead of Britain.
 
What about the german political system? It was very authoritarian? Is their a possibility for a democratisation in Germany?
 
A more liberal Germany where Jewish artists, film makers and songwriters will flourish, perhaps a more liberal attitude to the LGBT community in central Europe. Without the Nazis maybe less German baddies in Hollywood cinema.

I think English will remain the dominant language and certainly Hollywood will dominate film making as in otl.
 
If the CP win the war would there be any significant state support of the Arts?

The Communists and Nazis supported Art and Film etc as propaganda tools for their single-party, ideological, dictatorships but Imperial Germany was a multi-party Constitutional Monarchy which would have undertaken political liberalisation due to their victory in WW1. They wouldn't need to use the Arts to manipulate he public mood to accept their lack of political freedom and material prosperity, because they'd have political freedom and material prosperity as such things were measured in the 1920s. Nor would they have some sort of monolithic political ideology to push either on their own citizens or on foreigners as part of an ideological struggle, because those conditions would be somewhat limited.

My guess is that state sponsorship of the Ats would be limited to ensuring the political fat-cats got good seat at the ballet and opera.
The same reason Washington impulsed the arts in general With new museums, ballet and ópera house? And used, and still use, Hollywood in his propaganda Machine? Don't get me wrong I'm With you that the filming industry in a CP victory Will be a fairly liberal one, but Even Hollywood Is used from time to time as propaganda avenue
 
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