World War 1 isn't called the "War of the Century" for a reason. It was a war that would determine which nation would be the superpower of the 20th century. We all know about the political effects of World War 1 and how it led the rise of the United States as a superpower. There are already many alternate history scenarios of the political effect of a Central Powers victory in World War 1. Politics in nations and the map of the world is often discussed in these alternate history scenarios. However, a less talked about topic that I think should be more talked about would be the cultural effects, specifically pop cultural effects if the Central Powers won World War 1. Today, much of the world's culture is dominated by American culture. Think about it, 90% of the film industry is dominated by Hollywood. Most of the celebrities in pop culture you hear about today are American. Many influential figures are American. A lot of pop cultures in countries around the world are American. Many of the world's most famous companies are American. Many modern music around the world has some American influence in it. American food is extremely world famous, as restaurants such as Mcdonalds and Burger King had made American food such as the hamburger ubiquitous. The point of this thread is, what would pop culture look like if the Central Powers won World War 1? Could American culture rise to dominance? Or would German culture take it's place? Would pop culture as we know it even exist? I can think of several scenarios :
Film : Germany actually once had a film industry that rivaled Hollywood. The German film company UFA even had contracts with with the Hollywood studios Paramount and MGM. Berlin had their own roster of actors and directors that manage to rival Hollywood. Perhaps if Germany won World War 1, the German film industry might have dominated world cinema, overtaking Hollywood, thus changing the world of film as we know it. Another thing we should talk about is the animation industry. As we know, every major Hollywood studio back then had an animation department. The most notable ones are Disney (backed by Universal, Columbia, United Artists, and RKO) and Fleischer (backed by Paramount). During the 30s and 40s, Disney and Fleischer were competing against each other to see who would dominate the animation industry. Disney cartoons had a more artistic feeling, heavily centered on art, animation quality, and storytelling. Although based in the United States, Fleischer cartoons had more of a European influence, heavily influenced by German expressionism and European cinema. Fleischer, for a combination of reason lead to the downfall of the studio, which lead to Paramount firing the Fleischer brothers and taking direct control of the studio and running it until 1967. This left Disney to dominate the animation industry, creating the cliche that cartoons were for kids. This allowed the modern ideas of animation come into fruition which we all know. Cartoons are for kids, cartoons are meant to be fun and goofy. However, had the Central Powers won World War 1, this might have gave Fleischer a better chance to compete with Disney (due to it's popularity in Europe) and may have allowed Fleischer to have an equal footing or even overtake Disney. It was the Disney style that influenced the goofy wacky style of Warner Bros cartoons, MGM cartoons (Tex Avery and Tom and Jerry), as well as Columbia (UPA), 20th Century Fox (Terrytoons), Universal (Walter Lantz), and Depatie Freleng (United Artists). However, if Fleischer was able to compete with Disney or even overtake Disney, cartoons might have been seen as a serious art form, just live action motion pictures. This might as well butterfly away anime as we know it, as anime was heavily influenced by the Disney style of cartoons. This could turn out into completely different cartoons of the 20th and 21st century (goodbye Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network as we know it), with cartoons being treated as a serious art form and influenced by Fleischer's form of animation.
Music : Okay, this is a tough one. It can be said that the classical era of music ended when jazz came into prominence in the 20s, which came from the United States. Jazz directly lead to the development of rock and roll, R&B, rap, hip hop, pop, among many other modern music trends today. Before jazz, it was classical music and military marches that dominated music, such as the works of Beethoven, Mozart, Johann Strauss, Richard Wagner, John Philip Sousa, Edwin Franko Goldman, Kenneth J. Alford, and Herms Niel. Perhaps if the Central Powers won World War 1, this might have made jazz less popular in our timeline or even make jazz not being able to influence music on the rest of the world. However, rag tag music, the predecessor of jazz, was already popular in Europe before World War 1. This is a tough topic that I'm not sure what the outcome would look like if the Central Powers won World War 1.
Food : Another tough one. In our timeline, restaurants such as Mcdonalds and Burger King came into prominence after the United States won World War 2, making it a superpower. This lead to the ubiquity of American food such as the hamburger to be well known across the world, influencing the world. However, American food was already popular around the world even before the United States entered World War 1. Would German food dominated the world in this timeline? Another topic that I'm not sure what the outcome would look like.
Film : Germany actually once had a film industry that rivaled Hollywood. The German film company UFA even had contracts with with the Hollywood studios Paramount and MGM. Berlin had their own roster of actors and directors that manage to rival Hollywood. Perhaps if Germany won World War 1, the German film industry might have dominated world cinema, overtaking Hollywood, thus changing the world of film as we know it. Another thing we should talk about is the animation industry. As we know, every major Hollywood studio back then had an animation department. The most notable ones are Disney (backed by Universal, Columbia, United Artists, and RKO) and Fleischer (backed by Paramount). During the 30s and 40s, Disney and Fleischer were competing against each other to see who would dominate the animation industry. Disney cartoons had a more artistic feeling, heavily centered on art, animation quality, and storytelling. Although based in the United States, Fleischer cartoons had more of a European influence, heavily influenced by German expressionism and European cinema. Fleischer, for a combination of reason lead to the downfall of the studio, which lead to Paramount firing the Fleischer brothers and taking direct control of the studio and running it until 1967. This left Disney to dominate the animation industry, creating the cliche that cartoons were for kids. This allowed the modern ideas of animation come into fruition which we all know. Cartoons are for kids, cartoons are meant to be fun and goofy. However, had the Central Powers won World War 1, this might have gave Fleischer a better chance to compete with Disney (due to it's popularity in Europe) and may have allowed Fleischer to have an equal footing or even overtake Disney. It was the Disney style that influenced the goofy wacky style of Warner Bros cartoons, MGM cartoons (Tex Avery and Tom and Jerry), as well as Columbia (UPA), 20th Century Fox (Terrytoons), Universal (Walter Lantz), and Depatie Freleng (United Artists). However, if Fleischer was able to compete with Disney or even overtake Disney, cartoons might have been seen as a serious art form, just live action motion pictures. This might as well butterfly away anime as we know it, as anime was heavily influenced by the Disney style of cartoons. This could turn out into completely different cartoons of the 20th and 21st century (goodbye Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network as we know it), with cartoons being treated as a serious art form and influenced by Fleischer's form of animation.
Music : Okay, this is a tough one. It can be said that the classical era of music ended when jazz came into prominence in the 20s, which came from the United States. Jazz directly lead to the development of rock and roll, R&B, rap, hip hop, pop, among many other modern music trends today. Before jazz, it was classical music and military marches that dominated music, such as the works of Beethoven, Mozart, Johann Strauss, Richard Wagner, John Philip Sousa, Edwin Franko Goldman, Kenneth J. Alford, and Herms Niel. Perhaps if the Central Powers won World War 1, this might have made jazz less popular in our timeline or even make jazz not being able to influence music on the rest of the world. However, rag tag music, the predecessor of jazz, was already popular in Europe before World War 1. This is a tough topic that I'm not sure what the outcome would look like if the Central Powers won World War 1.
Food : Another tough one. In our timeline, restaurants such as Mcdonalds and Burger King came into prominence after the United States won World War 2, making it a superpower. This lead to the ubiquity of American food such as the hamburger to be well known across the world, influencing the world. However, American food was already popular around the world even before the United States entered World War 1. Would German food dominated the world in this timeline? Another topic that I'm not sure what the outcome would look like.