10 - Mutual Perceptions and Projections
Stalin's Russia in Nazi Germany – Nazi Germany in the Soviet Union
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Summary
ENCOUNTER IN PARIS 1937
Without doubt, the centers of attention for visitors to the 1937 World's Fair in Paris were the German and Soviet pavilions, and to a lesser extent the Italian pavilion. They were perceived as they were projected: as well-designed symbolic constructions – true representations of their “systems.” Both represented different, even opposing and competing worldviews (Weltanschauungen), political orders, and systems. Yet, at the same time, the constructions were seen not only as rivals, but also as twins, deeply related to each other by virtue of their monumentalist and power-centered aesthetics. One Italian visitor even used the term “totalitarian.” An observer from Art Digest wrote in his report from Paris:
The finest pavilions are those of Japan and the smaller countries, those which aren't striving for prestige. In contrast, the German building with its frighteningly vast tower can only be seen as an expression of fascist brutality. Russia is represented by another construction in the same spirit and the Italian pavilion also produces a surprisingly similar effect, this time achieved by more contemporary means.
It seemed that even the topographical location of the exhibition halls evoked a comparative view. Every visitor entering the World's Fair in Paris had to pass the buildings, which stood directly opposite each other along the avenue leading from the Eiffel Tower to the Champs de Mars. Both dominated their environment.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Beyond TotalitarianismStalinism and Nazism Compared, pp. 396 - 442Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008
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