You are on page 1of 1

584 GERMAN STUDIES REVIEW

Mazoweralso is alertto the ways in which the often conflictingaims of Greek


resistance groups, accompaniedby a good bit of manipulationfrom the warring
powers, foreshadowedthe tensions of the Cold War. In a nuancedandjudicious
discussion of EAM-ELAS, the largest, most active (and communist-dominated)
resistancegroup,Mazowereffectively establishesthe point thatthis controversial
organizationwas neveras centralizedin its aimsormonolithicin its poweras British
officials supposed at the time. Outwardlyimpressive in its control of much of
Greece by 1944 and in its establishmentof people's courts and village councils,
EAM-ELASnonethelesshad seriousweaknesses.The stage was set for tragedyin
the periodimmediatelyfollowing liberation.Hesitantto seize power,EAM-ELAS
stumbled(or was pushed)into open fightingwith the British.Britishsuccess, and
ruthlessness,in subduingEAM-ELASmarkednotonly a beginningshotin theCold
War,butcreateda legacyof bitternesswithinGreecethathaslastedintoourown day.
Based on a wealth of archivalsources,with a balancedtone, and sound in its
conclusions, Mazower's book is importantfor understandingthe dynamics of
wartimeoccupation,not only in Greece but throughoutEurope,and the ways in
which it shatteredold certaintiesandreplacedthem with fragilehopes thatlargely
fell victim to daily violence and cynical postwarcompromises.

STEPHENG. FRITZ,East TennesseeState University

JonathanPetropoulos.Artas Politics in the ThirdReich. ChapelHill andLondon:


University of NorthCarolinaPress, 1996. Pp. xviii, 439. Cloth $45.00.

Withthis work,whichilluminatesin a grandway the place of the visual artsin


NationalSocialisttheoryandpractice,JonathanPetropouloshasmadea significant
contributionto our understandingof the culturalhistory of the ThirdReich. The
often macabrerelationshipbetween brutalityand beautyin this era has long been
neglectedby historians,who generallyhaveoverlookedthe definingrole playedby
the arts,which at once mirroredtheNazis' idealizedworldview andcontributedto
the cultivationof relationshipsamongtheirleaders.In this beautifullyresearched
book, originally begun as a Harvarddissertation,the authorhas organized his
massivematerialaroundtwogeneralthemes:"administering art"andthecompetition
for culturalcontrol,and "collectingart"and its role in the certificationof an elite.
Chaos characterizedthe controlof the arts,which featuredturfbattleswaged
betweenJosephGoebbels,BernhardRust,andAlfredRosenberg,all of whomcould
lay legitimateclaim to this area.HeinrichHimmlerand HermannGoring,as well
as severalGauleiter,madedemandsas well. It tookyearsbeforeHitler'sleadership
in artisticpolicy becameclarified.The assaulton moder artbeganin earnestwhen
Adolf Ziegler, director of the Reich Chamberfor the Visual Arts, staged the
infamous"DegenerateArt"exhibitin Munichin 1937 andcommencedthe purges

This content downloaded from 151.141.66.86 on Fri, 18 Oct 2013 11:33:10 AM


All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

You might also like