Donald J. Mrozek

War is among the most dramatic and consequential expressions of culture,
and the power of culture in causing and facilitating war, as well as in
shaping its dimensions and characteristics, can scarcely be exaggerated.
Its force is as great when unconscious as when conscious, and it is per-
vasive.

An understanding of key cultural forces in the 1930s assists greatly in
appreciating the structure, dynamics, and intensity of World War II. The
1930s were a time when suspicion of democracy emerged alongside cel-
ebration of the masses. It was a time when patriotic renewal drew to the
brink of national chauvinism. It was a time when a taste for authoritarian
governance coexisted with presentation of the "folk" as the underlying
heroic force in the nation-state. It was a time when the experience of
cultural and societal disarray brought forth images of community and cul-
tural uniformity--a time when radio, glossy magazines, and movies inten-
sified images. It was a time, compromised by economic depression and
the experience of powerlessness, when a yearning for control over one's
destiny grew strong.

During the 1930s, culture was the vehicle through which individuals
could regain and articulate their commitment to respective national
traditions and, in some places, to a reconceived nation-state. The inten-
tion to recommit to past principles and to restore traditional elements in
the life of common citizens actually did much to facilitate change. Susman
in Culture and Commitment, 1929- 1945 argued how the central government
and other institutional authority was reaffirmed, even while populist
themes were celebrated. When assuming the American presidency in 1933

-385-