Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike

About the production

Frank Capra was commissioned as a major in the U.S. Army Signal Corps to direct the series. The film utilized extensive captured enemy footage, including German propaganda films that were repurposed to condemn the Nazi regime. Capra's team worked in secrecy at Fort Roach in Hollywood, using the facilities of Hal Roach Studios. The production faced challenges in obtaining authentic footage and had to rely heavily on material from the German Ministry of Propaganda, British newsreels, and other sources. The film was completed in approximately 6-8 weeks as part of the urgent wartime production schedule.

Themes

Themes & topics

Historical background

Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike (1943) reached screens through U.S. War Department. Exhibitors of the time built studio-era schedules that mixed shorts, features, and live acts, so a clear premise helped Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike travel between cities and exchange markets.

Why this film matters

Archivists and revival programmers still cite Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike (1943) when tracing studio habits, casting pools, and the visual rhetoric audiences once took for granted. Even modest surviving prints help map how Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike fit beside competing releases of its day.

Making of

Frank Capra was approached by General George C. Marshall in May 1942 to create a series of films that would explain to American soldiers why they were fighting in World War II. Capra, an Italian immigrant who loved America deeply, accepted the commission despite having no documentary experience. He assembled a team of Hollywood's best talent, including cinematographers, editors, and writers, all working for military pay. The production team faced the unique challenge of creating compelling propaganda from authentic footage rather than staging scenes. Capra's innovative approach was to use the Nazis' own propaganda footage against them, showing German audiences cheering Hitler and then contextualizing these images for American viewers. The team worked tirelessly, often 16-hour days, to meet the government's urgent timeline. Capra insisted on maintaining the highest production standards despite the documentary format, bringing his dramatic filmmaking sensibilities to the project. The narration was carefully crafted to be both educational and emotionally resonant, with Capra personally reviewing every word for maximum impact.

What critics said

Trade coverage around 1943 discussed Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike for pacing, clarity, and program fit rather than blockbuster grosses. Later writers value it as evidence of period style and as a reference point beside other films from the same era.

Did you know?

• This was the second film in Capra's seven-part Why We Fight series, commissioned directly by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
• The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 15th Academy Awards in 1943
• Frank Capra, already a renowned Hollywood director, took a massive pay cut from his usual $100,000+ salary to serve as a major in the Army
• The film's historical narrative begins with Otto von Bismarck's famous 'Blood and Iron' speech from 1862, establishing a pattern of German aggression
• Capra's team used the innovative technique of 'compilation film' - weaving together footage from multiple sources to create a new narrative
• The film was shown not only to American troops but also to civilian audiences in theaters across the United States
• Walter Huston served as the primary narrator for the series, though his voice was often uncredited
• The series was so effective that Winston Churchill requested copies for British audiences
• Capra initially hesitated to take on the project, feeling he wasn't qualified to make documentaries
• The film's title was changed from 'War Comes to America' to 'The Nazis Strike' to better reflect its content

Awards & recognition

• Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature (1943)
• Special Citation from the National Board of Review (1943)

Visual style

The cinematography in The Nazis Strike is a masterclass in compilation filmmaking, combining footage from diverse sources into a coherent visual narrative. Capra's team, led by cinematographer Robert Flaherty, utilized material from German newsreels, British Pathé footage, captured enemy films, and American military sources. The visual style employs dramatic close-ups of Hitler and Nazi officials, contrasted with sweeping aerial footage of German military movements. The film makes extensive use of maps and animated graphics to illustrate German expansion, a technique that was innovative for its time. The cinematographers employed careful sequencing to build emotional impact, often juxtaposing images of Nazi rallies with footage of their victims. The black and white photography maintains high contrast to emphasize the moral clarity of the narrative, with Nazi imagery often rendered in stark, threatening tones. The visual rhythm of the plot turns on dramatic rather than documentary conventions, with careful attention to pacing and visual transitions.

Innovations

The Nazis Strike pioneered several technical innovations in documentary filmmaking. The film's most significant achievement was its sophisticated compilation technique, weaving together footage from dozens of different sources with varying quality and formats into a seamless narrative. Capra's team developed new methods for matching and transitioning between disparate footage sources, creating visual continuity that had not been achieved in earlier compilation films. The production team also innovated in the use of animated maps and graphics to illustrate complex military movements and historical concepts, techniques that would become standard in educational filmmaking. The film's sound engineering was particularly advanced for its time, successfully integrating dialogue, music, and effects from multiple source materials. The post-production process involved extensive optical printing and re-editing to achieve the desired dramatic impact. These technical achievements were accomplished under wartime conditions with limited resources, making the film's polished final product even more remarkable.

Music

The musical score for The Nazis Strike was composed by Dmitri Tiomkin, who worked closely with Capra on many of his Hollywood productions. Tiomkin created a powerful orchestral score that blended traditional American musical themes with ominous Wagnerian motifs to represent the Nazi threat. The soundtrack makes effective use of leitmotifs, associating specific musical themes with different aspects of the narrative - heroic American themes for democratic values, dark militaristic music for German aggression, and somber passages for the victims of Nazi conquest. The film incorporates actual audio recordings of Hitler's speeches, allowing audiences to hear the dictator's rhetoric in his own voice. The sound design emphasizes the contrast between the bombastic sounds of Nazi rallies and the quieter, more intimate moments of civilian suffering. Walter Huston's narration is carefully mixed to dominate the soundtrack when necessary, while allowing the power of the archival footage to speak for itself at key moments.

Famous quotes

Here we have a nation, in the middle of Europe, that for 75 years has been preparing for war.

The Nazi party is not a political party in the American sense. It is a religion.

This is not a war of conquest. This is a war of liberation.

The German people have been taught that war is the noblest activity of man.

From Bismarck to Hitler, the story is the same - blood and iron.

The Nazis did not invent aggression. They merely perfected it.

Memorable scenes

• The opening sequence showing the unification of Germany under Bismarck, with dramatic footage of 19th century European politics
• The chilling montage of Hitler's rise to power, using authentic Nazi propaganda footage
• The animated map sequence showing German expansion from 1933 to 1939
• The powerful contrast between Nazi rallies and the suffering of their victims
• The climactic sequence showing the invasion of Poland, with actual combat footage
• The final appeal to American values, connecting the historical narrative to contemporary American responsibility

What audiences thought

The Nazis Strike was enormously popular with both military and civilian audiences. Soldiers reported that the film helped them understand the historical context of their service and reinforced their commitment to the war effort. Civilian audiences packed theaters when the film was shown as part of double features, with many viewers describing it as eye-opening and emotionally powerful. The film's clear narrative structure and compelling use of archival footage made complex historical events accessible to average Americans. Audience surveys conducted by the Office of War Information indicated that the series significantly increased public understanding of the war's causes and boosted support for continued military action. Veterans of World War II frequently cited the Why We Fight series as formative in their understanding of the conflict. The film's impact was such that it remained in circulation for decades after the war, used in schools and community centers to educate subsequent generations about World War II.

Film connections

Influenced by

• Leni Riefenstahl's 'Triumph of the Will' (footage was repurposed)
• British documentary movement of the 1930s
• Soviet montage theory
• American newsreel tradition
• Hollywood narrative techniques
• John Grierson's documentary principles

This film influenced

• The rest of the Why We Fight series
• Frank Capra's later documentary work
• Post-war documentary series about WWII
• Cold War propaganda films
• Ken Burns' documentary series
• Modern historical documentaries on television

Film restoration

The Nazis Strike has been preserved by the National Archives and Records Administration and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 2000 for being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.' The original 35mm nitrate elements have been transferred to safety stock, and the film has undergone digital restoration by several archives including the Library of Congress and the Academy Film Archive. The film remains in excellent condition and is regularly screened at film festivals, museums, and educational institutions. Multiple high-quality digital versions are available, ensuring the film's preservation for future generations.

Where to watch

• The National Archives website (free streaming)
• YouTube (official uploads from government archives)
• The Criterion Channel (as part of war film collections)
• Kanopy (through participating libraries and universities)
• Internet Archive (public domain version)
• Various educational streaming services
• DVD collections of the complete Why We Fight series
• Museum film screenings and retrospectives