Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike
About Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike
The second Why We Fight film starts with Otto von Bismarck in 1863 and treats later German expansion as one line. Hitler takes power, sends troops into the Rhineland and Austria, and demands Czechoslovakia. The governments that want to avoid war give it to him. He invades Poland. The narration calls that invasion the rise of the curtain on the Second World War.
Cast & crew
More about Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike
Frank Capra and Anatole Litvak directed. Frank Capra produced the Why We Fight series for the War Department. This entry runs 40 minutes 20 seconds. Capra's own synopsis is the spine of the reel: Hitler rises, imposes a Nazi dictatorship, goose-steps into the Rhineland and Austria, threatens war unless given Czechoslovakia, and invades Poland. Walter Huston is a narrator of the series. The pictures are stock shots, including Nazi material such as Triumph of the Will, cut to argue against the people who made it. The series was made for soldiers. Roosevelt then ordered prints for the public. Julius J. Epstein is credited on the writing. Robert J. Flaherty is credited on the camera. William Hornbeck edited.
Themes
Background
The War Department made the series in 1942–1945 to tell soldiers why the United States was in the war. This reel is the 1943 chapter on the road from Bismarck to the invasion of Poland.
Making
Capra's unit built the reel from existing footage, enemy pictures included, and from a spoken outline he wrote himself.
Look
Robert J. Flaherty is credited on the camera. The reel is built from stock footage, including Triumph of the Will.
Music
Walter Huston speaks narration in the series. The Army Air Force Orchestra plays the scores.
Preservation
Prints of the series survive.
Notes
- It is the second of seven films. Prelude to War came first. Divide and Conquer came next.
- A listing gives 42 minutes.
- The Army Air Force Orchestra plays the series scores.
- The conquests named in the reel are Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland.
Scenes
- German troops move into the Rhineland and into Austria.
- Czechoslovakia is given up after the threat of war.
- The invasion of Poland is the last event on the reel.
Also available
- Internet Archive (TheNazisStrike)
- Wikimedia Commons (Why We Fight- The Nazi Strike.ogv)
