Italian warships maneuvering in the Mediterranean during World War 2. Destroyers pass a Corazzata-class Italian battleship. Italian IMAM Ro.43 reconnaissance planes are launched from a battleship. Two Corazzata-class Italian battleships underway. Change of scene shows the island of Malta, viewed from a low flying airplane. A formation of Italian CANT Z.508 seaplane bombers flying overhead to attack Malta. View from ground on Malta of anti-aircraft flak burst clouds in the air above. Smoke rising from bomb bursts. Glimpse of a large British warship slowly easing out of its dock. Single engine aircraft overhead moving through heavy flak clouds. More bomb explosions. Local civilian people and refugees, including many children, seeking safety from bombing. People perusing destroyed buildings. A formation of British Bristol Blenheim light bombers in flight over North Africa. British forces firing artillery in Libya. War materiel abandoned by retreating Italian forces in Eritrea and Somaliland. British troops and a contingent of Ethiopian troops march into Addis Ababa, escorting Emperor Haile Selassie as he is restored to his throne in May, 1942. Next, German armor in North Africa is seen burning. A knocked out German tank viewed through window of a British armored vehicle. More burning German armor. German aircraft destroyed on the ground at an airbase. Bombs lined up on the ground. Huge number of Italian prisoners of war marching across the desert in Libya.
The Royal Italian Army invades Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The Royal Italian Army invades the African country from the border with Italian Eritrea. Italian infantry moving to Ethiopia on foot. They pass by a large rock formation. Italian L3/35 tankettes (Carro Veloce CV-35) moving into Ethiopia. Royal Italian Army cavalry units charging to Ethiopia.
Nazi rally in Nuremberg, Germany ca.1934. Massed Storm troopers and spectators salute Hitler.An artillery piece is fired. Hitler personally recognizing loyal Storm troopers. Animated map of Asia, showing Japanese occupation of Manchuria, and Italian occupation of Ethiopia. Newspaper headlines describe Britain and France hesitating to support League of Nations oil sanctions against Italy; and U.S. increasing its oil exports to Italy by 600% (ca. 1935). Hitler and Hermann Goering looking pleased in Hitler's private railroad car. Adolf Hitler at a planning table covered with maps. German citizens traveling abroad and Joachim von Ribbentrop visiting London, as ambassador to Great Britain, in 1936. View of Léon Degrelle and his Catholic-fascist, Rexist party in Belgium (ca. 1936). View of Colonel Francois de la Rocque speaking at a Cross of Fire (Croix-de-Feu) party night rally in France.Konrad Henlein,leader of the Sudeten German Party in Czechoslovakia. Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Austrian National Socialist official, seen in an automobile during a parade. Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, addressing followers and defending Hitler. Street scenes of public disorder attributed to Nazi sympathizers in France and Belgium. Mass meeting of the German American Bund in Madison Square Garden, New York City,1939. U.S. flags and picture of George Washington decorate stage. Fritz Julius Kuhn addresses the gathering and members rough up a protester. Views of heavy industry in Germany, especially steel manufacturing for remilitarization. Persons working at a German concentration camp. Dramatized execution by machine gun. View of Heinrich Himmler. German President Paul von Hindenburg. German national conscription of 1935. German youth training pilots with gliders. German paratroopers, Junkers 52 aircraft, soldiers goosestep, tanks. Ju 87 Stuka plane. German invasion of Rhineland, 1936. Construction of Siegfried Line. Antitank barriers, bunkers, dragons teeth. Hitler visiting Westwall. German military parade.
Numerous tents erected in grasslands of Ethiopia as cattle graze in the background. Ethiopian tribesmen stand near a tent. A man smokes a hookah.
King Haile Selassie I sit under an umbrella as he watches a procession from a balcony in Ethiopia. Soldiers, people and cavalry take part in the procession. The Ethiopian warriors are preparing for the battle of Maichew. Large number of locals gathers to witness the procession. Police controls the crowd.
The invasion of Ethiopia by Italian forces. Infantry, armor, and mounted units are seen.