Opening scene shows British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, at the airport, having just returned from the Munich conference where Britain and France acquiesed to Nazi Germany's annexation of the Sudetenlands and part of Czechoslovakia. He holds up copy of the agreement signed by Chancellor Adolf Hitler as symbolic of British and German determination never to wage war against each other again. Crowd cheers. Newspaper poster quotes Chamberlain's statement: "Peace in Our Time." Newspaper headlines about the Agreement. Map shows Nazi encrouchment on Czechoslovakia. In violation of the Munich agreement, German forces roll into Czechoslovakia, on March 14, 1939. Local residents give Nazi salute from sidewalks. Animated map shows area of German occupation with Poland next. Prime Minister Chamberlain telling an audience that a threat to Polish independence would start a general conflagration involving Britain. Hitler attending a formal occasion. Star shown atop a building in Moscow, Russia. British, French and German military missions arriving at airport to confer with Soviets. Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov shakes hands wih German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. August 23, 1939 Newspaper headline reads: "Russo-German Pact Signed." German and Russian diplomats sit at a table. Joseph Stalin and Molotov reviewing troops on parade in Red Square.
Map of Czechoslovakia showing the four sections of Sudetenland annexed by Nazi Germany as part of the Munich Agreement with arrows pointing towards Prague. Sudeten Germans perform the Nazi salute as the German Army enters a Liberec, Czechoslovakia prior to World War II. Girls performing the Hitler salute while holding Nazi Germany flags. Tanks, trucks, and various armored vehicles enter town. Civilians greet the Wehrmacht soldiers as they goose step march into town. Sudeten German women in the crowd cheer and hold bouquet of flowers. Liberec civilian men perform the Nazi salute. Wehrmacht soldiers marching with Nazi standards. A saluting cavalryman leads a parade of infantry troops. Military band plays music beside civilian crowds and young boys. Hand attaches a pin of the Sudeten German Party (Sudetendeutsche Partei or SdP). Standard of the Sudeten German Party in Czechoslovakia.
Russian Ambassador to Czechoslovakia Valerian Zorin in Czechoslovakia. Valerian Zorin addresses the meeting of the Society for Cultural Relations with the USSR. Large posters of Soviet figures Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin hang behind Zorin. The audience listen to Zorin’s speech. Zorin speaks into a microphone. The crowd applauds.
A United Nations Security Council session held in Lake Success, New York during the Cold War. Representatives of different nations are seated. U.S. Ambassador to the UN Warren Austin and Britain's representative to the UN Alexander Cadogan seated next to each other. Warren Austin states that te Soviet Union has turned good people of Czechoslovakia into slaves. He says that democracy has now become the top security in Czechoslovakia and freedom of holding and acquiring property has been destroyed. He further states that the Security Council should consider the charges laid upon the Soviet Union which are charges of indirect aggression in Czechoslovakia.
Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after the end of World War 2. Horse cart loaded with expelled Germans and their belongings leaves an area in Czechoslovakia. A few men load a horse cart with baggages. The cart being parked beside a few buildings. Czechs in another cart arrive to reclaim their farm. Men unload baggages from the cart. Two Czech girls close the gate of the farm. People move about in the area. Another horse cart being loaded with the belongings of the expelled Germans. Women load their belongings onto the cart. The horse cart moves with the women and belongings. A few women and children beside the building wave. A convoy of carts move along the street. People standing on the threshold of their shops watch the convoy moving. The German names of the shops scratched out. The convoy of horse carts with Germans on their way to the camp of Karlovy-Vary.
Events prior to World War II. President Edvard Benes of Czechoslovakia along with a dignitary in a car during a reception ceremony in Czechoslovakia. The car drives past a large crowd and soldiers lined up for the reception of the dignitary. President Benes maintains firm stand on opposition to German annexation of Sudetenland territory.