Animated map shows extent of German controlled areas in Europe following their conquest of the Balkans in World War 2. Norway is under their control and German forces threaten Leningrad and Moscow. A soviet defense line is shown on the map. The German attack is shown to come from 5 directions on June 22, 1941, with the launch of German Operation Barbarossa. A sky filled with German Heinkel He 111 bombers is shown. German Panzer III tanks with 75 mm guns. Army trucks carry German troops into battle. German soldiers on motor cycles and infantry advance under fire. Animated map shows principal German targets as Leningrad, Moscow, and Kiev. It then shows beginning a drive from the North to encircle Leningrad. Arrows show where German Marshal Fedor von Bock's forces drove 480 miles into Soviet territory. Slates identify cities being overrun by German invaders, including: Pskov, Novgorod, Brest-litovsk, Minsk,Mogilev, and Vitebsk. On July 17, 1941, a German tank is seen entering Smolensk, past the Dnieper River threatening Moscow, itself. To the south, German forces, under Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, cut deep into the Ukraine. Newspapers world-wide consider the Soviet forces close to defeat. Slate shows communique from the German High Command stating: "The issue in the East is already settled. Smolensk is the last halt on the road to Moscow." German infantry marching. Scene shifts to heavy artillery being fired by Soviet forces in a snowy scene clearly later in the year. Animated map shows German forces very close to Moscow on October 15, 1941, forcing the Soviet Government and all foreign missions to move to Kuibyshev, 700 miles to the east. Adolf Hitler, in a speech on October 3, 1941, states that the enemy is broken and will never rise again. Animated map shows 500 thousand square miles of Soviet territory occupied by German forces. Views of fires burning in Russia. Damaged and abandoned Soviet industrial plants. A German guard atop a hill looks down on thousands of Soviet people in the occupied areas of Russia. Damaged and abandoned Soviet T-26 tanks. Glimpse of damaged Soviet aircraft and field artillery. Headline in New York World Telegram newspaper reads: "Berlin Admits Russ War May Last Winter." Another headline reads: "Red Army Holds Push On Moscow." Weary German soldiers traveling in horse-drawn wagons, pulling field artillery. Soviet and German war planners are seen at work. Slate quotes Adolf Hitler saying: "A single blow must destroy the enemy, without regard for losses... A gigantic all-destroying blow." German armor moving along a road. Animated map shows this technique in the German invasions of Poland, France, the Balkans, and Yugoslavia. In contrast, the Soviet planners are seen, as map illustrates how they intend to take advantage of the vast area of their land by holding lines of defense an falling back as necessary to keep engaging the invaders across interior of the Soviet Union. Soviet infantry are seen marching along a road. German troops riding atop their tanks. Soviet troops forcing German invaders into close combat in her cities. Soviet soldiers running in a city and firing heavy machine guns. Bomb damage and rubble inhibit German armor mobility in cities. Cities where this kind of Soviet resistance prevailed were: Rostov, Kharkov, Kiev, Kursk, Smolensk. German troops leaving a city with heavy black smoke rising in the background. More views of cities where Soviet troops are engaged German forces in House-to-house battles, including: Odessa, where the Old Opera Theater building is shown sandbagged and relatively undamaged. The Odessa NI tank, created from an STZ-3 agricultural tractor.
After successfully mediating an armistice between French forces in Indochina and Thailand, during World War II, Japan facilitates the signing of a Peace Treaty between Vichy France and Thailand. Cars carrying diplomats enter gates of the Japanese prime minister's official residence. Views of the Treaty being signed in the Great Hall. Japanese, Thai, and French officials are seen at a conference table, signing the Peace Treaty documents, on May 9 1941. Japanese Foreign Minister Yousuke Matsuoka delivers a congratulatory address following the signing of the Treaty. Officials have drinks. A Vichy French official speaks. Thai official speaks before microphone.
Adolf Hitler in a meeting with Philippe Petain in Montoire, and then with Francisco Franco in Hendaye France. Soldiers stand in lines. Philippe Petain gets out of a car in Montoire-sur-le-Loir. Pierre Laval beside him. Petain exchanging salutes with German officers. Cameramen take photographs. Petain shakes hands with Adolf Hitler. Scene changes to Adolf Hitler and Hermann Goering relaxing and laughing as they ride in Hitler's train car. A sign reads Hendaye, the train's next stop. A bridge in view. A train arrives. 'Espana' written on train. A crowd gathered at the station. Adolf Hitler stands at the station and greets Francisco Franco. Both men walk on the station. Nazi flags hung. They board Hitler's train and pull dark curtain down over window of the meeting room on the train. (Opening slate states 1941, but that is incorrect. This event was October 24, 1940). (World War II period).
Map shows coast of Europe with discussion of various places for a possible Allied invasion of France during World War 2. Normandy was chosen. German coastal defenses on English Channel and Atlantic shore (Atlantic Wall). German officers inspect defenses. Map highlights Cherbourgh, Le Havre, and Caen in Normandy. American workers building war machinery in defense plants and shipyards. Huge numbers of workers are seen in the yard of a U.S. defense plant. View inside a U.S. factory where numerous M3 Lee tanks are being manufactured on production lines during 1941-42. A welder at work. A woman using a saw and many other workers in a busy machine shop. B-17 bombers being built in a Boeing factory. Liberty ships under construction at a shipyard. A lookout watching the skies above a city, for enemy aircraft. A man and woman working together on a plumbing job. British women in Army uniforms working with typewriters. An American woman driving a forklift and loading a piece of ordnance on a railroad freight car. A rail yard filled with stream locomotives and freight trains. A line of trucks carrying war time cargoes. An army truck being loaded into the hold of a cargo ship. Ships underway in a harbor.
Series 'Why We Fight' episode "Prelude to War" depicts the battles during World War II. United States soldiers parade on street lead by a band. Japanese bombing attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. The London Blitz with buildings destroyed and burning. The Eiffel Tower in Paris with Nazi flag flying atop it. German troops marching into Paris, through the Arc de Triomphe. Japanese warplanes bombing shanghai, China, in 1937. Chinese residents running for shelter. Glimpse of German "Schwerer Gustav" 80 cmrailway gun firing during German offensive against Soviet Union in 1941. German forces entering Czechoslovakia in 1938. German mounted troops entering France in 1940. Heavy guns firing. German ships en route to Norway 1940. German Ju-52 aircraft flying low over trees. Montage showing rapid succession of war scenes, including heavy guns firing, smoke rising, explosions, an aircraft shot down and crashing straight down, German armor on the move, German Ju-52 aircraft dropping paratroopers into Holland and one flying over Athens, Greece, with Mount Lykabettus in the background. More of the same with Narrator mentioning Belgium, Albania, Yugoslavia, and Russia (where citizens are seen digging anti-tank trenches and fortifications). Cavalry charging across a field. A German tank rolling forward. A German Dornier Do-17 bomber taking off, and bombs falling.
Film starts showing Dwight D. Eisenhower's diploma as honor graduate of the Army Command and Staff School, in 1926. Image of Major Eisenhower (in civilian clothes) Narrator says he was assigned to France, to prepare a guide book on American battlefields in Europe. Image of Eisenhower as a member of General Douglas MacArthur's staff in the Philippines, where MacArthur was Commander-in-Chief of the Philippine army. Glimpse of headquarters building there. MacArthur in his office helping the Commonwealth of Philippines work out a plan for its military defense. Image of Lieutenant Colonel Eisenhower in 1939, serving as Executive Officer of the 15th Regiment, at Fort Lewis, Washington, View of the Regiment's Headquarters building. Scene shifts to 1940, showing German forces invading Holland and Belgium. German tanks are seen in action. German Junkers 87 Stuka dive bombers and Heinkel 111 bombers drop bombs. After passing of the Selective Service draft act, President Franklin D. Roosevelt is seen at a public ceremony on October 29, 1940, where Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson drew from a bowl the capsule containing the first draft number of World War 2. Views of Lt. Col. Eisenhower as Chief of Staff of the Army 3rd Division and later as Chief of Staff of the Ninth Corps. Next, he is seen as Chief of Staff to General Walter Kreuger, who in 1941 led the Third Army in the most realistic maneuvers held by American troops (The Louisiana maneuvers). Views of American troops engaged in those maneuvers. Image of Eisenhower as a Brigadier General. Views of the Pearl Harbor bombing during Japanese attack on December 7, 1941.