The Armistice at Compiegne, France on 22nd June, 1940 between France and Germany during World War II. German officers including General William Keitel, accompany Chancellor Adolf Hitler as they walk past a German honor guard lined up, while a band plays the German National Anthem. French General Charles Huntziger and another officer arrive and enter a railway carriage (the same one in which Germany signed the 1918 armistice). Interiors of carriage showing French General Huntziger signing the documents. Adolf Hitler has left and is chatting with German officers outside. General Keitel presents the document to Hitler for countersigning. Hitler asks for a pen, and they drop it as Keitel hands it to Hitler. Keitel quickly retrieves it and Hitler signs. French General Huntziger steps down from the rail car and is escorted away with others of his party. Hitler expresses pure delight in chatting with members of his staff.
U.S. troops, along with women volunteers sponsored by the YMCA ,take a sightseeing excursion by steamer,from Koblenz, in December, 1918.. Scenes of their visit to a monument. On board ship, U.S. army band musicians play music and a few couples dance. A few men dance with each other. At stopping place they visit and an army guide explains the site and its significance. (World War i; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
After Lenin makes peace with Germany, civil war breaks out in Russia. White Russian troops are seen fighting against Bolshevik troops in the snow. American soldiers, supporting the White Russians, are seen in Archangel (Arkhangelsk). Cossacks on horseback carry the Tsarist flag. The Romanovs, Tsar Nicholas II and his family are photographed outdoors seated on a wooden bench by barricade fence at Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg. Bolsheviks arresting other revolutionaries who were opposed to them, and executing them by firing squad. Vladimir Lenin with cat in his lap. View of Fanny Yefimovna Kaplan (AKA "Dora") who attempted to assassinate Lenin on August 30, 1918. View of Lenin speaking to Soviet workers. Newspaper of September 1, 1918 reports on the assassination attempt, with dateline London, August 31st: "Lenin wounded twice by assassin. Attempt on Red Premier's life at Moscow. Commissary Uritzky murdered at Petrograd." Crowd in turmoil in Moscow. Newspaper reports capture of would-be assassin, noting that "official Bolshevist paper says, "She is girl of intellectual class." Narrator states that some 500 anti-Bolsheviks are executed in Moscow.
French Marshal Petain, now Premier, following Battle of France, walks to a car and seen later at conference table with Pierre Laval and other national leaders. View of Adolf Hitler, with close associates, expressing delight after signing of the second armistice at Compiegne,ending resistance by France, on June 22, 1940. German honor guard marching near Marshal Foch's railroad car where the 1918 armistice was signed. Monument of Marshal Foch. Hitler, Hermann Goering, and Admiral Raeder, head of the Kriegsmarine, review the honor guard. German stand at steps of the rail car. Raeder, and Goering, both carrying Marshal's batons, flank Hitler. French Army General Charles Huntziger, accompanied by General Jean Bergeret,Air Minister, Vice Admiral Le Luc, Commander of Maritime Forces, and Ambassador Leon Noel, are escorted by two German officers. They enter the railroad carriage. View inside, as Hitler, Goering and German representatives stand when they enter. Newspaper headline describes tax on France for German occupation. French prisoners of war in an outdoor yard and being moved to Germany. French prisoners in bucket brigade and carrying construction materials. French workers engaged in labor to support German war effort. Unhappy French children. Public funerals for persons executed by the Germans. German flag draped over the Foch statue. Hitler's touring motorcade passes Arc de Triomphe in Paris in early morning when streets are empty. Parisians gather on streets to hear German orders broadcast. Many express distress. In Southern France, Military units carry their colors as they depart for North Africa. General Charles de Gaulle is among the marchers. De Gaulle seen reviewing contingents of French military. Free French soldiers parading in London, England. Military officers salute as the ship carrying Regimental colors departs. French colors carried beside unit with American flag. General Charles de Gaulle and General Henri Giraud at 1943 Casablanca Conference (Roosevelt and Churchill seated).
American troops of the U.S. 5th ,21st, and 130th divisions First Army troops positioned at Gerardmer, Vosges Mountains in Alsace, Germany, fire artillery shells on the German Headquarters at Sultzeren on August 27th, 1918. (World War i; World War 1; WWI; WW1)
Crowd fills the Plaza Venezia in Rome where Benito Mussolini appears on the balcony of the Piazza Venezia (formerly known as the Palace of St Mark) in Italy, on June 10, 1940. He announces that Italy has entered World War 2 on the side of the Axis powers. Views of the jubilant crowd waving Italian and some Swastika flags. Next, a road sign points to Paris and to Poissons, in France followed by view of German troops triumphantly entering Paris, through the Arc de Triomphe during occupation of France. View of the Eiffel Tower, and of a German flag flying atop it. More views of German troops marching through Paris. A German railway gun firing. (Narrator implies that the target is the Maginot Line, which is not correct. It was bypassed by the Germans, negating need to attack it directly.) Other German railway guns and siege mortars firing and many huge explosions and fires are seen, including some from flame throwers. Next, German troops are seen marching around a circle where a railroad car is parked near Compiègne, France. This rail car is the scene of Germany's surrender to France in World War I. Statue of French Marshal Foch, who had then, received the delegates of vanquished Germany here. Adolf Hitler walking past a German Honor Guard, salutes. He is accompanied by Marshal Hermann Goering and other high ranking military persons. The nearby 1918 "Alsace-Lorraine monument" is covered by a German flag. The German delegation headed by Hitler and Goering, enter the rail car and take their places. Outside, the French delegation, headed by General Charles Huntziger, is escorted by German officers. They enter the car and he German delegation stands. Both delegations exchange salutes. Next, Hitler is seen stepping from the rail car, followed by Goering. The German delegation walks past the honor guard, and Hitler salutes them. German and French officials still in the rail car exchange salutes. Hitler expresses jubilation.