Trial of Nazi leaders for war crimes at Nuremberg, Germany in 1946. Guido Schmidt, former Foreign Minister of Austria testifies regarding Adolf Hitler's decision to annex Austria. Footage of Adolf Hitler meeting Austrian Chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg and later Germans annex Austria in Anschluss.
Film opens showing Adolf Hitler ascending stairs to the Bergfhof, accompanied by Marshal Hermann Goering, and followed by other high ranking Nazi officers. Inside, General staff officers begin briefing Hitler about plans for German expansion Eastward. Finger points to Austria on map. Next, on March 12, 1938, Border Guards are seen dismantling barriers at the border as German troops march into Austria. German aircraft fly overhead. Hitler stands in his open touring car as it drives into Vienna, where local people line the sidewalk, and welcome him with the Nazi salute. Maps depict the fall of Austria and illustrate the anticipated conquest of Czechoslovakia. Brief overlay image of Bismark as narrator quotes him about Bohemia being key to control of Europe. German troops advancing up steep mountainous terrain. German soldiers on horseback and wagons passing road sign pointing to cities of Karlovy Vary and Cheb, in the west Bohemia region of Czechoslovakia. Czech troops marching in formation with shouldered arms. View of Czech Avia B-534 warplanes at an airfield. Interior of a Czech Skoda works munitions factory. President of Czechoslovakia, Edvard Beneš, signing papers at his desk. French lancers marching in formation, on parade. (Narrator comments on French military alliances with Czechoslovakia and Great Britain.) View of warships in British fleet. Hitler outdoors, surrounded by German military officers, looking over large maps. Animated map highlights the "Sudetenlands" bordering Germany, including districts of Bohemia, Moravia, and parts of Silesia inside Czechoslovakia, where use of German language was common. Street scene from that area showing some youths in uniforms, marching. Hitler giving speech about bringing the German people together again. The uniformed youth marching at a camp. Sign erected on stone wall at the camp reads: "Die Faune ist mehr als der..."(the flag is more than ...) Youth in Naval garb march on a street with a Nazi flags. Spectators give Nazi salutes. Young men in Khaki uniforms march with Nazi symbols. Scenes shift to similar parades in Norway, Sweden,China,and the United States. Back in Czechoslovakia, Hitler reaches down from his podium to shake hands with parading youth. Images of Admiral Chester Nimitz, Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Senator Robert Wagner, Wendell Wilkie, Henry J. Kaiser, and American military members, superimposed on American flags. Sudentenland Nazi supporters marching. Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein, Sudeten German politician, with a Nazi officer. More views of Sudeten Nazi supporters. Nazis in an office showing blackjacks. Hospitalized Czechs who suffered at hands of Nazi supporters in street fights. Hitler speaking before the Bundestag. Closeup of Joseph Goebbels.Foreign minister Maxine Lichtenhof speaking to League of Nations meeting announcing Russia's readiness to back action against Germany. Czech borders being closed. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain arriving by plane in Munich. Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler, and Hermann Goering with Chamberlain, at the meeting to sign the Munich Agreement. View of protests by people in the streets of Czechoslovakia. French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier and Chamberlain, both being praised by countrymen upon their respective returns from Munich. (Chamberlain seen arriving just before giving famous "peace for our time" speech.)
Some 1940 U.S. football highlights. Scenes of a long touchdown run and an interception and touchdown run from the 1940 National Football League Championship Game that the Chicago Bears won 73-0, on December 8, 1940. Scenes from the Dartmouth-Cornell "Fifth-Down" game of November 16, 1940, with Cornell quarterback "Pop" Scholl throwing a "winning" touchdown pass to William Murphy.
Germany's military resurgence from the end of World War I through its reoccupation of the Rhineland in 1936 and union with Austria in 1938. German war materiel piled up in scrap yards and aircraft engines being destroyed in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles after World War 1. Smoke stacks of war plants being toppled, aircraft hangars being destroyed, and warships being scuttled. German postwar armored cars for training. A soldier flexes the rubber gun barrel on one of them. French forces, including Colonials, occupying Coblenz (Koblenz) in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles, after World War I. French soldiers on guard at the railroad station as a train pulls in. French colonial troops tending to their horses. A British soldier standing guard in front of a building displaying a placard with the Union Jack and word:"General Headquarters, British Army of the Rhine, No.1 Building." French troops stationed in front of their headquarters and patrolling fences across railroad tracks at their occupational boundary. A large film slate announcing that the Rheinland is again free, followed by scenes of German troops re-occupying the Rhineland in 1936. Local citizens cheer the troops, who parade through a city and along the banks of the Rhein River. German sentries posted at The "Deutsche Eck" in Koblenz beside the monument of Kaiser Wilhelm I. Sign demarking boundary of Austria. Border guards opening the gates and German troops entering as crowds cheer. Adolf Hitler speaking before a huge crowd,immediately following the Anschluss (union of Germany with Austria) on 12 March 1938.
Newspaper headline declares Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Countess Sophie's assassination by a Bosnian youth in Sarajevo. The Archduke's bullet ridden uniform. The caskets carrying the bodies of the Archduke and his wife are taken to Vienna. The caskets wrapped in the Austrian flag at the port. Officers and soldiers salute in their honor. Priests lead the funeral procession followed by the caskets brought in horse carriages. Various New York newspaper headlines depicting beginning of World War I: Austria declares war on Serbia, Russia mobilizes against Austria, Germany declares war on Russia, France and England declare war on the Central Powers. Berlin: A large crowd gathered on the streets of Berlin. Mobilized German troops and band march on the streets. Crowd greets the German soldiers.
The ceremony during the formation of republic of the Austria in Vienna, Austria. People gathered at the ceremony during the formation of the Austrian republic. People in front of the Athena fountain at the Austrian Parliament House. Soldiers stand in line holding flags. An Austrian politician Karl Seitz stands with other officials. Officials with troops stand near the Bronze horse tamer statue. Soldiers stand in formation. The Athena Fountain (Pallas-Athene-Brunnen) in front of the Parliament in the background. People walk in lines to cast their vote. People come out of the voting room.