German cavalry on horseback entering Belgium and Berman infantry marching in France, at the start of World War 1 (1914). The famed Taxicab army is seen carrying French soldiers in Paris. General Ferdinand Foch reviewing elements of the French 9th Army. French and British troops firing a British BL 8-inch howitzer. French troops rushing across no-man's land of trenches and barbed wire, as shells burst. German soldiers taken prisoners in trench. General Foch shaking hands with U.S. General Pershing, aboard a U.S. warship. Sketch of signing of the armistice, November 1, 1918 on a railway carriage at Compiegne. Monument to Marshal Foch. Monument to Minister of War, Andre Maginot. concrete being poured. French construction of the Maginot Line. Animated illustrated cross-section of the line.View of troops moving on rail cars in the Maginot line. Glimpse of Maginot line guns on surface. At outbreak of World War 2, French troops deploy to the Maginot line. French troops inside bunkers and tunnels of Maginot Line. Marshal Petain reviewing the troops as they deploy. Muzzle of a Maginot line gun. Hitler with Military Chiefs planning. View of French Foreign Minsister, Aristide Briand,during signing of the 1928 Kellogg-Briand antiwar pact in Paris.Frank R. Kellogg, U.S. Secretary of State at the table to Briand's left. His signature on the document. A field full of French Morane 406 airplanes. French airman poses with Potez 58 airplane. French AMC 34 tanks. Crowd milling about at Renault Building and unrest elswhere in Paris, France. Newspapers chronicle failure of the League of Nations. Movie cartoon about weakening of France by Nazi inspired social strife and sabotage. French Army troops in mess hall eat at long tables and pour wine with meal. Idle French troops across the Rhine River targeted by German propaganda and psychological warfare including banners; messages by balloons;German bands playing French tunes; large loudspeakers broadcasting in French.
Film begins with peaceful scenes of Japan, including Mount Fuji; women in traditional Kimonos strolling among cherry blossoms; exquisite gardens; Geisha girls in traditional dress holding fans; and picturesque peasant farmers binding sheaves of grain. Evidence of Japan adopting Western styles and ways, shown by modern buildings, motor vehicles, and many Japanese in Western clothes going about their daily business on busy city streets. A Japanese stadium filled with spectators at a baseball game. One difference from an American baseball game is that the players are seen marching onto the field accompanied by a military band and later all sharing in raising the Japanese flag to start the event. View of line of players in jerseys as flag is raised (jersey team name Tomasyo?) Views of the baseball game underway. Baseball player with "Y" logo on front steps up to plate to bat. Scene changes to demonstrations of Japanese Navy as senior Naval Officers review Japanese sailors aboard a warship. A formation of Japanese warships underway. Closeup of a Japanese destroyer. A flotilla of Japanese warships being overflown by several formations of Naval aircraft. A flight of Kawanishi H6K Naval flying boats flying in loose formation. A parade of Japanese light and medium tanks including Type 95 Ha-Go tanks (some with offset turrets). View from rear of the parade. Many tanks crossing a field. Emperor Hirohito, riding a white horse, reviewing Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks and their crews standing at attention. Tanks raising dust as they move in formations on a road and in a field. Japanese infantry soldiers high step march in review past the Emperor on his white horse. Massed Japanese infantry on parade. View, again, of the high-stepping Japanese infantry marching past the Emperor as a segue to Italian infantry goosestepping on parade. Several views of such parades. Mussolini giving an impassioned speech to Italians from balcony on the Palazzo Venezia in Rome on November 4, 1938. A huge flat field filled with Italian SPAD XIII army biplanes parked in symmetric rows. Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia speaking from a shelter, rallies his tribesmen to resist invasion by Italian forces. They are seen in tribal dress, armed with spears and ancient rifles, as they answer the Emperor's call. View of Italian L3 light tanks advancing across desert terrain. Italian cavalry charging. Italian infantry moving forward. Italian Caproni Ca.111bis light bomber in flight. Bombs dropping through the air. Barrages by batteries of Italian artillery. Shells striking a hilltop fortress. An open air stadium with one section containing many Japanese attendees waving Japanese flags. A Japanese statesman reading a speech in Japanese. View of the stadium filled with Italians. "Saluti" written on the edge of the section occupied by Japanese attendees. An Italian spokesman in black uniform welcomes the Japanese contingent. A Japanese translator stands beside him. Closeup of cheering Japanese who have heard the greeting translated. Scene shifts to Japanese infantry hi-stepping past Emperor Hirohito and immediately to Italian troops goosestepping and then to German troops goosestepping as they (according to narrator) march into Austria on March 13th 1938. View of German troops marching into Austrian town to cheers from civilians on sidewalks waving Nazi swastika flags and rendering Nazi salutes. Numerous utility vehicles carry German soldiers through the town. More German soldiers arriving in tanks and on motorcycles. Some arrive on horse-drawn caissons towing field artillery pieces.
Young men stand in a formation in the USSR during World War 2. They are all wearing dark trowsers and white sweat shirts. At a signal from their leader, they all reach down and each picks up two simulated hand grenades from the ground. Closeup of the "grenades." The then run through woods and jump over a rustic fence. Some pair up and use their joined hands to boost others into the air and over the fence. They leap over a fallen tree and then jump down a steep hill and up another. They run into a river, wade rapidly across it, and climb up the opposite bank, where they flop down throwing their "grenades" as they do so. They get up again and continue running.
Overlaid on scenes of fervently patriotic Japanese people waving flags and cheering, is slate reading: "Japan is firmly determined to fight a hundred years war to crush the United States." A huge explosion. Glimpse of U.S. Marine Flame Thrower Tank M67 directing flame on a Japanese bunker. U.S. marines charging in an amphibious assault on a Japanese held Pacific Island during World War 2. U.S. troops wading through surf from their landing craft, during amphibious assault. Marines fighting Japanese in Pacific Island jungle. Landing craft at beach in background. American flag being raised on a palm tree. Soldier saluting the American flag. General Douglas MacArthur wading ashore in the Philippines followed by staff officers and soldiers, including Filipinos. U.S. aircraft bombing Japanese held Corregidor in the Philippines. U.S. Navy ships bombarding the Philippine coast. American paratroopers of the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, jumping at low altitude, from C-47 aircraft onto a critical hill known as "Topside" on Corregidor. Views from ground of paratroopers descending. and landing at the hilltop. U.S. troops in an amphibious assault, under fire. The American flag being formally raised as General MacArthur and other officers salute the flag. Marines in amphibious assault on Iwo Jima. A U.S. battleship firing at the coast. Explosions along the coast from Naval bombardment. Marines charging across the black sands of Iwo Jima. Marines firing a 75mm Pack Howitzer M1. Shells exploding at the base of Mount Suribachi. The famous flag raising by Marines on Iwo Jima. American forces attacking the Japanese Island of Okinawa. A Landing Ship Medium (R) firing rockets at Okinawa. Numerous explosions ashore. The USS LSM(R)-198 firing rockets. U.S. troops using a flame thrower to attack Japanese troops in a bunker. A Japanese defender is shot and tumbles down a hill from a fortification. American flag raising on Okinawa. Army officers salute the colors. A U.S. Navy destroyer firing its stern 8-inch guns. A Japanese warship struck by a bomb or shell, with flash of fire and explosion. More views of U.S. Navy warships bombarding Okinawa. A torpedo seen below the water as it is launched A Japanese ship exploding with fireball and huge cloud of smoke. Glimpse of helmsmen inside U.S. submarine. A formation of Douglas SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber aircraft peels off, and dives. A Japanese ship being strafed and bombed. It explodes. U.S. Army Air Forces B-29 bomber aircraft taking off from captured islands to attack Japan. A formation of B-29s in flight. B-29s flying over Japan. Mount Fuji is visible. B-29 raining bombs on Japan. View from aircraft as bombs strike, exploding on ground. Closeup of falling bomb. Huge clouds of smoke rising from struck targets. More views of B-29 aircraft in flight. Some leaving contrails at high altitude. View from bridge of U.S. battleship bow plunging into heavy seas that cover deck. (Ship's forward triple gun turrets are visible.) Aerial view of landing craft speeding toward a beach, leaving white wake in water. Glimpse of U.S. battleship, in camouflage paint, bombarding a shore. Closeup of twin 40mm Bofors anti aircraft guns being fired from U.S. Navy ship. A Japanese Kamikaze airplane on fire, falling through flak clouds. A Japanese Mitsubishi G4M bomber aircraft flying low past a U.S. Aircraft Carrier. U.S. Navy sailors on a ship's deck firing a twin 40mm bofors gun. A Japanese Kamikaze airplane hit and in flames as it falls. A squadron of U.S. aircraft in formation. Gun camera film of Japanese airplane bursting into flames while being shot at by U.S. aircraft. Flaming aircraft falling straight down towards the water and splashing on contact. U.S. troops wade through surf as they leave Landing Ship Infantry Large USS LCI(L)-337. Troops rush past a beached Landing Vehicle Tracked (LVT) on sand beach. Troops in tracked landing vehicles approaching the shore from a cove. White smoke in the area. A banner erected at shore reading: "CIC." Explosions nearby. Soldiers using a flame thrower. Scene shifts to U.S. Secretary of War, Henry Lewis Stimson, speaking from his office in Washington, DC. He speaks of destroying Japan's armed forces and war fighting capability. A soldier shouting with a beached LVT behind him. American soldiers firing small arms from sheltered positions. An artillery soldier closing the breech of a heavy gun after loading it. Montage of scenes similar to all seen already. A liberty bell and "V" for victory is shown.
The Anschluss. German military entry into Graz, Austria. German troops are welcomed by civilians. Civilians including women parade. They carry Nazi flags. Nazi flags hang from windows of buildings. People look out of the windows. A sign on a shop in the street reads 'Steirerfunk radio'
Animated maps show locations in Russia. Cold and snow force Spanish Blue Division troops under German Army (250. Infanterie-Division) use dynamite for digging defensive positions near Leningrad. They explode dynamite and make room for gun emplacements. Blue Division soldiers fashion trenches in the snow and erect crude shelters of wood. After firing artillery, an officer looks through periscopic sighting binoculars. The troops engage in battle over snow covered field, pulling artillery piece. Chimney of Soviet blockhouse is hit. Spanish troops are decorated by German officials. German cavalry General Georg Lindemann presents Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross to Spanish commander, General Agustín Muñoz Grandes. (World War II period).