A German Zeppelin airship during World War 1. It has the word "Schwaben" written on it. (Presumably from Schwaben, Germany). It is seen taking off from the ground in Germany, soaring above a German city and out over the sea. Narration indicates it is on a London bombing run, scheduled to arrive over London around midnight. Next scene shows the Zeppelin in flames and crashing into the North Sea the next day.
Japanese troops parade for Emperor Hirohito, mounted upon a white horse. Italian troops goosestep and German troops goosestep on parade. View of an Austrian town with snow-covered Alps mountains in background as German troops enter Austria on March 13, 1938 during the Anschluss. Local citizens welcome them, displaying swastika flags and giving Nazi straight arm salutes. Troops, military vehicles, tanks, motorcycles, and horse-drawn artillery comprise the German invading force. Shifts to Spain, where war torn buildings reflect effects of German and Italian intervention during the Spanish Civil War. A donkey standing near field artillery piece. Artillery being fired from an urban park in Spain. Artilleryman using a range finder. German gun crew with heavy artillery piece. Soldiers wearing Adrian steel helmets, firing a two-wheeled water-cooled machine gun. Spanish carrying wounded on stretcher. Spanish civilians inadvertently slain during civil war conflict. Starving dog walking in street. Huge poster of Francisco Franco and view of him on reviewing stand saluting marching Nationalist troops. Repeat of Hirohito reviewing troops and Italian and German troops goosestep. Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini stand together in open car heading to Fuhrerbau in Munich, Germany, for signing of Agreement between Germany, Italy, Britain, and France in 1938. Neville Chamberlain, and Edouard Daladier riding in car to Fuhrerbau. Views of the principals signing the accords. First is Adolf Hitler, followed by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini, and Edouard Daladier. After the signing, the principals, plus Hermann Goering, mingle and converse. Change of scene to nighttime in Rome, Italy, where Benito Mussolini addresses a huge throng gathered near the Victor Emmanuel Memorial to cheer him after his return from Munich. Next, German troops are seen entering Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) greeted by joyous ethnic German inhabitants. Banners are stretched across a street. One gives thanks to the Fuhrer. Several scenes of cheering population. A woman strews flowers in a roadway. Hitler arrives, standing in an open car, and is met with cheers of adulation. A military brass band plays from the open beds of two moving army trucks. Signpost points to Prag (Prague), Eger (Cheb), Joachimstal (Jáchymov), and Komotau (Chomutov) after German annexation. Scene shifts to Prague, where German troops are seen occupying the city. High ranking German officers in a car are seen coming through the gateway from the Court d´honneur of the Prague Castle into the Hradčany Square. The next sequence shows an Italian Freccia-Class destroyer in the Albanian Port of Durrës. An Italian L3/35 Tankette is driven off a large cargo ship. Italian troops on bicycles ride in a city street. A German 88mm antiaircraft (flak) gun is shown, mounted at a fort overlooking a river and city. Final scene shows Adolf Hitler addressing a meeting of the Bundestag in the Kroll Opera House (alternate meeting place after burning of the Reichstag). He reads, contemptuously from an April 14, 1939 letter sent to him by U.S. President Roosevelt, asking him to give "assurance that your armed forces will not attack or invade the territory or possessions of the following independent nations: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain and Ireland, France, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Iraq, the Arabias, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Iran." As Hitler reads through the litany of nations, the Bundestag erupts in laughter.
Battle of Monte Casino between Germany and Allied troops in Monte Cassino, Italy. German troops are supported by heavy artillery and rockets. The troops fire artillery and rockets. Explosions and smoke rises over targets. A battle with mortars and small arms. Allied prisoners (both British and American) are taken by German forces. Allied POWs marched on road under German guard. Cannons are fired. A soldier watches a plane through binoculars. Rockets are fired. Planes in flight. Ruins of Cassino. A German antiaircraft downs an enemy bomber. Explosions and smoke rises. A flag of Nazi Germany in the ruins. (World War II period).
French and United States Army 3rd Army troops liberate Strasbourg, France during World War II. Tanks of the French 1st Army moves from the Swiss border. Sign reads “Mülhausen Elsaß” (“Mulhouse, Alsace”). Troops find the body of a dead German soldier along the road. They advance in the Metz area. The 9th army advances through villages in bordering Germany. Soldiers walk on the battlefield. German prisoners of war (POWs) walk along with the soldiers. Civilians holding the French flag return to their homes after the battle. Strasbourg sign in German reads “Straßburg Schiltigheim”. Bell tower of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Strasbourg, France. Damaged buildings near the Cathedral. The street is littered with pile of handheld, small Nazi flags with swastika emblem. Men gather outside buildings discussing amongst themselves. U.S. Third Army soldiers walk in the mud. Winter weather overshoes are distributed to troops. Soldiers put on the all-weather boots. More German soldiers and officers are captured in Metz. United States Ninth Army troops enter the town of Weisweiler, Germany. Soldiers moving through backyards, chicken houses and engage in house-to-house fighting. A mortar crew fire mortars behind trench made of sandbags. A wounded U.S. Army soldier crawls to reach the outstretched arm of a fellow soldier. Injured U.S. soldier receiving treatment in aid station. Medical aid stations at various places on the battlefield. Medics treat a wounded soldier. A dying soldier lies down on the street. Soldiers carry a patient to top of a tank. They march forward on the battlefield as officers in Jeep watch.
German troops of KG Peiper advance in Malmedy, Belgium during World War II. A map points out Belgium, Germany and France. Camouflaged German StuG III Assault Guns advance. Flamethrowers used. German soldiers fire at American positions and bombard. German soldiers pass by a U.S. Army motor convoy in flames near Malmedy. The United States Army soldier prisoners of war in the town under German guard. Red Cross personnel examine the bound bodies of U.S. POW that were found and, separately, of Belgian civilians massacred by the German troops near Malmedy (the so called Malmedy Massacre). The dead are buried in a common grave. Wrecked houses and buildings. News headline reads, "3rd Army deep in Germany." Fire blazing in supply depots left by the retreating United States forces. U.S. artillery and antiaircraft guns fired point blank at the advancing German tanks. The U.S. tank guns and machine guns fire over the snow covered battlefield. Smoke arises from firing. U.S. Army Air Force aicraft and German Luftwaffe aircraft engage in aerial dogfight combat. Contrails across sky. U.S. soldiers in snow covered forest of trees in Battle of the Bulge. General Eisenhower visits troops at the front. News headlines about Russians smashing German lines and 40 Japanese ships sunk. Views of dead U.S. soldiers on Belgian battlefield.
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.
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