Original subtitles

[Music]

September the 1st

1939 German troops thrust deep into

Poland to win a Swift and absolute

Victory barely 20 years earlier their

forefathers had also been on the March

but back into their Homeland as a

defeated

Army in November 1918 after 4 years of

World War I Germany's Emperor Kaiser

wihelm II had been forced to

applicate his armies were being ground

down by by a remorseless offensive by

British French and US

troops his people faced

[Music]

snation but already a dangerous myth was

taking

route the German generals and troops

claimed that they hadn't been defeated

in battle but betrayed by their own

cowardly

politicians even so at 11: in the

morning on November the 11th 1918 the

11th Hour of the 11th day of the 11th

month World War I came to an

[Music]

end the following month President woodro

Wilson of the United States arrived in

Europe promising to create a new world

order he persuaded the world's leaders

to sign up to a new League of Nations

at the Treaty of versailes they agreed

that from now on disputes between

countries would be resolved not by

fighting but by debate in the

league the peoples of Europe were set

free Germany's Ally the ostroh Hungarian

Empire was dismembered out of it new

nations were created Austria Poland

Hungary Czechoslovakia I Yugoslavia lvia

Lithuania and Estonia Germany itself was

greatly reduced in

size but this process contained a time

bomb not everyone celebrated the birth

of countries like

Czechoslovakia several of them contained

substantial German

minorities one day the desire to reunite

the German peoples would come to haunt

Europe

the war torn German people also had one

final indignity inflicted on them they

were forced to pay a massive 6.6 billion

in reparations to France and Britain

something they could ill

afford and when he returned to America

Wilson's New World Order immediately

fell apart the US Congress decided it

could not risk being sucked into another

wall in Europe it refused to join his

league and the US withdrew into

isolationism Germany was now a very

different Nation it was still Europe's

biggest country but its militaristic

monarchy had gone it had become a

democracy but its government the

so-called viar Republic was soon struck

by a series of hammer BLS

Street battles erupted between extreme

right-wing nationalists and Communists

trying to start a

revolution then in

1923 the country was devastated by

hyperinflation which reached hundreds of

perent a

month ordinary people's savings were

wiped

out this was fertile ground for a new

breed of Rabel rousing rightwing Poli

[Music]

among them Adolf

Hitler Hitler had been born in Austria

he had fought bravely as a soldier in

World War I and been awarded the iron

cross on returning to Germany he settled

in Munich and his fiery oratory soon

enabled him to seize control of the

small National Socialist or Nazi party

in October 1923 Hitler and his henchmen

attempted an armed coup against the viar

government it failed and he was

sentenced to 9

[Music]

months in prison he wrote a book my Camp

my struggle in which he blamed Germany's

Hills on the Jews and demanded that it

rebuild its strength and seek new

territories in the east

on his release he set about building the

Nazis into a proper disciplined

political

party from now on he would use the

democratic system to achieve

power but for the next 5 years viar

Germany prospered support for extremist

parties left and right

dwindled then suddenly Hitler's

opportunity arrived

in October 1929 the US Stock Market

crashed billions of dollars were lost

and an economic depression swept across

the

[Music]

world unemployment in Germany soared to

over 6 million only extremist

politicians seemed to offer a solution

politicians like Hitler by 1931 his

Nazis were a true mass

movement and they had their own Brown

shirted thugs the sa storm troops who

numbered almost 3

million in the 1932 elections the Nazis

became the largest party in Germany's

Parliament the

RAR but Hitler refused to join a

coalition leaving Parliament

paralyzed to break the arm pass

president Hindenburg made him Chancellor

in January

1933 head of the

government within a month the rag burned

out Hitler accused the Communists and

demanded emergency Powers he then used

them to ban all other political

parties in August 1934 president

Hindenberg died Hitler declared himself

president he was now absolute leader the

fur of

[Applause]

Germany at first there was little sign

of what was to

come the next 3 years the fura

concentrated on rebuilding Germany's

economy he spent Millions on Public

Works including the 5,000m auto system

to soak up the

unemployed but in secret Hitler was also

spending lavishly on a huge rearmament

program under the Versa treaty the

German Army had been limited to 100,000

men the country was forbidden to have an

Air Force tanks or submarines

this small army was trebled in size then

in

1935 Hitler came out into the open he

unveiled a brand new Air Force the Luft

vafer it had 2 and a half thousand

planes far more than Britain or

France unemployment plunged and the

Nazis became enormously

[Applause]

popular now embolden nefa made his first

expansionist move in 1935 he reoccupied

the saan district on the French border

after it voted to return from League of

Nations to German

board a year later he sent German troops

into the reinand part of Germany which

had been demilitarized at their

side at the time many felt that Hitler

was only claiming back what was

rightfully Germany's neither Britain nor

France

objected when Berlin hosted the 1936

Olympic Games the Nazis were seen by

many as firm but fair a government which

was restoring the nation's pride and

which didn't threaten

anyone of course there were signs the

1935 nurenberg laws for bad Jews to

marry true Aryan Germans and deprive

them of their

citizenship but when the first threats

came to world peace they didn't come

from Hitler at

all but from somewhere else

entirely Japan at the start of the 20th

century was already a military

power it had defeated Russia in a war in

1905 and it had fought alongside the

Allies in World War

I after the war Japan was an

acknowledged world

power and it signed up to the League of

Nations but politically it was a mess of

contradictions nominally near democracy

the feudal tradition was still strong

Most Japanese revered their Emperor as a

living God and regarded him as their

true

leader and the country faced major

economic problems its population was

exploded and it had no natural resources

to fuel its rapidly expanding

Industries its leaders needed Solutions

and they saw them in Chinese Manu

Manchuria was a land of Rich grain

Fields with plenty of coal and

minerals it was a perfect Target

Japanese troops were already stationed

there other possible targets were the

colonies ruled by the European powers

Burma Mala and Hong Kong controlled by

Britain Indochina ruled by France and

the Dutch East India

but at this stage Japan had to be

cautious they didn't want to Rouse the

other great power in the

Pacific the United

States for all its Anti-Imperialist

slogans the US actually ran an

unofficial Empire in the Pacific the

Philippines Guam and several islands

were under its direct

rule it undoubtedly had the strength to

take on Japan but since the end of World

War I it had had other

[Music]

distractions this was America's Jazz

Age throughout the 1920s a nation

concentrated on exploiting its vast

resources it was an economic boom that

seemed Without End

fortunes were made both in industry and

the stock

markets America seemed lost to the

increasing pursuit of

pleasure with distractions like these

Japan's growing pains in the Pacific

seemed very far

away America had slashed its Army after

World War I and agreed a naval reduction

treaty with Britain France and

Japan this in effect handed Naval

superiority in the Pacific to the

Japanese and then came the Great

Depression as the economic Devastation

spread a quarter of the population lost

their jobs tens of thousands were made

homeless living in Shanty

towns whereas before it had been

distracted by Pleasure now America was

distracted by pain it was time for Japan

to make her

move in 1931 without even informing

their own elected government the

Japanese forces in Manchuria seized the

capital M death and then overround the

rest of the

territory a puppet state Manu qu was

proclaimed under a puppet ruler Henry

Pui The Last Emperor of China who had

been deposed in 1911 was dragged out of

retirement at its headquarters in Geneva

the League of Nations now faced its

first great test Japan was universally

condemned but her response was blunt

Japan however find it impossible to

accept the report adopted by the

assembly the Japanese then just walked

out and the league suddenly realized

there was nothing it could do about

manua

Japan was declared an international

Pariah but it didn't care its leaders

had turned their eyes to further

conquests in

China these were easy pickings China was

in a state of chaos the government of

generalisimo changai Sheek was locked in

conflict with the Chinese Communist

Party under

ma there was Civil War

in 1936 as a precursor to Invasion the

Japanese signed a pact with Hitler the

aim was to guard against any attack by

Soviet Russia were it to move on

China then in July 1937 the Japanese

provoked an incident with Chinese troops

and invaded

at first the Chinese were taken by

surprise but they soon fought back

fiercely the Communists even joining the

Quan Tang in a United

F the Japanese responded with amphibious

Landings by the end of 1937 they had

overrun much of northern China and the

[Music]

coast the Japanese fought this war with

exceptional brutality bombing cities

indiscriminately westerners living in

the commercial center the port of

Shanghai were now evacuated the city was

then besieged for three months

[Music]

[Music]

it suffered widespread damage the

Japanese forces showing no pity or

concern for the native

population but it was after the capture

of Nan King then the Chinese capital on

December the 17th

1937 that the Japanese forces really ran

along over 300,000 civilians are

estimated to have been massacred during

a 6 we orgy of rape and indiscriminate

[Music]

killing the Japanese even attacked

British and US warships which had been

sent to protect their shipping and

trade the worst incident came on

December the 12th 1936

the American gunboat pan was sunk by

Japanese bombers 50 crewmen

died despite this the Western Powers

refused to

intervene so the League of Nations could

do

nothing in the United States President

Roosevelt wanted to impose a naval

blockade of

Japan it has become clear that acts and

policies of nations in other parts of

the world have far-reaching effects on

us but the British would have none of it

fearing that it might provoke a war so

all Roosevelt could offer was a $25

million loan to chanai Sheek to buy

arms even though the Communists were now

fighting alongside the Quin Tang the

Soviet Union did little to help either

its only involvement was a series of

clashes along its own border with

manuri but China itself received nothing

instead it had to fight on

alone during 1938 the Japanese overran

Canton and pushed the Chinese forces

deeper into the west of the country all

the rhetoric of the League of Nations

all those promises to stop International

aggression had come to nothing and by

now the Western Powers were facing

aggression much closer to

[Applause]

[Music]

home today it is easy easy to love at

Bonito musini the fascist dictator of

Italy all that posturing seems faintly

ridiculous now but it didn't seem that

way in

[Music]

1922 back then Italy had seemed to be on

the edge of Anarchy the country was

Riven by strikes and land

seizes the democratic government just as

in Germany seemed powerless in the face

of such unrest

so Bonito musolini a war veteran and a

journalist decided to take a stand he

organized a right-wing nationalist party

the

fascists with a country Paralyzed by a

general strike in August 1922 musolini

ordered his followers to march on

roof fearing a civil war Italy's King

Victor Emanuel asked him to form a

government

musolini swiftly Stamped Out any

political opposition and assumed

dictatorial

Powers by 1928 his position seemed

secure Parliament was appointed rather

than elected and all power was firmly in

the hand hands of the fascist Grand

[Music]

Council like Hitler melini's first acts

made him immensely

popular massive programs of Public Works

provided employment and transformed

Italy's

infrastructure corruption was rooted out

and the mafia more or less

eliminated Italy's armed forces were

built up including an advanced modern

Air

Force in the Mediterranean musolini

launched a powerful navy bigger than the

combined might of the British and French

Mediterranean

fleets when the Great Depression came

Italy seemed to weather it better than

[Music]

most melini became a source of worldwide

inspiration

political leaders not least Adolf Hitler

in Germany saw the fascist system as a

role model strong and purposeful in

contrast to the weakness of the

democracies in Britain and

France but melini wanted more than

adulation he wanted to recreate the

Roman Empire and he already had a Target

in mind for his first Imperial land grab

his Target was abisinia today's

Ethiopia Italy already had colonies on

its borders in Eritrea and Italian

Somalia

land in December 1934 Italian forces

provoked a clash with Abyssinian troops

at an oasis in the ogaden region well

inside abian territory

[Music]

musolini then sent reinforcements to

Eritrea and Italian Somali land

demanding that abisinia pay

reparations the Emperor of abisinia

Highly salasi appealed in person to the

League of

[Music]

Nations he called on it to live up to

its ideals here was a small nation under

threat from another member of The League

this was the Supreme test but the league

did

nothing Britain's foreign minister

Anthony Eden at least tried to broker a

peace deal but musolini would have none

of

it in early October 1935 the Italian

Army invaded from Eritrea and Italian

somaria the Primitive abian forces stood

little chance against a modern Army

equipped with artillery and

[Music]

tax the Italian Air Force had total

command of the air and harried the

absans on occasions dropping gas bombs

even though gas had been outlawed at

versailes

crime against

humanity after 6 months abisinia was

completely

overrun the emperor H salassi fled into

Exile in

Britain from its headquarters in

Switzerland the League of Nations rung

its hands it did impose economic

sanctions but they had little

effect melini's aggression had revealed

two things the League of Nations that

great hope for peace was impotent and

both Europe's supposed major Powers the

democracies Britain and France no longer

had the stomach for a

fight both Britain and France had been

Shattered by World War I and their

economies had never really recovered

both had witnessed waves of strikes and

unrest both had suffered mass

unemployment even before the Great

Depression both also faced the cost of

controlling Empires now swollen by

taking on Germany's former colonies and

the Middle Eastern territories once run

by the Turkish Ottoman Empire

and above all both had been traumatized

by the horrific casualties of World War

I a succession of British leaders Floyd

George Ramsey McDonald and above all

Stanley Baldwin All resolved to keep

Britain out of future

conflicts despite horrific casualties on

the Western Front Britain had ended

World War I with a large and very

effective conscript

Army this was immediately run down to a

small professional Force designed to

police its sprawling

Empire and when the Great Depression

struck any ideas of modernizing the army

were abandoned it meant that Britain

went into the runup to war economically

and militarily

[Music]

weak French losses during World War I

had been even worse than the British

[Music]

ever mistrustful of the Germans a large

conscript Army was maintained but

throughout the 1920s France's birth rate

had declined it became clear that there

would be a Manpower shortage by the mid

to late

1930s France realized it could never

compete with Germany on the size of its

Army

alone the solution was to ad adopt an

entirely defensive

[Music]

mentality the majino line a series of

fortifications was begun in 1930 along

the frontier with Germany and ran as far

as the Belgian

border there it theoretically linked up

with fortifications planned by the

belgians this new French military

approach

meant that France was only capable of

waging a defensive War it just did not

have the ability to launch an attack on

Italy even if the British had had the

troops to

help and of course both countries knew

that their navies in the Mediterranean

were outnumbered by melini's new

Fleet so when Italy conquered abisinia

it made sense for both powers was to do

nothing it just seemed too remote too

much someone else's

problem by now they both had to deal

with all the traumas of the Great

Depression that seemed so much more

pressing and above all they were now

faced with a military threat far closer

to

home the resurgent and rearming

Germany and Germany's power and that of

Italy too was soon about to be

demonstrated in supporting the rise of

another

dictator in

Spain in 1936 Civil War erupted in Spain

it was exceptionally vicious setting

family against family communist against

fascist Believers against

[Music]

atheists in 1931 a left-wing government

had come to power determined to get rid

of the centuries old Spanish

monarchy the King was forced into Exile

and a republic was declared

in February 1936 the parties of the left

combined in a popular front to take on

the forces of the right in a general

election the popular front won

narrowly even though its reform program

was modest the wave of strikes and land

seizes led the right to fear that a

communist takeover was inevitable

[Music]

within the Spanish Army Long a Bastion

of conservative and Catholic thinking

senior officers began to consider the

possibility of a

coup among them was General Francisco

Franco a former Chief of Staff who had

been effectively exiled to command

Spain's forces in the Canary

[Music]

Islands on July the 17th

1936 the units of the army fighting

guerillas in Spain's colony in Morocco

mutin the next day Franco flew to join

them proclaiming a new nationalist

movement which would save Spain from

communism Mainland garrisons now join

this

Revolt the popular front responded by

calling for volunteers to defend the

Republic Battle lines had been drawn

at first Franco faced problems he and

his army were in North Africa and he had

to get across the Straits of Gibralter

back to smain so he turned to the one

person he thought might help Adolf

Hitler within a month Transport Aircraft

from Hitler's new Luft buffer had begun

an airlift taking Franco's battle

hardened veterans over to southern

Spain at this stage the republics still

seem to have the advantage the pro

Franco military uprisings in Madrid and

Barcelona were quickly crushed leaving

it in control of most of the east of the

country Franco's nationalist were

confined largely to the Northwest and

part of the

South but the Nationalist situation was

transformed when Hitler and musolini

started to pour in troops and

weapons the German dictator seized the

opportunity to test his new equipment

and expanding armed

forces the first pan tanks were sent

along with some 12,000

troops and the LT buffer deployed its

Condor Legion with its ultramodern new

bombers and

Fighters musolini sent a so-called

volunteer core of ,000 men and more than

700 aircraft

in vain did the Republicans appeal to

Britain France and the Soviet Union for

help but London and Paris were scared of

setting off a European War they declared

a policy of

[Music]

non-intervention cynically both Germany

and Italy signed up to this but when it

became obvious that they were still

sending arms to the nationalists Joseph

Stalin the Soviet leader announced that

he would help the

Republic Stalin's worry was the rise of

fascism in

Germany Hitler had made it abundantly

clear that he believed communism to be

Nazism Ultimate

Enemy Stalin saw the Spanish conflict as

a way of keeping Germany and Italy

occupied while building up the Soviet

Union's military

strength about 700 military advisers

were sent along with tanks and fighter

aircraft it was something but no match

for the support Franco had

received in fact the largest source of

outside help for the Republic didn't

come from a country at all but from

volunteers the international brigades

about 30,000 leftwing Americans Bri

British French and Germans signed up to

fight in

Spain with their new fascist support the

nationalists were able to open two

fronts one advancing towards Barcelona

from the north the other led by Franco

pushing up towards Madrid from the

south by the end of 1936 Madrid was

enveloped on three sides and virtually

Under Siege

the fighting was intense and often

accompanied by appalling atrocities

against

civilians the Republicans hunted down

and murdered Roman Catholic priests the

nationalists slaughtered anyone accused

of being

communist German and Italian airow was

used indiscriminately against civilian

targets Madrid was heavily

bombed but the worst incident came in

April 1937 when the Bas town of genica

was virtually obliterated with 6,000

civilian

deaths the area controlled by the

Republic was steadily ground down its

forces fought with great gallantry but

undertrained and underere equipped

amateur were no match for the

professional soldiers led by Franco or

for the combined modern Weaponry of

Italy and

Germany as the war dragged on the

fighting around Madrid became a symbol

of the left's determination not to be

crushed by a fascist

dictatorship but behind the scenes the

Republican Alliance was falling apart

the Communists and socialists wanted to

concentrate on winning a military

victory

but the more idealistic anarchists and

syndicalists saw the war as an

opportunity for a mass Revolution by the

workers these disagreements burst out

into the open in May

1937 fighting broke out in Barcelona

between the anarchists and Communists it

was a fatal weakening of the Republican

courts by the end of 193 38 the

nationalists had penned their enemy into

a small Enclave around Barcelona and

another stretching Eastward from Madrid

to the

coast Madrid continued to hold out but

the international brigades were

withdrawn more and more Nations began to

recognize Franco's government as his

forces closed in for the final assault

on

[Music]

Madrid at the end of March

1939 its Defenders exhausted after

nearly 3 years of fighting the capital

finally

[Music]

surrendered a month later Franco

formally declared hostilities at an end

[Music]

the scars of Spain's Civil War took

years to heal and in some ways they

never

have and internationally Franco's

victory over the Republic proved a

disaster Hitler and musolini were

confirmed in their belief that the

democracies of Britain and France were

impotent to resist any real

pressure while staring despaired of

their willingness to confront

fascism Hitler in particular saw his way

open to begin the aggressive policies

outlined in

mineal even before the Spanish Civil War

ended his armies were on the

march from the moment he became

chancellor of Germany on January the

30th

1933 Hitler had begun to put his

long-term Ambitions into

action on February the 3rd he told his

top commanders that his ultimate aim was

to conquer territory in the East and

ruthlessly germanize it they were

instructed to prepare for a massive

expansion although Germany had been

forbidden tanks a secret Tre treaty with

the Soviet Union in 1923 had allowed the

development of tank designs and

experimentation with new mobile armor

tactics energetic young German officers

like Hein Garian read the theories of

British thinkers like basil little Hart

and Colonel John

fuler they even watched exercises being

carried out by the British during the

1920s on soulsby play it was from these

that they came up with the idea of fast

moving units combining tanks artillery

and infantry that could thrust fast and

deep into enemy

territory Hitler adopted their ideas

with enthusiasm the new Army was to have

three Panza

divisions similarly the new Air Force

the Luft vafer under former World War I

fighter Ace Herman guring had had a

framework to build

on throughout the years in which its Air

Force was officially ban Germany had

kept up its design skills by building

civilian machines and gliding and flying

clubs provided a reserve of potential

aircra Hitler revealed the existence of

the LT baffer in March 1935

he then announced that the Army was to

be increased to 300,000 men and

conscription was

[Music]

reintroduced Britain and France

protested feebly at this flagrant breach

of the Versa

treaty but soon they reluctantly and

slowly began to

rearm until this this point Hitler had

been modest in his goals he had only

taken back what was his the Rhineland

and

saand but now he had a grander Target in

mind his homeland

Austria in 1934 Austrian Nazis had

attempted to seize power and unify the

country with

Germany the austrians after all spoke

German even if they had never been part

of a German state

in February 1938 another Nazi plot was

discovered Austrian Chancellor Kurt Von

shush protested to

Hitler Hitler responded by demanding

that Austria stop mistreating the

Austrian Nazis and Unite with Germany

[Applause]

shush Nik promptly called a referendum

so that the austrians could vote on

whether to remain

independent but on March the 12th 1938

the eve of the referendum Hitler fearing

that it might produce the wrong result

sent in his

troops complete surprise and an

enthusiastic welcome by Nazi

sympathizers made it a bloodless

invasion

within hours Hitler announced Austria's

incorporation into the Third Reich a

Sovereign Nation had for the first time

being subsumed into a greater Germany

once again the Western democracies

failed to

react in the summer of 1938 he turned on

his next prey

Czechoslovakia a substantial German

minority lived in the northwest of the

country an area known as the Sudan

[Music]

land these Sudan Germans had been part

of the old Austrian Empire but had been

cut off when Czechoslovakia was created

in

[Music]

1919 this was the time bomb that had

started ticking at the signing of the

Treaty of

Versa Hitler encouraged sodate and

German demands for autonomy and then

threatened a Czech government with Force

if it refused to

agree undaunted the Czech government

ordered General mobilization and

prepared to

resist the czechoslovak Army was large

and well equipped with formidable

fortifications on its Frontier with

Germany Hitler backed

off but then at the beginning of

September concerned that war might be

imminent the British prime minister

never devil Chamberlain decided to act

as a

peacemaker he flew to meet Hitler twice

the Nazi dictator assured him that if he

could have the Sudan land he would make

no further territorial demands in

Europe in Munich on September the 29th

1938 with musolini acting as mediator

France and Britain signed an agreement

giving the Sudan land to Germany in

return for a formal declaration by

Hitler that he have no more territorial

Ambitions Chamberlain flew back to

Britain waving the piece of paper which

he claimed guarantees peace in our

time and so on October the 1st German

troops occupied the Dayton land and

seized the Czech Frontier

fortifications and freed Hitler now

began sizing up his next Target

Poland again the nominal cause was a

German minority marooned as a result of

the Versa treaty

the Hitler demanded the return of the

port of Dan to German control so that

East Prussia could be linked up with the

rest of

[Music]

Germany the polls refused and Hitler

hesitated he was not quite ready for

allout war and he had unfinished

business with

Czechoslovakia in March 1939 the eastern

part of the country Slovakia which was

ethnically different to the Czech lands

appealed to Hitler for help in achieving

greater

Independence Hitler summoned the

czechoslovak Prime Minister Emil hatcha

to Berlin and browbeat him into putting

his country under German

protection German troops now marched

into the rest of Czechoslovakia

unopposed most of the country was

annexed into the re Slovakia was

declared a protector

for the first time Hitler had seized

non-germane speaking territory but again

there was only a feeble protest from

Britain and

France at the end of March he again

repeated his demand that Poland give up

dancing this time France and Britain

declared unequivocally that they would

declare war if he attacked

Poland but by now Hitler cared little

whether they did or not not he was sure

that they would be weak and indecisive

opponents in Russia Stalin had also

become increasingly concerned by

Hitler's

aggression in April Stalin proposed an

alliance with Britain and

France but negotiations made little

progress and finally Stalin despaired

deciding that there was another solution

to the German threat

[Music]

on August the 23rd the Soviet Union and

the Third Reich who everyone had

believed were sworn enemies announced a

non-aggression

pact the agreement secretly specified

that Poland would be split between the

two countries and Stalin would have a

free hand to take over Estonia lava and

Lithuania now free from any Russian

threat Hitler ordered his Armed Forces

to prepare for an immediate

Invasion on the evening of August the

31st the German fairm prepared for the

assault its fura had made the decision

which would plunge the world into war

[Music]