LAND OF OUR FOREFATHERS

[Music] so 500 years ago when columbus discovered america there were no white people here but since then many people have been coming over to this continent most of them from europe spanish french english dutch german and slavic peoples until now counting their children and their children's children there are over 100 million people of european descent in the united states alone in this program we are going back to europe to visit some of its countries and the kinds of people to whom we are related the people of europe have not always lived where we find them today long before the birth of christ indo-european tribes had been coming down from the highlands of asia into europe to establish great civilizations on the borders of the mediterranean in greece they achieved great beauty and art and literature and developed a profound philosophy [Music] the roman empire which sprang up toward the end of the greek civilization conquered the known world it absorbed the best in other civilizations it built great roads and displayed great ability in the art of government making many wise and just laws through its conquests it acquired vast wealth [Music] the romans staged great sporting [Music] contests my but in the end it fell a prey to the half civilized tribes which had followed its path from asia into the plains of europe first of these were the celtic peoples with their various tribes of gauls and britons and belgian the descendants of these people are today the dominant race in scotland ireland wales france and belgium this race has always been noted for its bravery and for its love of freedom in our first chapter we are going to take a trip through the farms of france where you will see exhibited the best traits of the celtic character on the heels of the celts there came over a period of many years a great number of teutonic tribes goths saxons franks and norsemen whose descendants predominate in england scandinavia holland germany and austria these races display a genius for thoroughness and teamwork in the second chapter of this program we shall take a trip through germany and see the marvelous industrial achievements of this race in our third chapter we visit england a land where these two strains have mingled for this island first the land of the britons was annexed by the romans invaded by the picts colonized by the angles and saxons raided by the danes conquered by the normans and parceled out in feudal grants to members of the french nobility we are especially interested in england because most of the first settlers in the united states came from that country and brought over here its language its customs its laws and its social and political ideas in our visit to england we shall acquaint ourselves with some historical spots of particular importance in american history finally there is another indo-european race come out of asia into europe too late to play an important part in its history until after the united states had become a nation by itself these are the slavic people who predominate in russia poland czechoslovakia and the balkan countries many of these people have come to the united states within the last 75 years today in russia they are carrying on a great social experiment in our concluding chapter we shall visit this country and see history in the making in this portion of the land of our forefathers [Music] when about 50 years before the birth of christ caesar crossed from rome through france and belgium he found a beautiful and fertile country filled with villages and inhabited by many tribes of brave independent home loving people these were the self [Music] and now two thousand years after as we visit the farm-inhabited districts of france we see in the country and its people much to remind us of the land on the folks caesar found so long ago for the peasant people still love their homes and their land and prize their sturdy independence and individualism it was from the french philosophers that jefferson and other founders of our country derived their ideas of liberty equality and fraternity and the rights of man that we find in the declaration of independence and the constitution of the united states and in fundamental laws of our land [Music] while france has large cities and great mills and manufacturing plants yet its real spirit is found on its farms and in its villages much of the manufacturing is done in the homes such as the making of lace and the making of wooden shoes or sabos so characteristic of the country people of france [Music] not all of the french peasants life is hardship and trouble thought for on occasion no one can be as gay or carefree as he and what occasion can compare with a wedding between the son and daughter of two old friends this is a great day the relatives come from far and near and with the friends of the young couple enter into the spirit of the event [Music] foreign [Music] two this so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] ah after the fall of the roman empire culture moved from italy into france its beautiful gothic cathedrals reflect the magnificence of the time when the popes made avignon their capital or when louis xiv was the most powerful ruler in the world following the celts into europe came the germanic tribes the patient industry and teamwork of these people is best illustrated in the giant steel mills and the so-called heavy industries which flourish in germany more than in any other country in europe cathedrals and gigantic towers of industry strive for supremacy on the german skyscape in perfect rhythm the giant mills roar and clang and hammer out with superlative efficiency the largest machines are the tiniest timepieces here you see a monorail a train suspended beneath a single overhead rail [Music] iron and coal from the roar and the tsar form the backbone of german industries early every morning the miners assemble at the cage waiting to descend to their laborious tasks below the earth all day long the hoists bring up cars with their loads of mineral wealth [Music] under great heat and tremendous pressure these rollers squeeze out sheets of steel plate [Music] a huge electromagnet carries iron and steel from place to place [Music] [Music] our docks harbor great ships which plow the seas to find outlets abroad for the products of the mills and factories and there is her queen of the seas the [Music] europa trains shuttle back and forth across the land and concentrate the workers in industrial cities and distribute the produce of their labor [Music] here is a little goose heard girl who looks as if she had just stepped out of a fairy tale book [Music] but germany was not always a land of factories and mills it still possesses large rural districts where we may see displayed the even temper and the friendliness of the old-time german farmer as the harvesters fare to the fields the master of the farm tests the wheat kernels in the ear with his thumb to see that the starch has fully formed [Music] men and women alike work in the fields with songs and dances the german folk will find joy in work and the completion of a plentiful harvest [Applause] [Music] one [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] uh from germany we travel westward to england located on the southern half of an island less than 25 miles at its nearest point from the mainland of europe as we travel through the villages and fields of england we will see much to remind us that though the people of england are fundamentally teutonic in race they have been influenced to a large degree by the mixtures of other racism england possesses many iron and coal mines and great mills and factories in the mighty fleet of merchant ships we are going to avoid the large cities since among the simple country folk we will have a better opportunity to get acquainted with and to appreciate those racial stocks whose sons and daughters have come to make our country [Music] [Music] so [Music] these stones form a druid altar a relic of prehistoric days [Music] because we must understand the history of england to fully appreciate the history of our own country we find much to interest us in visiting these old castles relics of an earlier day [Music] around these walls linger memories of fine ladies who spun and sold in bygone [Music] days and there are other memories of a less peaceful nature for the nobles who came over to england as companions of william the conqueror claimed rights and privileges which even the king had to respect and they often fought him to maintain them a hostile army is seen approaching the knights hastily done their armor and take their places on the battlements the drawbridge is drawn up [Music] the cauldrons of boiling pitch and tar are prepared so that they may be poured over the wall down on the invaders the king's horsemen and soldiers charge the castle a catapult is prepared to hurl great stones and an attacking tower is made ready to be placed against the wall the battle hangs in the balance and the duke throws open the gates to charge the invading host the invaders waiver the knights press their advantage the attackers fall back and the defeat becomes a route these days of medieval warfare are but a memory now but the right which the nobles maintained against the king have in turn been rested from them by the lesser gentry and have now become the heritage of all and out of the parliament established by the noblemen of that day has roamed the parliament of today the model for all liberal governments and here is the king of england on his way to parliament observing the old customs of long past years thus after hundreds of years of struggle the common people of england like those of our own land have one for themselves the right to think to speak and in a large measure to act as they choose [Music] now we are going to a country where in the last 15 years the people have been building a new social order based on the assumption that a man must sacrifice his individuality for the good of all whether this is possible human nature being what it is we do not know but the whole world watches with interest the great experiment being carried out in russia this is a great cooperative farm and this is the time of the year when the heavy grain hangs its head under the weight of a matured crop like an army the workers march singing to their work you will note that unlike the small individual farm in france germany and england this one is being run like a great factory under perfect discipline engineers from the united states have been liberally called upon to lend their engineering skills and from the united states come in large measure the necessary tractors and the machinery these great machines beat down the heads of grain under sharp knives [Music] so the heads are cut and carried on a conveyor into the thresher where the wheat is separated from the chaff [Music] the golden wheat separated from the chaff pours down into hoppers and then to the sacks thousands upon thousands of bushels of it for russia is one of the great granaries of the world in this order of society women share the same privilege and must carry the same burdens as the [Music] men [Music] noon time the world over means one thing meal time men and women join in a spirit of camera day over a simple but helpful meal [Music] followed by a period of rest and recreation post offices and libraries are springing up even in the most inaccessible parts of this great nation for within the last nine years more than 50 percent of the immense adult population have learned to read and write noon rest period is finished and work is resumed the grain is now hauled to be stored in huge [Music] elevators they're awaiting the trip to the flower mill or by the railroad for export [Music] great canals have been built and water diverted for the irrigation of millions of acres of semi-arid land advances have also been made in the working of great minds the building of great smelters and many other industrial plants [Music] these are the types of homes that the government is building for its people you will notice how uniform they are [Music] in russia the care of children becomes a very important function of the state which provides nurseries and kindergartens to take care of them as soon as they are able to leave their mothers for russian children must feel their first loyalty is not to the family but to the state the recreation of the people falls very definitely under government control however the old russian dances and songs of the past still seem adequate to express the new aspirations of the people [Music] professional sports as we know them in this country do not exist in russia but the athletics and sports of the young people are thoroughly organized as shown by this annual field day in moscow in the bleachers types from the many racial strains which go to make the teeming millions of people of russia look down upon the contest [Music] boys and girls alike compete in sports while their companions on the sidelines seem to enjoy the spectacle just as we do [Music] and so from the old countries of europe come selfs tutans and slavs alike each bringing their own customs their own ideals and their own prejudices to our new [Music] world you