World War II: 1939-1941. (1963)

[Music] [Applause] these are historical film scenes on the actual war years of world war ii dr clark and since the war years cover so much i'm going to present this period to my classes in two sections the first section begins with the invasion of poland in 1939 and ends with the attack on pearl harbor then this section will cover the early successes of the axis powers right that's right i think you might give your classes a short description of the situation in 1939 just before the germans invaded poland as you know germany was the dominant axis power she controlled austria italy linked with germany in the axis helped to complete this central european bloc after munich czechoslovakia was split into german-dominated states poland was cut off geographically from her allies britain and france and britain and france weren't ready for war two other great powers the soviet union and the united states were neutral so germany was gambling that she could conquer poland before england and france could interfere that's where we pick up september 1939 the german army spearheaded by a large tank force poured with mechanized precision into the polish countryside the ground forces were supported by germany's new air force the luftwaffe using the new technique of dive bombing to hammer communications and supply lines this was blitzkrieg lightning war in just four weeks the german invaders overwhelmed the defenders and the polish armies were destroyed or captured foreseeing the collapse of poland the soviet union had sent the red army to occupy eastern poland so poland was partitioned the soviet army and the german army met and the polish campaign was over dr clark what would you say was the significance of the polish campaign well it helped build up the legend of nazi invincibility against the ruthless military efficiency of the axis the defense efforts of the democracies began to seem outdated you see british and french generals were still thinking in terms of world war one trench warfare france had constructed the maginot line of fortifications the line stopped short of the english channel here if belgium and the netherlands had joined britain and france in a common defense effort this gap might have been closed as it was this is where germany broke through yes i lead up to that crisis with the introduction of the maginot line on the western front all was quiet on the western front french troops maintained the maginot line which was kind of a super trench in concrete here the french simply waited feeling that their underground defenses were impregnable outwardly all was calm on the western front but meanwhile the germans having secured their eastern front in poland were shifting their troops for an all-out offensive on the western front without warning germany invade the neutral countries of denmark and norway in april 1940. denmark was occupied with little opposition in norway there was some resistance but bold blitzkrieg tactics in the air and by land and sea quickly overwhelmed norway a month later in may the netherlands and belgium were overrun and conquered then german forces masked on the french border in northern france germany delivered a full strength thrust flanking the maginot line germans poured into france the small british army fell back toward the sea to the english channel from the beaches of dunkirk using all available craft the british evacuated their defeated army the withdrawal carried out under constant attack was a supreme heroic effort 338 000 allied troops were saved and taken to england but the french army outmaneuvered and demoralized was beaten on june 14 1940 paris fell to hitler's armies the fall of france followed swiftly to escape the occupation many civilians fled to southern france called vichy france which remained unoccupied near paris in the old railroad car where germany had surrendered in 1980 the historic date was june 22 1940 another day of triumph for hitler now england stood alone against the axis hastily preparing for the expected invasion already the combat in the air called the battle of britain had begun although outnumbered the royal air force wrote a glorious page of english history in the defense of britain the german air force had hoped that systematic bombings would bring britain to her knees instead british flyers fought back with skill and courage serious losses to the german luftwaffe were inflicted with the aid of radar a new electronic warning system developed by the british the aerial battle of britain was the first real failure of the axis unable to master the air over britain hitler and his generals made a fateful decision they would not invade england and now once again hitler shifted from the western front back to his original goal expansion towards the east a perilous decision as later events were to prove here i've sketched in the extent of the axis conquest so far at the very end of the french collapse remember mussolini moved into the french riviera hoping to annex part of southern france yes and then mussolini struck across the adriatic into greece that's right not only into the greek mainland but mussolini also diverted axis power into other costly campaigns that hitler hadn't counted on campaigns in north africa prolonged guerrilla warfare in yugoslavia and a costly invasion of crete now after overrunning yugoslavia and greece in 1941 hitler was feeling strong enough finally to make his big push into russia yes he had already lined up hungary romania and bulgaria as satellites so his balkan flank was protected then he was ready yes ready for the great gamble on the eastern front once more german armies mass for an attack on the eastern frontier this time it is against russia again the attack is made without warning the time is june 22nd 1941. german mechanized armies raced forward across the vast open spaces of the soviet union forward units of the russian army were cut off and captured but the overall russian strategy was to sacrifice space for time to withdraw across their vast plains leaving a scorched earth to the german invaders in the late fall came the first warnings that this would not be as easy as conquering france or poland as the nazi drive slowed down the russians had time to prepare a counter-attack now came the first of the terrible winters of the russian campaign which the axis would come to dread a long war which the axis had never wanted was becoming a reality the german war machine was grinding to a halt at the same time december 1941 halfway around the world the war seemed far away to americans in hawaii america was still at peace and then december 7 1941 japanese planes launched a surprise attack on pearl harbor japan the third major axis partner had entered the war and scored heavily in the first round that seems like a good place to pause and take stuff all right now the war had become global in scope here's the situation at the end of 1941. up to now the axis had been tremendously successful in western europe all the balkans greece italians in libya and the germans about 300 miles into russia over here japan had conquered manchuria she had seized portions of china and was starting to conquer southeast asia yes but first the japanese militarists plan to eliminate american naval forces in the pacific that was japan's strategy and like her access partner she was successful at first yes but she had greatly underestimated the united states now i'm going to show briefly the story in the united states up to pearl harbor before pearl harbor in 1941 most americans had avoided even the idea of another war which might involve their country in the mid 30s president roosevelt had proclaimed the neutrality of the united states in any foreign conflict few people who listen to him realize that the country was drifting toward war on the very eve of the war itself in the late summer of 1939 americans were still thinking in terms of peace and normal living september 1st 1939 americans began to think about national defense a year later september 1940 a selective service act was passed it provided for the registration of more than 16 million men for defense american industry was mobilized for full production of armaments both for our own use and later for shipment to nations opposing the axis congress had passed various measures permitting the united states to support the free nations in ways short of war the united states proclaimed itself an arsenal of democracy providing the tools of war while hoping to avoid the conflict that hope was dwindling fast in november 1941 when japan sent a special envoy to the united states he was on his way to washington to discuss the growing tension between the two countries on the very day secretary of state cordell hull received the japanese officials word was flashed that japan was attacking pearl harbor so once again an axis nation started an aggressive war with a smashing success i think that might be a theme that you could use to help summarize this film that in the first two years of this war each time the axis attacked there was no stopping them countries that weren't conquered were forced back onto the defensive for survival and for time that's what the russians did in the winter of 41 and 42. uh couldn't we say that the latter part of that winter was a turning point in the war probably it didn't look like it then but it was a turning point germany had missed a quick victory over russia the united states had been drawn into the war against the axis so it would be a long war now almost four more years in the next film we show the access struggling desperately to stave off eventual defeat and for the allies it would be the turning of the tide [Music] you