(02)Why We Fight: "The Battle of Russia" PART 1 2/4

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The Battle of Russia was the fifth film of Frank Capra's Why We Fight propaganda film series. It is the longest film of the series, beginning with an overview of previous failed attempts to conquer Russia: by the Teutonic Knights in 1212 (footage from Sergei Eisenstein's film Alexander Nevsky is used here), by Charles XII of Sweden in 1704, by Napoleon I in 1812 and by Imperial Germany in World War I.
The vast natural resources of the Soviet Union are then described, showing why the land is such a hot prize for conquerors. To give a positive impression of the Soviet Union to the American audience, the country's ethnic diversity is covered in detail. Later on, elements of Russian culture familiar to Americans, including the musical compositions of Tchaikovsky and Leo Tolstoy's book War and Peace are also mentioned. Communism is never mentioned at any point in the film. The start of the film also includes a quote from U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who commended the Russian people's defense of their nation as one of the most courageous feats in military history.
The film then covers the Nazi conquests in the Balkans, described as a preliminary to close off possible Allied counter-invasion routes, before the war against Russia was launched on June 22, 1941. The narration describes the German "keil und kessel" tactics for offensive warfare, and the Soviet "defense in depth" used to counter this. The scorched earth Soviet tactics, the room-to-room urban warfare in Soviet cities, and the guerilla warfare behind enemy lines are also used to underline the Soviet resolve for victory against the Nazis.
One powerful scene shows Russians swearing their oath:
For the burned cities and villages
For the deaths of our children and our mothers
For the torture and humiliation of our people
I swear revenge upon the enemy
I swear that I would rather die in battle with the enemy
Than surrender myself my people and my country to the Fascist invaders
Blood for Blood!
Death for Death!
The Siege of Leningrad and the Battle of Stalingrad conclude the film.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Soviet
• Union
• Russia
• Stalingrad
• Leningrad
• German
• Why
• We
• Fight
• Nazis
• Allied
• Communism
• Germany
• Balkins

[83UtrechtNL]

I think more americans should see vidios like this, so that they know the world is bigger than the usa.

[Hotshotter3000]

I loved all the why we fight series. They have some information that just not easy to find anywhere else.

[Bwkjam]

He's got a point I wouldn't take Greeks seriously in those dresses, but Greeks are great fighters and musolini was a fool for attacking from the north.

[dmacid]

@TaspatsLV True. But I think an even bigger lesson here is not to listen to what you hear on news. Propaganda always has and will be a part of news reporting. Russians went from peaceful, heroic people trying to save Europe to dirty Commies in less than a decade in American media. So if I was a betting man I'd say the truth was somewhere in the middle. And the same goes for American conflicts of today. The news stations show one side of the story only. They cant be trusted.

[Jonasdarowje]

What is the name of that song starting at 3:12 ?

Greetings from Germany

[disradiance]

@Ganabyoul Oh you are talking about culture and bonding! Cultures can be very tough things, yes, and the Ukraine, Russia, and the other republics have had a long history together. They can not stop being brothers as much any group of countries that stem from the same core, like France and the UK or Canada and the US. I think I get what you are saying; they are one in spirit.

[Ganabyoul]

@disradiance )

No, I not talked about the CIS. I have talked about history of our peoples. We can not be independent from Russia, because we are Russian. The geographical separation - the temporary difficulties after the collapse of the Soviet Union. What would all this mean, do not need to know about DNS, Ukraine and Russia. Need to live here. UN? We are a UN - is not needed. UN can not play the role he played in the first year. Sorry for the mistakes, english - not my language.

[disradiance]

@Ganabyoul I know about the CIS if that is what you mean, but there is at least a little more freedom between the states and they have a UN vote now (for what that is worth).

[Ganabyoul]

@disradiance U dont know, what u say, about what...