Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia
This feature film examines the Russian War from 1941-1943. Scroll 1 dramatizes Russia’s military history. Alexander Nevsky defeated German knights in 1242. In 1704, the Swedes were defeated in a cavalry battle near Poltava. In 1812 the French army withdrew from Moscow. Kaiser Wilhelm inspecting troops on the Eastern Front in 1917. Scroll 2 shows mining operations, agricultural scenes, oil fields and production scenes. People from many nationalities performed indigenous dances. Civilian and military units marched through Moscow. In 1935, Maksim Litvinoff called on the League of Nations to provide aid to Ethiopia. Episode 3 charts the Axis expansion into Eastern Europe. Hungarian, Romanian and Bulgarian troops parade ahead of Nazi occupation. The video shows the leaders of the puppets Nagybanya Horthy Admiral Miklos, General Ian Antonescu, King Michael of Romania and King Boris of Bulgaria. Adolf Hitler meeting with Generals Wilhelm Keitel and Alfred Jodl. Nazis march through Hungarian cities. Yugoslav cities were bombed and Greece was occupied. Tanks roll off Russian assembly lines and troops are called up. In June 1941, German panzer divisions invaded Russia. Volume 4 presents German advances in 1941 and analyzes Russian strategy. Hitler delivered his victory speech in October. Footage showed intense street fighting in Sevastopol. Russians of all ages were mobilized. In reel 5, Ukrainian houses, factories, and a dam are burned or blown up in front of advancing Nazis. The partisans took out their weapons and blew up the Nazi facilities. Photo of Joseph Stalin, Vyacheslav Molotov and other leaders. Red Army parade in Moscow, December 1941. In Book 6, the townspeople pray in church on Christmas Day. Russian tanks, cavalry units and ski units advanced with air support. Villages were liberated and refugees returned. In scroll 7, Russian civilians are found dead and tortured. The video shows Leningrad before the war. Barricades were erected. The city was heavily bombed. On reel 8, the city is under siege. Women clean up trash from the streets. The defense is manned. Food is rationed. Shellmaking continues. Supplies have been transported across frozen Lake Ladoga by truck, tractor and rail. Winter snow covers the city. Nazi planes dropped bomb trucks on the lake. Spring is warm and flowers are blooming. Children play in the sun. German prisoners enter the city. Volume 9 depicts the Caucasus and Crimean campaigns. Stalingrad was being bombarded with artillery from the air and house to house fighting was shown. Volume 10 shows the Russian siege of the Nazis at Stalingrad. Marshal Nikolai Voronov confers with his aides. In December 1942, the encircling Red Army clashed. Flamethrowers, rockets and artillery were used to force the remnants of 22 Nazi divisions to surrender. The final scene shows the Russian gains and cites statistics on Nazi casualties in the campaign so far.
