The Early Aggression of Germany, Italy, and Japan
About This Footage
Reel 1 of Prelude to War sets the stage for World War II as a battle between freedom and oppression. The film opens with military parades and the swift expansion of the Axis Powers, showing Germany's invasions of Czechoslovakia, Norway, Poland, Holland, Greece, Belgium, Albania, Yugoslavia, and its attack on Russia. Meanwhile, in Asia, Japan’s brutal invasion of China foreshadows its growing ambitions. The devastation of Pearl Harbor and the fires of London reinforce the global stakes of the conflict. The reel also examines Italy’s political turmoil, high unemployment, and the rise of Benito Mussolini, alongside early footage of Adolf Hitler and Germany’s powerful industrialists, who fueled the Nazi war machine. This opening chapter establishes the ideological divide that would soon engulf the world in total war.