If you like my work and want to support the channel, consider subscribing to my Patreon for more, exclusive content! patreon.com/GermanWWIIArchive Or buy me a Kaffee here: www.buymeacoffee.com/germanwwiiarchive Remarks: As you can probably imagine, writing remarks on the usually, detailed scale is just too much work for a two-hour long movie, so I have decided to only write very few remarks for some major scenes. I appreciate your understanding. 01:15 As written in the intro, this movie was produced solely by the Army High Command, with no involvement of the Propaganda Ministry. While normally the Propaganda Ministry controlled German film industry, the Army produced several movies on their own, to highlight their military victories. 01:40 This is the oath on Hitler every German soldier took during the Nazi era. 02:11 Of course, this is a propaganda lie, many wars in the last few centuries that Germany was involved in were actually started by Germany. 04:00 This statue is the so-called Bamberg Horseman, a 13th century stone statue in the Bamberg Cathedral. It is unknown who exactly is depicted here, some historians believe it to be Emperor Henry II (973-1024), but also the Hungarian King Stephan I. (969-1038) or a biblical figure are named. 04:23 The fact that many European nations tried for centuries to prevent a unified Germany from forming, due to a fear of a potential strong rival, was often cited in Nazi propaganda as proof that England, France and other countries always wanted to keep Germany down. 04:36 Referring to the German unification of 1871. 05:33 The complex reasons that led to the outbreak of WWI were often simplified by Nazi propaganda, putting the blame solely on England, France and Russia, while claiming that Germany was only defending itself and its ally, Austro-Hungary. 06:51 The harsh conditions of the Versailles Treaty, including territorial losses and reparations, were a key point of criticism among right-wing parties during the Weimar Republic. 07:33 This is referring to the Ruhr occupation between January 1923 and August 1925, when French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr region, one of Germanys main industrial regions, after Germany defaulted on reparations payments multiple times. 08:11 This is another propaganda lie, Hitler didn’t founded the NSDAP, he joined the DAP, which was founded in January 1919, in September of that year, and only took over party leadership in July 1921. 08:16 Another propaganda lie is that Hitler founded the NSDAP with 6 other members. In reality, the DAP was founded by Anton Drexler and Karl Harrer with 22 others in January 1919, Hitler joined as the 55th member in September. Of course, during the Nazi era, only the official version was published. 08:29 Germany was only allowed an army with a maximum number of 100,000 soldiers according to the Versailles Treaty. 09:13 Germany was not allowed certain types of weapons, such as tanks or planes, and therefore had to use dummies, and could only develop these weapons in secret. 09:30 Hitler was made chancellor on January 30th, 1933, a day which was celebrated as “seizure of power” by the Nazis. 10:36 The Nazis often portrayed themselves a peace-loving and being forced to increase their armament due to hostile foreign countries; in reality, arming up was always a key part of Nazi policies. 11:22 This is a production line of Panzer III medium tanks. 11:29 And these are Ju-87 dive bombers. 11:42 Referring to the remilitarization of the Rhineland in March 1936. Germany was not allowed to have military forces inside the Rhineland according to the Versailles Treaty, but the Nazis did send in 19 infantry battalions on March 7th. Britain and France were not prepared for a military response, and only protested verbally. 11:45 Referring to the annexation of Austria by Germany in March 1938. 11:58 Referring to the Munich Agreement, in which Germany was permitted to annex the Sudetenland region in Czechia in October 1938. 12:17 Another common theme in Nazi propaganda was that Britain and France tried to use countries like Czechoslovakia and Poland to wage war against Germany, of course, this was entirely untrue. 12:54 This is referring to the annexation of the remaining parts of Czechoslovakia by Germany in March 1939. Officially, Czech requested German protection, and officially Czech became a protectorate, but in reality, Czech became a German puppet. 13:08 These tanks are early variant Panzer IV medium tanks. 13:28 Ethic Germans living in Poland were subject to some discrimination by Polish authorities after WWI; however, these were often exaggerated and describes as “terror against Germans” by Nazi propaganda. 13:35 The so called “Polish corridor” was a piece of land owned by Poland, separating East Prussia from the rest of Germany. As it meant that East Prussia had no land connection to the rest of Germany, it caused a problem for the flow of goods and people between these two regions. 14:43 When Germany invaded Poland on September 1st, 1939, starting WWII, the Germans claimed that Poland started the hostilities. This was a pure propaganda lie, and even back then, it was already viewed as such. 16:32 Hitler made several peace offers towards France and England, and later only England, during 1939 and 1940. These offers, however, basically always included accepting that Germany was the dominant power on the European continent, something that France, and especially England, firmly rejected. The western powers also demanded an end of German occupation of Poland, which Germany refused to accept. Generally, these “peace offers” were little more than propaganda actions, as Hitler most likely knew England and France would reject them instantly. 16:43 This section talks about the German invasion of Denmark and Norway (Operation Weserübung) in April 1940. 19:51 The German invasion of Belgium and Netherlands was justified by the Nazis by claiming that the French and British were trying to attack Germany through these two countries, which was of course not true, British and French troops only entered Belgium after the German attack began. Belgium and Netherlands declared themselves strictly neutral at the beginning of WWII, and would only join the Allies after the unprovoked German attack. 21:08 This is a heavy Char B1 tank. With its 47mm main gun and especially with its strong armor, reaching up to 60mm, it was superior to all German tanks, and these tanks often caused problems for German units. 21:14 These are Light Tank MK VI, a British light tanks, only armed with two MGs and slightly armored. They formed the majority of tanks used by the British Expeditionary Forces, but they could only be used against infantry due to their lack of anti-tank capabilities. 21:50 “We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line” was a British soldier song, published in October 1939, mocking the German western defensives. 22:00 These are French Canon de 194 GPF, a 194mm heavy tracked self-propelled artillery. It was developed during WWII, and production began in April 1918, but no vehicle was finished before the armistice. 50 of these were made, and at the beginning of WWII, 36 were still in active service. 22:35 After the experience of WWI and the rise of the aggressive Nazi regime in Germany, it is understandable why Belgium and the Netherlands built their defensive system facing mainly eastwards, towards Germany. 22:47 Walther von Brauchitsch (1881-1948) was a German Field Marshall and Supreme Commander of the German Army from February 1938 to December 1941. 23:35 Franz Halder (1884-1972) was a German officer and from September 1938 to September 1942 Chief of Staff of the German Army. 23:50 These planes are Ju-88 medium bombers. 24:14 These planes are Ju-52 transport planes. 24:28 During the initial attack on Belgium and Holland, Germany landed paratroopers on multiple, strategically important points, near bridges and fortresses. Some of the attacks were successful, while others failed and cause heavy losses, such as the German paratroopers attack on The Hague, where over 125 German planes were destroyed. 25:30 This is an early variant StuG III Ausf. A assault gun. Only 30 of these were produced in early 1940, all of them were used during the German invasion in the west. 27:21 The Fort Eben-Emael was built near the Belgian-Dutch border between 1932 and 1935, based on WWI experience. When it was built, it was considered the largest single fort in the world, with over 1,200 soldiers as garrison. It was captured by German paratroopers who landed on top of it using gliders, and the quick, successful landing on top of the fort and disabling many of the bunkers contributed greatly to the quick German advance through Belgium. 30:48 Eben-Emael capitulated mainly due to the unknown overall situation, the shock of German paratroopers landing on top of the fort and using hollow charges, a relatively new weapon by then. This caused panic, fear and confusion among the garrison, and so they capitulated quickly on May 11th, 1940, only around 30 hours after the initial German attack. 36:39 This is a German light 38(t) tank. 37:10 These are French Hotchkiss H35 tanks. While designated as a light tank, its relatively strong armor of up to 40mm meant it could destroy most German light tanks, but its own firepower was too weak to destroy stronger German Panzer III and IV.
Fun fact: The footage of the soldier climbing on top of Fort No. 4 at Eben Emael and planting the explosive charge at 30:10 was staged for the film a few weeks after the fact, but the soldier who reenacted it was the same soldier who actually planted the explosive during the real raid (Josef Portsteffen). The footage of the explosion afterwards is real footage from the actual raid though.
It's produced by the German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht). At this point it was the only institution in Germany that wasn't taken over by the Nazi party. Mind that the movie doesn't mention any core points of Nazi ideology like master rayce or fight agaisnt bolshevism
Can't begin to thank you enough for these-esp for the translations. A favorite book is Liddell's 'From The Other Side of the Hill', WW2 from the German side. These round out that book to a T 🙌🙌🙌
The battle scenes are mesmerizing, and the movie itself is very informative. Having watched many TV documentaries and read some average History books, I was under the impression that the Battle of France was basically over when the Germans reached the Channel and the B.E.F. fled through Dunkirk. But this shows that the French were far from being beaten and that they put a stiff resistance to the invasion. Little is mentioned on these sources about the operation against the Somme, or of the operation around Verdun, directed against the Maginot Line. I have the strong suspicion that this version of History, which portrays the French as either ineffective or cowardly, is a deliberate lie designed to minimize the achievements of the Wehrmacht and put the blame of the defeat on the French army, instead of placing it where it rightly belongs: on those who allowed themselves to be encircled, and after that, decided to go home, abandoning their ally, and leaving all their weapons to the enemy.
Seen lots of ww2 footage in the past but nothing to compare to this! Very professionally edited. It was particularly ironic when they showed the debacle at Dunkirk and the background music was 'We're going to hang our washing on the Siegfried Line' . Thanks for posting
I don't know how, but this felt so real I have watched more than 1000 hours of ww2 content in my life, and I don't I ever watched something that got me tensed up like this before, it felt so lively, I don't understand how this piece of media managed to make me feel like this
its the very clever combination of of pictures and music that creates this feeling. the scenes themselfes were carefully selected or shot in a special way. They knew what they were doing with this.
Great work and video! I finally understand what they mean by "Third Reich." The first was the HRE ending with the treaty of Westphalia and the 2nd was German unification until the end of the 1st WW.
Eigentlich endete das erste Reich am 6.8.1806 wo Kaiser Franz II. die römisch-deutsche Kaiserkrone niederlegte.Dieses Reich umfasste auch Nichtdeutsche Staaten.Die anderen beiden deutschen Reiche waren reine deutsche Nationalstaaten.Das 2.Reich bestand zwischen 1871 und 1918,das 3.Reich zwischen 1933 und 1945.
It feels strange watching all this with the invasion of Luxembourg knowing that grandparents were not that far away, they woke up and the germans were already in the streets. In their words, we woke up to a lovely day, looked out the window and realized that our whole world and country had just ceased to exist. Liberation, not a second in mind. Uncertainty, questions, fear, anger, confusion, hard years ahead. They passed away only 4 years ago and talked a lot, so the memory is still very fresh even though it has been 84 years ago. Thanks for uploading these!
Thanks for sharing this story! I can only imagine what it must have felt for these people, whose country or city literally got captured while they were still asleep. The citizens of Paris basically knew days before that the German Army was coming, so they could prepare for it, but citizens of border towns/regions had their areas invaded without any prior warning...
This is like watching a documentary about World War II but from the National Socialist side. It is shocking and interesting. Just like watching Chinese documentaries about the Korean War.
A film that could have been far more humiliating for France. We see more Englishmen captured or on the run, a sign of the preoccupation in 1941. Also an interesting tribute to the crews of the Maginot Line at 1:48:36
I believe this rather positive portrayal of the French Army has something to do with the fact that this was a movie produced by the Army, rather than the Nazi Propaganda Ministry. Army generals and officers usually place more significance into talking about the enemy as honorable, and not humiliate them. And the French Army was still considered one of the best and powerful armies in the world back then.
Excelente video documental, una joya de la época. ¿En tus archivos tendrás la Campaña en Polonia=Der Feldzug in Polen? me ha sido imposible conseguirme las primeras partes en alta definición, solo la parte final
Extraordinary historical documentary, it is exclusive to your channel, with wonderful quality, impeccable audio and subtitles, pure luxury, pure art, I am very grateful to you, fraternal hug from Argentina
The Germans wanted to keep the secret how it was done. The method of landing sailplanes (DFS230) on top of the fort and the employment of hollow charges (Hohlladungswaffe, 12,5 and 50 kg) to attack the artillery casemates and cupola's were tightly guarded secrets. After the German victory, the holes made by these weapons were, on direct order of Hitler, filled with concrete before foreign military attaches visited the fort (Japanese a.o.). The defenders were kept in special confinement after capture until the end of the war.
The Germans wanted to keep the secret how it was done. The method of landing sailplanes (DFS230) on top of the fort and the employment of hollow charges (Hohlladungswaffe, 12,5 and 50 kg) to attack the artillery casemates and cupola's were tightly guarded secrets. After the German victory, the holes made by these weapons were, on direct order of Hitler, filled with concrete before foreign military attaches visited the fort (Japanese a.o.). The defenders were kept in special confinement after capture until the end of the war.
A truly awesome piece of German Propaganda, and incredibly well filmed and produced movie. Thank you very much indeed! It looks as though those poor Tommies didn't stand a snow ball's chance in hell.
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Erste Sahne, wie immer 👍 !!! 1:12:31 Würd mich mal interessieren wie viele junge Männer damals Frau Liselotte Schmidt in Marburg/Lech Wettergasse 9 angeschrieben haben 😂 !!!
The most interesting part is the Beginning Where the Narrative is Formed and the Justification is given For Adolfs subsequent Actions and the Paranoia over England!
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The French may have lost this aspect of the war but they will always win the ”Best Dressed Award”, no country can out style the French when it comes to uniforms.
Mellody is very similar to, "Were gonna hang out the washing on the Siegfried line" so I guess thats it! Also I recommend the proper version of this song that was sadly not included in this movie, "Wir trocknen uns're Wäsche an der Siegfried Linie!" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YOIkjtj11qM.html ;)
What is going on at 9:07? "Forbidden Weapons"? Soy de Argentina... Yo preguntaría, ¿por qué dicen armas prohibidas? ¿Qué quieren decir? Propietario, hablas claramente el idioma, ¿por qué juegas con traducción cuando entiendes? ¿Por qué es que a nosotros, como humanos, no se nos muestran ambas opiniones? El que está a cargo. ¿A qué tienen miedo? ¿Cambio? Tal vez.
Bruh what is wrong with you, the translation says forbidden weapons because that's what the German line says, and it refers to weapons being banned in the Versailles treaty, as explained in the remarks section. Your comment is so weird...
![“Victory in the West”- German Propaganda Film about the Victory over France- January 1941 [Full HD]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
