The series offer a remarkable window on one of the most turbulent decades in history and capture a world determined to remain stable in the face of economic and political chaos across Europe. Social historians and people with direct connections to the footage explore what everyday life was really like for people in the 30s - the tough working conditions and uncertainty, but also new opportunities for leisure and increased social freedoms despite looming war.
excellent footage, ruined by ignorant, grandstanding commentators. Unless you actually lived during the great depression, the 30s, and the cruelty and suffering endured by the working class, and poor. You wouldn't come close to understanding, the attraction of fascism and what it promised. Corruption created those times, and its about to create them, once again, unfortunately
@@mattlawson4727 The ignorant grandstanding commentators are historians. Not that historians can’t grandstand but they are not ignorant. They know their history. And fascism is never an attraction unless you’re the fascist.
@FreeDocumentaryHistory absolute bull, communism caused far more deaths... clearly you're not independent on the subjects. How about just upload the videos and not give your leftist opinion on it
@@FreeDocumentaryHistory Fascism is fascinating to some people we can see it today in Ukraine and many other European countries . Unfortunately history repeats itself
I agree with you. Human nature does not change, and we have arrived at at time where we have no freedom of speech. I wish I was living 50 years earlier.
WW2 was a case of wolves fighting wolves, while the alpha wolf sat in the corner controlling everything happening whilst wearing sheep's clothing✡️. There were no "good guys" in WW2
@@catalin-oprea The KPD which was the German communist party, suffered heavy losses between 1933 and 1939, with 30,000 communists executed and 150,000 sent to Nazi concentration camps. Just one example.
@FreeDocumentaryHistory Extremely unlikely those figures are accurate. The National Socialists were much keener on converting ex-communists than killing them. Just watch the film Hitlerjunge Quex for an insight into their mindset.
Being Australian, I remember my Gran telling me about the 1930s and how imminent WWII was undoubtedly going to happen. My Grandad had already been in the Australian army since 1936, as were his brothers and Grans brothers, and when war broke out, they all went on to serve in the Australian army. My Grandad did survive the war. Gran told me he came back a shattered man. Grandad never spoke of what he went through and what he'd seen, I was told by Gran to never ask him, as he get upset. Now look what's going on with world 🌎 leaders, after my grandparents saying there would never be another WW
I remember a story of young Germans in an English pub in the late 30s talking about who would win the next war. My Uncle was German ... he remembered walking past speakers corner "I was astonished people could say anything they wanted" (shame they can't now eh) and he rushed to get one of the last ferries back to Germany because he didn't want to miss the "short" war.
What's with the woke commentaries? History is about what happened in historic times, to view such events from a 'modern' perspective is both ridiculous and insulting to the memory of those who lived through those times.
@@barrylawrence6727 Which woke comments in particular? I’m curious because historians have done this for decades and I’m curious to know what you’d consider “woke” as opposed to considered and informed. Also, we can only look at things from where we are now in the 21st century.
@@FreeDocumentaryHistory I refer to comments by some of the commentators that state that there existed some sort of machiavellian conspiracy in society.
@FreeDocumentaryHistory yes but it is incumbent for us to apply perspective to judging the past. How will the future judge us? The problem with 'woke' is that it sees 2017 as year zero.
As a German, I am shocked by some of the comments. If only that Germany would have been aggressive towards Austria. Germany and Austria wanted to unite as early as 1919, but the right of self-determination of the peoples was trampled on by the allies in Versailles (cause of the Second World War). There was no Austrian national consciousness in 1938, the ‘Austrians’ saw themselves as 100% German in a state that was left de facto unable to survive by the allies after the first world war. Many Austrians were de facto forced to sell their children to Germany in the 1930s. As a history graduate, it infuriates me immensely when I hear these British interpretations. Today, the Austrians themselves only shake their heads at the Allied myth that Austria was supposedly the first victim. The British, as a nation that violently oppressed a quarter of the world in 1938/39 under imperialist delusions, should hold back a little more and not use the words democracy and freedom so strongly, the world no longer believes these fairy tales today; American historians are just annoyed about it (sorry for the polemic).
My dad was born on the first of May 1935 in Farnborough, Kent. He spent most of WW2 on a lovely farm in Devon. In the 1970s we were visiting his brother who lived then in the West country and travelled through to the area he was evacuated to. He told us the farm I was living at is here, and we drove up to have a look. He decided to ask after the farmer and his wife. The door opened and the old farmer and his wife were there, they immediately recognised him and said "Hallo Alan" we had tea and cakes with them, and they gave a lot of Scrumpy the farmer made. My dad was one of the lucky ones, another person I met had a terrible time when they were evacuated. My dad got a lot out of those years. The saddest thing was, when he returned to Kent, his own father died within one year from a heart attack. I think I always felt that sadness in my dad.
Peter - my mothers experience was almost the same as your fathers except my mother & father were both born in Germany in 1938 & 1934 respectfully. My father & mother are still alive & very well. My dad just turned 90 this month. My mother told me the story that her sister & she were also sent out to a farm in rural Germany were the family took them in & looked after them as their own children, and the story goes about something like this. About 20 odd years ago my father ( it was the first time my father returned after emigrating to South Africa in 1957 ) & mother went back & decided to go visit the farm again & low & behold as they were walking down the farm road nearing the farm house they could see this old lady leaning out of the farm door & as my mother was walking this old lady after 50 + years recognized my mother instantaneously & called out her name Marianne. Needless to say it was a very emotional moment for my mother & her. its amazing that this lady recognized my mother some 50 years later when my mom was only only about 5.
Yes would think that,however when there are massive amounts of lives about this time in history,people have been brain washed by a certain group of people that own Media and Hollywood
AS THE INSTIGATER OF WAR, WHO DO YOU THINK, THE MASSIVE COST, FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF FRANCE, SHOULD BE PAID BY ?? THE VICTORS ? FRANCE HADN'T FORGOTTEN THE 1871 FRANCO -PRUSSIAN WAR, WHEN THE GEMANS, WERE VICTORIOUS. THEIR SAVAGE DEMANDS FOR GRABBING FRENCH LAND AND MASSIVE OTHER COSTLY DEMANDS, WERE NOT FORGOTTEN, BY THE FRENCH, OR THE COLLECTIVE MILLIONS OF IT'S PEOPLE, BOTH MILITARY, AND CIVILIANS, KILLED.
The disregard of the peoples' right to self-determination in Versailles led directly to the next war. I suspect that the UK in Germany's place would have reclaimed these territories 10 years earlier.
So the czechoslovakia was German territory when only few people are German? 😂 and they were not happy about it when they were annexed. The will of the people is more important if they want to be part of Germany
@@dianaverano7878 we are speaking about the Sudetenland, Danzig, Memelland, some parts of Silesia, the corridor, Southern Tyrolia, Alsace-Lorraine. Who is interested in Czechia??!!
Where on earth did you find these `historians`, their understanding of this period is woefully poor and extremely condescending, when they remarked that the women`s fitness movement was racially motivated I nearly spat my tea out, the UK was a predominantly Anglo Saxon population and one can be sure that `racial purity` was not the motive force behind wanting a healthy population, oh of course, breeding strong male heirs, let`s not forget that little nugget, I hope that none of these individuals hold a teaching position in a house of learning with any reputation or influence
24:05 "and people faces - they are so modern" - It's funny to see that even the most educated people today do not realize that human appearance has not changed significantly over the past few thousand years))
Any truly socialist movement that serves the people of the nation where it is implemented is in itself nationalist. True socialism and true nationalism are two sides of the same coin.
We should never have declared war. The reparations made against Germany after WW1 were completely unjustified. Far more territory should have been returned to Germany. This is what triggered WW2.
I think every modern person who has some noble idea of war has no grounds to judge people like Chamberlain, and anyone else who lived through the horrors of WW1. I’m not surprised they did everything to avoid it.
It is the absolute duty of every politician to understand the other at all costs. Churchill didn't even try. The man declared wars with a careless recklessness that leaves you speechless. It cost the British absolutely everything.
@@patrickpaganini The verdict is always made later. As a German, I see the surrender of France in 1940, a de facto bankrupt UK in 1945 and a Germany that is stronger and more powerful today than in its entire history. Tacitus already wrote in his "Germania" that the Germanic peoples do not understand peace treaties and pay no attention to victory and defeat because they only have long-term interests. The main German mission of the two wars, namely to eliminate two extremely aggressive, expansionist states (France and the UK) that blocked markets in half the world, was fulfilled. Ironically, the USA had exactly the same problems with France and the UK as Germany until 1945.
15:20 In a video about the 1930s you are supossed to at least use a map with borders from the 1930s... Especially when you are going to put a giant swastika on modern day Germany's borders.
In reality, English and Germans are brother nations! Why this hate towards one another??? They share the same germanic dna of the Angles, the Normans, and the Saxons. The royal family is of German descent. They changed their German family name to the more anglicized and digestible "Windsor"!
The war never should have happened, and my heart breaks at the thought of what suffering our nations delivered upon one another. Our wider European family could have achieved advancements that are beyond even our current imaginations. If different paths were chosen, there's no doubt that our people would be beyond the stars by now, understanding things that now lie decades, or perhaps centuries, in our future...if we even make it past next year. One of our greatest tragedies, and so few even realize it. So many have been programmed to hold a stubborn pride in our manipulated destruction, as if some great deed was accomplished. Even if it were so, the gratitude we've been shown for this "great deed" has been nothing but more of the same manipulation and endlessly instigated bouts of fratricide. Time to wake up.
@@mtnvortex Yes, it's easy to forget the huge loss of potential in human intellect and wealth the two world wars caused Europe. We are paying the price now.
The borders shown in 15:20 were different back in the 30s. Germany extended further to the east, Poland as a whole was located further to the east, and also Yugoslavia existed back then. What you see on the map are mostly todays borders, with the exception of Czechoslovakia.
15:20 you show the eastern border of Germany from 1990 on. The Oder Neisse border. At that time (30s) the border went further to the east and includes regions which are now Poland.
Anyone watching here thinking about how the British were naïvely “taken in” in the 1930s - and how we 'overlooked' the warning signs of impending war - also wondering whether we're now living in exactly the same situation as these old newsreels are showing us ...or is it just me?
@@Jamie-uk2zh The UK in those days was an imperialist-aggressive state in search of prey, which deprived millions of people of their rights and even AFTER the Second World War aggressively expanded and defended spheres of influence and committed crimes such as the concentration camps in Kenya (1952-1960). The fact that this state, of all states, supposedly wanted to fight for democracy and freedom, which had denied precisely this to a quarter of the world, is now branded as ironic by historians. During the Second World War, the UK pursued a tough power politics like in the 19th century, which was already anachronistic at the time.
@@g.f.w.6402 And now the country looks like a mix between Somalia and Afghanistan with large towns and cities like London and Bradford being completely unrecognisable.
Churchill was wrong and contributed to the ruin of this country. He does not deserve to be seen as a hero. In fact, it would have been better had Germany won the War, especially if we had stayed out of it.
Britain wasnt ready for war, Chamberlain should be congratulated for giving us the time to re-arm. He negotiated for peace, but prepared for war. Much of what Churchill said was propoganda to undermine his rival.
As a German with a degree in history, I will never understand what the British were actually thinking. I think it was a combination of 19th century thinking and a fundamental lack of understanding of the Germans. Germany would never have attacked England under any circumstances. The very idea was and is absolutely unthinkable in Germany. Our (German) ancestors were so crazy that they would even have protected the imperialist-aggressive British state and its ‘kindred’ Germanic-speaking population worldwide.
You praise Chamberlain, I praise Churchill, truly a reincarnation of King Arthur, if not in body, at least in spirit of what Britian is supposed to stand for!
Now compare and contrast the to 80 yrs. of Anti-Whiteism, Neo-Bolshevism, Cultural Marxism that was unleashed to destroy White European homogeneity and promote mescigenation...
Britain had an at best ambiguous Empire of subjugated peoples and Germany was hoping to recover its territory (and steal some Slavic lands) but had no designs on the UK or its Empire. So who are the goodies and who the baddies? The lovely people portrayed in this documentary were of course mostly innocent of any of these uncomfortable realities and deserve everyone's respect and admiration for their still obvious decency and joy, worthy of emulation, and certainly not of condescension. They are the good ones we can only hope to become. Lovely footage and great to see in colour. Thank you!
As Patton said of his country's Army, "We fought the wrong enemy" He meant the US should have teamed up with Germany to save Europe and the world from communism. That's the "woke" nonsense everybody's talking about here in the comments section. Of course, Churchill and Roosevelt had been scheming even as early as 1935 to get into a war with Germany. Britain's ridiculous goading of Poland for the war started things. Pearl Harbor provided a facility for the US to jump in with both feet after essentially playing a devious role of supporting Britain in the Atlantic between 1939 and 1941. An entirely immoral war but not for the reasons woke people think.
17:21 | Oh my god --- the absolute trauma these children must've gone through having to try on what is essentially a Halloween mask for a whole 10 seconds. Those babies probably never mentally recovered from this
I got partly in and then couldn’t watch it any longer, the commentators were so patronising and trying to force in the wedge of their own warped deception and here’s an example. At 7:00 the commentator said that “woman of all kinds were offered exercises classes” and at 8:09 it was then further claimed that “all women from all backgrounds were encouraged to take part” and somehow further on in the video the two historians made it about eugenics and white supremacy of the British ? What sort of mental gymnastics do you have to do to achieve that conclusion ?? Obviously the classes were made to keep people physically fit after new results in research found obesity to cause heart problems but somehow to the historians it was about race ???? If I watched the video further I could probably pick out a lot more ideological wedges these “historians” place in there but I’m not going to bother watching further because I’m honestly tired of this self hatred, patronising behaviour behind our history.
Instead of targeting USSR or poland, germany could've easily taken turkey, syria & iraq, getting access to the indian ocean and taking control of the middle eastern oil reserves, instead they were delusioned with the idea of gracial purity & building of lebensraum (living space) When japan clashed with USA, germany could've stayed silent. Germany should've had full control over mussolini's actions, but they never did. This is what you get for having a faulty perception of the world. Even if they were bothered about living space or aryan grace, they should be looking at turkey [ottoman descendants] as the enemy, for what they did to the europeans or christians for centuries. Instead nahtzees found a mythical logic to eliminate p0Ies & sIavs, who had played an important role that safeguarded europe from ottomans and barbaric steppe hordes.
How do you work that out. Appeasement was a ploy to buy time while france and Britain rearmed.. france was busy building defences fortifications. ww1 feudal mindset. They had no intentions of attacking germany. But war was coming regardless of Appeasement
Surely not. The Royal family are completely different... Being the richest landowners in the world, as well as the amount of jewels and gold, and priceless artifacts they own. With their family history of murder and deceit behind them too... How can they not be ??
@@GothicTriton Insulting our King , just like insulting our memorials or customs says to me that you do want to live in Britain and that you should leave ...because its not your country
Total lack of awareness on the part of the commentators over the behaviour of the empire during the Arab revolt in Palestine or the ongoing efforts to suppress the Indian independence movement, let alone Africa when they talk about the public knowing of the crimes that were being committed in Germany.
Dude. The commentators are there to provide context. Obviously there was more to those gym clubs AT THE TIME then meets the eye as shown on the footage. It is not complicated.
Look at Britain now. Would it be like this if they hadn't joined the war back then? Britain seems peaceful to me today, with all the opportunities for economic growth.
I see some very disgruntled Brits in the comment section! But I will say, that Hoover vacuum must have been a lot nicer then beating the carpet out with a club!
Modern day king Charles of Britan surname used to be Battenberg.king Charles was advised to change his surname to Mountbatten by security officals who worked for M16 or M15.
