After world war 2, most people in europe, america, and every other continent were eager to get back to the way their lives used to be before all the violence. One man, Frank Capra, couldn't seem to accept the war was over. He had spent many exhausting months trying to put this film together, and by the time it was ready, the fighting had already ended and it was basically rendered pointless. Capra also produced another feature length film (Know Your Enemy: Japan) which focuses on the war in the pacific, and educated GI's about japan's culture, people, history, and ruthless military government. The film was released August 9, 1945, the same day japan was hit by a second atomic bomb, and so that film never achieved its purpose either. It's a shame these films weren't released earlier, because they would have provided valuable information to US soldiers regarding the motives of their enemies. Going back to Here Is Germany again, the film was originally supposed to be a companion to the japanese one, and basically has the same layout. It begins by showing a bunch of germans going about their daily business, the narrator telling us how "these people look alright", and do much the same work as people in the US (mailmen, clerks, musicians, traffic cops, etc.) It then shows horrific footage of death camps and piles of corpses, telling the viewer that germans have demonstrated throughout their history that they're incredibly violent and barbaric people. The film says this has been proven time and time again in german history, because germanic tribes caused the roman empire to collapse, a german (Martin Luther) is responsible for creating Protestantism in defiance of the Catholic church, and how Karl Marx (another german) laid the foundations for communism. The narration explains how germany has been creating war and destruction for a long time, because over 20 years before, soldiers in world war 1 were fighting the "Huns", the ww2 generation were fighting the nazis, and in the 1800s, they were called the Prussians. Huns, Prussians, and nazis. Three names for three different variations of germans. Later on, we are shown how ruthless german statesmen and military leaders such as Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm believed in german racial superiority, and how their race was better than everybody else on earth. The film attempts to say how nazis believed in racial supremacy because it is something deeply ingrained in german tradition, going all the way back to the 1700s. We then see how germany faced hard times after being beaten in the first world war, since they took all the blame. Still, America gave billions of dollars to support the new Weimar Republic, and it didn't occur to most people this money would be used by germans to build up their military for another war. By the time Hitler makes his presence known, he is merely carrying on the german tradition of being part of a "master race" and killing everyone who doesn't believe the way you do. It explains how Hitler was wildly popular among average german citizens because he promised a way out of the Depression, as well as building the Autobahn. In the film's final minutes, we are given words of caution by the narrator. He says how even though Hitler is dead and his Reich is no more, the world still needs to be careful regarding germans as a people. Their long-standing tradition of lust for conquest, war, and violence is something of an instinct for them, and if the world doesn't supervise them, another german will rise up and take over the world. We see how after world war 1, german factories and industry were left standing. By 1945, most of them were in ruins. After world war 1, the german general staff continued to function. After ww2, the entire german officers corps was dissolved so they couldn't plan another war. The entire country was going to be babysat this time because they could not be trusted, so the victorious countries wanted to remain in germany, even after it was cut in half. For 10 years, for 20, if necessary forever. The swastika may be gone, but until germans prove to the world they are truly sorry, they're still potential enemies. The narrator also states how ruthless discipline is how the average german got his soul, and Hitler's speeches have been burned into their heads from the moment they joined the army. That way, the world war 2 german can now be brainwashed like his father from world war 1, and his prussian father before him. The film ends with something similar to that. In all, Here is Germany is without a doubt propaganda. That doesn't mean it's bad, but Capra himself didn't want to be caught using the same techniques the nazis used, and he's guilty of the same thing. I liked how the film goes over how germany became so ridiculously powerful following world war 1, even though the country was plagued by ruinous inflation and degeneracy. It shows how resilient the public was. One of my favorite segments is when it shows how the Treaty of Versailles, which was supposed to prevent germany from starting another catastrophic war, was not enforced whatsoever. The treaty states that the german general staff is to be dissolved, the country is not allowed to have more than 100 thousand soldiers, it is to have no submarines, no air force, and the Rhineland is not to be occupied by german troops. The film elaborates on why these restrictions could have prevented another war, had they been enforced, but they weren't. Without a general staff, germany couldn't have planned world war 2. Without an air force, germany could not have attacked england. With no submarines, germany couldn't have disrupted american and british shipping in the atlantic. With an army of only 100 thousand men, they could not have attacked russia, and from a demilitarized Rhineland, they could not have attacked France. Hitler essentially spit in the face of everyone who thought a piece of paper was going to stop his country from waging war. It may be propaganda, but this film is required viewing for those who wish to understand why germany being aggressive in the second world war is not news.
Review of Here Is Germany
