Creator(s): Department of Defense. Department of the Army. Office of the Chief Signal Officer. 9/18/1947-2/28/1964 (Most Recent) Series: Orientation Films, 1942 - 1949
Record Group 111: Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, 1860 - 1985
Date: 1945
Scope & Content (Historic): Reel 1 shows panoramic views of the Germany countryside, crowds, schools, offices, and factories; dead and living victims of Nazi concentration camps at Rome, Lublin (Poland), and Brussels; articles made of human skin; Kaiser Wilhelm; and a German soldier. Describes the lack of democracy in medieval Germanic states. German troops march during World Wars I and II. The U.S. Declaration of Independence is signed. Reel 2 contrasts the British and French tradition of representative government with the totalitarianism of Germany. Describes Frederick the Great's wars with Austria. Shows portraits of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, founders of the General Staff. Describes the dictums of Clausewitz, crushing of the 1848 revolt, German emigration to the U.S., and Bismarck's policies. Dramatizes combat during the Franco-Prussian War and the crowning of Wilhelm I. Reel 3 dramatizes the development of German industry, the merchant marine, and the General staff, and dueling in German Universities. German troops cheer Kaiser Wilhelm, parade, and invade Belgium during World War I. Transports carry U.S. troops overseas. Shows U.S. tanks and artillery in action. Ludendorff requests an armistice. Crowds cheer news of peace. Reel 4 shows the Kaiser in exile in Holland and Ludendorff in Sweden. Describes the Treaty of Versailles and the Weimar Republic. Allied occupation forces depart. Describes the establishment of German veterans and athletic clubs. Germany munitions factories are retooled. Gen. Hindenburg becomes President of the Weimar Republic. Reel 5 shows the Weimar parliament in session; German troops parading; Hitler; Nazi riots; and closeups of Goebbels, Rohm, Goring, and Hess. Describes Hitler's rise to power. SS troops parade, books are burned, and Hitler speaks. Reel 6 describes the unconditional surrender of Germany. Shows prisoners and industrial ruins. Contrasts "lackadaisical" occupation in 1918 with the morecomplete occupation, the trial of war criminals, and denazification processes in 1945.
Contact(s): National Archives at College Park - Motion Pictures (RDSM), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001
Phone: 301-837-3540, Fax: 301-837-3620, Email: mopix@nara.gov
National Archives Identifier: 36077
Local Identifier: 111-OF-11
National Archives Catalog:
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