Prelude to War (1942) - full transcript

[military bugle call]

[martial music playing]

["Army Goes Rolling Along" playing]

[narrator]
Causes and events leading up

to our entry into the war.

Well, what are the causes?

Why are we Americans on the march?

Is it because of...

[explosions]

Pearl Harbor?

Is that why we are fighting?



Or is it because of Britain?

France?

China?

Czechoslovakia?

Norway?

Poland?

Holland?

Greece?

Belgium?

Albania?

Yugoslavia?

Or Russia?

[speaking Russian]

Just what was it made us change
our way of living overnight?



What turned our resources, our machines,
our whole nation into one vast arsenal?

Producing more and more weapons of war
instead of the old materials of peace.

What put us into uniform, ready to
engage the enemy on every continent?

And every ocean?

What of these two worlds,
or which Mr. Wallace spoke?

The free and the slave?

Let's take the free world first,
our world.

How did it become free?

Only through a long and unceasing
struggle inspired by men of vision.

Moses.

[choir singing "It Came Upon
A Midnight Clear"]

Mohammed.

Confucius.

Christ.

All believe in the sight of God,
all men were created equal.

And from that there developed a
spirit among men and nations,

which is best expressed in our
own declaration of freedom.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal."

It is the cornerstone upon which
our nation was built.

And the ideal of all the great liberators.

Washington.

Jefferson.

Garibaldi.

La Fayette.

Peshutsko.

Bolivar.

-Lincoln.
-[singing "Battle Hymn of the Republic"]

Lighthouses! Lighting up
a dark and foggy world.

[Lincoln]
"That government of the people,

by the people for the people,

shall not perish from the earth."

[narrator]
Fighting! Living! Dying! For what?

For freedom! That for which men
have fought since time began.

To be free.

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet,

as to be purchased at the price
of chains and slavery?

Forbid it Almighty God.

I know not what other course
one may take, but as for me,

give me liberty or give me death."

But what of this other world?

Here men insisted that progress
lay in killing freedom.

Here they were putting out
the lighthouses, one by one.

Here the march of history
was reversing itself.

In Italy it began, when
an ambitious rabble-rouser

set his followers marching on Rome.

The country, like every other country
after the last war,

was torn by political unrest,
hard times, unemployment.

Two courses were available
to the Italian people.

They could solve their problems
in a free democratic way,

or they could let someone else
do the solving for them.

They made the tragic mistake of
choosing the second course.

They put their faith and trust
in this one man.

They believed they represented them.

Actually he planned to betray them,
for the selfish interests of himself,

and a group back of him.

Just as he had earlier betrayed
those who first supported him.

In Germany another, and even more
forceful, demagogue

set his marchers following
from the Munich beer halls.

He too had the sinister opportunity

to take advantage of post-war chaos.

But he also had certain distinctive
German characteristics to play on.

To start with,

the Germans have an in-born national love
of regimentation and a harsh discipline.

He could give them that.

[marching music]

The German army, and through them,
the people, had never acknowledged

German defeat in the last war
and were anxious for revenge.

That too, he promised them.

The wealthy and powerful industrialists

were fearful of losing any
of their wealth and power,

and were ready to back anyone
who would retain it for them.

-He promised to take care of them too.
-[cheering]

This man cunningly played all these
ends against the middle.

And ruthlessly set out to murder
the new-born German republic.

In Japan, you expect things
to be done a little differently.

They were.

Here not one man, but a gang,
disguised their little schemes

as the will of the Emperor,

and to the Japanese people,
the Emperor is God.

Taking advantage of their fanatical
worship of the God-Emperor,

it was no great trick to take away
what little freedom they had ever known.

Yes in these lands,
the people surrendered their liberties

and threw away their human dignity

[chanting]

They gave up their rights
as individual human beings.

[shouting German]

They became a part of a mass,
a human herd.

[chanting]

Although these countries were far apart
and different in custom and in language,

the same poison made them much alike.

Each got a new uniform.
In Italy, the bosses wore black shirts.

In Germany the shirts were brown.

In Japan they hid behind
the uniform of the army.

But really they belonged
to a sinister secret society.

Their symbol was a black dragon.

The other fellows
had to have a symbol too.

Germany, a Swastika.

In Italy, the old Roman symbol
of the fasces.

In Germany they called the new
order National Socialism,

or Nazism.

In Italy, they had a shorter word:
Fascism.

In Japan they had lots of names for it:
The New Era of Enlightenment,

The New Order in Asia.

The Co-Prosperity Sphere.

But no matter how you slice it,
it was just plain old-fashioned

militaristic imperialism.

The Japs would get the prosperity
and the other would get the "co."

They say trouble always
comes in threes.

Take a good close look
at this trio.

Remember these faces.

Remember them well.

If you ever meet them, don't hesitate.

[speaking German]

"Stop thinking and follow me,"
cried Hitler.

"I will make you masters of the world."

-And the people answered: "Heil!"
-[crowd chanting "Sieg Heil"]

"Stop thinking and believe in me,"
bellowed Mussolini

and I will restore
the glory that was Rome."

The people answered: "Il Duce! Il Duce!"

"Stop thinking and follow
your God-Emperor,"

cried the Japanese warlords.
"And Japan will rule the world."

And the people answered: "Banzai! Banzai!"

Each system was alike in that

the constitutional law-making
bodies gave up their power.

The Reichstag in Berlin.

The House of Deputies in Rome.

The Diet in Tokyo.

And these elected representatives,
became collections of stooges.

Rubber stamp organizations.

-[man] Sieg Heil!
-[crowd] Seig Heil!

Applauding on cue
the words of the leaders.

Each system did away with free-speech,
and free-assembly.

Each system did away
with a free press

and substituted a press
controlled by the party

Through their ministries of propaganda,
each took complete control of theater,

the movies, the radio.

Every cultural activity
in every channel of information,

was controlled by the most
important members of the party.

Each did away with free courts,
and trial by jury.

And substituted courts and judges,
run by the party.

Each abolished labor unions,
and the rights of bargaining for wages.

[whistle blows]

[shouting in German]

[speaking German]

-Heil Hitler!
-[all] Heil Hitler!

[speaking German]

And under the pretext of patriotism,
established the system of forced labor.

Each enforced its decrees,
by an army of secret police,

who held the power of life and death
over every individual.

And for the few who still
believed in freedom

and said so, there was a ready answer.

[speaking Italian]

"The greatest intellect in the world
can be silenced with this."

That is an exact translation of the words
these black-shirts cheer so lustily.

[speaking German]

"Whenever I hear anyone
mention the word 'culture,'

the first thing I do is reach for my gun."

Yes, they had the answers,
the blackjack and the gun.

In Italy they did it differently.

While in Japan...

To their names can be added
hundreds of thousands of others

who stood in the way of the new order.

Finally there is only one obstacle left.

[bells tolling]

[choir singing]

The word of God and the word
of fuhrers cannot be reconciled.

Then God must go!

"l am absolutely clear in my own mind,

and I think l can speak
for the F端hrer as well.

That both the Catholic
and Protestant churches

must banish from the life of our people."

Thus spoke Dr. Alfred Rosenberg and if you
have any doubt he spoke for his F端hrer

here's what happened.

[choir singing "O, Come All Ye Faithful"]

Thousands of other men of God,
Protestant, Catholic, Jewish,

were persecuted, arrested,
confined in concentration camps.

"Our F端hrer is the intermediary between
his people and the throne of God.

Everything the F端hrer utters
is religion in the highest sense.

It is only on one or
two exceptional points

that Christ and Hitler
stand comparison,

for Hitler is far too big a man to
be compared with one so petty."

-Every day in all German classrooms...
-Heil Hitler.

[children singing]

Yes, take children from
the faith of their fathers,

and teach them
the state is the only church,

and the head of the State
is the voice of God.

-Banzai!
-[children] Banzai!

[martial drumming]

[martial music continuing]

That was the way of life, or better,
the way of death in that other world.

Now what of our world?
The democratic world.

What did we want?
What did we do about it?

First of all,
we wanted peace and security.

And to prove our sincerity, in 1921

we initiated the Washington
Disarmament Conference.

This resulted in two
vitally important treaties.

One, to reduce the size
of the British, Japanese,

French, Italian and American Fleets.

And the other, the Nine-Power Treaty,
which guaranteed the integrity of China,

And incidentally, one of the powers
signing this was Japan.

Later on in 1929, we signed
the Kellogg-Briand Pact.

which was supposed to abolish war

as a means of settling
international disputes.

This pact was signed by 47 nations,
including Germany and Japan.

"Mr. President, I have the honor of
handing you the London Naval Treaty."

Faithful to our treaty obligations,

[explosion]

We scraped more than 60%
of our Naval tonnage,

and our army was reduced to
a standing force of 136,000 men.

Smaller than that maintained by
the little state of Romania.

We let our hopes for peace
become so strong,

that they grew into determination
not to fight unless directly attacked.

We let ourselves be influenced by
those who said that we could find

security through isolation.

The confusion in our way
of thinking is apparent

in the slice of public opinion,

as it appeared in Pathe News in 1939.

Another war? Not for me.

This time America should keep out,
and I know I will.

lf war breaks out in Europe,

I think this country should heed
the advice of its first president,

and avoid all foreign entanglements.

I haven't the slightest idea
of European affairs.

In the event of war in Europe,
I think we should stay out of it entirely.

And all our efforts should be made
to keep out of the fight.

Let Europe fight their own battles.
They mean nothing to us.

-We should mind our own business.
-By all means, no.

-Yes, fight.
-No.

-No.
-Yes.

-If my country calls, yes.
-No!

We simply did not want to understand that
our individual and national problems were

and always will be dependent upon
the problems of the whole world.

And we had individual and national
problems to worry about. Plenty of them.

Just as Germany, Italy and Japan had,
but we faced them in a democratic way.

We passed laws to give working men
a chance to improve their lot.

We established an insurance program
for those without jobs.

We began to give old folks protection
against want and hunger.

We organized the C.C.C.

to provide our young men
with healthy and useful employment.

A Federal works program came into being

and changed the face of our nation
with new roads,

bridges, schools.

We built great new dams which brought
electricity to millions of our people.

These were some of our accomplishments,
but there were others, not so creditable.

We turned our backs
on the League of Nations.

We passed the Tariff Act to set
a higher wall of isolation around us.

We encouraged lawlessness
with the farce of prohibition.

But in spite of these mistakes,

we never had a thought
of losing our free institutions.

John Q. Public still ran the country
He had his choice of voting for Dewey,

Willkie, Roosevelt or anybody else.

In Germany they had the choice of voting
for Hitler, Hitler, or Hitler.

Over here, John Q. still read
what he pleased.

And although he heard of books
being burned in other countries,

he would have laughed, if anybody
told him his books would be burned.

And on Sunday, if he felt like it,
John Q. went to any church he pleased.

[singing hymn]

Most of all, he got a kick out
of seeing his kids grow up.

[laughing, shouting]

-[school bell ringing]
-Come on, Danny!

[shouting]

[whistle blowing]

The average American was quite
unconscious of the fact that some people,

had this in mind for the little John Qs.

[speaking German]

Yes, while their children were
being trained to kill,

John Q.'s kids were giving their
pennies to help them have life.

[martial music]

And when we saw these men on the
news reels, quite often we laughed.

To us they looked like characters
in a musical comedy.

But they weren't comic, they weren't
funny, they were deadly serious.

They were out for world conquest.

And what made it deadly serious was
that there were 70 million Japanese,

45 million Italians,

and 80 million Germans,
all hopped-up with the same idea.

[speaking German]

Their leaders told them
that they were supermen.

Herrenvolk, the Nazi called it,
the Master Race.

Destined to rule all
other peoples on earth.

[crowd chanting]
Sieg Heil!

Take a good look at these humorless men.

These were to be
the rulers of the ruling race.

[speaking German]

"Obey us blindly and you will obtain
your rightful place in the world.

All other people will be your slaves."

That's what they promised them.
That Americans, Chinese,

Russians, South Americans,
all free people

would work for them
and make them rich.

And how they ate it up!

[chanting]

[cheering]

"We shall restore the glory
that was Rome."

"Today we rule Germany.
Tomorrow the world."

"The Pacific is ours!"

It was inevitable that these countries
should gang up on us.

The little fellow is our pal, Kurusu,

who smiled his way into our hearts
in December, 1941.

Here he and his friends are busy
carving up the world in advance.

Staking out their claims.
Take a good look at these claims.

Here is the Italy that Mussolini
took over in 1922.

And almost his first act was
to tell the Italians they were

the rightful owners of Corsica,
Nice, Savoien, Albania,

Tunisia, Ethiopia, and a land corridor
linking it with Libya.

Later on he had an even bigger dream,

the Old Roman Empire as it existed
nearly 2000 years ago.

To dominate all the lands joining
the Mediterranean.

Mare Nostrum, Our Sea they called it,
just as the ancient Romans did.

As for the Japanese,
they had some ambitions too.

By 1920, they had grabbed
off Formosa, Korea,

and the southern half
of the island of Sakhalin.

Then Baron Giichi Tanaka,
the Prime Minister,

carefully set down Japanese
aims in a document

called "The Tanaka Memorial."

It was presented to the
Emperor on July 25, 1927.

Here was their dream.
Manchuria for raw materials.

China for manpower.

Then a triumphant March
through Indo China.

Siam, Burma, India, the East Indies,

and on through
Australia and New Zealand.

In the north, all they claimed was
that part of Russia east of Lake Baikal.

That was to be the new order in Asia.

Then the Japs would move eastward
to crush the United States.

And really start the Co-Prosperity Sphere.

Now take a look at the bite
the Nazis reserved for themselves.

Here's the Germany Hitler walked
into and here's what he wanted.

First Europe under his complete
political or economic control.

Leaving Mussolini a share of the loot,
if he behaved himself.

Then a drive to the east,

through the rich oil lands of Iran
and Iraq and into India.

Another push south, through Africa.

Then from Dakar, jump off to meet
the Honorary Aryans.

who were to move in on
South America through the Pacific.

At the same time, start across
the Scandinavian countries.

To hook up with his buck-toothed pals
coming over from Siberia,

to join in the conquest of
the United States.

There it is, gents.
All they left us was Shangri-La.

And they'd claim that too,
if they knew where it was.

And did they think they had a chance?
Listen.

[speaking Japanese]

"When war comes between Japan and the
United States, I shall not be content

merely to occupy Guam, The Philippines,
Hawaii and San Francisco."

I look forward to dictating
the peace to the United States

in the White House at Washington."

Yamamoto wrote those words
on January of 1941.

Yes, the conquering Jap army
down Pennsylvania Avenue.

That was the final goal.

You will see what they did
to the man and women

of Nanking, Hong Kong and Manila.

Imagine the field day
they would have enjoyed

if they'd marched through the
streets of Washington?

But before striking,
a preliminary step was necessary.

From Berlin...

from Rome...

from Tokyo,
the campaign started.

Propaganda, to confuse, divide,
soften up their intended victims.

Put them on the defensive.
Scream you're abused!

Shout you're oppressed!
The world is wrong. You are right!

If you shriek it loud enough and
often enough, they believe you.

Above all, use their free press
and free speech to destroy them.

Lebensraum. Ja. Lebensraum.

"Lebensraum," they demanded.
"Living room!"

"Our lands are overcrowded."

But at the same time,
they gave prizes to mothers

who bore the most sons.

[cheering]

They brought together
large groups of young men

and young girls for human breeding.

Read what one of their leaders wrote.

[crying]

Of course, the children from this
assembly line belong to the state

to be scientifically trained for conquest.

[loud crying]

Another howl, was lack of raw material.

They claimed they were the "have-nots"
and we were the "haves."

But out of this supposed lack,
they built up the greatest war machines

the world has ever known.

These are the published figures
from the German Military budget.

Actually between 1933 and 1939

Hitler's program of re-armament cost
more than 80 billion dollars.

The Nazis alone assembled
a striking force of 30 Panzer divisions,

70 motorized divisions,

140 infantry divisions,

plus the Luftwaffe,
the world's largest air force,

and they had no raw materials.

Think of the bread, the automobiles,

the good things of life that
the German, Italian, Japanese leaders

might have given their people,
if they had spent this money for peace

instead of war.

You know what billions we are now
spending to match their military force.

No, no, these arguments
were all smoke screens.

When war came, the democracies
proved to be the "have-nots"

and our enemies the "haves."

And when war came, where did it come?

Remember that date, September 18, 1931.

A date we should remember
as well as December 7, 1941.

For on that date, in 1931

the war we are now fighting began.

The place was Manchuria,
the northern most Province of China,

6000 miles from San Francisco.

Manchuria the first objective
in the Tanaka plan.

By September 18th, the Japanese,
who by treaty patrol

the Southern Manchurian railway,

had secretly and illegally
increased their garrisons.

On the Korean-Manchurian border,
an entire Japanese army was assembled,

conveniently equipped
for a winter campaign.

All they needed was an excuse.

They made their own.

At 10:30 that night, just after
the Mukden Express had passed by,

a section of track was dynamited, causing
damage to one rail and two fish-plates.

Japan's honor had been violated.

In half an hour, the Japanese railroad
garrison launched a coordinated attack

on the barracks for the sleeping
Chinese army at Mukden.

The slaughter was appalling.

By midnight, the conveniently
placed Japanese army

poured across the Korean border
and the first open act of aggression,

the invasion of Manchuria was on.

In four days they had occupied
the whole of southern Manchuria.

And shortly after, the whole country.

Manchuria became Manchukuo,

a puppet state with
an obedient stooge on the throne.

Henry Pu Yi.

A weakling whom the Japanese
had prepared for the job

with seven years of women and song.

In Washington, Henry L. Stimson,
then Secretary of State,

now Secretary of War,

sent out a blistering
denunciation of the attack.

The League of Nations sent a committee
of five, headed by Lord Litton

and including our own General Frank McCoy
to Manchuria to investigate.

In October of 1932,

the Committee issued its report.

We found that the Japanese occupation
of this large part of China,

was not justified on the ground
of self-defense,

and that the new state which
had been set up

was a Japanese protectorate

rather than a genuine case of
Manchurian self-determination.

[narrator]
Shortly after, The League condemned Japan

as an aggressor nation.

[speaking French]

[man]
I call on Mr. Matsuoka,

delegate of Japan.

It is a matter of common knowledge
that Japan's policy

is fundamentally inspired
by a genuine desire

to guarantee peace in the Far East,

and to contribute to the maintenance
of peace throughout the world.

Japan, however,
finds it impossible to accept

the report adopted by the assembly.

[narrator]
In answer, the Japanese delegates,

knowing there were no guns
behind this condemnation,

smiled, took up their briefcases,
marched out of The League.

Northern Manchuria was dead.
Collective security was dead.

A green light had been given
the aggressors.

We and the rest of the world knew

that these aggressors should
be stopped and punished,

but we were unwilling to make

the necessary sacrifices
to back up that opinion.

It was impossible to convince
a farm boy in Iowa,

or a driver of a London bus,

or a waiter in a Paris cafe that
he should go to war,

because of a mud hut in Manchuria.

Yet the subsequent course
of history makes it clear

that that incident
so many miles away

is one of the main reasons
that you and millions of others

are in uniform today.

The Japs had Manchuria, phase number one
of the Tanaka Plan was completed.

Phase number two,
the conquest of China.

In 1932, without warning the Japs
attacked the city of Shanghai.

[yelling]

[explosions]

[machine gun fire]

[shouting]

[sobbing]

[explosions]

[sobbing]

[machine gun firing]

Here they met such
stubborn resistance,

that they had to pour
more than 75,000 troops

into the local battle,
before capturing the city.

This resistance made them decide
to shift their campaign to the north.

And in 1933, they added the
Province of Jehol to Manchuria.

Yes, the Japs launched the
second phase of the Tanaka Plan.

But they had yet to finish it.

A united nation stands against them.

Under the inspired leadership of
General Chiang Kai-shek.

The Chinese people fought
and still fight on.

Meantime, what of Japan's partners?

What helpless people were
they planning to bomb,

slaughter, drive into slavery?
Hitler was not yet ready.

But Mussolini was. Mussolini had to be.
His people were growing restless.

Fascism hadn't produced the heaven
on earth that he had promised them.

So he pulled the old trick
of launching a foreign war

to divert the attention
from troubles at home.

So Mussolini beat his chest like Tarzan
and looked around for a worthy foe.

He found one. Ethiopia.

Good country for the beginning
of a glorious empire.

Its army had no machine guns.

Its army had no tanks.

Its army did have an Air Force.

Exactly one old airplane.

One airplane against the nation which had
developed the new theory of total air-war,

of the blitz that would wipe out cities,
destroy civilians,

man, woman, and child.

In October of 1935, following
the Japanese example,

an incident was provoked
at the little settlement of Wal Wal

near the border of Ethiopia

and Italian Somaliland.

Italy's honor had been violated.

Refusing any arbitration, Mussolini moved
the whole might of his army through

the Suez Canal, to overrun
the undefended country

Ethiopia's Emperor, Haile Selaissie,
appeared before The League of Nations.

[speaking Amharic]

"l must still fight on
until my tardy allies appear.

and if they never come,
I say to you without bitterness,

the West will perish."

Members of the League, half-heartedly
stopped trading with Italy,

but refused the only thing
that will stop any aggressor...

force.

Ethiopia was left to herself.

Native leaders came
to pledge their allegiance.

[shouting in Amharic]

[shouting in Amharic]

The people of Ethiopia,
with their spears and bare hands,

faced the guns and tanks
of the invaders.

Fighting desperately and gallantly
to save their country from conquest.

They fought and they died.

But in the end,
there could only be one result,

might triumphed.

Italy conquered Ethiopia.

Many of our elected leaders
warned us of danger.

Without declaration of war,

and without warning
or justification of any kind,

civilians, including vast numbers
of women and children,

are being ruthlessly murdered
with bombs from the air.

[narrator]
But we were still hypnotized by the fact

that two broad oceans
stood between us

and the rest of the world.

We didn't realize that when the time when
months to span these oceans was ended,

that the steam ship had cut
these months to days

and that now the whole earth's surface
could be covered in the space of hours.

Yes, we were a nation that wanted peace,

but we hadn't yet learned that peace
for us depends on peace for all.

Nobody would run the risk of war

because of some mud huts
and barren plains in Ethiopia

any more than we would run the risk

for some similar huts
and plains in Manchuria.

Correctly interpreting our attitude,

the aggressors were all assured
they could get what they wanted.

Japan had started
on her march of conquest.

Italy had begun her new Empire.

And now the third gangster.
What about him?

We take him up in our next film

and show how he joined his partners
and put in his bid.

For this is what we are fighting:
Freedom's oldest enemy,

the passion of the few to rule the many.

This isn't just a war.

This is a common man's life
and death struggle

against those who would
put him back into slavery.

We lose it and we lose everything.

Our homes.
The jobs we want to go back to.

The books we read. The very food we eat.

The hopes we have for our kids.
The kids themselves.

They won't be ours anymore.

That's what's at stake.
It's us or them!

The chips are down.
Two worlds stand against each other.

One must die, one must live.

One hundred and seventy years
of freedom decrees our answer.

[choir singing]

[military bugle call]