Made during WWII for the home market in Germany, this silent newsreel from 1939 shows German support of General Franco in the Spanish Civil War. At :24 Franco is shown at the front lines, supervising his forces through German binoculars. At :30, artillery blasts Republican forces. At :40 aircraft of the Kondor Squadron fly missions on behalf of the Nationalist faction. At :47 prisoners, some of them seemingly lacking shoes, trudge miserably down a road. At 1;08 wrecked boats and infrastructure are shown, possibly on the road to Barcelona. At 1;24 joyful Nationalist troops salute and embrace while at 1:36 bread is thrown out to hungry civilians. At 1:47 the film shows the German protectorates Bohemia and Moravia. This was a protectorate of Nazi Germany established on 16 March 1939 following the German occupation of Czechoslovakia on 15 March 1939. At 1:55 civilians stand in a soup line while at 2:02 they cheer for German brass arriving in Prague. At 2:14 a man who may very well be Prime Minister Alois Eliáš is shown — he was later executed for his contact with the resistance. At 2:30 a Roman Catholic cathedral is shown (the Germans often surrounded themselves with religiosity in their newsreels). At 3:15 a large parade is shown in honor of Adolf Hitler’s 50th Birthday in Berlin, with the Fuhrer greeting children and reviewing the armed forces. The date was 20 April 1939 and was celebrated as a national holiday throughout Nazi Germany and some other parts of the world. A key part of the birthday celebrations was the large demonstration of Nazi Germany’s military capabilities. The display was intended in part as a warning to the Western powers The parade, which lasted about five hours, included 12 companies of the Luftwaffe, 12 companies of the army, and 12 companies of the navy, as well as units of the Schutzstaffel (SS). In total, 40,000 to 50,000 German troops took part. 162 warplanes flew over Berlin. The grandstand comprised 20,000 official guests, and the parade was watched by several hundred thousand spectators. Features of the parade were large long range air defence artillery guns, emphasis on motorized artillery and development of air defense units.
German involvement in the Spanish Civil War commenced with the outbreak of war in July 1936, with Adolf Hitler immediately sending in powerful air and armored units to assist General Francisco Franco and his Nationalist forces.
The Condor Legion was a special unit of the Luftwaffe which supported General Francisco Franco’s Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). The Legion engaged in several raids, especially on Barcelona and infamously attacked the Basque city of Guernica.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
