Divide and Conquer (1943) is the third film of Frank Capra’s Why We Fight propaganda film series and deals with the Nazi conquest of Western Europe in 1940. These emotionally stirring features were created with the intention of explaining and rallying support for American involvement in WW2. This film focuses on Hitler’s invasion of Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium paying particular attention to how Nazis were able to cross the famed Maginot Line. It also showcases human rights violations perpetrated by the Nazis. The German blitz into Poland erupted (:57) from September to October of 1939 leading to the French and British declaration of war on Germany. Signs call for military arms (1:48); various Allied forces march including Australian (1:55) and New Zealand (1:57). British war ships swim out (2:08). Ship to ship warfare erupts (2:17). Hitler plots how to hit England over a map (2:36). The Nazi propaganda machine buzzed over Europe as a type of softening up attack (3:19). Goebbels (3:30) speaks. Hitler discusses the non-aggression pact with Denmark (3:52). Torpedo’s zoom out of submerged U-boats (4:36). The British Naval Base Scapa Flow (4:45) is highlighted. Panzer tanks roll into Denmark on April 4th, 1940 (5:13). Danish civilians witness brutal Nazi forces sweep through their city (5:29). The city of Bergen follows (5:43). German warships wade in waters guised as merchant vessels (5:45). German troops unload (6:22). Nazi war ships move through Norwegian fjords (6:31). Nazi transport vessels (6:33), Panzer tanks (6:35) and Luftwaffe (6:36) invade. Junkers JU-87’s (6:37) buzz over. Newspaper headlines warn of fifth columnists (6:51); Quislings seize power in Norway. Nazis watches over captured seaports (7:21). Norwegian and German troops fight over light snow (8:30). The Luftwaffe drop bombs (8:39). Norwegian troops flee north from Nazi air raids (8:47). Captain Robert Losey (9:02) became the first American casualty. Nazi patrols weave through a Norwegian village (9:18). German paratroopers (9:21) drop in snow covered mountains. Civilians flee (9:33). Air raid sirens wail; a woman in fur sprints over jagged streets (9:43). City buildings burn (10:10). German forces march along the Norwegian shoreline (10:22). Allied warships (10:28) make landings along the Norwegian coast. Troops pour from LVTS (10:40). Aerial shots watch smoke spill up (11:06). Wounded are carted out on litter (11:08). Allied naval guns blow for Nazi installations on the Narvik coast (11:18). First Nazi POW’s are collected (12:01). Allied war ships withdrawal (12:15) under air bombardment. Bombs drop onto Allied war ships (12:33). Hitler speaks 6 months prior to the invasion of Norway stating he wouldn’t not invade (13:11). Notorious gangster John Dillinger is featured (13:38). Headlines blast about the Kansas City Union Station ambush (13:42). Organized crime swept across the Midwest (13:48). Dillinger’s corpse lays flat in the morgue (13:57). Bombs erupt in France in 1914 (14:41). The German Calvary trots through France in WW1 (14:47). Ferdinand Foch watches over the 9th French army (15:15). Foch becomes Commander in Chief (16:08). The French erected a monument to commemorate Foch in the Grosvenor gardens in London (16:22). Bastions along the Maginot line appear in animation (17:20). Marshall Petain (17:50) is pictured. Hitler looks over maps of France; the German war path cuts around the Maginot line (17:58). Hitler saw laws such as the Kellogg-Briand pact as signs of weakness (18:13). WW1 and recent public scandals left the French dissatisfied and disillusioned (18:28). Newspaper ads (19:02) feature the Stravinsky scandal of 1934. French soldiers guard the Maginot line; German propaganda was used to further disillusion the troops (19:58). German bands play French tunes (20:18). Scandinavia (21:13) burns in spring of 1940. Dutch neutrality is mentioned; French and British divisions are noted on a map (21:30). The exterior and interior of the Sacre-Coeur Basilica is toured (22:41). May 10 1940 (24:24) Nazis invade Luxembourg and Belgium (25:05). The Luftwaffe buzz over (25:50). About 10,000 paratroopers spill out (26:11) over Rotterdam. German armored columns move across the country (27:09). The film concludes as the Germans deliver an ultimatum to General Winkelman (27:34)

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