This film is part of Free
Peace by Adolf Hitler
A dire warning to isolationists, this graphic retelling of Hitler’s conquest of Europe shows that the only certain fact about Nazi promises of peace was that they would be broken.
Overview
March of Time’s stance on Nazism is summed up by the words of New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia: any peace negotiated by Hitler is ‘simply nonsense’. The film urges solidarity with Britain: the scenes showing Londoners braving the Blitz are pointedly contrasted with footage of pro-isolationists demonstrating outside the White House. Despite the stubborn wishes of the likes of Senator Burton K. Wheeler, staying out of Europe was not, according to March of Time, an option.
By 1941 The March of Time had been warning of the dangers of fascism for years. With hindsight we can see that the interventionist instincts of producer Louis De Rochement were correct but, at the time, a small but vociferous minority in the USA was against America becoming involved in a European war. The March of Time’s consistently pro-British, anti-fascist stance led to accusations of excessive belligerence from politicians like Senator Burton K. Wheeler and in September 1941 a Senate Committee, instigated by Wheeler and others, named several March of Time films as being ‘warmongering’ propaganda, in particular the issue ‘Uncle Sam: The Non-belligerent’, which was released in the US in January 1941.
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