● Please SUPPORT my work on Patreon: https://bit.ly/2LT6opZ ● Visit my 2ND CHANNEL: https://bit.ly/2ILbyX8 ►Facebook: https://bit.ly/2INA7yt ►Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Lz57nY ►Google+: https://bit.ly/2IPz7dl ✚ Watch my "WW2 in Europe" PLAYLIST: https://bit.ly/2HEkWHl This World War 2-era classic – originally titled as "San Pietro" – is a documentary film produced by the US Army Pictorial Service about the historical event known as the Battle of San Pietro Infine. It was released in the US on May 3, 1945 but shown to US troops earlier. It was written, directed and narrated by prominent Hollywood director John Huston. The production supervisor was the multi-Oscar-winning director Frank Capra. The cameraman was the later film producer Jules Buck. The film opens with a short speech by General Mark W. Clark, who explains that San Pietro is a 700-year-old town in Italy's Liri River Valley, just south of Monte Cassino about halfway between Naples and Rome. The valley is a wide, flat pass that's surrounded by high mountains. The fighting took place from 8–17 December 1943, as US forces tried to wrench control of the area from the Germans. Unfortunately, the enemy had the advantage, with machine guns and mortars situated in the mountains. Flooding rivers also made movement exceedingly difficult for American troops. The film shows a series of maps that give a thorough explanation of the ongoing tactical situation. US Army soldiers assault German positions, making progress but taking heavy losses. US tanks then brave a single winding mountain road, fully exposed to German artillery fire, in order to attack the enemy-held town. Finally the Americans drive the Germans out of San Pietro and the surrounding mountains. The Allied victory in the battle was crucial in the ultimate drive to the north to liberate Rome. Scenes following the battle show villagers as they returned to their devastated town and attempted to rebuild their lives. "San Pietro" was one of the most controversial documentary films made during World War 2. When it was filmed, Huston was a captain in the US army. His initial assignment was to document the liberation of Rome. When the fight northward proved slower and more frustrating than the army anticipated, he was reassigned to make a film that would explain the difficulties to stateside Americans. Huston and his crew were attached to the US Army’s 143rd Regiment of the 36th Division. Unlike many other military documentaries, it was claimed Huston’s cameramen filmed alongside the infantrymen as they fought their way up the hills to reach San Pietro. Huston's claim that the film was made during the battle was proven false by the research of Peter Maslowski in his 1993 book, Armed With Cameras. When Huston and his crew reached San Pietro, the battle for the town was effectively over, so several of the scenes were reenacted. The film was held up from being shown to the public by the US Army until May 1945, after victory in Europe. Huston screened his first edit for army superiors in October 1944. The complaint voiced against the film by the army brass was simply that "this picture is pacifistic" and "against the war." The film portrayed the controversial Italian Campaign in a bad light. (General Mark W. Clark, one of the most widely criticized US commanders, looks distinctly uncomfortable talking about the battle in the film's introduction.) The Italian campaign was controversial because its primary purpose was to draw German divisions away from France and relieve the pressure on the Soviets in Russia. That meant many months of heavy, costly fighting for the Allies slogging over mountainous Italian terrain that favored the enemy, with few tangible results. Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall, however, came to the defense of the film, stating that because of the film’s realism, it would make a good training film. Then the film was used as a training tool. Huston was redeemed, decorated and eventually promoted to major. The film is vastly different than any newsreel-style, cheerleading documentary of the era, as the voice-over is sober, ironic, and poignant at times. In 1991, the documentary was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". "San Pietro" followed Huston’s relatively straightforward documentary "Report from the Aleutians". Watch Report from the Aleutians here: https://youtu.be/VkmgeseTShE Battle of San Pietro | World War 2 Documentary | 1945 TBFA_0177 NOTE: THE VIDEO DOCUMENTS HISTORICAL EVENTS. SINCE IT WAS PRODUCED DECADES AGO, IT HAS HISTORICAL VALUES AND CAN BE CONSIDERED AS A VALUABLE HISTORICAL DOCUMENT. THE VIDEO HAS BEEN UPLOADED WITH EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES. ITS TOPIC IS REPRESENTED WITHIN HISTORICAL CONTEXT. THE VIDEO DOES NOT CONTAIN SENSITIVE SCENES AT ALL!
World War 2 in the Pacific World War II (WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, though related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the world's nations – including all of the great powers – eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. In a state of "total war", the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, and the strategic bombing of industrial and population centres (during which approximately one million people were killed, including the use of two nuclear weapons in combat), it resulted in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history. The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War, was the theatre of World War II which was fought in the Pacific and East Asia. It was fought over a vast area which included the Pacific Ocean and islands, the South West Pacific, South-East Asia, and in China (including the 1945 Soviet–Japanese conflict). It is generally considered that the Pacific War began on 7/8 December 1941, on which date Japan invaded Thailand and attacked the British possessions of Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong as well as the United States military bases in Hawaii and the Philippines. Some historians contend that the conflict in Asia can be dated back to 7 July 1937 with the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China, or possibly 19 September 1931, beginning with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. However, it is more widely accepted that the Pacific War itself started in early December 1941, with the Sino-Japanese War then becoming part of it as a theater of the greater World War II. The Pacific War saw the Allied powers pitted against the Empire of Japan, the latter briefly aided by Thailand. The war culminated in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and other large aerial bomb attacks by the United States Army Air Forces, accompanied by the Soviet invasion of Manchuria on 8 August 1945, resulting in the Japanese announcement of intent to surrender on 15 August 1945. The formal and official surrender of Japan took place aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945. Following its defeat, Japan's Shinto Emperor, Hirohito stepped down as the divine leader through the Shinto Directive, because the Allied Powers believed this was the major political cause of Japan's military aggression and deconstruction process soon took place to install a new liberal-democratic constitution to the Japanese public as the current Constitution of Japan.
World War 2 in Europe & North Africa World War II (WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was aglobal war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, though related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the world's nations – including all of the great powers – eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. In a state of "total war", the major participants threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust (during which approximately 11 million people were killed) and the strategic bombing of industrial and population centres (during which approximately one million people were killed), it resulted in an estimated 50 million to 85 million fatalities. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history. The European Theatre of World War II, also known as the European War, was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe. The Allied forces fought the Axis powers on two fronts (the Eastern Front and Western Front) as well as in the adjoining Mediterranean and Middle East Theatre. The World War II have begun on 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom. From late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbors, Poland,Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. The United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth were the only Allied forces continuing the fight against the Axis, with campaigns in North Africa and the Horn of Africa as well as the long-running Battle of the Atlantic. In June 1941, the European Axis powers launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the largest land theatre of war in history, which trapped the major part of the Axis' military forces into a war of attrition. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Germany was defeated in North Africa and then, decisively, at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. In 1943, with a series of German defeats on the Eastern Front, and the Allied invasion of Italy which brought about Italian surrender, the Axis lost the initiative and undertook strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. The World War II in Europe ended with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet and Polish troops and the subsequent German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 (V-E Day). World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world. The United Nations (UN) was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers – the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, and France – became the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.
World War 2 Cartoons Political cartoons produced during World War II (also known as wartime cartoons) by both Allied and Axis powers commented upon the events, personalities and politics of the war. Governments used them for propaganda and public information. The overarching goal of WWII propaganda in the U.S. was to present America as being totally and completely in the right, their allies being in the right and their enemies being totally and completely wrong. The propaganda within these cartoons depicted U.S. enemies as being unintelligent and completely evil. Walt Disney Between 1942 and 1945, during World War II, Walt Disney was involved in the production of propaganda films for the U.S. government. The widespread familiarity of Walt Disney's productions benefited the U.S. government in producing pro-American war propaganda in an effort to increase support for the war. During World War II, Disney made films for every branch of the U.S. military and government. The government looked to Walt Disney more than any other studio chief as a builder of public morale providing instruction and training the sailors and soldiers. This was accomplished through the use of animated graphics by means of expediting the intelligent mobilization of servicemen and civilians for the cause of the war. Over 90% of Disney employees were devoted to the production of training and propaganda films for the government. Throughout the duration of the war, Disney produced over 400,000 feet of educational war films, most at cost, which is equal to 68 hours of continuous film. In 1943 alone, 204,000 feet of film was produced. In 1942, Disney was approached with requests from the U.S. services. The Navy was the first, and other branches of the government, including the Army, the Army Air Forces, the Department of Agriculture, and the Treasury Department, rapidly caught on to Disney’s creative approach to generating educational films, propaganda and insignias. As requested by the US Government, Walt Disney created a number of anti-German and anti-Japanese cartoons for both the soldiers and the US public. He wanted to portray these countries and their leaders as manipulative without morals. A few of the cartoons he produced were "Der Fuehrer's Face” (1942), “Education for Death - The Making of a Nazi” (1943), and “Commando Duck" (1944). In “Der Fuehrer’s Face,” Donald Duck breaks down after experiencing a nightmare where he has to make do with eating ridiculous Nazi food rations and experiences a day at a Nazi artillery factory. “Education for Death - The Making of a Nazi” was a wartime propaganda film that takes on the perspective of Hans, a young German boy. As the movie progresses and Hans is exposed to Hitler youth and the Nazi culture, his ability to value human life decreases. In “Commando Duck”, Donald, by himself, destroys an entire Japanese airbase.
Vietnam War (1955-1975) The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist countries. The Viet Cong (also known as the National Liberation Front, or NLF), a lightly armed South Vietnamese communist common front directed by the North, largely fought a guerrilla war against anti-communist forces in the region. The Vietnam People's Army (North Vietnamese Army) engaged in a more conventional war, at times committing large units into battle. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, and airstrikes. The U.S. government viewed involvement in the Vietnam War as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam as part of their wider strategy of containment. The North Vietnamese government and Viet Cong viewed the conflict as a colonial war, fought initially against France, backed by the U.S., and later against South Vietnam, which it regarded as a U.S. puppet state. American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina beginning in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and tripling again in 1962. U.S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965. Operations spanned international borders, with Laos and Cambodia heavily bombed. American involvement in the Vietnam War peaked in 1968, at the time of the Tet Offensive. After this, U.S. ground forces were gradually withdrawn as part of a policy known as Vietnamization. Despite the Paris Peace Accords, signed by all parties in January 1973, fighting continued. U.S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973 as a result of the Case--Church Amendment passed by the U.S. Congress. The capture of Saigon by the Vietnam People's Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The Vietnam War exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities. Estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 800,000 to 3.1 million. Some 200,000--300,000 Cambodians, 20,000--200,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U.S. service members also died in the conflict. Nixon Doctrine / Vietnamization: Severe communist losses during the Tet Offensive allowed U.S. President Richard Nixon to begin troop withdrawals. His plan, called the Nixon Doctrine, was to build up the ARVN, so that they could take over the defense of South Vietnam. The policy became known as "Vietnamization". Vietnamization had much in common with the policies of the Kennedy administration. One important difference, however, remained. While Kennedy insisted that the South Vietnamese fight the war themselves, he attempted to limit the scope of the conflict. Nixon began to pursue détente with the Soviet Union and rapprochement with the People's Republic of China. This policy helped to decrease global tensions. Détente led to nuclear arms reduction on the part of both superpowers. But Nixon was disappointed that the PRC and the Soviet Union continued to supply the North Vietnamese with aid. Beginning in 1970, American troops were being taken away from border areas where much more killing took place, and instead put along the coast and interior, which is one reason why casualties in 1970 were less than half of 1969's totals.
Korean War (1950-1953) The Korean War (in South Korea: 한국전쟁) was a war between North and South Korea, in which a United Nations force led by the United States of America fought for the South, and China fought for the North, which was also assisted by the Soviet Union. The war arose from the division of Korea at the end of World War II and from the global tensions of the Cold War that developed immediately afterwards. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the closing days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan and – by agreement with the United States – occupied Korea north of the 38th parallel. U.S. forces subsequently occupied the south and Japan surrendered. By 1948, two separate governments had been set up. Both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces – supported by the Soviet Union and China – invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. On that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83: Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation and dispatch of the UN Forces in Korea. Twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the defense of South Korea, with the United States providing 88% of the UN's military personnel. After the first two months of the conflict, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter. In September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many of the North Korean attackers. Those that escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, or into the mountainous interior. At this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the Korean war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951. After these dramatic reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of conflict became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate. North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet aircraft were used in air-to-air combat for the first time in history, and Soviet pilots covertly flew in defense of their Communist allies. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when the armistice was signed. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. Clashes have continued to the present.