The World at War (TV Series) A New Germany: 1933-1939 (1973) User Reviews

Great start with focus on Nazi-Germany

[moritzherz · 8/10 · 4 March 2023]

I started to watch this documentary because the second world war for me as a german is one of the most important topics considering the history of our country. This first episode shows exactly how the weimarer repuclic transformed into the third reich, how Hitler took over the power and transformed the country into an exonomy and military power the west feared. It shows also the brutality Hitler has used to spread his ideologies.

But it is the way how this documentary tells the historical events. It is as objective as it can be. Of course you have to tell the events happening in Germany with a critical undertone but you also have to critizise the european countries like France and Great Britain that did nothing when the nazis annexed Austria and parts of the chech republic. This objectivity is important because it hits the truth.

Haunting and somewhat familiar

[snoozejonc · 10/10 · 6 May 2022]

This is a powerful start to a classic documentary.

The aerial footage and information provided about Oradour-sur-Glane is a very effective means of hooking the viewer, before the narrative shifts back to the main purpose of the episode: the origins of the Nazi war machine.

'A New Germany' provides context to the development of the the Third Reich as a world power and the God-like status of Hitler in Germany at the time.

For me the most fascinating aspects are the first hand accounts. There are some important moments covered such as the economic hardships at the time discussed in Konrad Morgan's interview, the Night of the Long Knives alluded to by Ewald von Kleist, the hysteria of the 1936 Harvest Festival at Bückeberg described so vividly by Werner Pusch, and the Kristallnacht referenced by Emmi Bonhoeffer.

German advances into other territories are well worked into the narrative, culminating in the most impactful instance regarding the fate of the Polish town of Danzig and Nazi-Soviet pact.

These voices from history are both poignant and quite chilling given the scary times we live in today. War has returned to Europe and right-wing rhetoric has a platform once more in numerous democracies around the world, including my own.

Lawrence Olivier's narration is excellent, particularly the introductory monologue and the archived footage is excellent.

Origins of world war 2

[nickenchuggets · 10/10 · 19 December 2021]

Even the best world war 2 documentary ever put together (World at War) had to start somewhere, and this first episode engages and interests viewers right from the beginning. A New Germany is World at War's introduction to what exactly was going on in germany during the 1920s and 30s, and how Hitler was able to take advantage of the public's disdain for restrictions imposed on the country with the Versailles Treaty following world war 1. It shows how during the period between world wars 1 and 2, germany was called the Weimar Republic, and had a president, much like the United States. This position was occupied by Paul von Hindenburg, a Prussian born war hero who had led the entire german military during world war 1, but was criticized by many who thought him (and Kaiser Wilhelm) bore all the blame for letting the country lose. Old even back then, Hindenburg knew he was not going to be able to lead germany forever. The episode explains how Hitler received backing and funds from many different groups, who saw in him their chance to end the Depression for good. He was supported by militarists who admired how he wanted germany to stand up for itself. He was supported by average citizens who were angry at the humiliation brought on by the Versailles Treaty. He was also popular with employers who were a fan of how the German Labor Front was now the only labor union in germany allowed to exist. With the backing of all these different groups, Hitler soared ahead and his popularity was now rivalling Hindenburg himself. Although initially hostile to the national socialist german workers party (nazis), Hindenburg eventually agrees to give Hitler the title of Chancellor, believing that he could control him. This marks the beginning of a thoroughly totalitarian regime, where nothing in the country gets accomplished without Adolf's say-so. Shortly after becoming chancellor, a dutch communist, van der Lubbe, is caught burning the Reichstag, the german parliament structure. Even to this day, many people think the nazis themselves caused the fire in order to have an excuse to become more authoritarian. Whatever the case was, Hitler used the attack on the Reichstag as an excuse to enact a decree which basically suspended tons of rights for german citizens, under the pretense that they might try and threaten the government. From this point on, germans lived under a permanent state of emergency. Radio broadcasts, newspapers, jobs, and absolutely everything else was tightly controlled and watched over by the national socialists. As their party was now the only one allowed to exist, german citizens could not get rid of Hitler with an election. Although the holocaust was not enacted yet, the nazis proceeded to round up people deemed to be enemies of the state, such as communists, the disabled, and jews. Free speech was crushed, and germany's military (unbeknownst to the world) was rebuilding itself. In 1934, Hindenburg dies in his bed on august the second. With the president dead, the last obstacle standing in Hitler's way is gone, and he becomes absolute dictator of germany. The positions of both head of state and government are merged together, creating a new position: Fuhrer. In 1937, Hitler reveals his new air force, the Luftwaffe, with 2 and a half thousand planes. The other european countries let him know that they were not a fan of how germany was openly disregarding the restrictions set by the Treaty of Versailles, but Hitler did not care. After reforming the rest of the german army and making them swear allegiance to him, germany's transformation is complete. From now until 1945, it will be ruled by a genocidal madman who is so diabolical, he manages to convince a country full of intelligent people to be accepting of his crimes. As is always the case, World at War delivers an extremely well made and memorable experience with this first episode. It features interviews with people who were living in germany before the war started, and they offer valuable insight into a country that no longer exists. Laurence Olivier's narration is, of course, excellent. He manages to make all the topics interesting, and no matter what's being shown, you just want to keep watching in order to hear his voice some more. I especially like how the episode mentions an often overlooked part of history, called the night of the long knives. This was an event in 1934 where Hitler, assisted by his ruthless and sadistic security force, the SS, purged many high ranking officials within his own party in order to make sure only people loyal to him remained alive. Ernst Rohm, the corpulent leader of the Sturmabteilung, was a prime target. Dozens of other military officers were dragged from their beds and shot too. After that night, everyone in the government came to fear Hitler as he demonstrated his ability to decide who lives or dies. Overall, A New Germany is not only the first World at War episode, but one of the best episodes of the whole show. It is essential that you watch it if you want to understand how the stage was set for world war 2 following the rise of national socialism.

A Cook's Tour of the Rise of the Nazi War Machine

[darryl-tahirali · 7/10 · 1 July 2023]

An august documentary series--how could it not be with Laurence Olivier as narrator?--"The World at War" is as monumental as its topic, and even decades after it was first produced and aired, this 26-part series remains the bellwether for a video history of World War Two. Four years in the making, the series was created by Jeremy Isaacs in conjunction with the British Imperial War Museum, and although its interview format looks overly stiff and academic today, the wealth of footage and still photographs displayed throughout the entire series retains its stunning power.

Opening with contemporary color footage of the destroyed French village Oradour-sur-Glane, whose inhabitants were all massacred by the Germans in June 1944, "A New Germany (1933-1939)" delivers a brief, conventional overview of Adolf Hitler and the fascist Nazi Party taking power in a democratic election while underscoring the limitations inherent in summarizing complex issues and dynamics in a one-hour format.

Because of the episode's time restrictions, it is admittedly unfair to fault "A New Germany" for its omissions even though they are integral to the understanding of how the Nazis rose to power.

These include the infamous "stab in the back" theory the German military claimed led to its defeat in the First World War as home-front subversives, particularly Jews and communists, weakened Germany's resolve; an actual but failed postwar communist revolution that alarmed German business and industry, which soon found a savior of sorts in the rabidly anti-communist Nazi Party; the Weimar Republic's postwar struggles including hyperinflation; the failed 1923 "Beer Hall Putsch" by Hitler and the Nazis in Munich, which led to Hitler penning "Mein Kampf," his manifesto for global domination; both the often-touted crushing war reparations imposed on Germany for the First World War and the often-overlooked American aid packages, the 1924 Dawes Plan and the 1930 Young Plan, that mitigated those reparations; and both the growing popular appeal of the Nazis' ultranationalism and the Nazis' increasing perfidy and brutality as they sought to come to power through the electoral process.

The culmination of that last point was the notorious February 1933 "Reichstag fire," blamed on the communists but ostensibly enacted by the Nazis in a "false flag" operation that enabled the Nazis to declare martial law, which is mentioned in passing as "A New Germany" begins. Scripted by Neal Ascherson, the episode does explore two key and disturbing events, Hitler's summer 1934 purge of the "Brownshirts," the Sturmabteilung (SA) stormtroopers under Ernst Röhm who helped him come to power, known as "The Night of the Long Knives," and the Nazis' November 1938 "Kristallnacht" pogrom against German Jews, which, in addition to solidifying the Aryanization of Germany, is often seen as the first step toward the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question," better known as the Holocaust.

What does come across vividly is the Nazis' increasing management of virtually every aspect of German life, increasing repression, yes, but also providing cohesion, security, and amenities in a world gripped in the Great Depression; this yielded a growing German obeisance to the "führerprinzip" (leadership principle) that surrounded Hitler, who is seen to emote passionately while generating enormous charisma.

Although adequate light is shed on Nazi Germany's rearmament of its military, often in violation of the terms of the Versailles Treaty that ended the First World War, more time could have been spent exploring the March 1938 "Anschluss," or annexation, of Austria--Hitler himself was an Austrian--and the eventual phased invasion of Czechoslovakia in late 1938 and early 1939, which was in essence the dress rehearsal for the September 1939 invasion of Poland that officially began World War Two; moreover, sorely missing is an exploration of how and why other European powers, primarily Britain and France, elected to appease Hitler.

Fortunately, the episode's visual element, skillfully edited by Alan Afriat, remains evocative and is the most powerful element of "A New Germany." Consisting primarily of black-and-white film footage, it also includes color footage of Hitler at his Berghof vacation home in Berchtesgaden, taken by his mistress Eva Braun, which provides a fascinating, disconcerting intimacy that almost humanizes a man (nearly) universally regarded as an inhuman monster.

Interspersed with the archival media are interview snippets of several German witnesses to their country's path to war. Offering various perspectives, these are curious adjuncts to the narrative. Brief segments that provide either eyewitness accounts or retrospective observations, they are given by men and women whose relative anonymity and vague, mundane identifiers ("Nazi businessman," "printer's son") make meaningful context difficult.

Moreover, those identifiers disguise at least a couple of fascinating individuals. For example, "law student" Konrad Morgen was a judge in the Schutzstaffel (SS), the infamous paramilitary arm of the Nazi Party, who prosecuted SS offenders in the concentration camps while "housewife" Emmi Bonhoeffer was married to Klaus Bonhoeffer; he and his brother Dietrich were anti-Nazi activists who were both executed for their alleged involvement in the July 20, 1944, assassination attempt on Hitler.

While "A New Germany" remains a cook's tour of the rise of the Nazi war machine, it does provide an adequate summary introduction to the rest of this essential documentary series.

REVIEWER'S NOTE: What makes a review "helpful"? Every reader of course decides that for themselves. For me, a review is helpful if it explains why the reviewer liked or disliked the work or why they thought it was good or not good. Whether I agree with the reviewer's conclusion is irrelevant. "Helpful" reviews tell me how and why the reviewer came to their conclusion, not what that conclusion may be. Differences of opinion are inevitable. I don't need "confirmation bias" for my own conclusions. Do you?