- War Comes to America
Infobox Film
name = War Comes to America
image_size = 250
caption = "War Comes To America" demonstrates America's hopeless position in the event of an Axis victory in Eurasia.
director =Frank Capra Anatole Litvak
producer =
writer =Julius J. Epstein Philip G. Epstein
narrator =Walter Huston
starring =
music =
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =
released = 1945
runtime = 70 min.
country = flagicon|US U.S.A.
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0183997"War Comes to America" was the seventh and final film of
Frank Capra 's "Why We Fight "World War II propaganda film series.The early part of the film is an idealized version of
American history which includes mention of the first settlements, the ethnic diversity of America (using the then-current terms "Negro", "Jap", "Bucktooth Pals" (Germany's allies, the Japanese) and "Chinaman") and theAmerican Revolutionary War , while omitting theAmerican Civil War .The run-up to World War II is then described, beginning in
1931 with the Japanese invasion ofManchuria . The film examines how American public opinion gradually changed from one ofisolationism to one of support for the Allied cause, and demonstrates this using a series ofGallup poll s.In
1936 , public opinion is firmly isolationist, with 95% of Americans answering NO to the question "If anotherworld war develops in Europe, should America take part again?". Congress responded with an arms embargo and a "Cash and carry rule" when trading with belligerents in raw materials.In September
1937 , the question "In the current fight between Japan and China, are your sympathies with either side?" is answered CHINA 43%, JAPAN 2%, UNDECIDED 55%, while in June1939 the same question gives a 74% vote for China. Anti-Japanese sentiment thus forced the US government to block trade inoil andscrap iron with Japan.In October 1939, 82% of Americans blame Germany for starting the war in Europe, while in January 1941, after the
Fall of France , and also the founding of theTripartite Pact , which was clearly aimed against the United States, the question "Should we keep out of war, or aid Britain, even at the risk of war?", AID BRITAIN got 68% of the vote. This increase in pro-Allied sentiment triggersLend Lease aid to Britain (and to theSoviet Union after it is attacked by Germany).Towards the end the film argues in detail (to a backdrop of animated maps and diagrams) that American involvement in the war was essential in terms of
self-defense . The dire consequences for the United States of an Axis victory in Eurasia are spelled out::"German conquest of Europe and Africa would bring all their raw materials, plus their entire industrial development, under one control. Of the 2 billion people in the world, the Nazis would rule roughly one quarter, the 500 million people of Europe and Africa, forced into slavery to labor for Germany. German conquest of Russia would add the vast raw materials and the production facilities of another of the world's industrial areas, and of the world's people, another 200 million would be added to the Nazi labor pile."
:"Japanese conquest of the Orient would pour into their factory the almost unlimited resources of that area, and of the peoples of the earth, a thousand million would come under their rule, slaves for their industrial machine."
:"We in North and South America would be left with the raw materials of three-tenths of the earth's surface, against the Axis with the resources of seven-tenths. We would have one industrial region against their three industrial regions. We would have one-eighth of the world's population against their seven-eighths. If we along with the other nations of North and South America could mobilize 30 million fully equipped men, the Axis could mobilize 200 million."
:"Thus, an Axis victory in Europe and Asia would leave us alone and virtually surrounded facing enemies ten times stronger than ourselves."
The film ends with the
Attack on Pearl Harbor - the film shows how the treacherous Japanese negotiators in Washington, led bySaburo Kurusu , were still negotiating with the Americans while the attack was taking place in Hawaii. This was "the straw that broke the camel's back" that caused the United States to enter the war.External links
*imdb title|id=0183997|title=War Comes to America
* [http://www.archive.org/details/WarComesToAmerica "War Comes to America" download] on theInternet Archive
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