File:Why We Fight.5a.The Battle Of Russia Part1.webm

English: "The Battle of Russia," Chapter V of Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" series, follows the beginning of the end for Adolf Hitler. Part One shows how the Nazi regime, frustrated by the tenacity of British resistance, sets its sights on the Soviet Union instead. As it follows the Nazi march into Russian territory, the film provides a brief summary of the attempts of foreign powers to invade Russia over the past seven hundred years. It explains why the country is such a hot prize and why no army in history ever succeeded in conquering it. Hitler is portrayed as a fool, his hubris blinding him to the evidence of history. The film illustrates how the Red Army's method of fighting -- a scorched-earth strategy and a reliance on guerilla and urban warfare -- was bound to defeat the Nazis as it had defeated every invader before them. Capra's favorable portrait of the Russians is notable. Released two years before the start of the Cold War, the film portrays the Soviets as a diverse and freedom-loving people, in many ways similar to their then-allies, the people of the United States.