The balloon goes up as Nazi Germany invades Poland on September 1, 1939, although for the British it remains, at least initially, a "Distant War" in this second installment of "The World at War," the sweeping World War Two documentary series created by producer Jeremy Isaacs with the able assistance of the British Imperial War Museum.
Spanning the period from September 1939 to May 1940, this Laurence Thompson-penned episode takes in the war's early action including the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union, a naval engagement between Britain and Germany in the South Atlantic, and Germany's invasion of Norway although the British home front forms the narrative core.
Germany's blitzkrieg attack on Poland gets a perfunctory treatment save for German celebration over the liberation of the free city of Danzig, severed from the rest of Germany by the Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War, with bracing black-and-white footage of the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein blasting the city from immediately offshore.
Moreover, with the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland on September 17 mentioned only in passing, "Distant War" gives short shrift to the curious and crucial August 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact's seeming détente by two bitterly opposed ideologies, fascism and communism, a prime example of cynical "realpolitik" by both sides left largely unexplored.
The Finnish-Soviet Winter War receives more attention, the only action that occurred during the "Sitzkrieg" of late 1939, following Poland's capitulation once its capital city Warsaw has been bombed into submission, save for the Battle of the River Plate off the coast of Uruguay as three plucky British cruisers (Achilles, Ajax, and Exeter) took on the more heavily armed German "pocket" battleship Graf Spee.
Although the Soviets had surprise and numerical superiority, the Finns, fighting on their home territory, were better trained and equipped for battle during a bitter winter that yielded sobering footage of Russian soldiers frozen to death during the intense fighting as director David Elstein pauses dramatically on one such unfortunate. Concerns about both German and Soviet ambitions in Scandinavia prompt the British to consider their own invasion of Norway to deny access to Sweden's crucial iron ore and, more critically, to prevent Germany from gaining easier access to the North Atlantic.
By the spring of 1940, Britain's attempt to invade Norway to thwart Germany's similar ambition finds the United Kingdom woefully unprepared for war as an interview segment with Sir Martin Lindsay, a commanding officer of British troops landing in Norway and engaging German forces in the first major confrontation of the war, reveals Britain's military incompetence that could have dire consequences for the fate of the UK, underscored by footage of captured British soldiers describing their experiences as part of Germany's propaganda campaign.
The narrative core of "Distant War" illustrates Britain's rushed preparations for war and internecine politicking among the ruling Conservative Party that eventually pits Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain against First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. The former includes enlightening footage of evacuations of children to spikes in casualties during blackout conditions while unemployment remains discouragingly high.
Britain's political situation receives an in-depth look as, by May 1940, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, a symbol of Britain's faltering preparations, is under fire, largely as a result of Lindsay's scathing critique of Britain's Norway debacle, as Tory politicians including Chamberlain's assistant J. R. Colville, Rab Butler, and especially Lord Boothby dissect Chamberlain's downfall in extended interview segments that reinforce the focus of "Distant War" on Britain. Carl Davis's incidental music underscores the often dramatic war footage as narrator Laurence Olivier's stately intonation signals a war fast becoming less distant--and with Britain increasingly in the Nazi crosshairs.
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?
Spanning the period from September 1939 to May 1940, this Laurence Thompson-penned episode takes in the war's early action including the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union, a naval engagement between Britain and Germany in the South Atlantic, and Germany's invasion of Norway although the British home front forms the narrative core.
Germany's blitzkrieg attack on Poland gets a perfunctory treatment save for German celebration over the liberation of the free city of Danzig, severed from the rest of Germany by the Treaty of Versailles that ended the First World War, with bracing black-and-white footage of the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein blasting the city from immediately offshore.
Moreover, with the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland on September 17 mentioned only in passing, "Distant War" gives short shrift to the curious and crucial August 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact's seeming détente by two bitterly opposed ideologies, fascism and communism, a prime example of cynical "realpolitik" by both sides left largely unexplored.
The Finnish-Soviet Winter War receives more attention, the only action that occurred during the "Sitzkrieg" of late 1939, following Poland's capitulation once its capital city Warsaw has been bombed into submission, save for the Battle of the River Plate off the coast of Uruguay as three plucky British cruisers (Achilles, Ajax, and Exeter) took on the more heavily armed German "pocket" battleship Graf Spee.
Although the Soviets had surprise and numerical superiority, the Finns, fighting on their home territory, were better trained and equipped for battle during a bitter winter that yielded sobering footage of Russian soldiers frozen to death during the intense fighting as director David Elstein pauses dramatically on one such unfortunate. Concerns about both German and Soviet ambitions in Scandinavia prompt the British to consider their own invasion of Norway to deny access to Sweden's crucial iron ore and, more critically, to prevent Germany from gaining easier access to the North Atlantic.
By the spring of 1940, Britain's attempt to invade Norway to thwart Germany's similar ambition finds the United Kingdom woefully unprepared for war as an interview segment with Sir Martin Lindsay, a commanding officer of British troops landing in Norway and engaging German forces in the first major confrontation of the war, reveals Britain's military incompetence that could have dire consequences for the fate of the UK, underscored by footage of captured British soldiers describing their experiences as part of Germany's propaganda campaign.
The narrative core of "Distant War" illustrates Britain's rushed preparations for war and internecine politicking among the ruling Conservative Party that eventually pits Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain against First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. The former includes enlightening footage of evacuations of children to spikes in casualties during blackout conditions while unemployment remains discouragingly high.
Britain's political situation receives an in-depth look as, by May 1940, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, a symbol of Britain's faltering preparations, is under fire, largely as a result of Lindsay's scathing critique of Britain's Norway debacle, as Tory politicians including Chamberlain's assistant J. R. Colville, Rab Butler, and especially Lord Boothby dissect Chamberlain's downfall in extended interview segments that reinforce the focus of "Distant War" on Britain. Carl Davis's incidental music underscores the often dramatic war footage as narrator Laurence Olivier's stately intonation signals a war fast becoming less distant--and with Britain increasingly in the Nazi crosshairs.
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?
