Why We Fight

(1943 - 1945)

Documentary / War

Supervised by Frank Capra

This famous propaganda piece, used as a U. S. Army training film in WWII before theatrical release, asks ‘why we fight’.  The answer compares the ‘free’ and ‘slave’ worlds.  Included: development of dictatorships in Italy, Germany, and Japan, while anti-militarism and isolationism rise in the USA; a look at enemy propaganda; and the first acts of aggression.  Walter Huston narrates a combination of archival footage, maps, and other graphics.

Inspired by Dwight Eisenhower's legendary farewell speech (in which he coined the phrase 'military industrial complex'), filmmaker Jarecki surveys the scorched landscape of a half-century's military adventures, asking how and telling why a nation of, by, and for the people has become the savings-and-loan of a system whose survival depends on a state of constant war.

Why We Fight moves beyond the headlines of various American military operations to the deeper question of why does America fight? What are the forces; political, economic, and ideological, that drive them to fight against an ever-changing enemy?

8 Distinct Episodes:

Why We Fight: Prelude to War

Why We Fight: The Battle of Britain

Why We Fight: The Battle of China

Why We Fight: The Stillwell Road

Why We Fight: Divide and Conquer   

Why We Fight: The Nazis Strike

Why We Fight: The Battle of Russia

Why We Fight: War Comes to America