Transcript of ‘Die Deutsche Wochenschau’, August 1939
The voice of the German state continued to thunder across the airwaves of the Reich, with this edition dealing with political machinations, rearmament and the seeds of fresh tension with France.
Die Wacht Am Whein is played. Images of the Kaiser, his son, the Armed Forces and bright views of cities and farms flash across the screen. These fade away to a black card upon which, in white gothic writing, is written ‘Die Deutsche Wochenschau’.
News from around the world! All the pictures and quotations that shaped this week in world affairs.
A montage of images of Chancellor von Papen meeting with the Kaiser and speaking in the Reichstag is played.
The Kaiser restated his support for Chancellor von Papen this week after a number of obstructivist factions in the Reichstag sought to depose him. The so-called ‘Imperial Moderates’, members of the Reichskanzler’s own party Standischer Verbund led by Carl Goerdeler, have grown angry with the tariff-heavy economic response to the Berlin Crash that has defined von Papen’s government. It is, however, undeniable that Germans are better off now than they were in the aftermath of September 1936. The Reichskanzler, together with Mr Schacht at the Finance Ministry, has worked to increase quality of life while making Germany’s armed forces stronger. The Kaiser told the Reichstag of this himself on Tuesday, gracing it with a rare visit. His Highest was in good health and accompanied by his son, the Crown Prince.
A crude cartoon of a villainous-looking cockerel struts about in front of a fluttering tricolor before pecking at the Rhine on a map. Images of tanks and aircraft are displayed where appropriate.
Speaking of the armed forces, the need to defend ourselves was confirmed to be never greater when another outrageous demand for the secession of Alsace and Lothringen was received from the French embassy. German soldiers were ordered to partial mobilisation after the Syndicalists in Paris appeared to issue an ultimatum, but after a show of force was conducted along the border, including the deployment of the new Reichskampfwagen II, a hasty memorandum was delivered to the Kaiser informing him that the demand was ‘no longer of concern’.
The French have once again shown that while they may hammer red to their banners, their true colour is the white of cowardice, spinelessness and surrender. Germany will never allow the good people, native or German, of Alsace and Lothringen to be oppressed under the yoke of Syndicalism. As the Kaiser himself said in his Christmas address: ‘While there is a soldier left in Germany we shall fight. If he should fall, I will take up his rifle myself.’ All Germans should take comfort in this, and men of viable age are reminded that the armed forces are always looking for new recruits. Who knows? Maybe a young man in your family could be lucky enough to end up in the Eagle Legion, the heroes of Burgos!
Obviously staged footage of caricatured Arab tribesmen charging at machine gun positions is played with drawn maps of Morocco overlaid. The scene fades into proud, tall German soldiers being inspected in Malta.
Georg von Brüchmuller, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, inspected Task Force Morocco on Friday as it took to sea. The agrarian rebellion in the country has, unfortunately, been intensified since the collapse of the nearby Spanish holdings and the driving out of their Syndicalist agitators. An unfortunate consequence of this has been a plague of Syndicalist rhetoric that is spreading across the country with violent speed, but the military intervention is firmly under control. We are, after all, the nation that quelled similar problems in Russia and China, Colonial Minister Von Lettow-Vorbeck reminded the Reichstag on the same day. ‘What problems should we expect from our own tiny colony a fraction of the size and complexity of those behemoths?’
Footage of a football match is shown, with primitive cards displaying score where appropriate.
Finally, in sporting news, the Reich’s football team defeated reigning Mitteleuropan champions Hungary in a tight contest on Saturday in Budapest. Captain Hermann Schleicher scored two, while Hungary looked set to win after a fine three thanks to impressive control. However, in the eighty-eighth minute the boys from Germany equalised with a strong header from Erich Höffer, and a free kick with just injury time remaining meant it all came down to midfielder Reinhard Heydrich, in the last game of his international career. With a beautifully curved ball, the retiring star secured a stunning victory over the champions. With a team of this calibre, there can be no doubt that Germany will take back the title properly at the next Mitteleuropa Cup in 1942!