Why We Fight: World War II - The Battle of Russia

The Heroic Resistance of the Russian People

An acclaimed documentary made during World War II, using actual newsreel footage, by three Oscar winners: producer-director Frank Capra (It Happened One Night, Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It With You) of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, composer Dimitri Tiomkin (High Noon, The High and the Mighty, The Old Man and the Sea) and actor-narrator Walter Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre).

Nominated for an Academy Award as Best Documentary, The Battle of Russia celebrates the spirit of the long-suffering Soviet people as they heroically repulse the Nazi invasion threatening their homeland. Tracing their history of war with Germany to the 13th century, it depicts the bitter struggles for Moscow, Kiev, Leningrad, and Stalingrad, and the effects of their winters on would-be conquerors from Napolean to Hitler.