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The effects of propaganda during WW 2
Impact of propaganda in ww2
The effects of propaganda during WW 2
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Recommended: The effects of propaganda during WW 2
Enemy at the Gates: Romance, Propaganda, and Historical Accuracy
Jesse Turnbull
History 12: Mr. M Wuerch
December 15, 2014
A. Introduction
The 2001 film Enemy at the Gates is a World War II film set during the Battle of Stalingrad. The movie, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, is based on war stories told by a Soviet sniper named Vasili Zaitsev. The title of the film is taken from a 1973 nonfiction novel written by William Craig.
Set in 1942, the film follows Vasili Zaitsev (Jude Law), a Red Army soldier on the front lines in the Battle of Stalingrad. Zaitsev has impressive marksmanship and senior lieutenant Danilov (Joseph Fiennes) recommends portraying him as a hero in the papers as a form of propaganda. Zaitsev and Danilov both get transferred to the sniper division, become friends, and become romantically interested in Tania (Rachel Weisz). German Major Erwin König (Ed Harris) is tasked with taking out Zaitsev to crush the Soviets ' motivation. At the end of the movie, Danilov exposes himself in the hopes that König will shoot him, mistaking him for Zaitsev. This is what happens and Zaitsev is able to kill König when he comes to inspect the body. The film ends with the German forces surrendering and Zaitsev finding Tania in a field hospital.
B. The History
This film got a lot of things right on a general level as far as historical accuracy goes. In the beginning of the movie, soldiers are thrown into combat without much - if any - training, which is accurate. Russian soldiers in waves. When a wave of soldiers fell, another wave would take the weapons from their fallen comrades and continue the fight. This led to a staggering amount of Russian deaths. The movie shows that snipers were recruited in l...
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...t another film there.
G. Conclusions
While this film shouldn’t be looked at as an accurate source for the Battle of Stalingrad, it does give Western viewers some insight into the battle. A quick search on internet forums will show many people were surprised by a few things after viewing the movie. Many people didn’t realize how inept many Russian soldiers were at the time, or how they’d be shot if they tried to retreat. Viewers were surprised to see women on the front lines, even though this was accurate. Even though Annaud was criticized for the love story, it’s interesting that soldiers did develop relationships on the front lines. Viewers can learn some facts from this film, though it may be difficult to separate fact from fiction.
Bibliography
Craig, William. Enemy at the Gates: The Battle for Stalingrad. 1st ed. Reader 's Digest Press, 1973. 457.
“In Stalingrad, in addition to its heavy losses, the German army also lost its formidable image of being invincible,” Document 8 reveals.” In fact, with the loss of Stalingrad, the German army began to lose battles all across the Eastern Front and in North Africa”(Document 8: Graphics). The men did not lose their lives in the Battle of Stalingrad did lose the image that had been built for themselves. The following loses after that battle prove that the German army was weakened and could no longer keep all of their word and the image Hitler had built up for them. Without pushing the soldiers to stay at Stalingrad, Hitler and the Germans could have salvaged the war and their reputations. Although the end of World War II was 2 ½ years after the Battle of Stalingrad, the result of the battle influence who won the war. Because the Germans lost at Stalingrad, they began to lose other battles and suffered questioning and disbelief of their previous reputation of being invisible. The biggest mistake Adolf Hitler made was how he conducted the Battle of
While spending time in Kazakhstan, his desire to go out and fight grows stronger and stronger. Through much hard work and planning he eventually manages to enlist in a Polish Army division called Battalion 92, which helps maintain the railways which deliver supplies to the fronts. After nearly starving to death on an assignment in the Ural Mountains, he deserts the Battalion, escaping to Chelyabinsk, where he joins a military school. Upon completion, he is sent to fight at the front in a Polish Army Reserve, achieving his goal o...
With time, tragedies become statistics. The lives lost culminate to numbers, percentages, and paragraphs in textbooks,and though a recognition of its occurrence becomes universal, an understanding of its severity dies with those who lived it. “Leningrad Cemetery, Winter of 1941” is a literary medium by which the nature of tragedy is transmitted. Set in the post-battle Leningrad, the poem encapsulates the desolation not of war and its aftermath. Paramount in this translation is figurative language. Olds’ use of simile and metaphor in “Leningrad Cemetery, Winter of 1941” allows the reader to understand the incomprehensible horrors of war and, through contrast, the value of life.
Alder, Peter. "Stalin: Man of Steel." Prod. Guido Knopp. Dir. Oliver Halmburger. Perf. Ed Herrman. The History Channel, 2003. Videocassette. Youtube. 15 Mar. 2013. Web. 12 May 2015.
Jacques-Annaud, Jean, Dir. Enemy At The Gates. Dir. Jean Jacques-Annaud." Perf. Law, Jude. Paramount Pictures: 2001, Film.
Tuvia is able to flank the Nazi tank with a MG34 machine gun and uses the tank on the Nazi force; Isaac is shot and killed while trying to throw a grenade which detonates in his hand. Escape seems bleak for the group until Zus returns with some Soviet partisans who have deserted the Soviets; they immediately attack the German forces from the rear and the German forces are quickly overwhelmed. The film ends as the survivors escape into the forest and states “they lived in the forest for another two years,...
In the second half of the film, it is now March 13th, 1943, and the liquidation of the ghetto is taking place. Many Jews are unjustly killed as they are pulled from their houses or did not co-operate. Those who tried to hide are found and kill...
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The battle fought between the Soviet Red Army and the Nazi Wehrmacht over the “city of Stalin” for four long months in the fall and winter of 1942-3 stands as not only the most important battle of the Eastern front during World War II, but as the greatest battle ever fought. Germany’s defeat at Stalingrad ended three years of almost uninterrupted victory and signaled the beginning of the end of the Third Reich. In this way, Stalingrad’s significance was projected beyond the two main combatants, extending to all corners of the world.
He discovers that Captain Hosenfeld was subsequently captured by Russian soldiers and sentenced for war crimes. Szpilman tried in vain to secure Captain Hosenfeld’s release, and we are told that Captain Hosenfeld died in a Soviet prisoner-of-war camp in 1952. The film ends with Szpilman conducting a concert in front of a large audience in Poland. As the camera pans to the handsomely dressed crowd, it is easy to imagine the several Poles that nearly ensured Szpilman’s demise to be sitting amongst the audience. While these people are enjoying the concert, Captain Hosenfeld is being tortured in a Soviet prison as recompense for ‘undeniable’ guilt. Much like the Polish soldiers mistakenly shooting at Szpilman, accepting a man in a Nazi coat as anything but evil proved to be an imperceptible shade-of-gray in the immediate post WWII black-and-white
Synopsis: Enemy at the Gates was inspired by a true story and set against the siege of Stalingrad during World War II. This is the tale of a young Russian sharpshooter, Vassili, who becomes a legend by shooting numerous high-ranking German officials. When his friend, Danilov, a soviet political officer, realizes the propaganda value in Vassili's skill as a sniper and makes him the hero of his propaganda campaign and the hero of Russia with the help of Khrushchev, who was sent by Stalin to oversee the Russian effort. Stalin ordered that the city not fall…whatever the cost. It was a battle that the Russians had to win. To not overcome would have meant the complete collapse of Russia and its ultimate takeover by the German forces after Russia had already lost numerous battles to the Germans. So thousands of poorly trained and ill-equipped (many actually unarmed) Soviet troops were poured into battle, motivated by Russian security forces who followed with orders to kill anyone who might try to flee or retreat. Russia was in need for a hero. The Germans outnumbered in men and weapons compared to Russia. Everyday numerous Russians were being killed, either by Germans bullets or Russian. Vassili gave the Soviet troops the courage and bravery to fight despite the overwhelming odds. The friendship between Danilov and Vassili is threatened when Danilov become jealous of the man he created and he too falls in love with an attractive, and intelligent female soldier, Tania. As the battle for the city continues, Vassili faces his ultimate challenge when the Nazi command dispatches its the best marksman of the German army, Major Konig, to hunt down and kill the man who has become the hope of all Russia. Though out the movie they remain in a cat and mouse chase both showing extreme patience and skill and setting traps for each other. While Sasha, a young Russian boy, passes between the Russian and German camps passing information to Major Koenig by bribes and using Sasha as bait and then passes information to the Russians. From this Sasha gets hung by Major Koenig, upsetting Vassili and Tania because Sasha was so close to them. When Tania and Vassili go to tell his mother what has happened Tania is was hit with shrapnel.
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