The date being the 28th of June 1919 and the declaration of the Traité de Versailles; a Peace treaty that brought about the end of the Great War of 1914 - 1918. Part of the Treaty of Versailles, and also in particular the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and 1920, had Britain, France, the United States and Italy setting the terms of the political, domestic and financial domination of the German state, was that they, Germany, were to, both, relinquish any existing armoires and to hold-back any further building and stock-pilling of future weapons; out of the ashes of war the Weimar Republic is born.
The Weimar Republic was officially laid-to-rest by January nineteen thirty-three and the sea change of European politics once more was altered; the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei had truly taken hold of a new Germany and its new doctrine saw a new threat, a New World Order, of dark clouds looming over the horizon. The 7th of March 1936 saw the newly elected party dare to push the boundaries and flex its muscle toward the big-four by daring to reoccupy the demilitarised zone of the Rhineland as this region of Europe had been out-of-bounds to any form of German military. The purpose of this manoeuvre was simply to test the mettle of the big-four and thus, possibly, engage Europe into war once more; Britain, France, the United States and Italy were silent. The opportunity to re-establish the authority over a weakened Germany was ignored and never took; silence spoke louder than words to the National Socialist German Workers' Party.
With this newfound confidence came the extravagance of propaganda that was the highly imaginative filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl (1902 - 2003). Commissioned to rework a publicity shoot for the disgruntled Wehrmacht, being given less screen-footage in the previous 1934 "Triumph des Willens", this newly produced feature's purpose being to raise the profile of the German Wehrmacht of Land, Sea and Air.
Filmed on German Armed Forces Day at Nuremberg, Germany on the 10th to the 16th of September, 1935 and titled the Reichsparteitag der Freiheit (Rally of Freedom), ironically, the Nürnberger Gesetze (Nuremberg Laws) were introduced here. Albeit a short affair of less than thirty-minutes, we see here, the military rearmament had now fully matured and once more Ms. Riefenstahl master of artistic-technique making its mark with intriguing silhouettes and foreshadowing the thought of military might as Deutschland Erwache; both literally and metaphorically.
This self-proclaimed strength of force is all smiles and grandeur with those viewing from the high-branches, grinning like over-excited children on how much has been, and too, to be, achieved. Leni Riefenstahl has captured a time of military opulence with her pioneering imagination of the use of tools that aids the viewer to witness the mock battle and the flight of the German phoenix passing over the vast crowds dwarfed by polarising flags of exploitation; this really is the vision of the future.
Tag der Freiheit - Unsere Wehrmacht is short in length but not stature, military parades are time immortal and proclaim no new goals throughout time but to show and flex one's muscle to adversaries. This snippet of history is a not a comprehensive piece, because of its running time constraints it can delve into ambiguity; lacking in any true detail of merit we are left with a story that holds no beginning and no end, whilst not an empty experience, far from it, we are left with a very unnerving look into a machine that is primed & ready; Deutschland Erwache. The nightmare begins.
