World in Revolt

Through the use of newsreel, library and other footage, this documentary chronicles worldwide political and economic strife from World War I to the present. In the first scenes, tranquil turn-of-the-century Munich, Potsdam and the German royal palace are seen and then are contrasted with shots of Russia on the verge of the 1917 revolution. Footage of Czar Nicholas II reviewing his troops, and soldiers and civilians storming the streets of Petrograd follows. Alexander Kerensky, Nikolai Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Maxim Gorky and Joseph Stalin, outlining his Five Year Plan, are then heard. In Vienna, scenes depicting the Facists' revolt against the Dollfuss adherents and the destruction of the Socialists' state apartment houses are shown. Gerardo Machado's repressive regime in Cuba is then seen being crippled by general strikes and toppled by revolutionaries. In the next shots, Benito Mussolini storms into Italy and takes over the parliament. Footage from Ireland shows William Cosgrave and Eamon De Valera, opponents at the election polls, turning their country into an independent united republic. Gandhi is shown leading throngs of civilians into revolution in India, followed by shots of China's bloody civil war. Next, German president Friedrich Ebert is seen thwarting Adolf Hitler's attempts in 1923 to establish a dictatorship in Bavaria. Hitler's later victories over President Paul von Hindenburg are shown, while in France, the Stavisky financial and political scandal and Stavisky's subsequent suicide are documented. Footage covering Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal policies conclude the film.