For the 1969 film, see Battle of Britain (film)

Battle of Britain (film)

Battle of Britain is a 1969 Technicolor film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz. The film broadly relates the events of the Battle of Britain...

. For the World War II battle, see Battle of Britain

Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...

.

The Battle of Britain was the fourth of Frank Capra

Frank Capra

Frank Russell Capra was a Sicilian-born American film director. He emigrated to the U.S. when he was six, and eventually became a creative force behind major award-winning films during the 1930s and 1940s...

's Why We Fight

Why We Fight

Why We Fight is a series of seven war information training films commissioned by the United States government during World War II whose purpose was to show American soldiers the reason for U.S. involvement in the war. Later on they were also shown to the general U.S...

series of seven propaganda

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

 films, which made the case for fighting and winning the Second World War. It was released in 1943 and concentrated on the German bombardment of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in anticipation of Operation Sea Lion, the planned Nazi invasion of Great Britain.

Allegations of Anti-Polish Bias

The episode has been criticized for anti-Polish bias. The bias is a result of propaganda justifying the Western Allies' alliance with the Soviets, as the Soviets had to be portrayed as the "good guys." The Allies who were unsympathetic towards the Soviet Union, such as the Poles, were misportrayed or simply ignored. Thus, in this episode the map of Europe displayed shows half of Poland free (to avoid mentioning Soviet annexation of Polish territories following Soviet invasion of Poland

Soviet invasion of Poland

Soviet invasion of Poland can refer to:* the second phase of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 when Soviet armies marched on Warsaw, Poland* Soviet invasion of Poland of 1939 when Soviet Union allied with Nazi Germany attacked Second Polish Republic...

), repeats the false Nazi propaganda

Nazi propaganda

Propaganda, the coordinated attempt to influence public opinion through the use of media, was skillfully used by the NSDAP in the years leading up to and during Adolf Hitler's leadership of Germany...

 claims that the Polish Air Force

Polish Air Force

The Polish Air Force is the military Air Force wing of the Polish Armed Forces. Until July 2004 it was officially known as Wojska Lotnicze i Obrony Powietrznej...

 was destroyed on the ground (contrasting it with the correct fact that the RAF was not destroyed), and ignores the significant Polish participation in the Battle of Britain

Battle of Britain

The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...

. Participation from Polish pilots from No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron

No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron

No. 303 Polish Fighter Squadron was one of 16 Polish squadrons in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. It was the highest scoring RAF squadron of the Battle of Britain....

and other units was widely publicized in Britain at the time this propaganda piece was filmed).