Operation Teutonic Sword 1958, 1958

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Summary

An accusation against the NATO general Hans Speidel that states he organised the 1934 assassination of Alexander I of Yugoslavia and the French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou. [WARNING Contains sce...

An accusation against the NATO general Hans Speidel that states he organised the 1934 assassination of Alexander I of Yugoslavia and the French Foreign Minister Louis Barthou. [WARNING Contains scenes of dead and wounded bodies]. This investigation, that displays paper documentary evidence, suggests that Hans Speidel organised the assassination of Alexander I of Yugoslavia and Louis Barthou on the orders of Herman Goering. The motivation for the assassination was that Nazi Germany wanted to expand its territory and influence in the east but the French Foreign Minister Barthou was working to create an alliance against Nazi Germany. The suggestion was that Yugoslavia was key to this alliance and policy of containment. The films shows scenes of Hitler making a speech about peace but also discusses the political ideas of Herman Rauschining's vision of an expanded Germany. The film speaks about Barthou making diplomatic visits and then arranging the visit of Alexander I to France in order to cement the pact. Signed documents are shown that purport to show the orders given to Speidel to organise 'Operation Teutonic Sword' - the code name for the assassination that was to take place when Alexander arrived in Marseilles. These orders show the signatures of Goering and Speidel. Contemporary newsreel footage of the assassination is shown, including the dead and wounded bodies of Barthou and Alexander. The final sequences in this footage are the former German Army general Rudolf Bamler giving testimony to an East German notary about Speidel's espionage role. The film then ends abruptly as this was a section of the full version of The Archives Testify (No. 2) which was cut. This was because of a libel case brought against the film's UK distributors Plato Films. The case went all the way to the House of Lords before being settled out of court. Plato agreed to cut this section and the film was banned from being shown on 35mm though it was allowed to be shown on 16mm. The remaining section of this film is available to see in two slightly different versions: The Archives Testify (No. 2) and General Speidel - The Archives Testify (No. 2).

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