A short documentary on Chrysler recalls the role the carmaker played in the World War II as it produced tanks and other military equipment back then.
The new six-minute video features Chrysler’s role as a supplier of military weapons for Europe during wartime as the current carmaker was a tank manufacturer in that period of time. “Automakers and the Arsenal of Democracy” was released at the same time with the 75th anniversary of the radio broadcast “Arsenal of Democracy” from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt back on 29th of December, 1940.
Roosevelt said to the nation on that day that “The people of Europe … do not ask us to do their fighting. They ask us for the implements of war… which will enable them to fight for their liberty and for our security.”
The clip shows viewers Chrysler’s production during the war, which includes trucks and tanks, aircraft parts and components, guns, different ammunition, rockets and bombs. You can also see in the documentary some other goods and materials with major importance for use during military operations.
According to Brandt Rosenbusch from the Chrysler Historical Vehicle Collection, only 13 months were necessary for the U.S. government together with Chrysler to create a factory that manufactures tanks.
Automakers enlisted to build weapons during the World War II did not only happen in America. Fiat built tanks and airplanes to help the Italian military and has become Chrysler’s controlling shareholder in the summer of 2009 when the carmaker went out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The global automaker is now known under the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles name, with Sergio Marchionne as the chief of the group.