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From its humble beginnings in 1941, People's Liberation Movement rose to be a leading junior member of the anti-Hitler coalition four years later. Based on a wide spectre of sources written in half-a-dozen languages and from a dozen different archives, the "Sea of Blood" tells this fascinating story and offers an unrivalled insight into the inner w
The Second World War in Yugoslavia is notorious for the brutal struggle between the armed forces of the Third Reich and the communist-led Partisans. Less known is the fact that the two sides negotiated prisoner exchanges throughout the war. Under extraordinary circumstances, these early communications evolved into a formal exchange agreement centered on the creation of a neutral zone—quite possibly the only such area in occupied Europe—where prisoners were regularly exchanged until late April 1945, saving thousands of lives. The leadership on both sides used these points of contact to hold secret political talks, for which they were nearly branded as traitors by their superiors in Berlin...
This book explores the military events and diplomatic games in the later years of the Second World War through which Josip Broz Tito's Yugoslav Partisans resistance movement gained the support of the Allies and, eventually, control over Yugoslavia itself. Based on research by the author in Yugoslav, German, British, American, Italian, and Russian archives and libraries, including the unpublished war memoirs of Josip Broz Tito, the volume follows Winston Churchill’s 1943 strategic decision to shift Allied support from Draža Mihailović's Chetniks, who sought the restoration of Peter II to the Yugoslav throne, to Tito and his Communist Party. Tito and Churchill continued to face conflict ov...
Germany’s 1941 seizure of Yugoslavia led to an insurgency as bloody as any in World War II. The Wehrmacht waged a brutal counter-insurgency campaign in response, and by 1943 German troops in Yugoslavia were engaged in operations that ranked among the largest of the entire European war. Their actions encompassed massive reprisal shootings, the destruction of entire villages, and huge mobile operations unleashed not just against insurgents but also against the civilian population believed to be aiding them. Terror in the Balkans explores the reasons behind the Wehrmacht’s extreme security measures in southern and eastern Europe. Ben Shepherd focuses his study not on the high-ranking genera...
This book explores the rise of two resistance movements in Yugoslavia after its invasion and partition by Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria in April 1941: one led by Draža Mihailović's Chetniks, supporters of the Serb monarchy; and the Partisans, led by Josip Broz Tito and his Communist Party. Based on research by the author in Yugoslav, German, British, American, Italian, and Russian archives and libraries, including the unpublished war memoirs of Josip Broz Tito, the book traces the causes of the April War, the ensuing uprising in Western Serbia against the occupiers, and its aftermath. Tensions were inevitable between the Chetniks, who sought the restoration of the old regime, and t...
The Second World War in Yugoslavia is notorious for the brutal struggle between the armed forces of the Third Reich and the communist-led Partisans. Less known is the fact that the two sides negotiated prisoner exchanges virtually since the beginning of the war. Under extraordinary circumstances, these early contacts evolved into a formal exchange agreement, centred on the creation of a neutral zone - quite possibly the only such area in occupied Europe - where prisoners were regularly exchanged until late April 1945, saving thousands of lives. The leadership of both sides used the contacts for secret political talks, for which they were nearly branded as traitors by their superiors in Berlin and Moscow. This text provides a comprehensive analysis of prisoner exchanges and the accompanying contacts between the German occupation authorities and the Yugoslav Partisans.
An exploration of German World War II small-scale military strategy, edited by the former chief historian of the U.S. Marines. While small wars are not new, how they should be fought by a modern industrial nation is still very much a matter for debate. It is thus worth paying heed now to the experiences of another power which once encountered the same problems. This pocket manual examines German analysis of the problem, covering experiences from the Napoleonic era to the Third Reich, based upon the historical analysis, Kleinkrieg, provided to the German High Command by Arthur Ehrhardt in 1935 (republished in 1942 and 1944), and the Bandenbekampfung (Fighting the Guerrilla Bands) document pro...
An illustrated history of how the Red Army pushed west and into Berlin in 1945 during World War II. The last year of the war saw Russian offensives that cleared the Germans out of their final strongholds in Finland and the Baltic states, before advancing into Finnmark in Norway and the east European states that bordered Germany: Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. By spring 1945 the Red Army had reached to Vienna and the Balkans, and had thrust deep into Germany where they met American, French and British troops advancing from the west. The final days of the Third Reich were at hand. Berlin was first surrounded, then attacked and taken. Hitler’s suicide and his successors’ unconditional ...
Across the globe, memorial and grave sites are being increasingly weaponized in conflicts and politicized by parties to advance agendas. Here, Carol S. Lilly examines ideas of death, politics, memory, ideology and nationalism in the former Yugoslav republics of Bosnia & Hercegovina, Croatia, and Serbia to shine fresh light on cemetery culture in 20th-century Europe. More specifically, Death and Burial in Socialist Yugoslavia argues that while the CPY created its own communities of the dead in postwar Partisan Cemeteries, it failed to do the same for civilian cemeteries in ways that might reinforce its ideals of secularism, pluralism, and brotherhood and unity. Moreover, the communist regime ...
Unknown Conflicts of the Second World War: Forgotten Fronts is a collection of chapters dealing with various overlooked aspects of the Second World War. The aim is to give greater depth and context to the war by introducing new stories about regions of the world and elements of the war rarely considered. These chapters represent new discussions on previously undeveloped narratives that help to expand our understanding of the interconnectedness of the war. It also provides an expanded view of the war as a mosaic of overlapping conflicts rather than a two-sided affair between massive alliance structures. The Second World War saw revolutions, civil wars, social upheaval, subversion, and major geopolitical policy shifts that do not fit neatly into the Allied vs. Axis 1939–1945 paradigm. This aim is to connect the unseen dots from around the globe that influenced the big turning points we think we know well but have really only a superficial understanding of and in so doing shed new light on the scope and influence of the war.