Joining Hitler's crusade : European nations and the invasion of the Soviet Union, 1941

The reasons behind Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union are well known, but what about those of the other Axis and non-Axis powers that joined Operation Barbarossa? Six other European armies fought with the Wehrmacht in 1941 and six more countries sent volunteers, as well as there being countless collaborators in the east of various nationalities who were willing to work with the Germans in 1941. The political, social and military context behind why so many nations and groups of volunteers opted to join Hitler's war in the east reflects the many diverse, and largely unknown, roads that led to Operation Barbarossa. With each chapter dealing with a new country and every author being a subject matter expert on that nation, proficient in the local language and historiography, this fascinating new study offers unparalleled insight into non-German participation on the Eastern Front in 1941. Introduction / David Stahel -- Part I. The National Armies -- Finland / Carl Henrik Meinander -- Romania / Dennis John Deletant -- Hungary / Ignác Romsics -- Slovakia / Jan Rychlik -- Italy / Thomas Schlemmer -- Croatia / Rory Yeomans -- Part Ii. The Volunteers -- Spain / Xavier Moreno Juliá -- The Netherlands / Evertjan Van Roekel -- Denmark / Joachim Lund -- Belgium / Nico Wouters -- France / Oleg Beyda -- Norway / Sigurd Christian Sørlie -- Part Iii. Collaborators From Within The Soviet Union -- The Baltic States: Lithuania, Latvia And Estonia / Valdis O. Lumans -- The Soviet Union / Igor Petrov And Oleg Beyda. Edited By David Stahel, University Of New South Wales, Canberra. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Hitler's Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, is typically thought of as a German war against the Soviet Union, but in fact soldiers or volunteers from eighteen other European nations fought with the Wehrmacht in the east. This study tells each of those national stories.