Serbia Under The Swastika: A World War Ii Occupation (history Of Military Occupation)

Serbia occupied a particular place in Hitler’s “New Order” in the Balkans. In April 1941 it was made into a rump condominium ruled by the German military and exploited as a strategic base and a source of raw materials and cheap labour force. Such objectives entailed the utilization of Serbia’s economy and manpower with a minimal effort and spending on the part of Germany. Therefore, the German political and military leadership was willing to side-line the Nazi ideological-racial criteria in favour of more restrained occupation policies. This book, therefore, addresses several interrelated topics such as German occupation as impacted by the political-military situation in the Balkans; rivalries between different German branches, each pursuing their own objectives; the role of native collaboration in the occupation system; the civil war, which reflected the conflict between Serbs of different political orientations in Serbia, and the life of the population at large, which found itself caught between the forces or occupation and resistance. The examination of these issues would enhance an ongoing discussion about the mechanisms of German rule in occupied Europe and the dynamics of national resistance and collaboration. The 1941 Axis invasion of Yugoslavia initially left the German occupiers with a pacified Serbian heartland willing to cooperate in return for relatively mild treatment. Soon, however, the outbreak of resistance shattered Serbia's seeming tranquility, turning the country into a battlefield and an area of bitter civil war. Deftly merging political and social history, Serbia under the Swastika looks at the interactions between Germany's occupation policies, the various forces of resistance and collaboration, and the civilian population. Alexander Prusin reveals a German occupying force at war with itself. Pragmatists intent on maintaining a sedate Serbia increasingly gave way to Nazified agencies obsessed with implementing the expansionist racial vision of the Third Reich. As Prusin shows, the increasing reliance on terror catalyzed conflict between the nationalist Chetniks, communist Partisans, and the collaborationist government. Prusin unwraps the winding system of expediency that at times led the factions to support one-another against the Germans—even as they fought a ferocious internecine civil war to determine the future of Yugoslavia. Comprehensive and judicious, Serbia under the Swastika is a rare English-language foray into the still-fraught history of Serbia in World War II. | Cover Title Copyright Contents Biographical Note on Key Personalities Introduction 1. Background, 1918–1941 2. Invasion and Occupation 3. Germans and Auxiliaries 4. Collaborationism: Zealots, Conservatives, Conformists 5. Resistance Movements 6. Repression 7. "Serbia Is Quiet," 1942–1944 8. Serbs and Jews 9. Living with the Enemy Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index | "A crisply written, succinct book based on prodigious research in the archives and a strong knowledge of the secondary research and key controversies."—Marko Attila Hoare, author of The Bosnian Muslims in the Second World War: A History "In this ambitious study, Alexander Prusin offers a serious and scholarly account of the Serbian collaborationist state during World War II. . . . The result is a balanced and useful history of a still-contested period in Serbia 's history. Well worth reading."—Sabrina P. Ramet, author of The Three Yugoslavias: State-Building and Legitimation in Yugoslavia, 1918-2005 "What the book provides is a concise and well-supported examination of how these phenomena played out within a specifically Serbian context. . . . For those with research or teaching interests in Balkan history, the Second World War, or twentieth-century Europe, Serbia under the Swastika is worth a careful read."— H-Net | Alexander Prusin is a professor of history at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. He is the author of The Lands Between: Conflict in the Eastern European Borderlands, 1870-1992 and Nationalizing a Borderland: War, Ethnicity, and Anti-Jewish Violence in East Galicia, 1914-1920 . "Following the March 1941 coup d'etat and the new Yugoslav government's refusal to ratify the Tripartite Pact, Germany led an axis invasion of Yugoslavia. Hitler blamed Serbia and the Serbs as the main culprits in the coup. In reprisal, the German military made Serbia into a rump condominium, exploiting it as a strategic base, and as a source of raw materials and cheap labor. In the historiography of World War II in Yugoslavia, the most studied aspect has been guerrilla warfare. Western scholars have focused on the regions of the most intense fighting in Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Croatia while wartime Serbia is only mentioned in passing. In "Serbia Under the Swastika," Alexander Prusin focuses on the German occupation of Serbia--the political heartland of pre-World War II Yugoslavia--combining political history with social analysis to explore the interaction between German occupation policies and the forces of resistance and collaboration. Prusin argues that the German occupation policies reflected the rivalries between those who promoted the expansionist and racial vision of the "New Order" and those who advocated a more rational and flexible approach, which entailed a closer reliance on the collaborationist administration and police. Meanwhile, while the situation in Serbia appeared less volatile than in other parts of Yugoslavia, the German occupation policies served as a catalyst for the ferocious internecine conflict between the three native Serbian forces - the Partisans, the nationalist Chetniks, and the pro-German collaborationist regime. However, even as they were locked in a ferocious struggle, the forces of collaboration and resistance often overlapped"-- Provided by publisher "Following the March 1941 coup d'etat and the new Yugoslav government's refusal to ratify the Tripartite Pact, Germany led an axis invasion of Yugolslavia. Hitler blamed Serbia and the Serbs as the main culprits in the coup. In reprisal, the German military made Serbia into a rump condominium, exploiting it as a strategic base, and as a source of raw materials and cheap labor. In the historiography of World War II in Yugoslavia, the most studied aspect has been guerilla warfare. Western scholars have focused on the regions of the most intense fighting in Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Croatia while wartime Serbia is only mentioned in passing. In "Serbia Under the Swastika," Alexander Prusin focuses on the German occupation of Serbia--the political heartland of pre-World War II Yugoslavia--combining political history with social analysis to explore the interaction between German occupation policies and the forces of resistance and collaboration. Prusin argues that the German occupation policies reflected the rivalries between those who promoted the expansionist and racial vision of the "New Order" and those who advocated a more rational and flexible approach, which entailed a closer reliance on the collaborationist administration and police. Meanwhile, while the situation in Serbia appeared less volatile than in other parts of Yugoslavia, the German occupation policies served as a catalyst for the ferocious internecine conflict between the three native Serbian forces - the Partisans, the nationalist Chetniks, and the pro-German collaborationist regime. However, even as they were locked in a ferocious struggle, the forces of collaboration and resistance often overlapped"-- Provided by publisher Title Page 3 Copyright Page 4 Contents 5 Biographical Note on Key Personalities 6 Introduction 7 1 - Background, 1918–1941 12 2 - Invasion and Occupation 24 3 - Germans and Auxiliaries 35 4 - Collaborationism: Zealots, Conservatives, Conformists 49 5 - Resistance Movements 61 6 - Repression 75 7 - “Serbia is Quiet,” 1942–1944 98 8 - Serbs and Jews 112 9 - Living with the Enemy 124 Conclusion 137 Notes 141 Bibliography 159 Index 168 Illustrations 92 About the Author 171