Axis Forces in Yugoslavia 1941-45 (Men-at-Arms) [Paperback]

Nigel Thomas (Author), Darko Pavlovic (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 1995 | Series: Men-at-Arms (Book 282)

On April 6th, the German 2nd and 12th Armies, Italian 2nd and 9th Armies, and the Hungarian 4th, 5th and Mobile Corps invaded Yugoslavia from Italy, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania. Few of the Royal Yugoslav Army's 30 divisions actively resisted, and after 11 days the Yugoslav High Command surrendered. In Croatia, a puppet state was installed. Axis forces quickly occupied the principal towns and patrolled the main road and rail links, but in the villages, countryside and mountains, a vicious and complex guerrilla war was brewing. This title takes a close look at the German, Italian, Croatian, Serbian, Montenegrin, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Slovenian units that fought for the Axis powers in Yugoslavia during World War II.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Packed with specially commissioned artwork, maps and diagrams, the Men-at-Arms series is an unrivalled illustrated reference on the history, organisation, uniforms and equipment of the world's military forces, past and present.

About the Author

Nigel Thomas is an accomplished linguist and military historian and is currently a Senior Lecturer in charge of the Business Language Unit at the University of Northumbria, Newcastle, UK. His interests are 20th century military and civil uniformed organisations, with a special interest in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe. He was recently awarded a PhD on the Eastern Enlargement of NATO. For this title, Krunoslav Mikulan has contributed additional research.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (March 13, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1855324733
• ISBN-13: 978-1855324732
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.1 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #965,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellant Book for the study of military history., March 14, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Axis Forces in Yugoslavia 1941-45 (Men-at-Arms) (Paperback)

This book is excellant for the study of military history. People seem to be angry that the book does not explain the brutality of the NDH. Well, the book was not written to explain this. There are plenty of books for that subject. To speak of being slanted, those books do not explain the Armies of the Balkans as anything more than "Nazi Drones". To speak from an intellectual standpoint, I wanted to learn about the uniforms, officers, and internal workings of the Axis forces in Yugoslavia. I find this a big coincidence that this is also the title of the book. .... The NDH was a horribile fascist regime. I'm not denying this.But some people joined to make an Independant State of Croatia. Just the same as not all Germans were Nazis. .... This book is about military units, and in that regard, it is superb with excellant drawing, photos, and diagrams. Lets drop the propaganda, and political agendas, and study historical facts.

14 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, February 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Axis Forces in Yugoslavia 1941-45 (Men-at-Arms) (Paperback)

An interesting primer that illustrates the military garb of those units which collaborated with the Nazi German, Fascist Italian, Fascist Hungarian, and Royalist Bulgarian occupiers of WW 2 Yugoslavia. There are only a couple of drawbacks to this book. First, maybe because of the Croatian ethnicity of one of the authors and the illustrator, the absolute brutality of the NDH (Independent State of Croatia) is not really made clear to those new to the subject. Also, the portrayal of the Royalist Chetniks (ethnic Serbian and Montenegrin forces) as monolithic, and the instances of their collaboration as other than adhoc and incidental,is not entirley accurate. The biggest evidence against such charges against the Chetniks is the saving of over 400 Allied, mainly American, downed aircrewmen in the summer of 1944. Operation Halyard, as it was called, could not have been if the majority of Chetnik forces had not actively hid the airmen from the Fascist forces. Richard Felman, one of those Americans rescued thanks to the Chetniks, wrote an autobiography on the subject and campaigned for many years to have the complex history of the Chetniks accepted in the History field.

0 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very one sided book, November 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Axis Forces in Yugoslavia 1941-45 (Men-at-Arms) (Paperback)

The book is one sided and does not describe the situation the way it really was.