Cossacks in the German Army 1941-1945

ISBN-13: 9780714633510 / Angielski / Twarda / 1991 / 218 str.

Samuel J. Newland

Opis

The Cossacks who wore German uniforms saw their service not as treason to the motherland, but as an episode in the revolution of 1917, part of an ongoing struggle against Moscow and against Communism. A Wehrmacht needing men and an SS hungry for power reinterpreted or ignored Hitler's racist ideology to form entire divisions of Cossack volunteers. German offices developed relationships to their Cossacks similar to those in the French and British colonial armies. The Cossacks responded by fighting effectively and reliably on the Russian Front and in the Balkans. Their reward was forced repatriation into Stalin's Gulag at the hands of the Western powers in 1945.

Recenzje

Newland clarifies an unfamiliar, often misunderstood aspect fo the history of World War Two. The Cossacks who wore German uniforms saw their service not as treason to the motherland, but as an episode in the revolution of 1917, part of an ongoing struggle agains Moscow and against Communism. The reward was forced repatriation into Stalin's Gulag at the hands of the Western powers in 1945 - Professor Denis Showalter

Spis treści

Barbarossa - its origins and successes; exceptions to the rule; who can wear the field grey?; the Cossacks - the Tsar's praetorian force; the de-Slavization of the Cossacks; Mielau - organization and training; self-government for Soviet nationalities - a Wehrmacht initiative; who leads the Cossacks? - who champions their cause?; the Cossack division in combat; requiem for the Cossack Corps. Appendices: German - US army rank equivalencies; authorized strength of German military organizations; organization of the Cossack cavalry corps; corps staff structure, Cossack cavalry corps; organization of a horse cavalry regiment.

O autorze

Samuel J. Newland