Conquest of the Balkans

This volume deal with the German campaigns in the spring of 1941 into Yugoslavia, Greece, and Crete. There is not quite as much in the way of operational maps, but that is simply due to the greater simplicity of the campaigns and the more restricted areas they dealt with. It also looks at the political dealings of Germany with Rumania, Bulgaria and the remainder of the Balkans. A few things of interest: Hitler was not actually concerned about conquering the Balkans as long as they were stable and would continue to supply Germany with resources, in particular, oil from Rumania. He initially had no plans to invade the region but was working to build alliances to allow him to begin the war with Russia. Italy's failing invasion of Greece and a personal insult from new leadership in Yugoslavia prompted his quick change in plans. After months of strong political pressure, the leader of Yugoslavia agreed to allow Germany to move troops through his country and recognized the Tri-partate Act. This caused a coup in his coutry in defiance of his decision. Only weeks later the successful new government came to the same conclusion as the former King, and accepted the treaty that they had rebeled over. It did not matter, because a now angry Hitler invaded anyways, completly taking the country in a few weeks. Trapped and cut-off in Albania, the greek 1st Army surrendered. They did so to a mid-ranked officer who was quick to sit down and work out the arrangements. Infact, aides had to find the commanders from both side later to formally sign the documants. A higher ranked german officer felt the papers were not detailed enough...the Greeks surrendered again. Italy protested, beliving they should be involved, and so the Greeks complied, and surrendered a third time. The Good: Great photo-essays on the assaults on the greek mountain defenses, german paratrooper doctrine and training, and the surrender of the Greek first Army (as above). Great detail on all three campaigns. The Bad: Not much. Placement of the photo essays still causes you to flip back and forth a bit. The Ugly: German Paratroop landings on Crete. The German doctrine had troops landing lightly armed and the battle plans had them close to enemy positions and at several different locations. The initial losses were not just severe, but devastating. Had British forces realized how weak the remaining german units were, they could have counterattacked in force and destroyed them before they were reinforced.

The German campaing in the Balkans in the spring of 1941 is a little mentioned episode in the history of World War II but it is really very interesting not only for its strategic consequences but also of its operational aspect. This excellent Time-Life book gives first the political and diplomatic background to the campaign, explaining how Hitler forged his alliance with countries like Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, and how the coup in Belgrade changed the whole nature and scope of the operation. The analysis of the war against Yugoslavia and Greece is very well presented with many nice photographs and maps and the final chpater deals with the airborne assault on Crete, a real historical first. This is a very well made volume and a valuable addition to the library of every WW II buff.