Violence and Occupation: The Red Army in the Balkans and Central Europe, 1944-1945 (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781009652445)

This groundbreaking history traces the Red Army's advances across central Europe and the Balkans in 1944-1945. It focuses on the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts that occupied Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Austria. Utilizing material from archives across Russia, Ukraine, and Serbia, alongside diaries, memoirs, and interviews, Vojin Majstorivicì examines the official policies and troops' behavior in each country and analyzes military violations, from deserting and looting to widespread sexual violence. His findings show that the Red Army was an ill-disciplined force, but that military personnel committed fewer crimes against civilians in 'neutral Bulgaria' and 'friendly' Yugoslavia than in 'enemy' Romania, Hungary, and Austria. To explain the variation in troops' conduct, he stresses the interaction of several continuously evolving factors: Kremlin's policies, the severity of the fighting, the command's policies toward criminals, the official propaganda, and troops' martial masculinity, identity, and views of the local populations.

Author: Vojin Majstorovic
ISBN-10: 1009652443
ISBN-13: 9781009652445
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 01/29/2026
Pages: 340
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.37lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.81d