Empire on The Adriatic: Mussolini's Conquest of Yugoslavia 1941-1943

by H. James Burgwyn

Book Overview

Starting with the invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, and focusing on the Italian occupation, this book offers a view of the little-known events that were the torment of Yugoslavia in Italy's attempt to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1929631510
• ISBN13: 9781929631513
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Enigma Books
• Length: 385 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Mussolini's War in Yugoslavia

The Italian occupation of the former Yugoslavia during World War II has been put under the historical microscope by author H. James Burgwyn in his splendid new book "Empire on the Adriatic." For anyone seeking fresh insights into this troubled part of the world, Burgwyn's book is essential reading. Italy's mis- guided invasion of Yusoslavia remains an indelible stain on the Italian body politic to this day. And when we look at the continued struggles of the Slavs today, we can see the germs of this struggle in Mussolini's efforts to turn Yugos- lavia into an Italian sphere of influence during World War II. Burgwyn details the cycle of violence and genocide that was triggered after the Axis powers struck in April 1941 by Croa- tian Ustasa killers and pitiless Communist insurgency. This served as a prelude to the horrific massacres that took place in the region in the 1990s. The author examines in scholarly detail the egregious behavior of Itaian forces and the mistaken and harsh policies they were obliged to follow during the occupation. Having gained permission to study Italian military and diplomatic archives as well as military archives in Belgrade, the author is able to show per- suasively that Mussolini's blind ambition to bring a superior civilization to a conquered nation ended in ashes. The sad reality that Burgwyn exposes--without dealing with this period of history at all--is the degree to which in num- bing fashion history has repeated itself. For the United States is suffering from the same kinds of misjudgments that led to the invasion of Iraq: lack of preparation, an inade- quate ground force and no coherent occupation policy to follow. The same kind of extreme difficulties Italian troops encountered in Yugoslavia when confronted by strong oppo- sition forces from insurgents and terrorists have been occurring in Iraq some sixty plus years later. Just as in Iraq, when Mussolini's troops marched into a prostrate country, he--like Bush and his cohorts--fully expected that the occu- pation would be "a piece of cake." This book is a sobering reminder that hitory has much to teach us, if only we care to learn its lesson. .

An objective study

Professor Burgwyn's excellent study of the Italian invasion of Yugoslavia during World War II is likely to be the definitive work on the subject for some time to come. Chronicling Mussolini's invasion requires a great deal of patience and judiciousness, since the cast of characters is large and the main plot breaks down into numerous sub-plots. Moreover, giving an objective account of what happened is not easy, since many observers who write about this murky period have axes to grind. Burgwyn, however, does not base his work mainly on secondary sources. Digging in official archives, he has fashioned a concise and clear narrative out of refractory material. His book, as a leaading historian of the period has said, is an important contribution to the history of World War II.