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Germany's Eastern Front Allies (2): Baltic Forces (v. 2)

The Baltic nations - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - enjoyed a brief independence between the World Wars before being annexed by the USSR in 1940 during World War II. The grim experience of Soviet occupation made it inevitable that after the German invasion of Russia in 1941 they would fight beside the Wehrmacht as allies against the Red Army while always hoping for restored independence. That hope was crushed again in 1944-45; yet 'Forest Brother' guerrillas continued to fight against hopeless odds for years after the second Soviet occupation. This extraordinary story is illustrated here with rare photos, insignia charts, tables of units and detailed uniform plates.

Paperback: 48 pages

Publisher: Osprey Publishing (January 25, 2002)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1841761931

ISBN-13: 978-1841761930

Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.1 x 9.7 inches

Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #745,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #69 in Books > History > Military > Uniforms #204 in Books > History > Military > Life & Institutions #6473 in Books > History > Military > World War II

As an Estonian collector and researcher I have found that books dealing with the Estonian armed forces (in English) are lacking. While this book is not perfect it is a very good base for the researcher to use as a starting point. The photos and information in the book are at least good to very good, although some details of the history are not as detailed as they could be. Still this is a book that I would have no problem suggesting to anyone looking to get a start in the area of Baltic Military History - Webmaster [...]

THIS IS A SHORT BOOK OF THE THREE BALTIC NATIONS ; LITHUANIA, LATVIA AND ESTONIA DURINGTHE WARTIME PERIOD (1939-1945), THEY WERE CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO EVIL TOTALITARIAN POWERS,IN FACT THEY WERE THE VICTIMS OF THE INFAMOUS MOLOTOV-RIBBENTROP PACT, THEY WERE FIRSTINVADED BY THE SOVIETS IN 1940, HUNDRED OF THOUSANDS WERE EXECUTED BY THE NKVD ANDDEPORTED TO THE SIBERIAN GULAGS, IN 1941 THE WEHRMACHT INVADED THE BALTICS AND THENATIONALIST OF THE THREE COUNTRIES FOUGHT ALONGSIDE WITH THE GERMANS, BUT ALWAYSWITH THE AIM TO RECOVER THEIR INDEPENDENCE ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT THE GERMANS HAD THEIROWN AGENDA WHICH WAS TO DEPOPULATE IT AND REPLACE WITH BALTS OF GERMAN ORIGEN, AS ARESULT MANY BALTS TURNED ALSO AGAINST THE GERMANS.IN 1944 THEY WERE INVADED AGAIN BY THE SOVIETS, NOW THE BALTIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS KNOWN ASTHE FOREST BROTHERS ORGANIZED ANTIBOLSHEVIKS GUERRILLAS AND LOOKED FOR HELP TO THEWESTERN ALLIES, AGAIN THEIR HOPES WERE BETRAYED, BUT AGAINST ALL ODDS THEY KEEP FIGHTINGTHE ONSLAUGHT OF THE SOVIET MONSTER TO THE LAST MAN.THE BALTS AND THE FINNS ARE A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE COURAGE OF THE LITTLE NATIONS TO FIGHTFOR THEIR FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE AND FOR THAT REASON I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOKAS A SYMBOL OF THE ANTIBOLSHEVIK STRUGGLE.

This unfortunately is only a 50 page pamphlet, not quite book. But you can’t judge a pamphlet by it’s cover. It technically is quite well done with good photos, illustrations and maps that actually have location names appropriate to the text and language of print. There is focus on uniforms, insignias and unit listings.What makes this particular publication shine compared to other books regarding this topic is the accuracy of historical overview. In an arena where self serving agendas have tried to re-write the Baltic WW 2 experience to their ends, this is one of the truest perspectives of the real motivations and political realities that the Baltic nations found themselves embroiled in. It is surprising that non-Balt authors can have the perfected and nuanced insights presented here. A good example is the aside regarding the German called swastika, where it came from and what it represents, rather than the Nazi perversion of it. There are other sacred cows the authors subtly gore and rightly.What there is, is good. But it is difficult to get past the brevity which hardly scratches the surface of a substantial topic. The efforts of these three nations citizenry and it’s warriors caught in the maw and surviving the ultimate destruction of the two mightiest armies of the world is a saga ripe for the telling.

This title examines the Baltic allies of Nazi Germany; Estonian, Latvia and Lithuania. Recently I visited the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia. What it does well is communicate the complexities of the politics and the choices made in order to secure a form of independence and nationhood. Basically these three countries had two choices, they could align with Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. This book is better written than the first part in the series employing more of a narrative style. It is also helped by vignettes covering real people like the Estonian corporal that fought well for the Germans but was disciplined by them for defending Estonian Red Cross nurses from soldiers' harassment.

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