(9/10)Battlefield II The Campaign in the Balkans Episode 3 (GDH)

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCELLENT WORLD WAR II VIDEOS

Romanian borders faced the USSR directly. Prime Minister Ion Victor Antonescu led Romania from 1940 to 1944. In late 1940 Romania was forced to surrender Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union and Transylvania to Hungry. The following day Antonescu requested the dissolution; of the Romanian parliament and constitution, from King Carol, and proclaimed himself Conducător (leader). The powerful Iron guard challenged Antonescus power grab and launched an unsuccessful coup. The Iron Guard was completely eliminated as a party, banned and its leaders expelled from the country. Romanias commitment to Operation Barbarossa was large. Romania recaptured valuable land from the USSR. It losses at Stalingrad shook the country. Romania signed a peace agreement with the USSR on September 12, 1944. Antonescu and four of his cronies were executed in 1946. Actual footage of the execution was filmed and is widely available on the internet. Yahoo search: Executia lui Antonescu

Admiral Miklós Horthy, or sometimes known in the West as Nikolaus von Horthy, was Regent of Hungary from 1920-1944. Horthy was considered right wing, but not a fascist. Many requests placed on Horthy by Hitler were refused. Hungary joined the Axis powers in November 1940 and assisted in the invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941. Joining the Axis guaranteed Hungary new territory. Hungary invaded the Soviet Union, under the command of Army Group South on June 26th, 1941. The Hungarian Karpat Group was attached to the German 17th Army during the Battle of Uman. During this operation the Soviet 6th and 12th Armies were completely destroyed. During the Stalingrad campaign the Hungarian 2nd Army was completely destroyed in detail defending the flanks of the German 6th Army. Again, attached to Armeegruppe Fretter-Pico the Hungarians assisted in another startling victory over the Soviet Union in 1944. The heavy casualties suffered by Hungary in 1944 forced the Hungarian 2nd Army to disband. The Germans occupied Hungry in March 1944. Horthys son was kidnapped by SS units and Horthy was forced to resign and was arrested. Hungary fought on with German units until a peace agreement was signed in Moscow on January 20th, 1945. However, the Hungarian 3rd Army continued to resist. The war in Hungary lasted until April 4th 1945. Admiral Miklós Horthy was not tried as a war criminal and later retired in Portugal until his death in 1957. His remains were re-interred in 1993 and are now buried in Hungary.
Bulgarias involvement in World War II was almost negligible. Growing sympathies toward Nazi Germany, war in the area between Greece and Yugoslavia and the earlier decision to return Southern Dobruja to Bulgaria all persuaded King Boris III to join the Axis forces. When German and Axis units invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 Bulgaria committed no troops. In fact Bulgaria never declared war on the USSR. Hitler placed pressure on Bulgaria to commit troops to the Russian front. Bulgaria declared a symbolic war on the Allied Powers. This pledge would bring heavy air attacks on Sofia. However, King Boris stood firm. Bulgarias main contribution to the Axis cause was an important rail line that ran through Bulgaria to Greece. King Boris died suddenly in 1943. In 1944, with Soviet forces rushing into Bulgaria, Communist fifth columns launched a bloodless coup and installed Communist Kimon Georgiev. Bulgaria was one of 3 Axis power governments to ignore pleas from Germany to surrender its Jewish population (50,000). However, Bulgaria did surrender Jews in captured Southern Dobruja.
Yugoslavia was to be a thorn in Nazi Germanys side throughout World War II. Prince Paul, hoping to keep Yugoslavia out of war, signed with the Axis Powers in 1941. Infuriated Army officers launched a coup, exiled Paul and installed Prince Peter to power. Hitler was infuriated by the coup and launched an attack on Yugoslavia along with Italian, Hungarian and Bulgarian forces. Yugoslavia was easily crushed and broken up. Several resistance groups formed. Resistance members inclined to support the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia formed the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland, better known as the chetniks and was lead by Draža Mihailović. Partisans against the royals and pro-communist in political doctrine, formed Yugoslav National Liberation Army led by legendary leader Josip Broz Tito. The partisan war in Yugoslavia was very complicated and confusing. The Chetniks and Communist partisans began to loath each other as much as the German occupiers. Titos partisans received substantial aid from the west and USSR. At the end of the war, Tito was seen as the true hero of the resistance and won power. Mihailvic was arrested and executed at the end of the war.(GDH)

Category:

Education

Tags:

• World
• War
• II
• USSR
• Soviet
• Union
• Russian
• Romania
• Hungary
• Bulgaria
• Yugoslavia
• Tito
• Communist
• Chetnik
• Army
• Nazi
• Germany
• German
• Operation
• Barbarossa
• SS
• units

[emoguyzrule]

at 1:01 is that an king tiger tank?

[HoustonGD]

@emoguyzrule yes

[Thornfox]

I'm amazed at how blindly nationalistic some Europeans can be. Oscar Wilde was right, patriotism really is a virtue of the vicious.

[tjhoenecke]

@Thornfox I'm amazed at how much Americans flagellate themselves over their supposed racism, even after electing Obama, given the sort of naked racism I've seen from all over the world in the comments on videos from these ww2 docs, lol. BTW, one can be patriotic without being vicious; in fact, it's the preferred method. :)

[UTubeIsTrackingYou]

@Thornfox There would be no more suffering. And I DO care what happens after I cease to exist.

[UTubeIsTrackingYou]

@Rittisan Don't underestimate the effect of WW2 on today's global situation. In an overview of history, WW2 IS modern day. Many of the power structures in place today are wholly or partly due to the events of that war. Many of the regional conflicts of the war were of ongoing ethnic / tribal strife going back hundreds and even thousands of years. As you can tell by looking at the comments thread of any war-related video here, the hatreds are still simmering. Prepare for the next big bang.

[dekidc]

@ignoxious Couldn't agree with you more.So true!

(except the 10 000 years of civilization you mentioned ,I belive it's much more actualy several times x10 000 yrs. of unrecorded civilization, but it's got nothing to do with the point above )

[dekidc]

@Rittisan " It's surprising that some viewers somehow equate WW2 video's with modern day politics? "

It's not said for nothing that history repeats it self , so one really has to be ignorant not to compare modern events , with the past .Looking through the perspective of ww2.I can see some of todays "superpowers" behaving exactly like nazi Germany , because when they started occupying lands the portrayed them selves as liberators and defendors of liberty and all.Does it ring a bell

[Rittisan]

It's surprising that some viewers somehow equate WW2 video's with modern day politics?.. There must be a site for politically active people to debate their differences there and not here? It seems that some of these statements are more of a political propaganda nature then a factual nature.

[ivanslavov]

NOT WELL MADE at all !!!

[ALomovica]

1:30 Hittler is a communist.

[WCHooligans]

@Thornfox Well it depens on how do you look at it! sometimes its expressed as an struggle for independence or as territorial expansion and a threat to others. Its politics. The real truth is hidden behind the curtain. in some countries it has been demonized Croatia,Germany for exam. and credited in Hungary,Serbia,Bulgaria,Macedo­nia. Politics affect nationalism it can be true or false. Political interests

outstrip national feelings and justice.

[Thornfox]

@ignoxious As pessimistic as I am, there's not much point to bemoaning violence if you don't even exist.