Food, Scarcity and Power in Southeastern Europe during the Second World War

(Hardback)

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The experience of all occupied countries during the Second World War was characterized by severe material shortages. Food, most noticeably, became a scarcity in everyday life; and that food grew into a major stake for all political groups at this time. This book shines a much-needed spotlight on the political role of food in south-east Europe from 1939 to 1945. Controlling food was a key strategy adopted by all actors be they occupiers, state institutions, resistance organizations, international humanitarian organizations or private interest groups in substantiating their bid for power. And, as a predominantly agrarian area with a substantial peasant population, investigating this topic is particularly poignant for south-eastern Europe. From discussions of searching for and fighting for food to offering relief and fighting the partisans, the essays in this volume add nuance to discussions on the complex intertwined political and social dynamics of war and occupation. In so doing this sophisticated study fills an important gap in our understanding of the Second World War, food policy, and the social history of Europe more broadly.

Author Bio

Xavier Bougarel is CNRS Researcher at CETOBAC, the Center for Turkish, Ottoman, Balkan and Central Asian Studies, France. Paolo Fonzi is Assistant Professor in Contemporary History at University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy. Sabine Rutar is Senior Research Associate at the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Germany.