Dmitar Tasic interview about his WWI and 1920s military history book “Paramilitarism in the Balkans” (Oxford University Press, 2020)

Dmitar Tasic interview about his WWI and 1920s military history book “Paramilitarism in the Balkans”

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3jlpFQP

Interview Timeline

Dmitar Tasic studies and teaches Balkan history. He’s recently published a book on his studies of the paramilitary groups that existed in Yugoslavia and surrounding regions during WWI and into the 1920s. We spoke about the subject and the book.

(THE AUDIO PLAYER IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST.)

0:45- Dmitar explains how he got interested in paramilitarism in the Balkans.

2:27 – Dmitar explains why the book covers 1917 to 1924.

6:01 – Dmitar defines paramilitary in this situation.

9:00 – Dmitar talks about the gear of paramilitary forces.

13:17 – Dmitar talks about the type of men who became paramilitaries.

16:04 – Dmitar talks about the organization of these groups and casualty numbers.

21:18 – Dmitar discusses how much democracy there was in these paramilitary organization.

25:42 – Dmitar talks about how Ottoman rule affected the development of these paramilitary forces.

31:00 – Dmitar talks about Ottoman reprisals against [the] uprisings.

33:17 – Dmitar talks how these groups were provided weapons and gear.

36:21 – Dmitar talks about what resources he used for his research.

38:07 – Dmitar talks about some of the research difficulties he had in his research because of the communist regimes.

42:24 – Dmitar talks about reading police reports about paramilitary events. He also discusses how these organizations were able to accommodate themselves with state support.

50:05 – Dmitar talks about the social activities of these groups.

54:55 – Dmitar talks about being impressed by their physical and mental strength.

1:04:33 – Dmitar can be found on academia.edu.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3jlpFQP

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/paramilitarism-in-the-balkans-9780198858324?cc=us&lang=en&

Contact Information

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar and on Instagram @crisalvarezwarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.

Guests: Dmitar Tasic

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, academic, podcast, Oxford University Press, Modern War, 

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3jlpFQP

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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WWII military history book – “Night of the Assassins” (Harper, 2020) – Howard Blum interview

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3k8zaE6

Howard Blum has been a successful reporter for many years and has written numerous books on war subjects. He recently [published] released a book about a German attempt to assassinate FDR, Churchill, and Stalin during WWII. We spoke about the subject and writing the book.

(THE AUDIO PLAYER IS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST.)

0:41 – Howard talks about [how he] what inspired him to write about the attempted assassination of FDR, Churchill, and Stalin.

3:18 – Howard talks about 31 year old Mike Reilly was put in charge of protecting FDR shortly after Pearl Harbor.

4:44 – Howard talks about the German planning for the assassination.

7:06 – Howard talks about the situation in Iran at the time of the assassination attempt and why this Allied meeting occurred there.

11:35 – Howard talks about trying to keep the meeting in Tehran a secret.

14:37 – Howard talks about how the Germans paid forged money to a spy.

15:16 – Howard talks about the training and preparation of the a special SS action group and the rescue of Mussolini.

20:26 – Howard talks about who in the German high command planned this operation.

22:23 – Howard talks about FDR sneaking to Tehran.

25:55 – Howard talks about the archives he used. He describes the poor security for Churchill in Tehran.

30:10 – Howard talks about previous assassination attempts against Churchill, Stalin, and FDR.

31:40 – Howard talks about the Russian records he used.

34:08 – Howard talks about how close this impossible mission came to success.

35:38 – Howard talks about why Stalin was willing to meet in Tehran but not other areas.

36:40 – Howard talks about Otto Skorzeny.

38:04 – Howard talks about Mike Reilly’s commitment to protecting FDR.

39:31 – Howard talks about Allied security within Tehran.

40:52 – Howard talks about the information on the heads of the British security team.

44:08 – Howard talks about his approach to developing a new book.

48:04 – Howard talks about his previous works on war subjects.

50:21 – Howard can be found at author Howard Blum on facebook, @howardblum on twitter and on howardblum.com

 

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/3k8zaE6

https://www.harpercollins.com/products/night-of-the-assassins-howard-blum?variant=32128658898978

https://www.howardblum.com/

https://twitter.com/howardblum

https://www.facebook.com/TheAuthorHowardBlum/

 

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify

 

Guests: Howard Blum

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, WWII, world war two, Tehran, FDR, Roosevelt, Stalin, embassy, Churchill, commandos, SVR, Mike Reilly, Germany, section six, United Kingdom, D-Day, Nazi, walk-in, Mussolini, gliders, typhoid, USS Iowa, Leslie Howard, tunnels, birthday, Pulitzer prize, Otto Skorzeny

 

Check out this book here   https://amzn.to/3k8zaE6

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.