Islam and Germany’s War in the Soviet Borderlands, 1941–5
Journal: Journal of Contemporary History
Year: 2013

The article examines Germany’s policy towards Islam in the Soviet Union during the Second World War. At the height of the war, when German troops entered Muslim territories in the Crimea and the Caucasus, officials in Berlin began to see Islam as politically and strategically significant. In both areas, Nazi Germany started to promote a military alliance with the Muslim population against the Soviet Union. The article enquires into the ways in which German authorities, most notably in the Wehrma