Women and War in the Balkans

Abstract

We have come a long way since the days when talking about the Balkan Wars or the two world wars in Eastern Europe was a strictly masculine affair. In the past decade, scholars have produced a number of studies that generate a more nuanced understanding of what living through total war meant in Balkan societies in 1912–1913, 1914–1918, and 1940–1945. Two recent books, Bătălia lor: Femeile din România în Primul Război Mondial (Their battle: Women in Romania during World War I) and Women and Yugoslav Partisans: A History of World War II Resistance, provide substantial contributions to this emerging field of research. Since the books focus on quite separate events, I will treat them individually, with points of connection offered at the end.