ABSTRACT
German policies in the Caucasus demonstrated that a calculated approach toward the indigenous population could result in military and political payoffs. Yet the policies employed in the Caucasus did not spill over into other regions. The overall record of German conduct of political warfare with respect to Soviet nationalities is a poor one. Much better known and politically more important were the national units organized explicitly for front-line combat. The formation of national combat units, of course, directly contradicted both Nazi philosophy and official policy at the beginning of the war. The largest number of national units recruited from among the Soviet nationalities consisted of Turkic and Caucasian volunteers; these units came to be known collectively as the East Legions, Most of them belonged to the Muslim nationalities from Central Asia and the North Caucasus, but there were also sizable contingents of Caucasian Christians, especially Georgians and Armenians.
