After World War II, 12 million Germans, 3 million Poles and Ukrainians, and tens of thousands of Hungarians were expelled from their homes and forced to migrate to their supposed countries of origin. This work gives an account of the turmoil caused by the migration during the nascent Cold War. The work also documents the deep and lasting political, social and economic consequences of this traumatic time, raising difficult questions about the effect of forced migration on postwar reconstruction, the rise of Communism, and the growing tensions between Western Europe and the Eastern bloc. Those interested in European Cold War history should find this work useful for understanding the upheavals caused by the massive ethnic cleansing that took place from 1944 to 1948.
Author Biography
Philipp Ther is professor in the Department of History and Civilisation at the European University Institute. Ana Siljak is managing editor of the Journal of Cold War Studies.
