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The Royal Government resisted German demands, but finally joined the Axis. A student led coup over throw the Goverment. A furious Hitler orders an invasion and the terror bombing of Belgrade (April 1941). The Wehrmach rapidly moves through the country, experiencing little resistance from the Yugoslav Army. The Germans are enthusiatically greeted by the Croats. The Yugoslav and Greek campaign, however, forced Hitler to delay Barbarossa. The NAZIs annex part of Slovenia to the Reich. The Italians annex the rest of Slovenia and other areas of the country. The initial lack of resistance caused Hitler to assume that the Balkans would be a compliant area in the NAZI New Order. He was suprised later when a major resistance movement developed. Hitler set up a Croatian puppet state and grants the Croats "honorary Aryan" status. The Croatian Fascists (Ustashis) targeted Serb civilians, Jews, and Gipsies. Bosnia granted by the NAZIS to Croatia in particular becomes a killing field. Even the German occupation authorities were shocked by the savagery of Ustashi attrocities. The Ustashi is led by Dr. Ante Pavelic. Unlike the NAZIs, the Ustashi, left an extensive photographic record of their atrocities. Whole villages were whiped out. The Germans also commited attrocities, often in retalitation for resistance operations. The Jasenovac concentration camp was he third largest camp in NAZI occupied Europe. Yugoslav Jews were targeted by the NAZIs as well as the Ustashi and Serbian Chetniks who often cooperated with the Germans. The German's Italian allies, however, did not cooperate with the NAZIs. Bosnian Moslems volunteered to form a SS division. The Allies at first supported the Chetniks. The German reprisals on civilians after Chetnik attacks were so horific that Chetnik commanders hesitated to attack the Germans. Tito's partisans had no such scruples. The Allies after concluding that they were not attacking the Germans and in some cases cooperating with them, shifted support to Tito's Communist Partisans. After the War, Tito did not need the Soviet Red army to install a Communist regime.
Yugoslavia was formed after World War as a monarchy with the pre-War Srbian royal family. The most populace province was Serbia, but other provinces, primarily former Austrian territories were added to form the new cuntry. Some of the provinces, especially Croatia chafed under Serbian domination which made the country very difficult to govern. Alexandar I was crowned King in 1921 after the death of his father King Alexander I, who had acted as Regent for his ailing father since 1914, had earned national fame as a soldier in the Balkan Wars and the First World War. He married Princess Marie of Romania in 1922. They had three sons: Crown Prince Peter, Prince Tomislav, and Prince Andrej. I have little information on how the princes were raised and dressed. Peter I had one younger brother, Arsen Karadjordjevic born in 1859 who lived until 1938. Arsen had one son, Paul Kara-Georgevic (1893- ), who became Prince Regent of Yugoslavia in 1929. He died in 1976. King Alexander's son, Crown Prince Peter, was only 11 years old at the time of his fathr's death when he became King. Three Regents were appointed. His great-uncle Prince Paul--married to Princess Olga of the Hellenes (Greece)-- became the Prince Regent. Constant pressure from The German Government after the NAZI rise to power brought Yugoslavia increasingly into the German orbit through a series of trade and diplomatic agreements. This policy was unpopular, especially with the Serbs. The Royal Government under Prince Paul resisted German demands to join the Axis.
Hitler seized power in Germany (1933). The counties of the Balkans were gradually forced into the NAZI orbit. Prince Paul resisted more than most other Balkan countries. Constant pressure from The German Government after the NAZI rise to power brought Yugoslavia increasingly into the German orbit through a series of trade and diplomatic agreements. Germany even after World War I was the largest economy in Europe. Neigboring countries had to trade with Germany and the NAZIs were able to use this economic power to force concessions from countries like Yugoslavia. Hitler's policy was to bring the Balkans into the NAZI orbit through economic and diplomatic methods. The countries involved resisted to varying degrees. Resistance was possible before Munich (1938). After Munich it was much more difficult.
Germany invaded Poland, launching World War II (September 1939). The Yugoslavian Government, like the other Balkan states, sought to remain neutral. After the fall of France (1940), however, the NAZIs were able to greatly intensify pressure on the Balkans. The NAZIs wee able to more flagerently threaten military action. Hitler still hoped to accomplish his goals with out invading the Balkans. Here his diplomatic offensive was complicated by Mussolini who invaded Greece (October 1940). The Italian invasion pushed the Greeks into seeking British aid. What Hitler wanted was to secure his soithern flank for the upcoming onvasion of the Soviet Union. Romania offered oil. Yugoslavia had many important natural resources, especially non-ferrous metals need by Germany indusxtry. This NAZI policy policy of coopting Yugoslavia was unpopular, especially with the Serbs who had fought Austria and Germany in World War I. The NAZIs by 1940 were pressed the Balkan countries to adhere to the Axis. Prince Paul attempted to resist the NAZIs.
Mussolini from the beginning of his rule wanted territory along the Adriatic Balkans coast . This was in fact a continuatioin of Italy's World War I war aims. Beginning in the 1920s, Fascist Italy covertly supported insurgent groups in Yugoslavia, especially the Croats. Here he ran afoul of Hitler who did not want Yugoslaviadismantled, seeing it as auseful structure through which he could evebntyally exploit the country. [Glenny] Mussolini's invasion of Albania (1939) and Greece (1940) had destabilized the Balkans. Mussolini's actions were launched without any consultation with Hitler. Had it not been for these actions, Germany's southern flank would have been secure. Nussolini, however, turned the Balkans into a war zone. This created the potential for the British to intervene which would have brought the Romanian oilfields, Germany's most important oil resource, within range of allied bombers.
Yugoslavia finally joined the Axis. the Regent, Prince Paul was summoned by Hitler to the Berghof. This was a treatment given by Hitler to other recalitrant neighbors. Prince Paul traveled in total secrecy (March 4-5, 1941). At the Berhof threatened Prince Paul with what would happen if he continued to defy him. He was also offered the emducement of the Greek port of Salonika if he cooperated. Hitler was adroit in offering the territory of other countries to those who cooperated with him. The Royal Government was fully aware of the reaction in Serbia to a pact with the NAZIs. Yugoslav Premier, Dragisha Cvetkovic, and Foreign Minister Aleksander Cincer-Markovic, departed Belgrade in secrecy for Vienna (March 25). They know that public announcement of an impending pact with the NAZIs would provoke demonstrations if not riots. In Vienna they met with Hitler and Ribbentrop and formally signed the documents acceding to the Axis (Tripartite Pact) (March 25). The Yugoslav officials were given written assurance by Ribbentrop assuring them that Germany would to respect "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yugoslavia at all times" and that the Axis would not insist on transit rights across Yugoslavia "during this war". [Schrier, p 823.] After the War, historians have debated the importance of Salonika. Was this enducement really important in the Government's decesion to to join the Axis or was it Hitler's threat of invasion. Prince Paul and his adbisors may have thought that the acquisition of Salonika might make the arrangement more palitable to Yugoslav nationalists. If so, they misjudged the situation in Belgrade.
Hitler unlike Mussolini, did not want to dismember Yugoslavia, at least not in 1941. This is a good example of the total lack of coordination among the Axis parners. Mussolini was doing his best todestabilize the Balkans and Hitler wanted stability. This can be seen in the deal he imposed on Prince Paul at Bertchesgarten. Hitler wanted to maintain the Yugoslav federal structure because it would be useful in imposing his will on the country and exploiting its resources. [Glenny] Only after the coup did he oversee the dismantling of the country. Some authors maintain with some accuracy that the coup and confronting Hitler was adisaster for the Yugoslkav people. The country did become one of the worst killingfields of the War. One should recall, however, that Hitler wanted stability in the Balkans to secure the southern flank for Barbarossa and so the resources of the region could be expolited for the German war effort. But thinking Europeans by 1941 were aware of just how much trust could be placed in Hitler's word. Hitler was thinking about Barbarossa. Once the Soviet Union was destroyed and Hitler controlled Europe, he could whatever he wanted with Yugoslavia and the people of the Balkans.
Yugoslavia finally joined the Axis. the Regent, Prince Paul was summoned by Hitler to the Berghof. This was a treatment given by Hitler to other recalitrant neighbors. Prince Paul traveled in total secrecy (March 4-5, 1941). At the Berhof threatened Prince Paul with what would happen if he continued to defy him. He was also offered the emducement of the Greek port of Salonika if he cooperated. Hitler was adroit in offering the territory of other countries to those who cooperated with him. The Royal Government was fully aware of the reaction in Serbia to a pact with the NAZIs. Yugoslav Premier, Dragisha Cvetkovic, and Foreign Minister Aleksander Cincer-Markovic, depart Belgrade in secrecy for Vienna (March 25). They know that public announcement of an impending pact with the NAZIs would provoke demonstrations if not riots. In Vienna they meet with Hitler and Ribbentrop and formally sign the documents acceding to the Tripartite Pact (March 25). The Yugoslav officials were given written assurance by Ribbentrop assuring them that Germany would to respect "the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Yugoslavia at all times" and that the Axis would not insist on transit rights across Yugoslavia "during this war". [Schrier, p 823.]
Prince Paul's decesion to join the Axis caused a violent reaction in Yugoslavia. Salonika did not sway public opinion. The Slavs wanted nothing to do with Hitler. One of the participants in the coup wrote after the War that Salonika made it a matter of honor. [Tsvetkovitch] It was one thing to be forced into the Axis. It was another matter to become an active participant in the desmemberment of a neigboring state. I am not sure how strongly this issue was felt, but it is clear that many Serbs and other Yugoslavs, especially the Slovebnes, did not want to join the Axis. (Other Yugoslavs especially the Croats who the Italians had been courting were less hostile.) The reaction of the Serbs was immediate and violent. News of the alliance with the Germans caused riots in Belgrade. Massive riots broke out in Belgrade. Students played an umportant role. He was unseated in a coup d'état (March, 27 1941). Tito and the Communists claimed after the War that they had played the central role in the coup. [Politika] The new government was formed by pro-British officers and middle class politicians. I am not sure what role young King Peter played in the coup. Peter II was declared of age. King Peter at the time was only 17 years of age. The overhrow of the Government gives rise to celebrations in Belgrade. Crowds spit on the German ambassador's car. [Schrier, p 824.] The British supported the coup and new Government. General Dušan Simović was appointed prime minister. The new Goverment opposed the NAZIs, but realised that the British could offer not effective support if Hitler invaded the country. Thus they moderated their statesments and attempted to placate Hitler by not renoucing Prince Paul's decesion to join the Axis in a vain effort to avoid Hitler's rath.
When news of the Belgrade coup reached Hitler, he went into a wild rage. One historian describes it as "one of the wildest rages of his entire life". [Schrier, p 824.] He apparently took the coup as a personal affront and his emotions led him to seek revenge. It is interesting that before the fall of France Hitler had been a calculating and enormously successful politican. The assessment of Hitler and World War II is a fascinating topic. After the fall of France, political calculation disappeared from his agenda, rather he seems tgo have concluded that he no longer needed to use artiface to achieve his objectives, rather they could be achieved by force of arms and terror. Hitler's illtempered reaction was to punish the Serbs and punish them badly. Undobtedly Hitler's reaction was that the Sebs were the southern branch od the Slavs he so hated.
Hitler ordered his military commanders for an emergency meeting at the Chancellery (March 27). Those summoned had difficulty arriving at the meeting on time. Brauchitsch, Halder and Ribbentrop all were late. Hitler was still in a rage and furiously demanded revenge on the presumtous Yugoslavs. He told the assembled commanders that he wanted "to destroy Yugoslavia militarily and as a nation. No diplomatic inquiries will be made," he ordered, "and no ultimatums presented." Yugoslavia he demanded would be destroyed with "unmerciful harshness." [Schrier, p. 824.] Among the assembed military commander was Luftwaffe chief Herman Güring. He commanded Güring to "destroy Belgrade in attacks by waves". He issued Directive No. 25 which ordered the invasion of Yugoslavia and told Keitel and Jodl to immediately begin preparing the the military operation. Ribentrop had been summoned because of the need to involved the Axis partners. Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria had all been drawn into the Axis and had German military units stationed there which would be used for the operation. Each were offered a section of Croatia. The one part of Yugoslavia that would retain a degree of autinomy was Croatia which had a string Fascist movement. The level of Hitler's rage can be seen by his decessiuon that to teach the Serbs a lesson they would never forget that he would delay Barbarossa--his plan to invade and destroy the Soviet Union and ultimately the Slavic people. Sent the Luftwafee's failure over Britain, hisentiire focus had been on Barbarossa. It had indded been his focus even before his seizure of power. When Hitler discusses Lebensraum it is land in the East that he means--the vast lands of the Urraine and other areas of the Soviet Union. Hitler than announced to his military commanders, "The beginninig of the Barbarossa opreration will have to be postponed up to four weeks." (It had initially been projected for May 15.) [Schrier, p. 824.] Note that he did not discuss with his military commanders the possible ramifications of delaying Barbarossa. He simply ordered them to do so.
A furious Hitler orders an invasion and the terror bombing of Belgrade (April 1941). The Wehrmach rapidly moves through the country, experiencing little resistance from the Yugoslav Army. The lack of resistance doomed whatever chance the Britiosh might have had to establish a position in Greece. Not all Yugoslavs saw the Germans as invaders. The Germans were enthusiatically greeted by the Croats.
The Yugoslav and Greek campaign was over quickly and seemed to the world to demonstrate the emense power of German arms and inefectual British military efforts. The Balkans became a backwater of the War, but the Balkans campaign may in fact have had a critical impact on the War. The need to secure Germany's southern flank and the critical Romanian oil fields may have had a critical impact on Barbarossa. It is unclear just to what extent the Balkans campaign delayed Barbarossa, but it may have been as much as 3-4 weeks. When it is realized that the German Panzers were at the gates of Moscow when stopped, the Balkans campaign may well have been decisive.
King Peter II, with the Yugoslav Government, made his way to Athens, but when the NAZIs moved in on Athens, he fleed to Jerusalem and Cairo. Finally he reached London (June 1941.) There he set up the Yugoslav Government in exile. This as one of several governments in exile organized to resist NAZI occupation of their countries. President Roosevelt sent a nessage to King Peter at the onset of the NAZI invasion, "The people of the United States have been profoundly shocked by the unprovoked and ruthless aggression upon the people of Yugoslavia. The Government and people of the United States are witnessing with admiration the courageous self-defense of the Yugoslav people, which constitutes one more shining example of their traditional bravery. As I have assured Your Majesty's Government, the United States will speedily furnish all material assistance possible in accordance with its existing statutes. I send Your Majesty my most earnest hopes for a successful resistance to this criminal assault upon the independence and integrity of your country." (April 8, 1941). [Department of State Bulletin] America at the time was still neutral, but was assisting Britain through the new Lend Lease progam. Some of that assistance would flow to the guerillas resisting gthe NAZIs in Yugoslavia.
King Peter continued his education at Cambridge University. After graduating from Cambridge University, King Peter joined the Royal Air Force. King Peter married Princess Alexandra of Greece while in London (1944). A son, Crown Prince Alexander, was born in London (1945).
Yugoslavia was one of the worst killing fields of World War II. The actual pattern varied from reguon to region. The fate of occupied Yugoslavia varied signidicantly from region to region. Here there were variations which depended on whether they were occupied by the Germans or Italians. Also the ethnicity and religion were factors as well as the politicalmorientation of local authorities. The Croats with a strong Fascist movement were treated lightly by the NAZIS. Yugoslavia with the pent up natioanlist feelings before the War fueled by NAZI genocidal occupation policies became perhaps the greatest killing field of World War II. Perhaps no other European nation except Poland suffered more and tragically it was the Yugoslavs themselves more than the Germans that did much of the killing.
The initial lack of resistance caused Hitler to assume that the Balkans would be a compliant area in the NAZI New Order. He was suprised later when a major resistance movement developed. A guerilla war began began between the NAZIs and the two Yugoslavians partisan groups (Tito and Mihajlovic) and the Greek guerillas. Tito the communist was a Croat and Mihajlovic was a Serb. The ethnic disputes had begun before the War and with NAZI encouragement, Yugoslavia became a vast killing field. The Yugoslaves and the Greeks managed to tie down almost 1 million German soldiers. Mihaljlovic partisans saved over 500 American airmen in Operation Halyard and got them back safely to the Allies. Just for the record, The NAZIs were shooting 100 civilians for every German soldier killed. My friend John Roberts who was saved by the Serbs when his B-24 was shot down. John told me his story how the Serbs hid him and later was put on a boat in the Adriatic sea and was picked up by a US Navy ship. After the war John contacted the Serbs who help him and was told about one hundred civilians from that village were shot to death. John past away a few years ago and he was one of the 500 airmen that were saved in the Operation Halyard pipeline. The Allies at first supported the Chetniks. The German reprisals on civilians after Chetnik attacks were so horific that Chetnik commanders hesitated to attack the Germans. Tito's partisans had no such scruples. The Allies after concluding that they were not attacking the Germans and in some cases cooperating with them, shifted support to Tito's Communist Partisans. By late 1944 the Germand were withdrawing from Greece through Yugoslavia and back to the Reich. Tito's partisans carried out successful attacks on the Germans and managed to liberate and gain control of much of Yugoslavia by the end of the War. Their tactics and substantial supplies of Allied war material enable Tito's Communist Partisans gain control of the country with limited support from the Red Army--unlike the situation in the rest of Eastern Europe where it was Soviet tanks which drove out the Germnas. Tito's Partisans carried out mass executions of tens of thousands of Croat and Slovene militiamen who surrendered to them at the end of the War. After the War, Tito did not need the Soviet Red army to install a Communist regime.
The Germans also commited atrocities, often in retalitation for resistance operations. Against the Jews there was no need for provications. The Jasenovac concentration camp was he third largest camp in NAZI occupied Europe. Yugoslav Jews were targeted by the NAZIs as well as the Ustashi and Serbian Chetniks who often cooperated with the Germans. The German's Italian allies, however, did not cooperate with the NAZIs.
Yugoslavia was an ehnic killing field during World War II. The Croatians who had been disatisfied with Serb dominance of the Yugoslav Goverment formed the Ushachi and joined the Germans and began killing Serbs and Moslems in Bosnia. Serb guerrillas called Chetnicks began killing Croats in response, as well as Jews and Moslems. In many cases it was not a matter of rounding Jews up and turning them over to the Germans. The Croats and many Serbs (both Chetniks and collaborationists) were willing to kill Jews themselves. Only with Titos partisans could Jews seek refuge, but this was only the able-bodied who succeeded in finding a partisan group. Few Jewish children survived in Yugoslavia.
Glenny, Misha. The Balkans: Natioanlism, War and the Great POwers, 1804-1999 (Viking: New York, , 1999).
Paris, Edmond. Genocide in Satellite Croatia 1941 - 1945.
Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1960).
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