Invasion of Yugoslavia - Background

Background

See also: Greco-Italian War and Yugoslav coup of 1941

In October 1940, Fascist Italy had attacked Greece only to be forced back into Albania. German dictator Adolf Hitler recognised the need to go to the aid of his ally, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Hitler did this not only to restore diminished Axis prestige, but also to prevent the United Kingdom from being able to bomb the Romanian oilfields from which Germany obtained most of her oil.

Following agreements with Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria that they would join the Axis, Hitler put pressure on Yugoslavia to join the Tripartite Pact. The Regent, Prince Paul of Yugoslavia and his cabinet, succumbed to this pressure on 25 March 1941. However, this move was deeply unpopular with the military and some segments of the public. A coup d'état was launched on 27 March 1941 by mainly Serbian military officers, and the Regent was replaced on the throne by the under-age prince, who was declared of age and proclaimed King Peter II of Yugoslavia.

Upon hearing news of the coup in Yugoslavia, Hitler called his military advisers to Berlin on 27 March. Hitler took the coup as a personal insult, and was so angered that he was determined "without waiting for possible declarations of loyalty of the new government to destroy Yugoslavia militarily and as a nation.

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