245: Belgrade's Impossible Position

Description

Created from the ruins of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires, Yugoslavia entered the Second World War as a deeply divided nation caught between economic dependence on Germany and the desire to stay out of the conflict. When Italy’s failed invasion of Greece forced requests for military transit through Yugoslav territory — which the neutral government refused — Hitler’s patience ran out and diplomatic pressure mounted toward outright demands to join the Axis.

Months of frantic diplomacy, Soviet overtures, and internal divisions eventually collapsed when the Yugoslav Crown Council signed the Tripartite Pact on March 25, 1941, only for a Serbian military coup two days later to undo the agreement and trigger Hitler’s immediate directive for invasion.

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Transcript

Hello everyone and welcome to History of the Second World War Episode Yugoslavia Pt. 1 - Belgrade’s Impossible Position. This week a big thank you goes out to Brad, Kevin, Andrew, Mac, and Douglas for supporting the podcast by becoming members. Members get access to ad-free versions of all of the podcast’s episode plus special member only episodes roughly once a month. Head on over to historyofthesecondworldwar.com/members to find out more. In the aftermath of the First World War many of the empires that had been fixtures of the European order for centuries were dismantled. In Eastern Europe and the Balkans both the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires had controlled much of the territory for as long as anyone could remember, and their downfall left a major power vacuum in the region. The small nations that would be created during the years after the end of the conflict represented the hopes and dreams of many nationalist groups that had been growing in power and influence over the previous decades. We have already discussed the fate of some of these countries before and during the Second World War on this podcast. Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia were all among their number, and by 1940 they no longer were independent states. During 1940 and 1941 the war would spill into another group of these countries, with Yugoslavia being the focus for our story in this series of the podcast. Yugoslavia had been created after the war and encompassed many of the southern territories of the former Austro-Hungarian empire along with the area that had previously been known as Serbia. It encompassed areas that were populated by multiple different ethnic groups including the Serbs, Slovenes, Croats, and many other smaller groups. When the Second World War started in Europe with the German invasion of Poland Yugoslavia found itself in an awkward position, it had good relations with France during the 1920s and 1930s, however during the late 1930s its economy had become entangled with that of Germany. There were multiple raw materials that Yugoslavia had access to that Germany greatly desired, and with the German rearmament programs they were able to trade manufactured goods, military hardware, and industrial tools for those raw materials. Yugoslav leaders then wanted to remain neutral in the conflict, but this was a difficult thing for many Eastern European countries to do. They could not hope to defend themselves from an external invasion from Germany or the Soviet Union, and so their only hope was to try and tread some kind of middle ground if they wanted to stay out of the war. For Yugoslavia, that middle ground would prove to no longer be tenable during the spring of 1941. This would be caused not by Germany but instead Italy, and its disastrous invasion of Greece in late 1940, because after that invasion, and with their calls for German assistance, Germany demanded that they be allowed to move military forces through Yugoslavia. When this access was denied, tensions began to mount, eventually resulting in the invasion and subjugation of Yugoslavia under a joint German and Italian occupation.

During the interwar years, Yugoslavia and the other nations of Eastern Europe were not blind to the challenges that they would face if either Germany or the Soviet Union decided to become aggressive in Eastern Europe. There were discussions about forming some kind of Balkan or Eastern European defense alliance, but there were many challenges in trying to make this happen. In the Balkans there were some nations that were happy with the outcome of the First World War and the Paris Peace Conference, notably Greece, Romania, and Yugoslavia but then there were others that were far less satisfied with the status quo at the time. Bulgaria would be on the list, having been a member of the Central Powers during the First World War and losing territories to the other nations that had joined the Allies. This dissatisfaction would be the downfall of the attempts to form a Balkan Defense Pact, even though it appeared that progress was being made in 1929 and 1930. This included the First Balkan Conference which was held in Athens in October 1930, with the goal of drafting a guiding document for the Balkan Pact. There were many dreams, the creation of Balkan commissions to address grievances between states, discussions of military and economic cooperation, and all of the other things that may have helped the vulnerable nations against outside interference. But these conversations would all come to naught, with Bulgaria deciding not to sign any documents, because of a lack of support among many internal groups in Bulgaria for the existing situation, particularly around the territories of Macedonia that had been lost . Even the leaders of Yugoslavia were somewhat hesitant, out of fear that signing any kind of agreement would only further antagonize Italy. This is because some of the territories that Yugoslavia had been awarded on the Adriatic back in the early 1920s had been areas that Italy had essentially joined the First World War to get control of. That they had not been given to Italy was seen as a major national setback. This would sour relations with Italy, and would be one of the major reasons that Italy would instigate a war in the Balkans in 1940. Bulgaria would also eventually join them, announcing that they were joining the Axis powers in March 1941.

While the Balkan countries were working to build their diplomatic future, Yugoslavia was also working hard on industrialization programs to bring its economy into the modern world. In these efforts, Germany was far and away the most important trading partner from which Yugoslavia could count on demand for its raw materials and the ability to exchange those materials for foreign investments and industrial goods. For example German groups would make major investments into the oil company that would eventually become known as Jugopetrol, which would see a major expansion in the last years before the war. And in those same years around 2/3 of all vehicles and tools that Yugoslavia imported came from Germany. During the peacetime years this was critical for the Yugoslav economy, as it was one of the few nations where trade could happen easily and efficiently due to the closed nature of many economies during the 1930s after the Great Depression. Then the war started, and suddenly everything was more dangerous and risky. During the summer of 1939 major agreements had been signed between the two governments, with the Yugoslavs committing to provide additional raw materials to the Germans in exchange for military equipment and weapons. The most important items on the list for export to Germany were copper and lead, but for the Yugoslav army the equipment was just as valuable because many of the items could not be produced domestically. Just like everybody else at this time the Yugoslav army was expanding and so those weapons were crucial to Yugoslav defense plans. But with Germany starting a war there was hesitancy by the German government to begin exporting a bunch of equipment that they themselves needed for the planned invasion of Poland and then France. This caused serious delays in the delivery of those goods, but neither side simply turned away. Instead an additional agreement would be signed in September, with additional raw material exports, particularly in zinc, copper, lead, and tin which the German rearmament programs had an almost insatiable appetite for. In exchange the Germans promised to provide 100 Messerschmitt fighters, anti-aircraft guns, and anti-tank guns . What is interesting to note, and shows how quickly the situation in the Balkans would evolve in the early months of 1941 is that most of the military equipment that the Germans agreed to send would actually be delivered in the second half of 1940. The exact numbers are a bit fuzzy, but in all of the agreements that were signed the Germans agreed to send about 114 million Reichmarks worth of military hardware to Yugoslavia, and by January 1941 80 million or about 70%, had been delivered. This equipment would then be used by the Yugoslav forces who attempted to defend against the German invasion in April 1941.

Germany was not the only belligerent with interest in the economy and military of Yugoslavia, and during the first year of the war the situation in the Balkans would be discussed constantly by the leaders in London and Paris. During the 1920s the French had tried to setup a system of alliance and guarantees in Eastern Europe to act as a counterweight against possible future German aggression, and while this had for the most part failed completely, it did show that they valued relations with those nations even if that value was only for selfish reasons. Looking into one of the discussions that would occur, the British War Cabinet would meet on September 20th 1939, one of many meetings with cabinet meetings happening at least once a day at this point in the war. At the meeting they discussed the British and French policies for the Balkans and they would describe their goals like this: “To hold and wear out enemy strength away from the Western Theatre of war; to prevent Germany from obtaining control of economic resources in the Balkans; To provide strategic cover for Franco-British interests in the Near East and in particular to close the Mediterranean to enemy ships coming from the Black Sea; To prepare a theatre of operations with a view to ultimate offensive operations; To furnish visible evidence of our desire to stand by the Franco-British guarantee to Rumania and Greece”. During this period of the war there were many different scenarios discussed to try and prevent the Balkans from fully falling under the control of Germany, but many of these scenarios were later invalidated by the Italian entry into the war. For Yugoslavia, they barely played into any of these scenarios due to their position close to Germany, with the British leaders hoping that they could maybe assist Greece if needed, but nothing further from the Eastern Mediterranean. The British would try and exert economic influence on Yugoslavia though, to try and prevent them from supplying Germany with more resources . They did this partially by simply trying to buy up as many of those resources as possible, essentially trying to buy their way into enhancing the economic blockade of Germany. But after the fall of France, this strategy was no longer possible, and suddenly Yugoslavia was cut off from all trade with the outside world due to the entry of Italy into the war. The second half of 1940 would be the period when Yugoslavia would begin to lose its freedom of action, being sandwiched between Germany, Italy, and neutral or hostile nations to the east.

With Britain and France no longer of assistance, there was another possibility that the Yugoslav leaders had been working to create throughout 1940, and this was from the Soviet Union. Soviet, and before them Russian, leaders had long held interests in the Balkans, and they had after all entered into the First World War specifically due to promises made to Serbia. During the spring and summer of 1940 progress was made in creating relations between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, two nations who, until March 1940 had no official relations at all. For the Yugoslav leaders the Soviets seemed to be a way to provide some balance against the overwhelming reliance of the Yugoslav military on Germany and importing equipment from Germany. For the Soviets, establishing relations with Yugoslavia, and expanding its military capabilities would give them an ally in the Balkans to try and counter balance against the slide of many other Balkan states towards Germany. This would culminate in negotiations in late November 1940 during which the Soviet representatives promised almost anything that the Yugoslav military needed in exchange for money and some material. The Soviets were far less resource constrained than the Germans, and so just purchasing the weapons was a valid option. This was seen as a major win for the Yugoslav government and military, and would have taken advantage of the rapidly expanding manufacturing capacity of the Soviet Union. But unfortunately very little would actually happen around this agreement before the German invasion.

Yugoslavia was not the only nation who was evolving their foreign relations during the second half of 1940. All of the countries in the region suddenly became hot commodities among the various interested powers with Germany, Italy, Britain, and the Soviet Union all trying to influence events. Romania was seen as a critical piece as well, a country that had been a major beneficiary of the post World War 1 treaties. The year 1940 would see many of its territories stripped away, with the Soviets invading the territories of Bessarabia and Bukovina in June 1940 and then parts of Dobrudja being peeled away by Bulgaria with strong German support. Then in August 1940 one third of Transylvania was signed away to Hungary, again due to strong German pressure. Eventually this string of territory losses would prompt the replacement of the Romanian government and General Ion Antonescu would come into power. Antonescu was in favor of joining the war on Germany’s side, and therefore the first German military mission entered into Romania in October 1940, soon followed by Army and Luftwaffe units that would help to protect the incredibly valuable oil fields from possible Soviet attack. Joining the war with Germany was prompted at all times by fear of Soviet attacks, and in fact Antonescu would frequently request a larger German presence and greater military aid from Germany specifically to counteract the possibility of a Soviet advance.

Another important player in the story of Yugoslavia would be the nation of Bulgaria. Bulgaria had been the enemy of several other countries during the Second Balkan War which had immediately preceded the First World War, and then it had joined the Central Powers during the Great War. The peace agreements that were signed during the Paris Peace Conference cost Bulgaria greatly, with several pieces of territory being ceded to other surrounding countries. This made Bulgaria receptive to the ideas of territorial revisionism which was at the heart of both the German and Italian war efforts. However, this did not prevent the Bulgarians, led by King Boris, from declaring their neutrality when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939. By the autumn of 1940 the situation had changed decisively though, and with Germany devoting more attention to the Balkans they would also put more pressure on Bulgaria to openly join in the war. There was still a lot of hesitancy from the Bulgarians, due primarily to their concerns that their military and economy were simply not yet ready for war. And so they made their entrance into the war dependent on the arrival of German arms and equipment. They would however allow German forces to move through Bulgaria, and even to stage within its borders for further operations. This was critical to the course of the campaign in Yugoslavia because it allowed the Germans to attack from multiple different directions, with one of the primary offensive efforts being staged from within Bulgaria. The treaty to allow this movement was signed on March 1, 1941, with one of the main provisions being that it should be kept secret as long as possible to prevent any kind of reaction from Yugoslavia or Greece. It would be the beginning of a long war for the Bulgarians which would see them join not just in the invasion of other Balkan nations but also into the Soviet Union in 1941.

While there was growing interest in the Balkans after the Fall of France from many of the nations in the war, the direct cause of the eventual invasion of Yugoslavia would be the actions of the Italians. After the German military had completed their romp through France, resulting in the eventual signing of the armistice Mussolini began to look beyond the borders of Italy for somewhere that the Italian forces could attack and gain territory. The Balkans was the obvious area, particularly due to existing Italian desires for territorial expansion along the Adriatic and in the Eastern Mediterranean. Their target would be Greece, using their new bases in Albania which they had invaded several months before. The Germans, who had been informed of the Italian intentions, warned their ally not to execute the invasion, but Mussolini and the Italian military leaders would ignore these words of caution. The attack would be a failure, as will be discussed in later episodes of the podcast, but importantly for Yugoslavia it resulted in requests from the Italians that the Italian military traffic be allowed to transit through Yugoslavia on its way to Albania and then to Greece. As a neutral nation, this is not something that Yugoslavia could allow, and the Italians were informed that this was not possible as it was the official position of the government to stay neutral in the new Greco-Italian war. The Italian response was to ask the Germans for help, with both Yugoslavia and Greece.

The German foreign minister, Ribbentrop, would speak with the Yugoslav leaders and try to convince them to give into the Italian demands. When this message was not met with acceptance the first thing that happened was the ongoing deliveries of military equipment were halted while further discussions could take place. Instead of simply insisting that they give into the Italians, the demands were escalated so that the demands were changed to the Yugoslav government agreeing to join the Tripartite Pact which would bring them into the war on the side of Germany. These demands would become more important when, a few weeks later and near the end of 1940, the decision was made in Berlin to send military assistance to the Italians in Greece. The best way for that military assistance to transit through the Balkans would be to move through Yugoslavia. It was theoretically possible that the required German forces could be moved through Bulgaria, but the Bulgarian infrastructure would have made this very difficult, and supporting the advance into Greece even more difficult. To make matters worse, when word arrived in Moscow that Bulgaria might soon allow German forces into the country Stalin sent a message to both Bulgaria and Germany that Bulgaria was considered to be in the Soviet sphere of influence and they should remove themselves. This message also contained a clear threat of action against the Bulgarian territory on the Black Sea, which caused the Bulgarian leaders to hesitate in their commitment to allowing large German military formations to move through their borders, making discussions with the Yugoslavs even more important.

After the initial demands had been made in December 1940, the Yugoslav leaders had mostly been playing for time, but that time would begin to run out in early 1941. From the period of roughly mid February to mid March 1941 there was constant and somewhat frantic diplomatic activity occurring in the Balkans. The Turkish-Bulgarian non-aggression pact would be signed on February 17th, taking Turkey out of the immediate picture and removing one of the major threats to Bulgaria. Yugoslav leaders would continue to try and find ways around signing the Tripartite agreement, but the Germans were persistent, and gave a constant stream of guarantees to try and reduce the anxiety of the Yugoslav leaders. The most important would be that the Germans would never force the Yugoslav military to assist them in any campaign unless they joined voluntarily. Essentially, the Yugoslavs would not be forced into any military adventures. This included the conflict that was already occurring in Greece. However, this clause would be a secret clause and would not be announced or be officially published, which is important to remember for the events that would follow in March and April. The Yugoslav leaders were, quite rightly, hesitant to trust these German promises, because the German leaders were on a five year run of not honoring promises. But there was also a building feeling of inevitability among the Yugoslav leaders, and on March 20th the decision was made among the Crown Council to accept the German demands and to sign the Tripartite Treaty. This caused havoc among the Yugoslav government, with multiple ministers resigning. The Treaty would then be signed on March 25th. The deal that was signed was relatively favorable for Yugoslavia if it had been honored, with the provisions that Yugoslavia could stay out of military campaigns if it wanted, that it had an official interest in gaining control of Thessaloniki on the Greek coast, and that there would be restrictions on moving German troops and war material through the country.

The response to the news of the signing inside of Yugoslavia was very mixed. Some parts of Yugoslavia supported the Germans, some parts strongly supported continued neutrality, but then there were others that were heavily anti-German. The strong points for anti-German feelings were in the Serbian areas, including the capital of Belgrade, which was important when, on the 27th of March a group of Serbian military officers staged a coup. They were able to take advantage of the heavily anti-German sentiments of the population around the capital to take control of the government. The goal of the new government was to attempt to stay out of the war, to tread the delicate path of neutrality that they believed the previous government had needlessly abandoned to join the German cause. They did not fully understand that those decisions had been made due to strong and clear German pressure which any successor government would also have to contend with. The response back in Germany was immediate, when Hitler was informed he would sign Directive Number 25 the very same day, which was the general directives for attacks on Yugoslavia which had been formulated during a series of meetings on the 27th, in the direct aftermath of the coup. With the distribution of the directive the German military was committed to an invasion of Yugoslavia, which would occur just over a week later on April 6th. The days between would be a frantic race by the German military to plan an invasion that until the 27th they did not believe was even a possibility. That invasion will be the topic for next episode.