Invasion of Yugoslavia

6 min readSep 28, 2021

The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War[a] or Operation 25,[b] was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put forward in “Führer Directive №25”, which Adolf Hitler issued on 27 March 1941, following a Yugoslav coup d’état that overthrew the pro-Axis government.[12]

The invasion commenced with an overwhelming air attack on Belgrade and facilities of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force (VVKJ) by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) and attacks by German land forces from southwestern Bulgaria. These attacks were followed by German thrusts from Romania, Hungary and the Ostmark. Italian forces were limited to air and artillery attacks until 11 April, when the Italian army attacked towards Ljubljana (in modern-day Slovenia) and through Istria and Lika and down the Dalmatian coast. On the same day, Hungarian forces entered Yugoslav Bačka and Baranya, but like the Italians they faced practically no resistance. A Yugoslav attack into the northern parts of the Italian protectorate of Albania met with initial success, but was inconsequential due to the collapse of the rest of the Yugoslav forces.

Scholars have proposed several theories for the Royal Yugoslav Army’s sudden collapse, including poor training and equipment, generals eager to secure a quick cessation of hostilities, and a sizeable Croatian, Slovenian and ethnic German fifth column. The invasion ended when an armistice was signed on 17 April 1941, based on the unconditional surrender of the Yugoslav army, which came into effect at noon on 18 April. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was then occupied and partitioned by the Axis powers. Most of Serbia and the Banat became a German zone of occupation while other areas of Yugoslavia were annexed by neighboring Axis countries, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Albania and Bulgaria. Croatia became the Independent State of Croatia (Serbo-Croatian Latin: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, or NDH), an Axis puppet state created during the invasion comprising the Srem, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the Croatian lands. Along with Italy’s stalled invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940, and the German-led invasion of Greece (Operation Marita) and invasion of Crete (Operation Merkur), the invasion of Yugoslavia was part of the German Balkan Campaign (German: Balkanfeldzug).

1Background
2Preparation
3Opposing forces
3.1Axis order of battle
3.1.1Deployment in Romania
3.1.2Deployment in Bulgaria
3.1.3Deployment in Hungary
3.1.4Deployment in Italy
3.2Royal Yugoslav armed forces
3.2.1Equipment and organization
3.2.2Deployment
4Operations
4.1Air operations
4.1.1Bombing of Belgrade
4.2Ground operations
4.2.1Three-pronged drive on Belgrade
4.2.2Italian offensive
4.2.3Hungarian offensive
4.2.4Yugoslav Albanian offensive
4.2.5Local uprisings
4.3Naval operations
4.4Romanian involvement
5Losses
6Armistice and surrender
7Aftermath
8Notes
9See also
10References
10.1Footnotes
10.2Books
10.3Articles
10.4Web
11Further reading

Background[edit]

See also: Greco-Italian War and Yugoslav coup d’état

In October 1940, Fascist Italy had attacked the Kingdom of 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 Britain from bombing the Romanian Ploiești oilfields from which Nazi Germany obtained most of its oil.[13]

In 1940 and early 1941, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria all agreed to adhere to the Tripartite Pact and thus join the Axis. Hitler then pressured Yugoslavia to join as well.[14] The Regent, Prince Paul, yielded to this pressure, and declared Yugoslavia’s accession to the Pact on 25 March 1941.[15] This move was highly unpopular with the Serb-dominated officer corps of the military, a large part of the Serbian population, and liberals and Communists.[16] Military officers (mainly Serbs) executed a coup d’état on 27 March 1941, forced the Regent to resign, and declared 17-year-old King Peter II to be of age.

Invasion of Yugoslavia

Contents

Background[edit]

Written by Riyepix