Destruction of Yugoslavia
Tankers of the 11th tank Wehrmacht divisions resting on a PzKpfw IV Ausf. E tank on the street of a captured Yugoslav village. April 13, 1941.
Operations Marita and Punishment
Preparing for war with the USSR, Hitler decided to close the issue with the Balkans and secure the southern flank of the Russian Front (How Yugoslavia Collapsed). Preparations for the invasion of Greece began in deep secrecy. On December 13, 1940, the directive for the German invasion of Greece, Operation Marita, was signed. The Nazis planned to use Romania and Bulgaria as staging areas.
In southern Romania, a strike force began to form, intended to strike Greece through Bulgaria when good weather returned in March 1941. From Turkey, a screening force of the Bulgarian army, reinforced by German units, was deployed. The German divisions' deployment was carried out through Hungary and was carried out gradually, so as not to cause alarm in Sofia and Belgrade.
In January 1941, the Italian army's position on the Greek front deteriorated so much that Hitler even considered sending a corps to their aid. Ultimately, the Italians held out on their own, and the German corps was transferred to North Africa.
In February 1941, negotiations were held between the command of the German 12th Army, which was the main striking force in the Greek operation, and the Bulgarian General Staff. The Bulgarians refused to participate directly in the war but were prepared to send troops to the border with Turkey. The Germans promised that if the Turks sided with Greece and Britain, they, German armored divisions, and the Luftwaffe would immediately move in to repel the enemy.
On March 1, 1941, Bulgaria joined the Berlin Pact. On March 2, German troops, with Sofia's consent, crossed the Danube.
A German Messerschmitt Bf.109E7 fighter aircraft from the 27th Fighter Squadron (JG-27) at an airfield. April 1941, Balkans.
Yugoslavia's strategic position had become hopeless. Italian troops were fighting the Greeks in the west of the kingdom. German units were now stationed in the north and east. Greece's position also worsened, as the Germans entered Bulgaria.
Hitler attempted to draw Yugoslavia into his sphere of influence. On March 25, Belgrade joined the Berlin Pact in Vienna.
Following the Belgrade coup on the night of March 26–27, 1941, when the new Simović government de facto renounced the Berlin Pact, Hitler decided on March 27 to begin war with Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav operation (Directive No. 25, Operation Punishment) was to begin simultaneously with the war with Greece. The Italian and Hungarian armies were to participate in the invasion.
Belgrade attempted to establish cooperation with Greece, Britain, and the USSR, but it was too late. The Simović government, unwilling to provoke Germany, delayed mobilization, beginning only on April 3. Moreover, official mobilization was only scheduled for April 9. Precious time (from March 27 to April 2) was lost. Therefore, the Wehrmacht's attack caught the Serbs at the moment of strategic deployment. Belgrade managed to mobilize and concentrate only 11 divisions, or a third of its army.
On the northern and eastern borders, the Serbs deployed three army groups: the 1st Army Group (4th and 7th Armies) defended Croatia; the 2nd Army Group (2nd, 1st and 6th Armies) – the north-eastern part of the Kingdom, the border with Hungary; the 3rd Army Group (3rd and 5th Armies, troops of the 3rd Army Region) – the eastern part of the country, the border with Albania.
The Yugoslav command planned to defend itself in the north and east and, in cooperation with the Greeks, attack the Italians in Albania. From a military perspective, this was a strategic mistake. The only option for the Serbs was to immediately retreat to the mountains and to the Greek border to join forces with the Greeks and the British. However, this decision meant abandoning most of the country without a fight, something the politicians could not accept.
The Yugoslav authorities and military decided to fight on all fronts, despite lacking the manpower and resources to do so. This led to immediate defeat and victory for Germany.
The Yugoslav army (with a full mobilization of about 1 million people) was not mobilized and was greatly inferior in terms of material and technical resources: aviation, tanks, in anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems.
Yugoslavia's military weakness was exacerbated by internal political and nationalist squabbles. Politicians were torn between Berlin and London, while some still hoped to reach an agreement with Hitler.
Croatian nationalists and separatists openly supported the Nazis. The Nazis skillfully orchestrated an information war and propaganda campaign, promising "liberation" to other nations. As a result, the Croats sabotaged mobilization, and during the war, they immediately fled, surrendered, and defected to the enemy.
All this predetermined the rapid defeat of Yugoslavia.
German-Italian forces
For the Balkan operation, 33 German and 43 Italian divisions were deployed, including 12 tank divisions (of which 5 remained in reserve) and 4 motorized divisions, 2 German brigades, and 10 Hungarian brigades, supported by 1500 aircraft. To quickly defeat the enemy, the German high command allocated a large number of mobile units.
The Nazis prepared two strike groups. In southern Austria, von Weichs's 2nd German Army was positioned for an offensive from the north: the 46th Motorized Corps (8th and 14th Panzer, 16th Motorized Divisions), the 49th Mountain, 51st and 52nd Army Corps. The German 12th Army (six corps) was positioned in Bulgaria and Romania. The mobile units were combined into Kleist's 1st Panzer Group. The offensive was supported by the 4th Air Force. fleet.
Fascist Italy allocated its 2nd Army (13 divisions) to the war against Yugoslavia, which, according to the operational plan, was to launch an offensive on the Adriatic coast. The 9th and 11th Italian armies operated in the Albanian region.
Italian soldiers on the street of the burning Yugoslav village of Rijeka.
Hungary contributed units of the 3rd Army, consisting of 10 brigades, to participate in the war against Yugoslavia, three of which were consolidated into a “mobile corps”.
On March 30, 1941, Field Marshal Brauchitsch, Commander-in-Chief of the German Ground Forces, signed a directive for the Balkan Operation against Yugoslavia and Greece. The regrouping of troops began. Some divisions intended for the offensive against Yugoslavia still needed to be redeployed.
The offensive was divided into three phases. In the first phase, units of List's 12th Army attacked from southwestern Bulgaria toward Skopje (Skoplje) and then onward to link up with Italian forces in Albania, cutting Yugoslavia off from Greece. Simultaneously, the left wing of the 12th Army attacked Thessaloniki, on the northern Aegean coast, to disrupt any possible coordination between Greek, British, and Yugoslav forces. The Bulgarian army, reinforced by the German 16th Panzer Division, defended the Bulgarian-Turkish border.
In the second phase, the main role was played by Kleist's Panzer Group and the 2nd Army in Austria. The Panzer Group was to destroy the enemy group covering Niš and Kruševac, and then advance on Belgrade. The 2nd Army's left wing advanced through Hungary toward Belgrade. Hungarian units supported this attack. The 2nd Army's right wing was aimed at the Croatian capital, Zagreb, and then was to advance on Sarajevo. During this period, Italian forces were to distract part of the Serbian army.
After the complete defeat of Yugoslavia, the second phase of the operation began. The 12th Army was to defeat the main Greek and British forces and occupy the Greek mainland.
Hungarian units in the Yugoslav city of Sombor. In the center is a Swiss-made Solothurn S18-100 20mm anti-tank rifle. Soldiers are armed with various rifles, including the Mannlicher M95/31 and Solothurn 31M (MG30) machine guns.
The defeat of Yugoslavia
On the night of April 5-6, 1941, German reconnaissance and sabotage units violated the border of Yugoslavia.
Early in the morning of April 6, the Luftwaffe launched a heavy attack on Belgrade, even though the Yugoslav government had declared it an "open city" on April 3. This means that during wartime, due to the inevitable capture and destruction of a city, the country's authorities declare it undefended. The Hague Convention of 1907 prohibited attacks on open cities.
The Nazis bombed Belgrade regularly until April 10, severely damaging its center. Thousands of civilians died. The goal of the operation was to demoralize the Yugoslav leadership. As a result, the Germans succeeded in paralyzing the "decision-making centers."
At the same time, the German and Italian Air Forces bombed other cities, airfields (dozens of aircraft were destroyed on the ground), communication centers, railways, bridges and other communications.
The Yugoslav Air Force (more than 400 aircraft, mostly obsolete models) ceased to exist. Therefore, German aircraft completely dominated the skies of Yugoslavia. Defense there were practically none.
German dive bomber Ju-87 flies accompanied by Italian fighter G. 50 "Freccia"
Attacks rained down from all sides—from Austria and Italy, from Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Since the German 2nd Army's deployment was not yet complete, the 12th Army launched its offensive earlier, on April 6, and the main forces of the 2nd Army entered the battle on the 8th.
List's 12th Army crossed the Bulgarian-Yugoslav border, quickly advanced toward the Vardar River, and entered Skopje on the 7th. Within the first few days, the 3rd Yugoslav Army was scattered. On April 10, the Germans joined forces with the Italians at Lake Ohrid, cutting off the Kingdom from Greece. The Germans also eased the Italians' position in Albania, who were being pressed by four Yugoslav divisions. The Serbs fought in this area until the end of the campaign.
On April 9, the Germans captured Niš. The defense of the 5th Yugoslav Army, which had unsuccessfully attempted to retreat beyond the Morava River, collapsed. After this, the tank group split: the 11th Panzer Division advanced on Belgrade, while the 5th Panzer Division was redirected south, toward Greece.
Units of the 14th Motorized Corps of the Wehrmacht in the Yugoslav city of Niš, April 9, 1941
Yugoslav prisoners of war walk past a burning truck on a street in Niš.
The Yugoslav army quickly began to disintegrate. While the Serbs still fought, the Croats, Slovenes, and Macedonians fled and surrendered. The advance of the 46th Motorized Corps of the 2nd Army met virtually no resistance. The units of the 4th and 7th Yugoslav Armies, largely composed of Croats, simply collapsed. Units of the 2nd Army Group (1st and 2nd Armies) were also unable to mount a stubborn resistance, fleeing and scattering.
Croatian military mutinies began. On April 10, the Germans entered Zagreb. Simultaneously, Croatian Nazis (Ustaše), led by Pavelić, declared the creation of an independent Croatia. The Germans began forming Croatian units. A nationalist movement began in Slovenia. This effectively ended organized resistance to the Yugoslav army in Croatia and Slovenia.
Separatists and collaborators played a major role in the collapse of the resistance. General Nedić, who commanded one of the armies, opened the front to the Germans in Bulgaria. A group of generals led by Kvaternik surrendered the army and Sarajevo.
On April 11, the Hungarian offensive began, and the Italians captured Ljubljana. By evening, German units were on the outskirts of Belgrade and had crushed the southern flank of the Yugoslav 6th Army.
The Yugoslav command, which planned to create a new front in the areas historical Serbia could do nothing in the face of complete collapse, loss of communication and control.
On April 12, the German advance units reached Belgrade, and on the 13th, the main forces of the 2nd SS Motorized Division "Das Reich" entered the city. That same day, the Hungarians captured Novi Sad. Second-echelon troops of the German 12th Army finished off the 5th Yugoslav Army units on the eastern bank of the Morava River.
On April 14, Yugoslav Prime Minister Simović resigned and fled to Athens on the 15th, then to Cairo and then to London. His successor, General Kalafatović, was authorized to initiate armistice negotiations. The king and other members of the government also fled the country. The Italians occupied Dubrovnik, and the Germans Sarajevo.
On April 17, 1941, in Belgrade, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Cincar Marković and the Chief of Operations of the Yugoslav General Staff, General Janković, signed the act of unconditional surrender on behalf of Yugoslavia. Chief of the General Staff, General Kalafatović, ordered all remaining units of the Yugoslav Army to cease hostilities and send envoys. Over 340 Yugoslav soldiers were taken prisoner.
A column of Yugoslav prisoners marching along a mountain road.
Captured Yugoslav soldiers in a field
It was a model of blitzkrieg. The kingdom was crushed in 11 days. The Germans lost only about 600 men killed, wounded, and missing.
Yugoslavia was occupied and dismembered. Northern Slovenia was annexed by Germany, southern Slovenia and Dalmatia by Italy; a significant part of Macedonia and eastern Serbia went to Bulgaria; Kosovo, western Macedonia, and eastern Montenegro went to Albania (under Italian protection); Hungary received Vojvodina (Backa) and northeastern Slovenia. Croatia became a German satellite, and the Kingdom of Montenegro was under Italian control. The remainder of Serbia was under the control of the German occupation authorities.
Ordinary Serbs did not give up and began a desperate resistance, drawing away significant forces of the occupiers.
The division of Yugoslavia between Nazi Germany and its allies.
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