The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, 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 No. 25”, which Adolf Hitler issued on 27 March 1941, following a Yugoslav coup d’état that overthrew the pro-Axis government.
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 (modern-day Austria, then part of Germany).
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 (NDH), an Axis puppet state.
Background
In October 1940, Fascist Italy had attacked the Kingdom of Greece only to be forced back into Albania. German dictator Adolf Hitler recognized the need to go to the aid of his ally, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
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.
The Regent, Prince Paul, yielded to this pressure, and declared Yugoslavia’s accession to the Pact on 25 March 1941.
This move was highly unpopular with the Serb-dominated officer corps of the military, Serbian organizations such as National Defense and the Chetniks Association, the Serbian Orthodox Church, a large part of the Serbian population as well as liberals and Communists.
Military officers (predominantly 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.
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Belgrade shouting and carrying the slogans “Better war than pact”, “Better grave than slave”.
Preparation
Upon hearing news of the coup in Yugoslavia, Hitler called his military advisers to Berlin on 27 March. On the same day as the coup he issued Führer Directive 25, which called for Yugoslavia to be treated as a hostile state. Hitler took the coup as a personal insult, and was so angered that he was determined, in his words, “to destroy Yugoslavia militarily and as a state” and to do so “with pitiless harshness” and “without waiting for possible declarations of loyalty of the new government”.
Axis order of battle
The invasion was spearheaded by the German 2nd Army. The German force also included three well-equipped independent motorized infantry regiments and was supported by over 750 aircraft. The Italian 2nd Army and 9th Army committed a total of 22 divisions and 666 aircraft to the operation. The Hungarian 3rd Army also participated in the invasion, with support available from over 500 aircraft.
Germany attacked Yugoslavia from bases in three countries besides itself: Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. German troops entered each of these countries under different pretenses and at different times. The first country to receive a German military mission was Romania. Ostensibly to train the Romanian armed forces, its real purpose was to protect Romania’s petroleum resources and prepare for an attack on the Soviet Union.
Royal Yugoslav armed forces
The Yugoslav forces consisted of more than 33 divisions of the Royal Yugoslav Army (VKJ), four air brigades of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force (VVKJ) with more than 400 aircraft, and the small Royal Yugoslav Navy (KJRM) centered around four destroyers and four submarines based on the Adriatic coast and some river monitors on the Danube. The VKJ was heavily reliant on animal-powered transport, was only partly mobilized at the time of the invasion, and had only 50 tanks that could engage German tanks on an equal basis. The VVKJ was equipped with a range of aircraft of Yugoslav, German, Italian, French and British design, including less than 120 modern fighter aircraft.
Bombing of Belgrade
At 07:00 on 6 April the Luftwaffe opened the assault on Yugoslavia by conducting a saturation-type bombing raid on the capital, “Operation Retribution”.
Flying in relays from airfields in Austria and Romania, 300 aircraft, of which a quarter were Junkers Ju 87 Stukas, protected by a heavy fighter escort began the attack.
The dive-bombers were to silence the Yugoslav anti-aircraft defences while the medium bombers consisting mainly Dornier Do 17s and Junkers Ju 88 attacked the city. The initial raid was carried out at 15-minute intervals in three distinct waves, each lasting for approximately 20 minutes. Thus, the city was subjected to a rain of bombs for almost one and a half hours. The German bombers directed their main effort against the center of the city, where the principal government buildings were located. The medium bomber Kampfgruppen continued their attack on the city for several days while the Stuka dive bomber wings (Stukageschwader) were soon diverted to Yugoslav airfields.
When the attack was over, some 4,000 inhabitants lay dead under the debris. This blow virtually destroyed all means of communication between the Yugoslav high command and the forces in the field, although most of the elements of the general staff managed to escape to one of the suburbs.
Having thus delivered the knockout blow to the Yugoslavian nerve center, the Luftwaffe was able to devote its maximum effort to military targets such as Yugoslav airfields, routes of communication, and troop concentrations, and to the close support of German ground operations.
Ground operations
The British, Greek and Yugoslav high commands intended to use Niš as the lynchpin in their attempts to wear down German forces in the Balkans and it is for this reason that the locality was important.
Having reached Niš from its initial attacks from Bulgaria and broken the Yugoslav defences, the German 14th Motorized Corps headed north in the direction of Belgrade.
On 11 April, a German Officer, Fritz Klingenberg with few men, moved into Belgrade to reconnoiter the city.
The city, represented by the Mayor, surrendered to them at 18:45 hours on 12 April.
Armistice and surrender
The Axis victory was swift. As early as 14 April the Yugoslav high command had decided to seek an armistice and authorized the army and army group commanders to negotiate local ceasefires.
Aftermath
After the surrender, Yugoslavia was subsequently divided amongst Germany, Hungary, Italy and Bulgaria. Germany took control of most of Serbia. While Ante Pavelić, leader of the fascist Ustaše, declared an Independent State of Croatia before the invasion was even over, Croatia was actually under the joint control of Germany and Italy.
When the Yugoslav Army officially surrendered to the Axis forces on 18 April 1941, Royal Yugoslav Army Colonel Draža Mihailović immediately began to organize a resistance to the occupying force in the mountains of Serbia and Eastern Bosnia. They were known as “Chetniks”.
Once the Soviets fully entered the war on the side of the Allies on 22 June 1941, the Yugoslav Partisans under Josip Tito also began to fight the Axis powers, and from then on there was continuous resistance to the occupying armies in Yugoslavia until the end of the war. British and American governments supported the Partisans.
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Invazija na Jugoslaviju (Drugi svetski rat)
Invazija na Jugoslaviju, poznata i kao Aprilski rat ili Operacija 25, bio je napad sila Osovine na Kraljevinu Jugoslaviju predvođen Nemačkom koji je počeo 6. aprila 1941. tokom Drugog svetskog rata. Naredba za invaziju izneta je u “Firerovoj Direktivi br. 25”, koju je Adolf Hitler izdao 27. marta 1941, nakon jugoslovenskog državnog udara koji je zbacio pro-osovinsku vladu.
Invazija je započela snažnim vazdušnim napadom na Beograd i objekte Kraljevskog jugoslovenskog ratnog vazduhoplovstva (VVKJ) od strane Luftvafea (nemačko vazduhoplovstvo) i napadima nemačkih kopnenih snaga iz jugozapadne Bugarske. Ove napade pratili su nemački udari iz Rumunije, Mađarske i Ostmarka (današnja Austrija, tada deo Nemačke).
Invazija je okončana potpisivanjem primirja 17. aprila 1941. na osnovu bezuslovne predaje Jugoslovenske vojske, koje je stupilo na snagu u podne 18. aprila. Kraljevinu Jugoslaviju su tada okupirale i podelile sile Osovine. Veći deo Srbije i Banata postali su nemačka okupaciona zona, dok su ostala područja Jugoslavije pripojena susednim zemljama Osovine, Nemačkoj, Mađarskoj, Italiji, Albaniji i Bugarskoj. Hrvatska je postala Nezavisna Država Hrvatska (NDH), marionetska država Osovine.
Pozadina
Oktobra 1940. fašistička Italija je napala Kraljevinu Grčku samo da bi bila prisiljena da se vrati u Albaniju. Nemački diktator Adolf Hitler prepoznao je potrebu da priskoči u pomoć svom savezniku, italijanskom diktatoru Benitu Musoliniju.
Godine 1940. i početkom 1941. Mađarska, Rumunija i Bugarska su se složile da se pridruže Trojnom paktu i tako pridruže Osovini. Hitler je tada vršio pritisak na Jugoslaviju da se i ona pridruži.
Regent, knez Pavle, popustio je ovom pritisku i proglasio pristupanje Jugoslavije Paktu 25. marta 1941. godine.
Ovaj potez bio je veoma nepopularan kod oficirskog korpusa kojim su dominirali Srbi, srpskih organizacija kao što su Narodna odbrana i Udruženje četnika, Srpske pravoslavne crkve, velikog dela srpskog stanovništva, kao i liberala i komunista.
Vojni oficiri (pretežno Srbi) su 27. marta 1941. izvršili državni udar, primorali regenta da podnese ostavku i proglasili 17-godišnjeg kralja Petra II punoletnim.
Na beogradske ulice je izašlo hiljade demonstranata uzvikujući i noseći parole “Bolje rat nego pakt”, “Bolje grob nego rob”.
Priprema
Pošto je čuo vesti o puču u Jugoslaviji, Hitler je 27. marta pozvao svoje vojne savetnike u Berlin. Istog dana nakon puča izdao je Firerovu Direktivu 25, kojom je tražio da se Jugoslavija tretira kao neprijateljska država. Hitler je državni udar shvatio kao ličnu uvredu i bio je toliko ljut da je bio odlučan, po njegovim rečima, da „vojno i kao državu uništi Jugoslaviju“ i da to učini „nemilosrdnom grubošću“ i „ne čekajući eventualne izjave lojalnosti nove vlade“.
Borbeni red osovine
Invaziju je predvodila nemačka 2. armija. Nemačke snage su takođe uključivale tri dobro opremljena nezavisna motorizovana pešadijska puka i bile su podržane sa preko 750 aviona. Italijanska 2. armija i 9. armija angažovale su u operaciji ukupno 22 divizije i 666 aviona. U invaziji je učestvovala i mađarska 3. armija, uz podršku od preko 500 aviona.
Nemačka je napala Jugoslaviju iz baza u tri zemlje pored sebe: Mađarskoj, Rumuniji i Bugarskoj. Nemačke trupe su ušle u svaku od ovih zemalja pod različitim izgovorima i u različito vreme. Prva zemlja koja je primila nemačku vojnu misiju bila je Rumunija. Navodno za obuku rumunskih oružanih snaga, njegova prava svrha bila je zaštita rumunskih naftnih resursa i priprema za napad na Sovjetski Savez.
Kraljevske jugoslovenske oružane snage
Jugoslovenske snage su se sastojale od više od 33 divizije Vojske Kraljevine Jugoslavije (VKJ), četiri vazduhoplovne brigade Kraljevskog jugoslovenskog ratnog vazduhoplovstva (VVKJ) sa više od 400 aviona i male Kraljevske jugoslovenske mornarice (KJRM) sa centrom oko četiri razarača i četiri podmornice bazirane na jadranskoj obali i nekoliko rečnih monitora na Dunavu. VKJ se u velikoj meri oslanjala na transport na životinjski pogon, bila je samo delimično mobilisana u vreme invazije i imala je samo 50 tenkova koji su mogli da se bore protiv nemačkih tenkova na ravnopravnoj osnovi. VVKJ je bio opremljen nizom aviona jugoslovenskog, nemačkog, italijanskog, francuskog i britanskog dizajna, uključujući manje od 120 savremenih borbenih aviona.
Bombardovanje Beograda
U 07:00 6. aprila Luftvafe je započeo napad na Jugoslaviju izvodeći bombardovanje tipa zasićenja na glavni grad, “Operacija Retribution”.
Leteći u štafetima sa aerodroma u Austriji i Rumuniji, 300 aviona, od kojih su četvrtina Junkers Ju 87 Stukas, zaštićeni teškom lovačkom pratnjom, započeli su napad.
Ronilački bombarderi trebalo je da ućutkaju jugoslovensku protivvazdušnu odbranu, dok su srednji bombarderi, uglavnom Dornier Do 17 i Junkers Ju 88, napali grad. Početni napad je sproveden u intervalima od 15 minuta u tri različita talasa, od kojih je svaki trajao oko 20 minuta. Tako je grad bio podvrgnut kiši bombi skoro sat i po. Nemački bombarderi su svoje glavne napore usmerili protiv centra grada, gde su se nalazile glavne vladine zgrade. Srednji bombarder Kampfgruppen nastavio je napad na grad nekoliko dana, dok su krila ronilačkog bombardera Stuka (Stukageschvader) ubrzo preusmerena na jugoslovenske aerodrome.
Kada je napad završen, oko 4.000 stanovnika je ležalo mrtvo ispod ruševina. Ovim udarom su praktično uništena sva sredstva veze između jugoslovenske vrhovne komande i snaga na terenu, iako je većina elemenata generalštaba uspela da pobegne u jedno od predgrađa.
Pošto je na taj način zadao nokautirajući udarac jugoslovenskom nervnom centru, Luftvafe je bio u mogućnosti da posveti maksimalne napore vojnim ciljevima kao što su jugoslovenski aerodromi, rute komunikacija i koncentracija trupa, kao i bliskoj podršci nemačkim kopnenim operacijama.
Kopnene operacije
Britanske, grčke i jugoslovenske vrhovne komande nameravale su da iskoriste Niš kao oslonac u pokušajima da iscrpe nemačke snage na Balkanu i zbog toga je ovaj lokalitet bio važan.
Došavši do Niša iz svojih početnih napada iz Bugarske i razbivši jugoslovensku odbranu, nemački 14. motorizovani korpus krenuo je na sever u pravcu Beograda.
Dana 11. aprila, nemački oficir Fric Klingenberg sa nekoliko ljudi preselio se u Beograd da izviđa grad.
Grad, koji je predstavljao gradonačelnik, predao im se 12. aprila u 18:45 časova.
Primirje i predaja
Pobeda Osovine je bila brza. Već 14. aprila jugoslovenska vrhovna komanda odlučila je da traži primirje i ovlastila komandante armija i armijskih grupa da pregovaraju o lokalnim prekidima vatre.
Posledice
Nakon predaje, Jugoslavija je potom podeljena između Nemačke, Mađarske, Italije i Bugarske. Nemačka je preuzela kontrolu nad većim delom Srbije. Dok je Ante Pavelić, vođa fašističkih ustaša, proglasio Nezavisnu Državu Hrvatsku pre nego što je invazija bila završena, Hrvatska je zapravo bila pod zajedničkom kontrolom Nemačke i Italije.
Kada se 18. aprila 1941. godine Jugoslovenska vojska zvanično predala silama Osovine, pukovnik Kraljevske jugoslovenske vojske Draža Mihailović je odmah počeo da organizuje otpor okupatorskim snagama u planinama Srbije i istočne Bosne. Bili su poznati kao „četnici“.
Kada su Sovjeti u potpunosti ušli u rat na strani Saveznika 22. juna 1941. godine, jugoslovenski partizani pod komandom Josipa Tita takođe su počeli da se bore protiv sila Osovine, i od tada je postojao neprekidan otpor okupatorskim vojskama u Jugoslaviji do kraja rat. Britanska i američka vlada podržale su partizane.