On April 6, 1941, Nazi Germany and its Axis allies launched an aggression against Yugoslavia and Greece, also known as the April War.
As a result of this campaign, the Balkan Peninsula was occupied, and the Nazis received additional resources for action against the Soviet Union and Great Britain.
Causes of the war
According to historians, the conditions for Nazi aggression in the Balkans arose in the 1930s.
Even before coming to power, Adolf Hitler spoke of "expanding the living space" for the German nation, and the change in the system of international relations negatively affected the unity of the Eastern European peoples.
“There was the so-called Little Entente - an alliance of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania, created in the 1920s with the support of the French government to maintain order in the region.
The partition of Czechoslovakia in 1938-1939 destroyed this alliance and ended stability in the region.
Thus, the events of April 1941 are one of the consequences of the Munich Agreement.
In addition, in Yugoslavia itself, an internal national crisis began in 1939, one of the manifestations of which was the proclamation of an autonomous Croatian banovina, "Yaroslav Vishnyakov, professor at the Department of World and National History of MGIMO, told RT.
The position of fascist Italy, which had territorial claims to the Balkan states, also negatively affected the state of international stability in the region.
In 1939, official Rome annexed Albania, and on October 28, 1940, counting on a quick victory, Italy declared war on Greece.
However, the Italian army encountered fierce resistance from the Greek troops and, after several counterattacks, was forced to retreat into Albania.
At the same time, having enlisted the support of the Albanian partisans, the Greeks advanced 25-60 km deep into Albanian territory.
Attempts at an Italian counteroffensive in early 1941 were unsuccessful.
In turn, Germany, which was in an alliance with Italy, viewed the Balkans as a resource base and an important springboard for further aggression in the southern and eastern directions.
Nazi diplomats managed to achieve accession to the Hitlerite bloc (the "axis" countries) of the states bordering on Yugoslavia: Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria.
In November 1940, Hitler signed a directive to conduct "if necessary" operations against Greece.
The authorities of Yugoslavia tried to maintain neutrality, but under pressure from Berlin they were forced to take steps towards Germany.
On March 25, 1941, official Belgrade signed a protocol on joining the "tripartite pact", turning Yugoslavia into another "axis" country.
“Mass protests began in Yugoslavia, in which both left-wing and pro-Western forces took part.
On this wave, a group of British-oriented officers staged a coup d'état in Yugoslavia.
On March 27, 1941, the country's government was headed by former Air Force Commander Dusan Simovic.
But the new authorities for some time did not take any measures to organize potential resistance to Germany, "military historian Yuri Knutov told RT.
Greek army unit during the spring offensive (spring 1941) in the Greco-Italian war
© Wikimedia
Despite the absence of any threats from Belgrade, immediately after the March coup, Hitler announced the need to destroy Yugoslavia.
For this, it was decided to involve the troops of Italy and Hungary, as well as to use the Romanian and Bulgarian territories.
At the same time, the Nazis decided to strike at Greece.
On April 3, 1941, the German troops received specific instructions for actions in the Balkans.
Balkan campaign
On April 6, 1941, the aggression of Germany and its allies against Yugoslavia and Greece began.
About 80 divisions were involved in the attack: 32 German, 43 Italian and 10 Hungarian brigades, approximately corresponding in size to five divisions.
At the same time, the German command had a low opinion of the combat effectiveness of the Italian units and assigned them auxiliary roles.
The operational plans of the Yugoslav army lagged behind the rapidly changing situation.
"Covert mobilization" in the country began only on April 3 and was not completed by the beginning of hostilities.
The troops were staffed at 70-90% of the wartime staff.
Of the 28 infantry and three cavalry divisions, only 11 were where they should have been according to the defense plan.
"Despite the fact that the Yugoslav army was numerically strong enough, technically it was far from perfect," Yaroslav Vishnyakov said in a conversation with RT.
There were no motorized units in the Yugoslav army, only 110 obsolete tanks and about 400 aircraft were in service, of which only 50% were of modern types.
Most of the Greek troops were in Albania, on the Italian front.
A British Expeditionary Force, consisting of two infantry divisions, an armored brigade and nine air squadrons, was hastily deployed to support Greece in the Balkans.
But this did not save the situation.
The main hostilities at the initial stage of the war took place in Macedonia.
The Yugoslav troops here were not inferior in number to the German ones, but the Yugoslavs could oppose 500 Nazi tanks with only 30 anti-tank guns.
Already on the first day, the Nazis advanced 30-50 km.
By the end of the second day, the Yugoslav troops in Macedonia were defeated, and the main routes of communication between Yugoslavia and Greece were blocked.
German soldiers in Yugoslavia
© Wikimedia commons
West of Sofia, the Nazis broke through the 400-kilometer front line, which was covered by only five Yugoslav divisions.
In three days, the Nazis advanced almost 200 km, occupied Nis and created a threat to Belgrade.
At the same time, nationalist movements began in Yugoslavia, and the process of creating Berlin-oriented political entities was launched in Croatia and Slovenia.
“The army of Yugoslavia was multinational, representatives of the non-Serbian people did not want to fight for Yugoslavia.
There was no agreement in the army and society on many political and religious issues, "Alexander Mikhailov, a specialist in the history of the Victory Museum, told RT.
On April 10, 1941, the second phase of the operation against Yugoslavia began - a massive offensive throughout the country.
In just five days, the Nazis defeated the Yugoslav units on the territory of Croatia and Slovenia.
The troops of Yugoslavia retreated to southern Serbia, Herzegovina and Montenegro.
German, Hungarian and Italian forces pushed them from all sides.
On April 13, the Nazis occupied Belgrade.
Most of the government left the country.
On April 17, former Foreign Minister Alexander Tsintsar-Markovic signed an act of unconditional surrender of the Yugoslav army.
German soldiers in ruined Belgrade
© Wikimedia commons
Greek troops, using the mountainous terrain, offered fierce resistance to the Nazis.
But the rapid advance of German troops in Yugoslav Macedonia put the Greeks in a difficult position.
On April 9, the Germans captured the city of Thessaloniki, and in mid-April went to the rear of the Greek army "Western Macedonia", isolating it from the troops stationed in the center of the country.
On April 18, considering the position of Greece hopeless, the Prime Minister of the country, Alexandros Korizis, committed suicide.
The British corps retreated 150 km in five days of fighting and on April 20 was concentrated in the Thermopylae region.
The Greek command at this time signed an armistice with the leadership of the SS division "Adolf Hitler".
And on April 23, 1941, Greece officially surrendered.
The main forces of the British army were evacuated from mainland Greece at the end of April.
According to historians, it took the Nazis only 24 days to capture the mainland of the Balkan Peninsula.
At the same time, the Germans lost 2.5 thousand killed, 3 thousand missing and 6 thousand wounded.
The Axis forces captured 375,000 Yugoslav and 225,000 Greek servicemen.
The British lost about 12 thousand people killed and wounded in the Balkans.
Landing of the German army in Crete
© Wikimedia commons
May 20 - June 1, 1941, the Nazis conducted an airborne operation "Mercury" to capture the island of Crete.
They occupied the island, but lost about 7.4 thousand people killed and wounded.
In the future, the Nazis did not dare to carry out such large-scale airborne operations.
The Balkan Peninsula was divided between the Axis countries into occupation zones and puppet states.
“The capture of Yugoslavia was an important stage in the history of World War II.
He allowed the Germans to gain a foothold in this region and dictate their conditions in the political arena, not only among the newly defeated countries, but also among their allies.
Germany strengthened its southern flank and gained access to the resources of the Balkans.
The Romanian oil fields were no longer threatened by British aviation, ”explained Alexander Mikhailov.
However, according to the historian, one of the largest centers of the partisan movement arose in the Balkans, diverting significant forces from the Hitlerite bloc.
Yugoslav partisans before the collapse of the bridge
© Wikimedia commons
As Yuri Knutov noted, there is an opinion in Yugoslav and Serbian historiography that the hostilities in the Balkans delayed the start of the war between Germany and the Soviet Union and allegedly did not allow the Wehrmacht to seize Moscow, since the Germans were on the way to the capital of the USSR with the onset of cold weather.
However, Yaroslav Vishnyakov does not agree with this formulation of the question.
“The active hostilities of Germany against Yugoslavia lasted for about ten days, which did not decide anything.
The plan of Hitler's offensive was thwarted in the battles near Kiev and Minsk by the heroism of Soviet soldiers.
At the same time, the Balkan operation itself played a significant role, since as a result of its results the picture in the Mediterranean theater of military operations changed significantly, ”Vishnyakov summed up.