75 years ago, the Third Reich defeated Yugoslavia and Greece. On April 13, 1941, the Nazis entered Belgrade. King Peter II and the Yugoslav government fled to Greece and then to Egypt. On April 17, 1941, an act of unconditional surrender was signed in Belgrade. Yugoslavia collapsed. Greece fell almost simultaneously. On April 23, the surrender of the Greek army was signed. On the same day, the Greek government and the king fled to Crete, and then to Egypt, under the protection of the British. On April 27, the Germans entered Athens. By June 1, the Nazis also captured Crete.
Invasion plan
Hitler, remembering the experience of the First World War, feared a new landing by the British army in Thessaloniki or on the southern coast of Thrace: then the British would find themselves in the rear of Army Group South during its offensive to the east, into the southern regions of Russia. Hitler proceeded from the assumption that the British would again try to advance into the Balkans, and remembered that the actions of the Allied armies in the Balkans at the end of World War I significantly contributed to their victory. Therefore, as a precautionary measure, he decided to do away with Yugoslavia and Greece before taking action against Russia.
The invasion was supposed to be carried out by inflicting simultaneous strikes from the territory of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria in converging directions to Skopje, Belgrade and Zagreb with the aim of dismembering the Yugoslav army and destroying it piece by piece. The task was to capture, first of all, the southern part of Yugoslavia in order to prevent the establishment of interaction between the armies of Yugoslavia and Greece, to unite with the Italian troops in Albania and to use the southern regions of Yugoslavia as a springboard for the subsequent German-Italian offensive against Greece. The German air force was supposed to strike at Belgrade, Serbian airfields, paralyze traffic on the railways and thereby disrupt the mobilization of Yugoslav troops. Against Greece, it was envisaged to deliver the main attack in the direction of Thessaloniki, followed by an advance to the Olympus region. Italy struck from Albania.
The operation involved the 2nd Army of Weichs, the 12th Army of List (he also led the operations) and the 1st Panzer Group of Kleist. The 12th Army was concentrated on the territory of Bulgaria and Romania. It was significantly strengthened: its composition was increased to 19 divisions (including 5 tank divisions). The 2nd Army, consisting of 9 divisions (including 2 tank divisions), was concentrated in southeastern Austria and western Hungary. 4 divisions (including 3 tank divisions) were allocated to the reserve. For air support, A. Leurat's 4th Air Fleet and the 8th Aviation Corps, which totaled about 1,200 combat and transport aircraft, were involved. The general command of the grouping of German troops aimed at Yugoslavia and Greece was entrusted to Field Marshal Wilhelm List.
On March 30, 1941, the High Command of the Wehrmacht's ground forces assigned missions to the troops. The 12th Army was supposed to attack Strumica (Yugoslavia) and Thessaloniki with two corps, strike with one corps in the direction of Skopje, Veles (Yugoslavia), and advance with its right flank in the Nis-Belgrade direction. The 2nd Army was tasked with capturing Zagreb and developing an offensive in the direction of Belgrade. Combat operations against Yugoslavia and Greece were supposed to begin on April 6, 1941 with a massive air raid on Belgrade and an offensive by the troops of the left wing and the center of the 12th Army.
For the operation, the Third Reich attracted significant forces of the allies. Italy allocated 43 divisions for the invasion: 24 of them were intended for operations against Yugoslavia (9 were deployed on the Albanian-Yugoslav border, 15 - in Istria and Dalmatia). The Wehrmacht command had a generally low opinion of the combat capability of the Italian army, so only auxiliary tasks were assigned to it. At the beginning of the war, Italian troops had to firmly hold the defenses in Albania and thereby contribute to the offensive of the 2nd German army. After the connection of the German troops with the Italian, their joint offensive against Greece was envisaged.
Hungary, after a short hesitation, also agreed to participate in the aggression against Yugoslavia. After negotiations between General Friedrich Paulus and the chief of the Hungarian General Staff H. Werth, which began on March 30, an agreement was signed, according to which Hungary allocated 10 brigades (approximately 5 divisions) for aggression against Yugoslavia. Hungarian troops were supposed to launch an offensive on April 14, 1941.
Romania, the command of the Wehrmacht assigned the role of a barrier against the USSR. Both ground forces and aviation were deployed on Romanian territory, providing support for the actions of German troops in the Balkans. The territory of Romania was used as a staging ground for the German Air Force. The Bulgarian government was afraid to openly enter the war. However, Sofia provided its territory for the deployment of German troops. At the request of Berlin, Bulgaria pulled the main part of its army, reinforced by German tank units, to the borders of Turkey. These forces became a rear cover for the German troops fighting in Yugoslavia and Greece.
The coordination of the actions of the states, whose armed forces opposed Greece and Yugoslavia, was carried out in accordance with the directive No. 26 "Cooperation with the allies in the Balkans" signed by Hitler on April 3, 1941. Thus, for the aggression in the Balkans, the Third Reich with the allies allocated over 80 divisions (of which 32 are German, more than 40 Italian and the rest are Hungarian), more than 2 thousand aircraft and up to 2 thousand tanks.
State of defense of Yugoslavia
While the threat of a military invasion looms over Yugoslavia, Belgrade hesitated to take decisive measures to mobilize the country. The operational plans developed by the Yugoslav General Staff lagged behind the rapidly changing situation. The latest military plan "Plan R-41", developed in February 1941, provided for the defense of the border with a length of more than 3 thousand km and the organization of an offensive operation against Italian troops in Albania in cooperation with the Greeks. If necessary, a general retreat to the south, to Greece, was envisaged in order to organize a defense here on the model of the Thessaloniki front during the First World War. The offensive operation in Albania pursued the goal of strengthening the strategic defense and ensuring the withdrawal of the main forces in a southern direction. However, after the appearance of the German army in Bulgaria in March 1941, this plan no longer corresponded to the strategic situation. Now the Yugoslav army could not withdraw to Thessaloniki.
After the coup, the danger of a German invasion increased sharply and the Yugoslav General Staff proposed to immediately begin mobilization. However, the government rejected this reasonable proposal, citing the need to continue negotiations with Germany. Belgrade still hoped to maintain neutrality and peace with Berlin. Only on March 30, 1941, it was announced that the first day of hidden mobilization would be April 3. As a result, 7 days were lost, during which the Yugoslav command could complete the mobilization and strategic deployment of troops. This led to the fact that the war found the Yugoslav army in the stage of strategic deployment. Not a single headquarters (from division headquarters to the headquarters of the high command) completed mobilization. Most formations and units of all branches of the armed forces were in the same condition.
The ground forces of Yugoslavia consisted of three groups of the army and the Primorsky army district, which guarded the coast. The troops of the 5th and 3rd armies, which were part of the 3rd army group, were deployed near the northern border of Albania. The troops of the 2nd Army Group - the 6th, 1st and 2nd armies - were stationed between the Iron Gate and the Drava River. Further westward, the 1st Army Group was deployed, which included the 4th and 7th Armies.
The size of the Yugoslav army at the beginning of hostilities is estimated at 1.2 million people. The existing 28 infantry and 3 cavalry divisions, 32 separate regiments were not fully mobilized (they had 70-90% of the wartime staff). Only 11 divisions were in those areas where they were supposed to be on the defensive plan. The Yugoslav army was poorly equipped technically. The artillery park consisted of outdated models and horse-drawn. There was an acute shortage of anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns. The mechanization of the army was in its early stages. There were no motorized units, tank units were represented by only two battalions. The army had only 110 obsolete tanks. The aviation had 416 planes of French, Italian, British and German production, but only half of them met modern requirements. The engineering support of the troops and communications were weak.
Yugoslav intelligence provided the government and command with information about the threat of an enemy invasion, the plans and timing of the aggression, the concentration and direction of action of the German troops in a fairly timely manner. However, the Yugoslav military-political leadership reacted to this information with a great delay. It was only on March 31 that the General Staff sent out directives to the commanders of the aviation and navy armies demanding that the R-41 plan be implemented. On April 4, the commanders were sent additional instructions to bring up the troops to the borders.
Thus, by the beginning of the war, the Yugoslav armed forces had not completed mobilization, deployment, the country's defense plan did not correspond to the real situation. The army was poorly equipped technically. In the rear there was a strong "fifth column" (Croatian nationalists, etc.). The military-political leadership was indecisive and was not disposed to fight to the end.
Greece
The Greek army was also in a difficult situation. The war with Italy depleted the country's strategic reserves. The bulk of the Greek army was fettered by Italy: 15 infantry divisions - the armies of Epirus and West Macedonia - were located on the Italian-Greek front in Albania. The appearance of German troops in Bulgaria and their entry to the Greek border in March 1941 presented the Greek command with the difficult task of organizing defense in a new direction. At first, only 6 divisions could be transferred to the border with Bulgaria.
The arrival from Egypt by the end of March of the British Expeditionary Force, which had two infantry divisions (New Zealand 2nd Division, Australian 6th Division), the British 1st Armored Brigade and nine air squadrons, could not significantly change the situation. These forces were not enough to seriously change the strategic situation.
Taking into account the new situation, the Greek command hastily formed two new armies: "East Macedonia" (three infantry divisions and one infantry brigade), which relied on the strengthening of the Metaxas line along the border with Bulgaria; "Central Macedonia" (three infantry divisions and an English expeditionary force), which, using the mountain range, took up defenses from Olympus to Kaimakcalan. However, these armies did not have operational-tactical communications and could be easily cut off both from each other and from the troops concentrated on the Albanian front. The Greek command did not have strategic reserves to close a possible breach. Now the Greeks were expecting strikes from Albania and Bulgaria, and did not expect that the enemy would act through the territory of Yugoslavia.
In addition, there was a split in the Greek military-political leadership. The threat of a German attack intensified the defeatist sentiments among the Greek generals. In early March 1941, the command of the Epirus army informed the government that it considered a war with the Germans hopeless, and demanded that diplomatic negotiations with Germany begin. In response, the government changed the leadership of the Epirus army and appointed a new army commander and new corps commanders. However, these measures did not succeed in achieving a turning point in the mood of the senior command staff of the Greek army.
It is also worth noting that it was not possible to achieve the organization of interaction between the armed forces of Yugoslavia, Greece and England. Britain did not intend to provide significant assistance to Greece and Yugoslavia. March 31 - April 3, negotiations were held between the military leadership of Greece, Yugoslavia and England. However, due to the fear of the Yugoslav and Greek authorities, it was not possible to reach an agreement on the interaction of the Yugoslav army with the Greek-British forces to aggravate relations with Germany and limited assistance from England.
Fighters Messerschmitt Bf.109E-7 from the 10th squadron of the 27th squadron of the Luftwaffe and the Messerschmitt liaison aircraft Bf.108B Typhoon at the airfield during the Balkan campaign
The German Junkers Ju-87 dive bomber from the 2nd group of the 1st dive-bombers squadron flies accompanied by the Italian Fiat G.50 "Freccia" fighter
Invasion. Defeat of Yugoslavia
The invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece was undertaken by German troops on the night of April 6, according to the scheme they used in the campaigns of 1939 and 1940. The main forces of the 4th Air Fleet suddenly attacked airfields in the areas of Skopje, Kumanovo, Niš, Zagreb, Ljubljana. A massive airstrike was launched against Belgrade. The main target was the city center, where the most important state institutions were located. German aviation bombed communications centers, railways and communications. Tank and infantry divisions of the 12th German army simultaneously crossed the Bulgarian-Yugoslav border in three sectors.
The Yugoslavian military-political leadership had to immediately make a basic decision: either to defend the entire country, or to retreat to the south, into the mountains, with the prospect of retreating to Greece. The second option was more profitable from a military-strategic point of view, but it was difficult to accept it from a political and moral point of view. When retreating, they would have to leave Croatia and Slovenia, Belgrade and other important centers, so the Yugoslavs adopted the first option. Given the situation, it was a losing option.
The fighting against Yugoslavia took place in two stages. The task of the Wehrmacht at the first stage was to cut the 3rd Yugoslav army within two days and ensure freedom of operational maneuver for the troops that were operating against Greece. Therefore, initially the main hostilities took place in Macedonia. The 40th Mechanized Corps of the 12th Army launched a swift offensive in two directions: with two divisions at Kumanovo, Skopje, and one division at Shtip, Veles. At the same time, the 2nd Panzer Division of the 18th Corps advanced along the valley of the Strumilitsa River in order to bypass the north of Lake Doiran and reach the rear of the Greek fortified line.
The German troops in Macedonia had no numerical superiority over the Yugoslav ones. But they had complete superiority in armored vehicles and aviation. The Yugoslavs could oppose 500 German tanks with only about 30 anti-tank guns. There was practically no air cover. German aviation dominated the air and actively supported the advancing ground forces. It is not surprising that already during the first day of the offensive, the Germans advanced 30-50 km. Despite the stubborn resistance of some individual units, by the end of the second day of the war, the Yugoslav troops in Macedonia were defeated. On April 7, the Nazis captured Skopje and Shtip.
Thus, the control of the Yugoslav troops in the south of the country was disrupted. Cutting off the main communications between Yugoslavia and Greece, the Germans thwarted the main strategic plan of the Yugoslavian plan - the withdrawal of troops to the south in order to unite with the Greeks and British. Already on April 10, the Wehrmacht reached Albania, creating conditions for the final defeat of Yugoslavia and the turn of part of the forces against Greece. The isolation of Yugoslavia from Greece was a major success for the German command. In addition, now the offensive of the Yugoslav troops against the Italians of Albania has become meaningless.
Tankmen of the 11th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht on vacation
Parts of the 14th Motorized Corps in the Serbian city of Niš
During this phase, the 2nd German Army completed the deployment and was limited to conducting small-scale hostilities. On April 8, the 1st Panzer Group (5 divisions - 2 tank, 1 motorized, 1 mountain and 1 infantry) struck from the area west of Sofia in the direction of Nis. The defense in this sector was held by the 5th Yugoslav Army, consisting of 5 divisions, which were stretched out on a 400-kilometer front along the border with Bulgaria. The Yugoslav command had no reserves. In fact, the blow of an entire German tank group fell on one Yugoslav division. It is clear that the Yugoslavs had no chance to resist. The Yugoslav division was defeated and the German troops almost calmly rushed into the interior of the country. The mechanized troops of the Germans advanced almost 200 km in three days and captured Nis, Aleksinats, Parachin and Yagodina. After the capture of Niš, the 11th Panzer Division went to Belgrade, and the 5th Panzer Division moved towards Greece. Thus, German troops broke through the front, cut off the 5th Yugoslav army, went to the rear of the 6th army and created a threat to Belgrade from the south.
At the same time, the “fifth column” and defeatists became more active in Yugoslavia. Croatian nationalists stood out in particular. At the end of March 1941, the authorized SS Standartenführer Wesenmeier arrived in Yugoslavia. Under his dictation, one of the leaders of the Croatian Nazis (Ustasha) Quaternik wrote a declaration on the creation of an "independent state of Croatia". On April 10, as German tanks were rushing towards Zagreb, the nationalists developed a violent propaganda demanding "independence." The Croatian Peasants' Party and its leader Maček appealed to the Croatian people to submit to the "new government". This was a direct betrayal of the country.
The activities of the top of the Slovenian clerical party in the Dravska Banovina (Slovenia) were of a treacherous nature. Under the leadership of the ban (governor) on April 6, a national council was organized here, which included representatives of Slovenian parties. The council planned to surrender Slovenia without a fight. The "Slovenian Legion" created in Slovenia began to disarm the Yugoslav army. On April 9, the Yugoslav high command ordered the arrest of this "government". However, the chief of staff of the 1st Army Group, General Rupnik, did not fulfill it.
The betrayal of the leaders of the Croatian and Slovenian parties demoralized the command of the 1st and 2nd Army Groups, which operated in the western regions of Yugoslavia. Many formations and units have lost their combat effectiveness, especially in the 4th and 2nd armies. Moreover, clashes broke out in the Yugoslav army between Croatian and Serb soldiers. The connection of the Yugoslav high command with the troops of the 1st group was interrupted. Thus, the betrayal of nationalist and defeatist circles made it easier for the Germans to seize the northwestern part of Yugoslavia.
On April 10, after completing the concentration, and waiting for the Yugoslav army to lose the opportunity to retreat to the south, the main forces of the 2nd German army began the offensive. The second stage of the Yugoslav operation began, the goal of which was the complete capture of Yugoslavia and the connection with the Italian army. By the end of April 10, German troops captured Zagreb, one of the most important political and economic centers of the country. After five days of fighting, the resistance of the Yugoslav troops on the territory of Croatia and Slovenia was broken. The 1st Army Group ceased to exist. A number of units and formations of the 2nd Army Group and the Primorsky Army District disintegrated without engaging in battle. On the evening of April 10, the Yugoslav high command issued a directive on the withdrawal of troops to southern Serbia, Herzegovina and Montenegro in order to take up a perimeter defense there. From that time on, the centralized command of the troops practically collapsed. The army was demoralized, many soldiers simply fled to their homes.
On April 11, German forces, continuing their rapid offensive on all fronts, linked up with the Italians in southern Serbia. At the same time, the Hungarian troops began an offensive. Hungarian ruler Horthy said that after the formation of "independent Croatia" Yugoslavia split into two parts. He justified the entry of Hungary into the war by the need to protect the Hungarian population in Vojvodina. On April 12, Italian troops captured Ljubljana, Debar and Ohrid. On April 13, German troops, without encountering resistance, entered Belgrade, and Hungarian troops entered Novi Sad. The forces of both German shock groups, advancing from the southeast and northwest, united in the Belgrade area.
On April 13, in Pale, near Sarajevo, a meeting of the Yugoslav government was held, at which it was decided to request the terms of an armistice from Germany and Italy. On the same day, the Yugoslav government ordered the army to lay down its arms. King Peter II and his ministers left the country, flying to Egypt, and from there to Egypt. On April 17, 1941, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs A. Tsintsar-Markovic and General R. Jankovic signed the act of unconditional surrender of the Yugoslav army. According to the document, all Yugoslav army servicemen who continued to resist after 12 noon on April 18, 1941 were subject to the death penalty. On the same day, Italian troops took Dubrovnik.
Two Italian officers inspect captured Czech-made 47mm Yugoslavian cannons. In the center of the photo - Brandt's 81-mm mortars
Italian soldiers armed with 6, 5-mm carbines Moschetto per Cavalleria M1891 (Carcano), in the bodies of trucks during the parade in Belgrade
Italian soldiers in an Italian city
Column of Italian bersagliers on the street of the Yugoslavian city
Outcomes
The Yugoslav government moved from Athens to the Middle East on April 18, 1941, and later from Cairo to London. On April 15, 1941, when the king fled the country, at a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) in Zagreb, it was decided to prepare an armed uprising and start a partisan war. A Military Committee was formed, headed by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Yosip Broz Tito. The communists called to fight not only the German occupiers, but also the Croatian fascists.
German troops during the campaign lost 151 soldiers killed, 14 missing, 392 wounded. Losses of Italian troops - 3324 people killed and wounded. The losses of Hungary - 120 killed, 223 wounded and 13 missing. Losses of the Yugoslav army - about 5 thousand people were killed. During the hostilities, German troops captured 225.5 thousand Yugoslav servicemen, after the surrender, the total number of Yugoslav servicemen who surrendered, captured and surrendered to the Germans increased to 345 thousand. Another 30 thousand Yugoslav servicemen were taken prisoner by Italian troops. As a result, the total number of captured Yugoslav servicemen amounted to 375 thousand people. A significant number of them - the Volksdeutsche Germans, Hungarians, Croats and Macedonians living in Yugoslavia - were released some time later.
On April 21-22, 1941, at the meeting of the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy in Vienna, the partition of Yugoslavia was carried out. Following the decision of the representatives of Germany, Italy, Bulgaria and Hungary, Yugoslavia ceased to exist. In the place of the kingdom, three state protectorates were formed: the Independent State of Croatia, Nedichevskaya Serbia and the Kingdom of Montenegro. De facto, power in these protectorates belonged to the protégés of the Axis bloc countries: Germany, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria. The independent state of Croatia (NGH) was occupied by German and Italian troops. At the same time, the territory of the NGH was divided in half into the German (northeastern) and Italian (southwestern) spheres of military control.
Italy received significant territories. The Italians received the province of Ljubljana. A significant part of the Yugoslav coast became part of the Dalmatian governorate, created on the basis of the Italian province of Zara, which included the lands of Dalmatia, the Adriatic coast and the Bay of Kotor. Croatia ceded a number of islands to Italy. Italy also invaded Montenegro, most of Kosovo and Metohija, and the western regions of Vardar Macedonia.
Germany established its control over the overwhelming part of Serbia proper, with the addition of some areas in the north of Kosovo and Metohija, rich in deposits of zinc and tin, and over the Yugoslavian Banat, which made up the eastern half of Vojvodina. The remaining territories of Serbia were transformed into the puppet state of Serbia, led by the former general of the royal army, Milan Nedic (Nedichevskaya Serbia). Also, Germany included in its administrative system the northern (most) part of Slovenia, mainly Upper Carniola and Lower Styria, with the addition of separate adjacent regions.
The northwestern part of Vojvodina (Backa and Baranja), the adjacent Slavonia region north of Osijek, and the overwhelming part of Prekmurje were transferred to Hungary. A Hungarian occupation administration was also established in Medjumurje. Bulgaria received most of Vardar Macedonia, as well as some areas in the southeast of Serbia proper and in Kosovo and Metohija.
Yugoslav prisoners
Column of Yugoslav prisoners on the march along a mountain road
