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Operation 25
The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, or ''Projekt 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). 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 e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balkan Campaign (World War II)
The Balkans campaign of World War II began with the Italian invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940. In the early months of 1941, Italy's offensive had stalled and a Greek counter-offensive pushed into Albania. Germany sought to aid Italy by deploying troops to Romania and Bulgaria and attacking Greece from the east. Meanwhile, the British landed troops and aircraft to shore up Greek defences. A ''coup d'état'' in Yugoslavia on 27 March caused Adolf Hitler to order the conquest of that country. The invasion of Yugoslavia by Germany and Italy began on 6 April 1941, simultaneously with the new Battle of Greece; on 11 April, Hungary joined the invasion. By 17 April the Yugoslavs had signed an armistice, and by 30 April all of mainland Greece was under German or Italian control. On 20 May Germany invaded Crete by air, and by 1 June all remaining Greek and British forces on the island had surrendered. Although it had not participated in the attacks in April, Bulgaria occupied part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dušan Simović
Dušan Simović (; 28 October 1882 – 26 August 1962) was a Yugoslav Serb army general who served as Chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army and as the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia in 1940–1941. Biography Simović, born on 28 October 1882 in Kragujevac, attended elementary school and two years of high school in his hometown. Due to his interest in military matters, he left high school and entered the Military Academy in Belgrade. He completed the Military Academy course in 1900, when he was promoted to second lieutenant of artillery. He completed the Higher School of the Military Academy in 1905. During the Balkan Wars (1912–13) and during the First World War (1914–1918), he proved an excellent officer. He won promotion in 1913, and again, in 1915, to lieutenant colonel. At the Salonika front, he commanded the 7th Infantry Regiment. But even while working in the Salonika front as an infantary commander, Simović was interested in air power and in air de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Retribution (1941)
Operation Retribution (german: Unternehmen Strafgericht), also known as Operation Punishment, was the April 1941 German bombing of Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia, in retaliation for the coup d'état that overthrew the government that had signed the Tripartite Pact. The bombing occurred in the first days of the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia during World War II. The Royal Yugoslav Army Air Force (VVKJ) had only 77 modern fighter aircraft available to defend Belgrade against the hundreds of German fighters and bombers that struck in the first wave early on 6 April. Three days prior, VVKJ Major Vladimir Kren had defected to the Germans, disclosing the locations of multiple military assets and divulging the VVKJ's codes. Three more waves of bombers attacked Belgrade on 6 April, and more attacks followed in subsequent days. The attacks resulted in the paralysis of Yugoslav civilian and military command and control, the widespread destruction of Belgrade's infrastructure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yugoslav Coup D'état
The Yugoslav coup d'état took place on 27 March 1941 in Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, when the regency led by Prince Paul of Yugoslavia was overthrown and King Peter II fully assumed monarchical powers. The coup was planned and conducted by a group of pro-Western Serbian-nationalist Royal Yugoslav Army Air Force officers formally led by the Air Force commander, General Dušan Simović, who had been associated with several putsch plots from 1938 onwards. Brigadier General of Military Aviation Borivoje Mirković, Major Živan Knežević of the Yugoslav Royal Guards, and his brother Radoje Knežević were the main organisers in the overthrow of the government. In addition to Radoje Knežević, some other civilian leaders were probably aware of the takeover before it was launched and moved to support it once it occurred, but they were not among the organisers. Peter II himself was surprised by the coup, and heard of the declaration of his coming-of-age for the first time on t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the Chancellor of Germany, chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of in 1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated European theatre of World War II, World War II in Europe by invasion of Poland, invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of Holocaust victims, about six million Jews and millions of other victims. Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz. He lived in Vienna later in the first decade of the 1900s and moved to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his Military career of Adolf Hitler, service in the German Army in Worl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Führer Directive
Adolf Hitler's Directives, or Führer Directives (''Führerbefehle''), were instructions and strategic plans issued by Adolf Hitler himself. They covered a wide range of subjects, from detailed direction of the German Armed Forces' operations during World War II, to the governance of occupied territories and their populations. History After seizing full power, Hitler quickly began to make plans to fulfil the Nazis' agenda of territorial expansion. As he did so, he wanted to ensure the maximum participation of the German people in the execution of the plans. However, the failure of the Nazis' attempted coup in 1923 made the Nazis realize that force was not always the best solution. The failure taught the Nazis that mass participation also required legal basis, in order to ensure the public co-operated as a civic duty. Hitler had put this lesson into practice as soon as he became Chancellor, successfully convincing the President to issue Reichstag Fire Decree and Reichstag to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", alluded to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945 after just 12 years when the Allies defeated Germany, ending World War II in Europe. On 30 January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany, the head of gove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bogoljub Ilić
Bogoljub Ilić (Serbian Cyrillic: Богољуб Илић; 22 February 1881 – 23 April 1965) was a Serbian ''Armijski đeneral'' with the Royal Yugoslav Army who was briefly Minister for the Army and Navy prior and during the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941. He was then Minister of the Army and Navy in exile from August 1941 to January 1942. Career Milovanović was born in Požarevac, Serbia in 1881. He was commissioned in 1900 and held several staff positions during the Balkan Wars and World War I. He was promoted to ''brigadni đeneral'' in 1925, after which he served in a variety of appointments, including chief of staff of the 5th Army, commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, and 2nd Deputy Chief of the General Staff. In September 1936, he was appointed to command the 2nd Army at Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Borivoje Mirković
Borivoje Mirković ( sr-Cyrl, Боривоје Мирковић; 23 September 1884 – 21 August 1969) was a brigadier general in the Royal Yugoslav Air Force. Early life Borivoje Mirković was born to Jovan and Smiljana Mirković on 23 September 1884 in Valjevo, Kingdom of Serbia. He entered the Serbian Army in 1907. In 1930, he married a woman named Mira. She died in 1937. World War II Mirković led and organised the Yugoslav coup d'état of 27 March 1941 that deposed the regency of Prince Paul, Dr. Radenko Stanković and Dr. Ivo Perović, as well as the government of Prime Minister Dragiša Cvetković. Mirković and his fellow plotters declared the 17-year-old Prince Peter to be of age and brought to power a government of national unity led by Air Force General Dušan Simović. The coup was carried out at British instigation and involved British intelligence operatives. Mirković and the other plotters were all funded by the British. The coup resulted in the German-led ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dimitrije Živković
Dimitrije Živković was an Army general (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) in the Royal Yugoslav Army who commanded the 6th Army during the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia of April 1941 during World War II. Živković's command consisted of the Banat, Srem, Dunav, Krajina and Cer Divisions, and the 2nd Cavalry Division. The 6th Army was originally intended to form the strategic reserve for the VKJ. It was deployed around Belgrade and in the Banat Banat (, ; hu, Bánság; sr, Банат, Banat) is a geographical and historical region that straddles Central and Eastern Europe and which is currently divided among three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania (the counties of T ... region east of the Tisza. It held two infantry divisions in reserve in the lower Morava valley. Notes References * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Zivkovic, Dimitrije Royal Yugoslav Army personnel of World War II Army general (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vladimir Cukavac
Vladimir Cukavac (Serbian Cyrillic: Владимир Цукавац; 29 May 1884 – 7 April 1965) was a Serbian general holding the title of army general in the Royal Yugoslav Army. He commanded the 5th Army during the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia of April 1941 during World War II. He also served as the 23rd Dean of the Academic Board of the Yugoslav Military Academy and was its chief from 1936 to 1940. Career Cukavac's command consisted of the Timok, Toplica, Drina, Morava and Kosovo Divisions, and Vlasnica and Kalna Detachments. The 5th Army was responsible for the Romanian and Bulgarian borders between the Iron Gates and the Greek border. In 1934, he was awarded the Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, .... References References * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milan Nedić
Milan Nedić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Недић; 2 September 1878 – 4 February 1946) was a Yugoslav and Serbian army general and politician who served as the chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army and minister of war in the Royal Yugoslav Government. During World War II, he collaborated with Nazi Germany and served as the prime minister of the puppet government of National Salvation, in the German occupied territory of Serbia. After the war, the Yugoslav communist authorities imprisoned him. In 1946, it was reported that he had committed suicide. He was included in the 100 most prominent Serbs list. There have been attempts since the 2000s to present Nedić's role in World War II more positively. All applications to rehabilitate him have so far been refused by the official Serbian courts. Early life Milan Nedić was born in the Belgrade suburb of Grocka on 2 September 1878 to Đorđe and Pelagia Nedić. His father was a local district chief and his mother w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
