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用戶:Yenhochia/南斯拉夫政變

維基百科，自由的百科全書
  關於1929年發生的君主主義者政變，請見「1月6日獨裁（英語：6 January Dictatorship）」。
南斯拉夫政變
一名著軍裝的年輕男子站在兩名中年男子中間的黑白照片
由左至右為杜尚·西莫維奇、 彼得二世和拉多耶·克尼澤維奇（英語：Radoje Knežević），攝於1941年6月的倫敦。彼得二世在政變後即位掌權。
日期1941年3月27日
地點南斯拉夫王國貝爾格萊德
結果
死亡1人意外死亡[1]

南斯拉夫政變（英語：Yugoslav coup d'état）發生於1941年3月27日的南斯拉夫王國首都貝爾格萊德，政變推翻了南斯拉夫王國攝政保羅親王所領導的政府，改由彼得二世掌握政府。政變由一群親西的塞爾維亞民族主義南斯拉夫王家陸軍航空隊（英語：Royal Yugoslav Air Force）軍官所製造，由和1938年後多起政變有關的杜尚·西莫維奇將軍領導。航空隊準將博里沃耶·米爾科維奇（英語：Borivoje Mirković）、皇家衛隊少校齊萬·克尼澤維奇（英語：Živan Knežević）與其兄弟拉多耶·克尼澤維奇（英語：Radoje Knežević）為推翻政府的主要策劃者。除了拉多耶以外，其他民間的領導者可能在政變開始前沒多久收到消息，並在政變開始之後開始提供協助政變，但他們並沒有參與策劃。

南斯拉夫共產黨並未參與這次政變，但是他們在政變發生後，到許多城市的街上發起抗議，象徵群眾支持政變，為政變的進行有諸多貢獻。政變最後成功將三位攝政：保羅親王、拉登科·斯坦科維奇（英語：Radenko Stanković）以及伊沃·佩羅維奇（英語：Ivo Perović）給趕了下台，並推翻了首相德拉吉薩·克維特科維奇（英語：Dragiša Cvetković）所領導的政府。在政變爆發前兩天，克維特科維奇政府簽署了三國同盟條約，正式加入軸心國陣營。這次政變早在簽署條約前好幾月便開始策劃，但是簽署條約加上英國特別行動執行處的鼓勵，致使政變爆發。

軍方的政變者讓年僅17歲的彼得二世掌握實權，並對外宣稱彼得二世已成年，正式接掌王權，而杜尚·西莫維奇做為首相，組建了一個脆弱分散的國家統一政府，由弗拉特科·馬切克和斯洛博丹·約萬諾維奇擔任他的副首相。這起政變致使軸心國推遲入侵蘇聯的巴巴羅薩行動，雖然學界對此仍有部分異議，但多數學者認為這起政變對仍舊爆發的德蘇戰爭影響並不大。

背景

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南斯拉夫王國的前身為塞爾維亞人、克羅地亞人和斯洛文尼亞人王國，由擁有不同歷史背景的多個民族和宗教群體所組成。其中塞爾維亞人、克羅地亞人、斯洛文尼亞人、黑山人、波斯尼亞穆斯林、馬其頓人和阿爾巴尼亞人為多數。而這些民族也擁有三種不同的主流信仰，分別是塞爾維亞人、黑山人和馬其頓人信仰的塞爾維亞正教、克羅地亞人與斯洛文尼亞人信仰的天主教，以及波斯尼亞穆斯林與阿爾巴尼亞人信仰的伊斯蘭教。宗教的不同深化了南斯拉夫社會的分裂。塞爾維亞人與黑山人佔有南斯拉夫33.8%的人口、克羅地亞人23.9%、斯洛文尼亞人8.5%、波斯尼亞穆斯林6.3%、馬其頓人5.3%，阿爾巴尼亞人4%[2][3]。

經濟學教授和歷史學家喬祖·托馬塞維奇（英語：Jozo Tomasevich）認為，南斯拉夫脆弱的政治，從它建立以來一直持續到戰間期，大部分原因是偏向塞爾維亞人的維多夫丹憲法（英語：Vidovdan Constitution）所產生的「僵化中央集權體制」，以及前述提到的各民族與各自的主流信仰，和國內的貧富不均。尤其，其他非塞爾維亞族的民族，早已不滿塞爾維亞民族掌控任命權和政府職務，甚至以二等公民的態度對待其他民族，國內事務上獨尊塞爾維亞正教、歧視天主教徒與穆斯林的行為，更是加劇他們的不滿[4]。塞爾維亞的軍力和不願妥協的克羅地亞人，催生了這種中央集權體系，而克羅地亞人不願參與政治、塞爾維亞族比例過高，貪腐與政黨內部缺乏紀律，都導致這種體系一直持續下去[5]。而政壇中賄賂的情事，破壞了政府的民主制度，前述的問題最初也是因為如此而得以延續。南斯拉夫剩餘的部分，在塞爾維亞族權貴階級統治下，使得該國政治局勢始終不穩，更甭論應付該國社會中與經濟上的挑戰[6]。

Political scientist Professor Sabrina P. Ramet sees the dysfunctionality and lack of legitimacy of the regime as the reasons why the kingdom's internal politics became ethnically polarised, a phenomenon that has been referred to as the "national question" in Yugoslavia. Failures to establish the rule of law, to protect individual rights, to build tolerance and equality, and to guarantee the neutrality of the state in matters relating to religion, language and culture contributed to this illegitimacy and the resulting instability.[7]

a coloured map
Banovine created by King Alexander in 1929

In 1929, democracy was abandoned and a royal dictatorship was established by King Alexander,[6] who attempted to break down the ethnic divisions in the country through various means, including creating administrative divisions (塞爾維亞-克羅地亞語拉丁字母：banovine) based on rivers rather than traditional regions.[8] There was significant opposition to this move, with Serbian and Slovene opposition parties and figures advocating the division of Yugoslavia into six ethnically-based administrative units. By 1933, discontent in the largely Croatian-populated Sava Banovina had developed into full-blown civil disorder, which the regime countered with a series of assassinations, attempted assassinations and arrests of key Croatian opposition figures including the leader of the Croatian Peasant Party (塞爾維亞-克羅地亞語拉丁字母：Hrvatska seljačka stranka, HSS) Vladko Maček.[9] When Alexander was assassinated in Marseilles in 1934 by a Bulgarian assassin with links to the Croatian ultranationalists, the Ustaše, his cousin Prince Paul headed a triumvirate regency whose other members were the senator Radenko Stanković and the governor of the Sava Banovina, Ivo Perović. The regency ruled on behalf of Alexander's 11-year-old son, Prince Peter, but the important member of the regency was Prince Paul.[10] Although Prince Paul was more liberal than his cousin, the dictatorship continued uninterrupted.[11] The dictatorship had allowed the country to follow a consistent foreign policy, but Yugoslavia needed peace at home in order to assure peace with its neighbours, all of whom had irredentist designs on its territory.[12]

Yugoslav foreign policy during the interwar period

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From 1921, the country had negotiated the Little Entente with Romania and Czechoslovakia in the face of Hungarian designs on its territory, and after a decade of bilateral treaties, had formalised the arrangements in 1933. This had been followed the next year by the Balkan Entente of Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania and Turkey, aimed at thwarting Bulgarian aspirations. Throughout this period, the Yugoslav government had sought to remain good friends with France, seeing her as a guarantor of European peace treaties. This was formalised through a treaty of friendship signed in 1927.[13] With these arrangements in place, Italy posed the biggest problem for Yugoslavia, funding the anti-Yugoslav Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation which promoted Bulgarian irredentism.[14] Attempts by King Alexander to negotiate with Benito Mussolini fell on deaf ears, and after Alexander's assassination, nothing of note happened on that front until 1937.[15] In the aftermath of Alexander's assassination, Yugoslavia was isolated both militarily and diplomatically, and reached out to France to assist its bilateral relationship with Italy.[16] With the appointment of Milan Stojadinović as Prime Minister in 1935, Germany and Yugoslavia became more closely aligned. The trade relationship between the two countries also developed considerably, and Germany became Yugoslavia's most important trading partner.[17]

Cvetković–Maček Agreement

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主條目：Cvetković–Maček Agreement

Prince Paul recognised the lack of national solidarity and political weakness of his country, and after he assumed power he made repeated attempts to negotiate a political settlement with Maček, the leader of the dominant Croatian political party in Yugoslavia, the HSS. In January 1937, Stojadinović met with Maček at Prince Paul's request, but Stojadinović was unwilling or unable to grapple with the issue of Croatian dissatisfaction with a Yugoslavia dominated by the Serbian ruling class.[18] In 1938, the Anschluss brought the Third Reich to the borders of Yugoslavia,[19] and early elections were held in December. In this background, the Royal Yugoslav Army Air Force (VVKJ) commander, General Dušan Simović, had been involved in two coup plots in early 1938 driven by Serbian opposition to the Concordat with the Vatican, and another coup plot following the December election.[20]

In the December 1938 elections, the United Opposition led by Maček had attracted 44.9 per cent of the vote,[21] but due to the electoral rules by which the government parties received 40 per cent of the seats in the National Assembly before votes were counted, the opposition vote only translated into 67 seats out of a total of 373.[22] On 3 February 1939, the Minister of Education, Bogoljub Kujundžić, made a nationalist speech in the Assembly in which he stated that "Serb policies will always be the policies of this house and this government."[23][24] Head of the Yugoslav Muslim Organization (JMO) Mehmed Spaho asked Stojadinović to disavow the statement, but he did not. At the behest of the Senate leader, the Slovene Anton Korošec, that evening five ministers resigned from the government, including Korošec. The others were Spaho, another JMO politician Džafer Kulenović, the Slovene Franc Snoj, and the Serb Dragiša Cvetković.[25]

Stojadinović sought authority from Prince Paul to form a new cabinet, but Korošec as head of the Senate advised the prince to form a new government around Cvetković. Prince Paul dismissed Stojadinović and appointed Cvetković in his place, with a direction that he reach an agreement with Maček.[26] While these negotiations were ongoing, Italy invaded Albania, Yugoslavia's southern neighbour. In August 1939, the Cvetković–Maček Agreement was concluded to create the Banovina of Croatia, which was to be a relatively autonomous political unit within Yugoslavia. Separatist Croats considered the Agreement did not go far enough, and many Serbs believed it went too far in giving power to Croats.[27] The Cvetković-led cabinet formed in the wake of the Agreement was resolutely anti-Axis,[28] but remained on friendly terms with Germany,[17] and included five members of the HSS, with Maček as deputy Prime Minister. General Milan Nedić was Minister of the Army and Navy.[29] After the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, German pressure on the government resulted in the resignation in mid-1940 of the Minister of the Interior, Stanoje Mihaldžić, who had been organising covert anti-Axis activities.[28] In October 1940, Simović was again approached by plotters planning a coup but he was non-committal.[20] From the outbreak of war British diplomacy focused on keeping Yugoslavia neutral, which the Ambassador Ronald Campbell apparently still believed possible.[30]

Pressure builds

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black and white photograph of a man in military uniform
Minister of the Army and Navy Milan Nedić was replaced because he advocated that Yugoslavia join the Axis.

By the time of the German invasion of Poland and subsequent outbreak of war in September 1939, the Yugoslav Intelligence Service was cooperating with British intelligence agencies on a large scale across the country. This cooperation, which had existed to a lesser extent during the early 1930s, intensified after the Anschluss. These combined intelligence operations were aimed at strengthening Yugoslavia and keeping her neutral while encouraging covert activities.[31] In mid to late 1940, British intelligence became aware of coup plotting, but managed to side-track the plans, preferring to continue working through Prince Paul.[32] The Special Operations Executive (SOE) office in Belgrade went to significant lengths to support the opposition to the anti-Axis Cvetković government, which undermined the hard-won balance in Yugoslav politics that that government represented. SOE Belgrade was entangled with pro-Serbian policies and interests, and disregarded or underestimated warnings from SOE and British diplomats in Zagreb, who better understood the situation in Yugoslavia as a whole.[33]

Yugoslavia's situation worsened in October 1940 when Italy invaded Greece from Albania, and the initial failure of the Italians to make headway only increased Yugoslav apprehension that Germany would be forced to help Italy. In September and November 1940 respectively, Germany forced the Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Romania to accede to the Tripartite Pact.[34] In early November 1940, Nedić, who believed that Germany would win the war, proposed to the government that it abandon its neutral stance and join the Axis as soon as possible in the hope that Germany would protect Yugoslavia against its "greedy neighbors".[35] A few days later Prince Paul, having realised the impossibility of following Nedić's advice, replaced him with the ageing and compliant General Petar Pešić.[36] At the same time, Hitler, recalling Serbia's excellent military performance in the Balkan Wars and World War I, was concerned that the Yugoslav army was strong, and defeating it would necessitate the expenditure of considerable effort. Despite this, he remained concerned about the threat to the southern flank of his planned invasion of the Soviet Union posed by Greece and Yugoslavia, and aimed for a political resolution of Yugoslavia's status.[17]

On 12 December 1940, at the initiative of the Prime Minister of Hungary, Count Pál Teleki, Hungary concluded a friendship and non-aggression treaty with Yugoslavia. Although the concept had received support from both Germany and Italy, the actual signing of the treaty did not. Germany's planned invasion of Greece would be simplified if Yugoslavia could be neutralised.[37] Over the next few months, Prince Paul and his ministers laboured under overwhelming diplomatic pressure, a threat of an attack by the Germans from Bulgarian territory, and the unwillingness of the British to promise practical military support.[38] Six months prior to the coup, British policy towards the government of Yugoslavia had shifted from acceptance of Yugoslav neutrality to pressuring the country for support in the war against Germany.[39]

On 23 January 1941, William Donovan, a special emissary of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, visited Belgrade and issued an ultimatum, saying that if Yugoslavia permitted German troop passage then the US would not "interfere on her behalf" at peace talks.[40] Around the same time, suspicious of Prince Paul's actions, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, ordered British intelligence services to establish contacts with anti-regime groups in Belgrade.[41] On 14 February, Adolf Hitler met with Cvetković and his foreign minister and requested Yugoslavia's accession to the Tripartite Pact. He pushed for the demobilisation of the Royal Yugoslav Army—there had been a partial "reactivation" (a euphemism for mobilisation) in Macedonia and parts of Serbia, probably directed at the Italians.[42] Hitler also pressed the Yugoslavs to permit the transportation of German supplies through Yugoslavia's territory, along with greater economic cooperation. In exchange he offered a port near the Aegean Sea and territorial security.[43] On 17 February, Bulgaria and Turkey signed an agreement of friendship and non-aggression, which effectively destroyed attempts to create a neutral Balkan bloc. Prince Paul denounced the agreement and the Bulgarians, describing their actions as "perfidy".[44] On 18 and 23 February, Prince Paul told the US Ambassador Arthur Lane that Yugoslavia would not engage the German military if they entered Bulgaria. He explained that to do so would be wrongful and that it would not be understood by the Slovenes and Croats.[40] On 1 March, Yugoslavia was further isolated when Bulgaria signed the Pact and the German army arrived at the Bulgarian-Yugoslav border.[44]

On 4 March, Prince Paul secretly met with Hitler in Berchtesgaden and was again pressured to sign the Pact. Hitler did not request troop passage through Yugoslavia and offered the Greek city of Salonika.[44] A time limit for Prince Paul, who was uncommitted and "wavering", was not set. Prince Paul, in the middle of a cabinet crisis, offered a nonaggression pact and a declaration of friendship, but Hitler insisted on his proposals.[44] Prince Paul warned that "I fear that if I follow your advice and sign the Tripartite Pact I shall no longer be here in six months."[40] On 8 March, Franz Halder, the German Chief of the Army General Staff, expressed his expectation that the Yugoslavs would sign if German troops did not cross their border.[44] During March, secret treaty negotiations commenced in Moscow between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, represented respectively by the Yugoslav ambassador, Milan Gavrilović, and the Soviet People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Vyacheslav Molotov.[45] According to General Pavel Sudoplatov, who was at the time the deputy chief of special operations for the NKVD, the Soviet internal affairs ministry, Gavrilović was a fully recruited Soviet agent,[45] but Sudoplatov states that they knew that Gavrilović also had ties with the British.[46] The Yugoslavs initially sought a military alliance, but this was rejected by the Soviet side, as they were already bound by the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact which guaranteed non-belligerence with Germany.[47][48]

On 17 March, Prince Paul returned to Berchtesgaden and was told by Hitler that it was his last chance for Yugoslavia to join the Pact, renouncing this time the request for the use of Yugoslav railways in order to facilitate their accession.[44] Two days later, Prince Paul convened a Crown Council to discuss the terms of the Pact and whether Yugoslavia should sign it.[49] The council's members were willing to agree, but only under the condition that Germany let its concessions be made public. Germany agreed and the Council approved the terms. Three cabinet ministers resigned on 20 March in protest of the impending signing of the Pact.[44] These were the Minister of the Interior, Srdjan Budisavljević; the Minister of Agriculture, Branko Cubrilović; and the Minister without Portfolio, Mihailo Konstantinović. The British were friendly with Budisavljević, and his resignation at British urging precipitated the resignations of the other two.[50] The Germans reacted by imposing an ultimatum to accept by midnight 23 March or forfeit any further chances.[51] Prince Paul and Cvetković obliged and accepted, despite believing German promises were "worthless".[52] On 23 March, Germany's guarantee of Yugoslavia's territorial security and its promise not to use its railroads were publicised.[44] In the United Kingdom, Alexander Cadogan, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, penned in his diary that the "Yugoslavs seem to have sold their souls to the Devil. All these Balkan peoples are trash."[53]

Yugoslavia signs the Tripartite Pact

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主條目：Yugoslav accession to the Tripartite Pact

On 25 March, the pact was signed at the Belvedere palace in Vienna. An official banquet was held which Hitler complained felt like a funeral party. German radio later announced that "the Axis Powers would not demand the right of passage of troops or war materials," while the official document mentioned only troops and omitted mention of war materials. Likewise the pledge to give Salonika to Yugoslavia does not appear on the document.[52] In Athens, Allied planners were dismayed by the Yugoslav signing of the Pact, as it represented a "worst case scenario" for the defence of Greece.[54] On the following day, Serbian demonstrators gathered on the streets of Belgrade shouting "Better the grave than a slave, better a war than the pact" (塞爾維亞-克羅地亞語拉丁字母：Bolje grob nego rob, Bolje rat nego pakt).[55]

Development of the coup

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Peter II, 17 years old at the time of coup, was declared to be of age.

The coup was executed at 2:15 am on 27 March.[55] It was planned by a group of VVKJ officers in Zemun, and Royal Guard officers in nearby Belgrade. The only senior officers involved were from the air force.[56] Under the supervision of the VVKJ deputy commander Borivoje Mirković, headquartered at the VVKJ base at Zemun, officers assumed control of critical buildings and locations in the early hours of 27 March, including:[57][58]

  • the Zemun VVKJ base (Colonel Dragutin Savić)
  • the bridges over the Sava between Zemun and Belgrade (Colonel Dragutin Dimić)
  • the City Administration, Police Directorate and the Belgrade radio station (Colonel Stjepan Burazović)
  • the ministries and headquarters of the General Staff (Major Živan Knežević)
  • the Royal Court (Colonel Stojan Zdravković)
  • the main post office in Belgrade (Lieutenant Colonel Miodrag Lozić)
  • the barracks of the Royal Guards and Automotive Command

An inspector of post, telegraph and telephone assisted Mirković by cutting off communications between Belgrade and the rest of the country. Tanks and artillery were deployed on all the main streets of Belgrade, and by 2:00 pm all strategic locations were in the hands of troops loyal to the coup leaders.[59]

At the time of the coup, Prince Paul was in Zagreb en route to a planned holiday in Brdo.[60] On the morning of 27 March, Deputy Prime Minister Maček was informed of the coup and met Prince Paul at Zagreb's railway station to discuss the situation.[61] A meeting was then held at the residence of the Ban of Croatia, Ivan Šubašić, which included Šubašić, Prince Paul, Maček and the army commander in Zagreb, August Marić. Maček urged Prince Paul to oppose the putsch and Marić pledged the support of the Croatian units of the army. Maček suggested that Prince Paul stay in Zagreb, with the possibility of mobilising army units in the Banovina of Croatia in his support. Prince Paul declined this offer, at least partially because his wife, Princess Olga, and children remained in Belgrade. Accompanied by Šubašić, he reached the capital by train that evening and was met by Simović, who took him to the war ministry where he and the other two regents relinquished power, immediately abolishing the regency.[62][61] Having already made arrangements with the British consul in Zagreb, Prince Paul and his family left that evening for Greece, after which they travelled to Kenya and then exile in South Africa.[63][64]

Demonstrations in Belgrade on 27 March

On the morning of 27 March, the royal palace was surrounded and the coup's advocates issued a radio message that impersonated the voice of King Peter with a "proclamation to the people",[64] calling on them to support the King.[65] Peter was surprised by the coup, and heard of his coming of age for the first time on the radio.[66] Pamphlets with the proclamation of the coup were subsequently dropped into cities from aircraft.[67] Demonstrations followed in Belgrade and other large Yugoslav cities that continued for the next few days, including in Cetinje, Podgorica, Split, Skopje and Kragujevac. The crowds at these demonstrations shouted slogans in support of the United Kingdom,[68] and also frequently used the slogan that had been used by demonstrators the day before the coup, "Better the war than the pact, better the grave than a slave".[69] Members of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, which had been outlawed since 1920, also took part in pro-putsch rallies all over the country.[70] Churchill declared that "Yugoslavia has found its soul」,[61][64] and he even considered that a Balkan front could be established with Turkish help. The news resulted in Greek attempts to change their defence plans, and the Greeks also pressed the Yugoslavs to attack the Italians in Albania.[71] The Polish and Czechoslovakian governments-in-exile both praised the coup, and news of it was received in Greece with "wild enthusiasm".[72] According to the memoirs of the Serbian Orthodox Patriarch, Gavrilo V, the putsch was immediately welcomed by the senior clergy of the church, as the Holy Assembly of Bishops convened on 27 March in response to the coup. Patriarch Gavrilo also spoke publicly in support of the King and the new regime over the radio.[73][74] King Peter II was inaugurated in the presence of Patriarch Gavrilo on 28 March.[68]

For other nations in Yugoslavia, the prospect of war and the government's close ties to the Serbian Orthodox Church was not at all appealing. Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac, president of the Roman Catholic Conference of Bishops of Yugoslavia, bitterly wrote in his diary that, "All in all, Croats and Serbs are of two worlds... that will never move closer to one another without an act of God". He also wrote, "The Schism [Orthodoxy] is the greatest curse in Europe, almost greater than Protestantism. There is no morality, no principle, there is no truth, no justice, no honesty [in Orthodoxy]." On the same day, he publicly called on the Catholic clergy to pray for King Peter and that Croatia and Yugoslavia would be spared a war.[75] The coup resulted in only one death, which was accidental.[1]

Responsibility for the coup

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There are contradictory claims as to who was the leader of the coup, coming from Simović, Mirković, and Živan Knežević. Mirković claimed sole credit immediately after the coup and stated on its tenth anniversary that: "Only after I had informed General [Simović] about my idea and he had accepted it did I make the decision to undertake the planned revolt. I made the decision myself, and I also carried out the whole organization. I made the decision as to when the revolt would take place." It is likely that he had been a planning a coup since 1937 when an Italo-Yugoslav pact was signed. King Peter later credited simply the "younger and middle ranks [of officers] of the Yugoslav army" for the coup in a speech on 17 December 1941.[76] In 1951, Mirković stated that he had been considering a putsch since 1938, and had discussed the idea quite openly with a significant number of generals, including Milan Nedić. He went on to say that he had offered the lead role in the post-coup government to a number of prominent people, including: Milan Nedić; the governor of the Morava Banovina, Janićije Krasojević; the commander of the Royal Guard, General Aleksandar Stanković; General Bogoljub Ilić; and Simović. Nedić and Krasojević refused as they felt they could not take an active part due to their positions, Stanković promised not to use the Royal Guard against the people and to keep his knowledge of the plot secret, Ilić did not think he had the political influence to perform the role, and Simović agreed.[77]

Simović's response to Mirković's claims was published posthumously. Simović claimed that he "stood in the center of the whole undertaking" and "personally engaged his assistant Brigadier General Bora Mirković for the action". Tomasevich considers Mirković's account to be the more credible of the two, and points out it is corroborated from several sources, both Allied and Axis.[76] The matter would play a role in the factionalism that would divide the soon-to-be Yugoslav government-in-exile during the war.[78]

According to former British diplomat and Emeritus Professor of History, Classics and Archaeology of the University of Edinburgh David A. T. Stafford, writing in 1977, although supported with British intelligence and encouragement, the "[i]nitiative came from the Yugoslavs, and only by a stretch of the imagination can the British be said to have planned or directed the coup d'etat."[79] Radoje Knežević vehemently denied any British involvement at all in a series of published letters between himself and Stafford, until in 1979, Stafford apologised for his error and for any offence caused to Radoje Knežević.[80] In 1999, Ivo Tasovac criticised Stafford's revised conclusion, pointing to evidence that the plotters were dependent on British intelligence, and that senior British officials met with both Simović and Mirković immediately before the coup was carried out. The British air attaché Group Captain A. H. H. McDonald met with Simović on 26 March,[81] and the assistant air attaché and British intelligence agent T. G. Mappleback met with his close friend Mirković on the same day and told him that the coup had to be carried out within the next 48 hours.[82][83][84] According to the historian Marta Iaremko, writing in 2014, "the vast majority of researchers" consider that the putsch was planned with the assistance of the British intelligence services, but that this, and their encouragement of the revolt, were not sufficient to ensure it was carried out.[41]

According to Sudoplatov, the coup was actively supported by Soviet military intelligence (GRU) and the NKVD, following the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin′s instructions, with a view to strengthening the USSR's strategic position in the Balkans.[85] A group of Soviet intelligence officers that included Major General Solomon Milshtein and Vasily Zarubin was sent to Belgrade to assist in the coup.[46][45] The activities of the USSR in Yugoslavia had been boosted by the establishment of a Soviet mission in Belgrade in 1940; the Soviet Union had been developing its intelligence network through left-wing journalists and academics at the University of Belgrade.[86] The German embassy in Belgrade was certain that the coup had been organised by British and Soviet intelligence agencies.[45]

Individuals that were probably aware of the coup included Slobodan Jovanović, president of the Serbian Cultural Club, and Ilija Trifunović-Birčanin, president of Narodna Odbrana (National Defence).[1] Some of those urging a coup or at least aware that a coup was planned had previously been involved with secretive Black Handers, including Božin Simić.[87][88] Mirković himself had been a student of the leading Black Hand operative, Colonel Dragutin Dimitrijević (also known as "Apis"), while training at the Serbian Military Academy. Those that favoured the coup included the older generation of generals, including the former prime minister Petar Živković and his brother Dimitrije Živković, intellectuals, leftist students, the opposition, the army and army air force, and the Orthodox Church. The generals had various reasons for disliking Prince Paul, including being placed on the retired or reserve lists, postings to lesser roles to prevent them from engaging in politics, and aversion to Prince Paul's policies.[89]

Aftermath

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The new government

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In the wake of the coup, Simović's new government refused to ratify Yugoslavia's signing of the Tripartite Pact, but did not openly rule it out. Hitler, angered by the coup and anti-German incidents in Belgrade, gathered his senior officers and ordered that Yugoslavia be crushed without delay.[90] In particular, Hitler was concerned about the British Royal Air Force using bases in Greece and Yugoslavia to conduct air attacks against the southern flank of the pending attack on the Soviet Union.[17] On the same day as the coup he issued Führer Directive 25 which called for Yugoslavia to be treated as a hostile state.[91] Italy was to be included in the operations and the directive made specific mention that "[e]fforts will be made to induce Hungary and Bulgaria to take part in operations by offering them the prospect of regaining Banat and Macedonia".[91] Furthermore, the directive stated that "[i]nternal tensions in Yugoslavia will be encouraged by giving political assurances to the Croats",[91] taking account of their dissatisfaction with their position in pre-war Yugoslavia.[17] Later, Hitler stated that the coup had been a shock.[92]

At the same time he ordered the invasion of Yugoslavia, Hitler postponed the invasion of the Soviet Union, Operation Barbarossa, by about four weeks from its original date of 15 May. Up to this point, the need for some delay due to the particularly wet spring in eastern Europe may have been foreseen, but the timing indicates that the unexpected need to defeat Yugoslavia was an important factor in Hitler's decision.[93]

On 30 March, Foreign Minister Momčilo Ninčić summoned the German ambassador, Viktor von Heeren, and handed him a statement which declared that the new government would accept all its international obligations, including accession to the Tripartite Pact, as long as the national interests of the country were protected. For his part, Heeren demanded an apology for the anti-German demonstrations, immediate ratification of the Tripartite Pact, and demobilisation of the Yugoslav armed forces. Heeren returned to his office to discover a message from Berlin instructing that contact with Yugoslav officials was to be avoided, and he was recalled to Berlin, departing the following day. No reply was given to Ninčić. On 2 April, orders were issued for the evacuation of the German embassy, which occurred the next day, and the German chargé d'affaires advised the diplomats of friendly countries to leave the country.[94][95] Heeren tried to assure Hitler that the putsch was an internal matter between Yugoslav political elites, and that action against Yugoslavia was unnecessary, but he was ignored.[96] On 31 March, after offering Croatia to Hungary and being rebuffed, the Germans had decided to give Croatia its independence.[97]

The German media simultaneously launched a barrage of accusations against Yugoslavia, claiming that German nationals in Yugoslavia had been subjected to atrocities, similar to the propaganda issued prior to the invasions of Poland and Czechoslovakia. This media onslaught also attempted to exploit divisions between Serbs and Croats, by pledging that the latter would have a prominent role in the country in the future. Thousands of German nationals left Yugoslavia on instructions from Berlin.[95]

On 3 April, Führer Directive 26 was issued, detailing the plan of attack and command structure for the invasion. Hungary and Bulgaria were promised the Banat and Yugoslav Macedonia respectively and the Romanian army was asked not to take part, holding its position at the Romania-Yugoslav border.[98] Internal conflict in Hungary over the invasion plans between the army and Teleki led to the Prime Minister's suicide that same evening. Also on 3 April, Edmund Veesenmayer, representing the Dienststelle Ribbentrop, arrived in Zagreb in preparation for a regime change.[99] Croatian pilot Vladimir Kren, a captain in the Royal Yugoslav Army Air Force, also defected to the Germans on 3 April taking with him valuable information about the country's air defences.[100]

Simović named Maček as Deputy Prime Minister once again in the new government, but Maček was reluctant and remained in Zagreb while he decided what to do. While he considered the coup had been an entirely Serbian initiative aimed at both Prince Paul and the Cvetković–Maček Agreement, he decided that he needed to show HSS support for the new government and that joining it was necessary.[64] He also demanded that four Croatian politicians from the deposed cabinet be part of the new one, to which Simović agreed.[66] On 4 April, Maček travelled to Belgrade and accepted the post on several conditions: that the new government respect the Cvetković–Maček Agreement and expand the autonomy of the Banovina Croatia in some respects; that the new government respect the country's accession to the Tripartite Pact; and that one Serb and one Croatian temporarily assume the role of regents.[69][101] That same day exiled Croatian politician and Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić called for Croats to start an uprising against the government over his Radio Velebit program based in Italy.[102]

On 5 April the new cabinet met for the first time. While the first two conditions set by Maček were met, the appointment of regents was impracticable given Prince Peter had been declared to be of age. Involving representatives from across the political spectrum, Simović's cabinet was "extremely disunited and weak".[103] It quickly realised that it had to embrace a foreign policy that bore a strong resemblance that that of the preceding administration.[104] Budisavljević and Cubrilović, along with the four HSS politicians, were re-instated to cabinet. It included members who fell into three groups; those who were strongly opposed to the Axis and prepared to face war with Germany, those who advocated peace with Germany, and those that were uncommitted. The groups were divided as follows:[105][66]

Non-Aggression Pact with the USSR

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On 5 April 1941, the post-coup government signed the Treaty of Friendship and Non-Aggression with the Soviet Union in Moscow, for which talks had been underway since March.[45] The relevant final article of the treaty read as follows: ″In the event of aggression against one of the contracting parties on the part of a third power, the other contracting party undertakes to observe a policy of friendly relations towards that party″,[106] which fell short of a commitment to provide military assistance.[47][48] Stalin's intention by entering into the treaty was to signal to Hitler that the Soviet Union had interests in the Balkans, while not antagonising his erstwhile ally. For this reason, Soviet military intervention in Yugoslavia was never considered.[107] According to Tomasevich, this was "an almost meaningless diplomatic move", which could have had no real impact on the situation in which Yugoslavia found herself.[108]

Axis invasion

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主條目：Invasion of Yugoslavia

Even within the Royal Yugoslav Army, divisions between a Croatian-Slovene pro-Axis faction and a Serbian pro-Allied faction emerged.[104] The Axis invasion of Yugoslavia began on 6 April. The bombing of Belgrade forced the government to seek shelter outside the city.[109] From here, King Peter and Simović planned to leave for exile. Maček, refusing to leave the country, resigned on 7 April and designated Juraj Krnjević as his successor.[109] Maček returned to Zagreb. Three other ministers also refused to leave Yugoslavia: Ivan Andres and Bariša Smoljan of the HSS and Kulenović of the JMO.[109] The government met on Yugoslav soil for the last time on 13 April near Pale. From here they travelled to Nikšić where they were flown out of the country to Athens.[110] The Soviet leadership accepted the invasion of Yugoslavia without any criticism.[47][48]

Another result of the coup was that the work that had been done by British intelligence with the anti-Axis government of Cvetković and Maček was lost. By supporting the coup plotters, the SOE undermined the balance in Yugoslav politics that had been achieved by the Cvetković–Maček Agreement. Serbian nationalists supported and welcomed the coup because it ended Croatian autonomy under the Agreement and freed them to pursue a Greater Serbia agenda. The coup and its immediate aftermath also contributed to the paralysis within the Yugoslav government-in-exile during the rest of the war, due to ongoing disputes regarding the legitimacy of the Cvetković–Maček Agreement.[33]

Legacy and historical evaluation

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Other than the dispute over who could take credit for staging the coup, the event itself and the dismal showing of the Yugoslav armed forces during the invasion were extensively analysed and discussed by participants, Yugoslav and foreign scholars, and other figures, both during and after the war.[111] It remained a source of pride for the most outspoken Serbian nationalists and politicians from the Serbian ruling groups that supported it. Those that had advanced a policy of accommodation with the Axis maintained that had the coup not occurred, Yugoslavia would have been able to remain neutral and would have therefore escaped invasion and the many other consequences, including the large number of deaths and widespread destruction during the war, and the victory of the communist-led Yugoslav Partisans and the creation of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia as a socialist state. The proponents of accommodation also considered that Yugoslavia might have been able to enter the war on the Allied side at a later time and with less sacrifice. The KPJ saw the coup and invasion as a trigger for the wider revolt which resulted in its ultimate victory, and this aspect was commemorated each year in post-war Yugoslavia. In the final analysis, the primary significance of the coup was that it placed Yugoslavia's accession to the Tripartite Pact into doubt, which led directly to the Axis invasion. Tomasevich concurs with the KPJ evaluation that the coup and the resulting invasion were the starting point for the successful communist-led revolution.[112]

According to the British major general and historian I. S. O. Playfair, the coup was essentially a brave gesture of defiance, mainly by Serbs, against the German domination signified by signing of the Tripartite Pact, undertaken in the full knowledge that invasion would likely follow.[93] It was also, according to the historian Alexander Prusin, an "utter blunder, based on wishful thinking and emotions rather than a realistic appreciation of the country's limited economic and military potential".[113] By overthrowing Prince Paul and the Cvetković government who had sought accommodation with the Croats, the coup also operationalised Serbian opposition to the Cvetković-Maček Agreement.[114] Further, it underlined the lack of unity between Serbs and Croats, which limited the military options available to the Yugoslav government.[115]

Hitler's decision to invade Yugoslavia delayed the concurrent invasion of Greece by five days, but this was more than made up for by the advantages of being able to invade Greece via southern Yugoslavia, allowing the outflanking of the Aliakmon Line.[116] The role of the coup and subsequent invasion of Yugoslavia in delaying Operation Barbarossa, and the subsequent Axis defeat by the Soviet Union, is disputed. In 1975, Tomasevich wrote that the events in Yugoslavia were "a partial cause of what proved to be a fateful delay in Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union", and went on to state that many writers consider that this delay was responsible for the German failure to capture Moscow in the winter of 1941–1942. He acknowledged that, apart from the coup and invasion, the wet spring of 1941 contributed a two or three week delay to the launching of Barbarossa, but saw the delay caused by events in Yugoslavia as an important indirect factor in eventual Axis defeat in the war.[117] This position was also advanced by William L. Shirer in 1990.[118] More recently, Antony Beevor wrote that "most [historians] accept that the Balkan campaign made little difference" to the eventual outcome of Barbarossa.[119]

Sue Onslow, in a bid to place the coup in the broader context of the British policy towards Yugoslavia between the outbreak of the Second World War and the events on 27 March 1941, writes that the coup was a major propaganda victory for Britain, as it "proved a tremendous, if ephemeral, boost to British morale, coming rapidly upon the victories against Italian forces in North Africa and the Sudan"; it also was "a much-needed fillip to the 'upstart'... Special Operations Executive created by [Hugh] Dalton".[120]

Prince Paul was found guilty of war crimes in September 1945 for his role in the Yugoslav accession to the Tripartite Pact. In 2011, a High Court in Serbia found the sentence to be politically and ideologically motivated and Prince Paul was officially rehabilitated.[121][122] A similar decision had been made in 2009 to rehabilitate Cvetković for war crimes charges relating to the signing of the pact.[123]

Notes and citations

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  1. ^ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Tomasevich 1969，第67頁.
  2. ^ Ramet 2006，第45頁.
  3. ^ Tomasevich 1969，第60–62頁.
  4. ^ Tomasevich 1969，第10–11, 60–62頁.
  5. ^ Hoptner 1963，第7頁.
  6. ^ 6.0 6.1 Tomasevich 1969，第61頁.
  7. ^ Ramet 2006，第76頁.
  8. ^ Ramet 2006，第79–80頁.
  9. ^ Ramet 2006，第87頁.
  10. ^ Dragnich 1983，第99頁.
  11. ^ Tomasevich 1969，第60–63頁.
  12. ^ Hoptner 1963，第9頁.
  13. ^ Hoptner 1963，第10–12頁.
  14. ^ Hoptner 1963，第14頁.
  15. ^ Hoptner 1963，第19–20頁.
  16. ^ Hoptner 1963，第28頁.
  17. ^ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 Tomasevich 2001，第47頁.
  18. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第22–23頁.
  19. ^ Roberts 1987，第7頁.
  20. ^ 20.0 20.1 Onslow 2005，第37頁.
  21. ^ Tomasevich 2001，第40頁.
  22. ^ Ramet 2006，第104頁.
  23. ^ Ramet 2006，第105頁.
  24. ^ Malcolm 1994，第171頁.
  25. ^ Singleton 1985，第170頁.
  26. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第23頁.
  27. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第24頁.
  28. ^ 28.0 28.1 Starič 2005，第35頁.
  29. ^ Ramet 2006，第106–107頁.
  30. ^ Starič 2005，第36頁.
  31. ^ Starič 2005，第33頁.
  32. ^ Hehn 2005，第368–369頁.
  33. ^ 33.0 33.1 Starič 2005，第38頁.
  34. ^ Roberts 1987，第6–7頁.
  35. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第30頁.
  36. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第31頁.
  37. ^ Frank 2001，第171頁.
  38. ^ Milazzo 1975，第2頁.
  39. ^ Stafford 1977，第401頁.
  40. ^ 40.0 40.1 40.2 Creveld 1973，第139頁.
  41. ^ 41.0 41.1 Iaremko 2014，第120頁.
  42. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第32 & 57頁.
  43. ^ Presseisen 1960，第367頁.
  44. ^ 44.0 44.1 44.2 44.3 44.4 44.5 44.6 44.7 Presseisen 1960，第368頁.
  45. ^ 45.0 45.1 45.2 45.3 45.4 Medvedev & Medvedev 19 October 2014.
  46. ^ 46.0 46.1 Sudoplatov 1994，第119頁.
  47. ^ 47.0 47.1 47.2 Reshetnikov 1992，第110–123頁.
  48. ^ 48.0 48.1 48.2 Slijepčević 1978，第27頁.
  49. ^ Stafford 1977，第402頁.
  50. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第39頁.
  51. ^ Presseisen 1960，第368–369頁.
  52. ^ 52.0 52.1 Presseisen 1960，第369頁.
  53. ^ Stafford 1977，第403頁.
  54. ^ Stockings & Hancock 2013，第126頁.
  55. ^ 55.0 55.1 Ramet & Lazić 2011，第18頁.
  56. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第43頁.
  57. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第46頁.
  58. ^ Iaremko 2014，第122頁.
  59. ^ Iaremko 2014，第122–123頁.
  60. ^ Tanner 1997，第138頁.
  61. ^ 61.0 61.1 61.2 Tanner 1997，第139頁.
  62. ^ Iaremko 2014，第123–124頁.
  63. ^ Iaremko 2014，第124頁.
  64. ^ 64.0 64.1 64.2 64.3 Tomasevich 1975，第47頁.
  65. ^ Creveld 1973，第142頁.
  66. ^ 66.0 66.1 66.2 Iaremko 2014，第123頁.
  67. ^ Dizdar 2007，第587頁.
  68. ^ 68.0 68.1 Iaremko 2014，第125頁.
  69. ^ 69.0 69.1 Goldstein 2003，第268頁.
  70. ^ Petranović 1992，第190頁.
  71. ^ Stockings & Hancock 2013，第128–129頁.
  72. ^ The Examiner 29 March 1941.
  73. ^ Tomanić 2001，第187頁.
  74. ^ Dožić 1974，第399, 401–411頁.
  75. ^ Biondich 2007，第41頁.
  76. ^ 76.0 76.1 Tomasevich 1975，第44–45頁.
  77. ^ Iaremko 2014，第121–122頁.
  78. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第44頁.
  79. ^ Stafford 1977，第419頁.
  80. ^ Iaremko 2014，第119–120頁.
  81. ^ Tasovac 1999，第118頁.
  82. ^ Tasovac 1999，第129 & 214頁.
  83. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第45頁.
  84. ^ Iaremko 2014，第121頁.
  85. ^ Sudoplatov 1994，第118–119頁.
  86. ^ Onslow 2005，第28–29頁.
  87. ^ Bakić 2005，第231頁.
  88. ^ Papasissis 1960，Chapter 5.
  89. ^ Iaremko 2014，第120–122頁.
  90. ^ Milazzo 1975，第2–3頁.
  91. ^ 91.0 91.1 91.2 Trevor-Roper 1964，第108頁.
  92. ^ Klajn 2007，第17頁.
  93. ^ 93.0 93.1 Playfair et al. 2014，第157頁.
  94. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第50–51頁.
  95. ^ 95.0 95.1 Çetiner 2014，第72頁.
  96. ^ Prusin 2017，第23頁.
  97. ^ Tomasevich 2001，第48頁.
  98. ^ Trevor-Roper 1964，第109頁.
  99. ^ Tomasevich 2001，第49頁.
  100. ^ Ciglic & Savic 2002，第10頁.
  101. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第48頁.
  102. ^ Dizdar 2007，第588頁.
  103. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第48–49頁.
  104. ^ 104.0 104.1 Stockings & Hancock 2013，第130頁.
  105. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第49頁.
  106. ^ Treaty on Friendship and Non-Aggression between the USSR and Yugoslavia.
  107. ^ Prusin 2017，第21頁.
  108. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第52頁.
  109. ^ 109.0 109.1 109.2 Tomasevich 2001，第50頁.
  110. ^ Pavlowitch 2007，第19頁.
  111. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第43–47頁.
  112. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第47, 52–53頁.
  113. ^ Prusin 2017，第22頁.
  114. ^ Iaremko 2014，第126頁.
  115. ^ Playfair et al. 2014，第74頁.
  116. ^ Playfair et al. 2014，第74 & 157頁.
  117. ^ Tomasevich 1975，第86頁.
  118. ^ Shirer 1990，第829–830頁.
  119. ^ Beevor 2012，第158頁.
  120. ^ Onslow 2005，第2–3頁.
  121. ^ The Star online 7 October 2012.
  122. ^ Radio Television of Serbia 15 December 2011.
  123. ^ Politika 26 September 2009.

References

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Books

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Journals and newspapers

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Websites

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取自 "https://zh.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Yenhochia/南斯拉夫政變&oldid=65399753"