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Y u g o s l a v D o c u m e n t s No. I

Y U G O SL A VI A AT

W A R

Collection of Official Pronouncements

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Published by the Yugoslav Information Department

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The Y U G O S L A V G O V E R N M E N T O F F IC E S , with the exception of the Foreign Ministry, are at

K IN G S T O N H O U SE, P R I N C E ’ S G A T E , L O N D O N , S . W . 7.

The Prime Minister. Tel. N0. : K E N 1127.

The Deputy Prime Ministers : M M . Slobodan Jovanovitch, Dr. Juraj Krnjevitch, Dr. Miha Krek.

Tel. N os. : K E N 112 3 , 1124 , 112 5.

War Department (Army, Navy, Air Force). Tel. N 0. : K E N 112 3 . Transport and Shipping. Tel. N os. : K E N 112 3 , 1124 . Ministry of Finance. Tel. N 0. : K E N 2433.

Deputy Minister of Finance. Tel. N 0. : K E N 3681.

Ministry of Social Welfare (Red Cross). Tel. N 0. : K E N 2414.

Ministry for Economic Reconstruction. Tel. N0. : K E N 2414.

Other Ministers. Tel. N 0. : K E N 2414.

Yugoslav National Bank : Governor and Vice-Governor.

Tel. N 0. : K E N 2433.

Information Office (Press, propaganda, etc.). Tel. N0. : K E N 2444.

The Foreign Ministry, 4 1, Upper Grosvenor Street.

Tel. N 0. : GRO 2336.

The Minister of the Royal Court, 4 1, Upper Grosvenor Street.

Tel. N 0. : GRO 2336.

Royal Yugoslav Legation, 195, Queen’s Gate, S.W .7.

Tel. N 0. : K E N 4903.

Press Attache. Tel. N 0. : K E N 3531 .

The Yugoslav Red Cross. Tel. N0. : H O L 4 521.

YUGOSLAV DOCUMENTS

No. i D ECEM BER i, 1941

W

I T H this, the first of a long series of phamphlets which we intend to publish on Yugoslavia, under the general heading of “ Yugoslav Documents,” we wish to introduce our subject to the public of the Allied nations. N ot that we had any doubts about their sympathy for us and for our cause, which is only part of their own. But they will have the mission to act so that all the allied nations which fight together the most fateful battle in the history ot mankind should know one another better, and help one another with a greater understanding— fostered by knowledge and mutual respect— when the time will be ripe for the democratic and moral New Order in the world. Our pam- phlets will deal with Yugoslavia; the land, peoples, history, culture, politics, war effort; her sorrows and undying faith.

T h ey ought to be, and to remain, historical documents reveal- ing the soul of Yugoslavia, the soul of a brave and fighting nation in one of the greatest periods of human history and of her own history.

T h e first pamphlet consists exclusively of documents which in their simplicity and straightforwardnes teil the true story of the national upheaval in Yugoslavia against the Germans and the Italians, and of the part Yugoslavia’s forces played on the common front of humanity when Germany and Italy assailed her. T h e speeches of the Prime Minister, General Simović, teil this story in the most vivid and convincing way. It has been said that the whole of Yugoslavia was not in this uprising of a revolted nation. T h e Prime Minister’s Statement, followed by the statements of the chief representative of the Croats, the Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Krnjević, and the Statement of the leader of the Slovenes, the Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Krek, reveal the truth. T h e whole of Yugoslavia, Serbs, Croats and Slovenes are gathered round their young King Peter II, who represents the soul of Yugoslavia, which has been saved, as the British Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, put it on the 27Ü1 March, 1941, when Yugoslavia joined the Allied front. What has Yugoslavia done in her war? T h is question is answered

in the first part of the pamphlet. W hat is her aim now? T h e reply to this question is given in another speech by the Prime Minister, General Simović, and in the Jerusalem Declaration of the Government, endorsed by the signatures of all the Ministers who, in their political composition, represent all the political forces of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes.

A declaration of H .M . King Peter II gives his supreme approval.

This, then, is “ Yugoslavia at w a r ” in the first stage of her fight along with the Allied front. Another pamphlet, which we might announce at once, will teil the story of the heroic struggle of a nation that is not wont to be enslaved, the epics of the Serbian mountains, and the valiant resistance of the Slovenes and the Croats to the German and the Italian in- truders. A third pamphlet will present a picture of the “ New Order ” in Yugoslavia, telling about German firing squads shooting down innocent women and children, about hundreds of thousands of persons deported, sent away into stränge lands, of lootings, rapes, hunger and starvation. These pamphlets are predestined and bound to make history; based as they are on reality and strict truth and the fairest justice being their guiding principle, even in times to come— when the tragedies of present- day Europe may only be a memory, distant memory or forgotten past— they will permanently remain a reliable record for future historians. T h at being also one of their objects as well as a deeper justification, they were named “ Yugoslav Documents.”

Other pamphlets w ill follow, telling about the just claims of Yugoslavia, not only to be restored to her former state, but to unite within her frontiers all brothers and sisters of her race and of her blood, and to get the guarantees for a peaceful develop­

ment in the security of a true .New Order which will protect her and every nation in the world against the tragedies which they ihave to endure at the present time.

London, December 1, 1941.

THE ADDRESS

The Yugoslav Prime Minister, General D u š a n S i m o v i ć , presented on be­

half of his Government, on September 6, 1941, to H.M . the King of Yugoslavia the following address:—

SIRE,

I

H A V E the honour, on behalf of the Government, to present our most loyal congratulations on the occasion of Your birthday. Together with You, we would have wished to celebrate this day surrounded by our people, in our free coun- try, as the day of rejoicing and the day of faith and hope in a better future for our country. But, alas! this did not depend on our will. A n overwhelming enemy occupied our beautiful country.

In spite of Your youth, You courageously stood all the phy- sical and spiritual hardships in the firm and unshakable decision not to allow the banner of freedom and independence of Yugo­

slavia to fall into the hands of the enemy. W ith that decision You enabled our people to confirm for ever its right of existence and life in freedom.

Sire, before You there are still many years of life and work.

T h e future is Yours. Your forefathers were also men of vision, thinking, planning, and having high aims for the future. They started with the liberation of Serbia, and continued with the creation of Yugoslavia. M ay God grant that You, Sire, may make a further step forward and become one of the creators of a Balkan Solidarity. You, who are carrying high the banner of national honour and independence of Yugoslavia, have con- secrated Yourself to the task of creating a new world of freedom, justice, and mutual collaboration, and You represent one of the spiritual creators and active fighters for a better and happier future of humanity. You are elected to carry and lift the banner of Balkan freedom, solidarity and unity, under which all people of the Balkan and the Danubian countries might gather who wish to live in peace, unity, and neighbourly love.

On this day, which may be a day of faith, we direct our prayers to the Almighty that He may give You a long life for the happiness of our people and our dear country, and we unite in saying:

Long live Your Majesty King Peter II.!

Long live H er Majesty Queen Marie!

Long live Yugoslavia!

Long live the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes!

H .M . K I N G P E T E R I I replied with the following message:—

T

O D A Y , on my first birthday as ruling King of Yugoslavia, all my thoughts and feelings are with you, my dear Yugo­

slavs, you, who are now suffering so acutely at the hands of a ruthless enemy.

Although physically I am far from my beloved country and separated from you, my people, I am with you heart and soul, and daily share your anguish as echoes of your agony reacli me.

I will have no peace so long as your sufferings last, and until you receive satisfaction and just retribution for your present sufferings.

T h e world crisis has like a whirlwind involved also Yugo- siavia, and has brought upon us much pain and many trials.

But it has at the same time brought indissolubly together the King and the People. W hen on the a^th March I took the royal power into my own hands, I was but obeying the voice of my people, who wished to tread a new path both in foreign and home policy.

I am inspired continually by the example of my glorious ancestors, who have left shining memories behind them as leaders of great national movements. In following their example, which has shown how the strength of a people brings freedom to life, I am determined to work in unison with my people.

T h at unison w ill have to be manifested in a fully democratic government.

Just as I am anxious to work in unison with my people, so do I expect the same from my dear Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, that they shall work together in unison with each other. Yugoslavia will be strong only when Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes feel that they have equal rights and that they are at home in their own country. But in order that they may live in Yugoslavia as free and equal cif.izens, all of them, Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, must before all eise strive that Yugoslavia be pre- served and maintained.

A t this moment all our efforts must be directed towards one aim, to deliver our country as soon as possible and with the assistance of our mighty allies and the great American democ- racy. I have been deeply touched by the expressions of sympathy for Yugoslavia and myself, and of the understanding of my people’s destiny, which come to me from the United States. T h e knowTledge that, in this struggle for freedom and the rights of small nations, we have the support of the United States, led by their great President Roosevelt, gives us encourage- ment and faith in the final victory.

Let those of you who are now suffering in occupied Yugo- slavia have the consolation that by your sufierings you are con- tributing to the great work of deliverance. Your sufferings are known alf the worfd over. No one has ever succeeded in winning a war by physical strength alone. It is by your moral strength that you are undermining the morafe of our enemies.

Those of our brothers who to-day are fiving outside our oppressed land, in tbe British Commonwealth of Nations, in the United States of America, and in other countries overseas, where the rights of man and of nations are respected, are sharing this gigantic struggle with us. I am deeply grateful to them for all the moral and material help they are giving to us. I am con- vinced that this help will be even greater in the future. I know that my people in Yugoslavia, in our mother country, feel the same gratitude.

I have faith and hope that God w ill bless our struggle for deliverance, and that out of this world crisis Yugoslavia will emerge stronger than ever, that she will be respected by other countries, that she w i l l be C o n s o l i d a t e d within her o w n borders, and in accordance with the wishes and needs of our industrious and peace-loving peasant people. M y main ambition is that the people of Yugoslavia shall live at peace, free and independent with equality of rights, in social justice, and giving full ex- pression to their cultural aspirations and noble human feelings.

Moreover, Yugoslavia by her geographical position, by her traditions, her importance, and her ties with all her neighbours, is destined to be together with Grcece, her ally, one of the creators of Balkan solidarity. I therefore support whole- heartedly the ideal of freedom of the Balkans and of the Danu- bian countries, and I appeal to all their peoples who are desirous of peace and friendship for collaboration and unity in a common cause.

Long live Yugoslavia!

Long live my beloved people !

YUGOSLAVIA AT

WAR

Speech by the Yugoslav Prime Minister, General D u š a n S i m o v i ć , broadcast

1 9 4 1 :—

June 2 7 ,

I

A M addressing myself to Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes as Prime Minister of the legitimate Yugoslav Government. I am speaking from London, the C a p i t a l of Great Britain, a city w h i c h has suffered m u c h , but a c i t y w h i c h is Standing

u p r i g h t as a leader in this s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t the forces of evil and darkness.

First of all, I announce to all our people that H .M . King Peter, whose young life has been risked on countless occasions, is now safe and unhurt, and liis thoughts are now devoted to his suffering people. He is fully resolved to persevere in this struggle. Our King is full of faith that the near future will bring us resurrection and splendour in freedom.

H.M. Queen Marie, the noble mother, who has been destined by Fate to carry alone the burden of looking after her sons, is to-day bereaved together with all our mothers, wives, and sisters, who have been left desolate and alone in their deserted house- holds. Her Majesty’s thoughts are also directed towards all our children, who are now left to grow up as orphans. Queen Marie sends them her love and encouragement.

W ith our young King are the legitimate representatives of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, who enjoy his absolute confi- dence. A ll of them are well aware of the difficult times through which our people are now passing, and they are all fulfilling their duty under the guidance of their Royal Sovereign. A t the very last moment, confronted with the dangers of death, we left our country as soldiers, in order to save the honour of our flag, and in order to join the other free peoples. In this solemn task two members of our Government, Dr. Fran Kulovec and Marko Daković, have given their lives in the same way as many of your sons, brothers, and fathers. In this supreme Service of duty, which will require sacrifices in the future, we shall endure until our just national cause is realised. W e have proclaimed to the whole world that to-day, although your bodies are under foreign yoke, your spirit has remained unbroken, and that you all are wholeheartedly on this side, where the fight is continuing for freedom.

In this unequal struggle we have been temporarily de- feated by the enemv, owing to the fact that he had enormous

superiority in aircraft and armoured cars, but also owing to the fault of all those who, by bad statesmanship, had sapped the foundations of our strength. T h e Serbian soldier fought with courage and enthusiasm, hardly paralleled in the history of the war. But machines proved stronger than brave hearts.

W e have been defeated m iK ta ril^ S a ö te B a tr country is occupied, but our national honour hasiiycn preserved undefiled and our future is assured.

T h e causes of our rapid military collapse are to be found primarily in the work of our previous responsible Governments, who directed our State affairs irresponsibly in the course of the last six years.

T h e basic tenets of our foreign policy, instituted by the late King Alexander, and which were the greatest guarantee of our national safety, were abandoned by the Regency Council. Drift- ing away from the Western Democracies and breaking loose from the Little Entente, Yugoslavia was drawing nearer to the Axis Powers. Under the influence of Germany and Italy, and obsessed by the ideas of the “ Anschluss of Bulgaria ” and of

“ an outlet on to the Black and Aegean Seas,” which was pro- mised by Hitler and Ciano, even the Government of Stojadinović was resolved to bind the destiny of Yugoslavia to that of the Axis Powers, and to take upon itself the role of “ German advance-guard ” in the Balkans and in the Near East.

T h e Government of Dr. Stojadinović, who to the shame of the Serbian people enjoyed for three and a half years the unlimited confidence of the First Regent, went as it caine, for unknown reasons; but it is certain that the country’s interests were not among them.

T h e Government of Dragisha Cvetkovič, the successor of Stojadinović’s Government, created at first the impression that they were going to break off the close relations which existed during Stojadinović’s Government between Yugoslavia and the A xis Powers. But at the same time they avoided the establish- ment of traditional des with the Western Democracies.

T heir policy of apparent neutrality, initiated aftei the out- break of the war in September, 1939, was made possible only so long as Italy and later Germany had not clearly manifested their desire to spread the theatre of war to the Balkans. From that moment the Balkan States had to make a choice: either to join with the A xis Powers, or to defend their independence which was daily being endangered more and more. T h e Govern­

ment of Cvetković, however, made no attempt whatsoever to protect the country from the dangers which were directly threatening its independence. T h ey refused to conclude offered

a llia n c e s , w h ic h h a d fo r t h e ir o b je c t th e p r e v e n tio n o f G e r m a n p e n e t r a t io n i n th e B a lk a n s . I n s t e a d o f t a k in g th e n e c e ssa ry m e a s u r e s to s to p G e r m a n p e n e t r a t io n i n t o B u l g a r i a th e y h a d p a ssiv e ly a n d c o n s c io u s ly b e e n lo o k in g a t th e B u l g a r i a n a n d G e r ­ m a n m ilit a r y p r e p a r a t io n s f o r a d m itt in g n o t o n ly G e r m a n fo rc e s i n t o B u lg a r ia , b u t a ls o f o r f u r t h e r o p e r a tio n s d ir e c te d a g a in s t G r e e c e a n d T u r k e y , as w e ll as a g a in s t th e e a s te r n f r o n t ie r o f Y u g o s la v ia . H o w e v e r, th e p e n e t r a t io n o f G e r m a n y i n t o B u lg a r ia o p p o s ite th e e a s t e r n fla n k o f Y u g o s la v ia a n d n e a r h e r C o m m u n i­

c a t io n s w ith S a lo n ic a s h o u ld n o t h a v e b e e n p e r m itt e d , e v e n a t t h e p r ič e o f o u r e n te r in g th e w ar.

W hen the Germans crossed the Danube and fortified them- selves in Bulgaria the Government of Cvetkovič found out that it could not resist their projected operations against Greece, although the collapse of the Greek front meant inevitably the encirclement of our country. Although Germany, at least at first, did not want military assistance from us, the very fact of our accepting a Pact which meant the predominance of the Axis in Europe resulted in the fact that we ceased to be neutral, and that we had entered the orbit of German and Italian Allies.

Both the Governments of Stojadinović and of Cvetkovič were shaping the direction of our foreign policy without any regard to true national feelings. Cvetković’s Government even took no trouble whatsoever to explain and justify its acts to the public. However, public opinion, under the influence of news about German action in Rum ania and Bulgaria, was extremely disturbed, and was inclined to believe that any adhesion to the A xis Powers would have as a consequence the greater or smaller limitation of the independence of our State. B y its arbitrary conduct of foreign policy Cvetković’s Government caused the populär national dissatisfaction to reach a climax. Had not K ing Peter taken the power in his own hands on March 27 Yugoslavia would have eventually been exposed to revolu- tion and civil war, with all its awful consequences.

T h e stunned national feeling wlych overwhelmed the country on March 25 was an obvious expression of the feel­

ings that the signing of the Tripartite Pact meant volun- tary acceptance of slavery and putting the noose round our neck.

T h e people, primarily the Serbs, feit themselves disgraced by the signing of the Pact, which had been done without their being consulted, and which was contrary to the people’s interests and feelings. Therefore March 27 was greeted by all sections of the population with enthusiasm as a day of a great victory. T h at was neither a conspiracy nor a military coup d’etat; on that day the usurpers and traitors of Yugoslavia were

destroyed, together with many of their sins, and to the people were restored the power and right to decide their own destiny.

March 27 is the day of deliverance of Serbs from the shame in which they were being held for years; it was the day of their moral redemption and puriiication, it was the day which gives to our people the right to stand proudly together with the leading peoples in the world.

T h e historical act of March 27 was in no way a forced event, nor was it an act committed irresponsibly by a crowd of usurpers of State powers. On that day a spontaneous explosion of the tortured national consciousness and a longing for freedom manifested itself. On that day it was generally feit that the people had been fully conscious of their honour, and that every individual had got personal dignity. T h e enthusiasm of the whole population, formerly suppressed and disheartened, is the best proof that the overthrow of the abject regime and Constitu­

tion of the new Government by legitimate representatives was desired by the whole population, and that the same was greeted with joy. On that day the people and the national army, having no selfish end in view, and having,no other interests than the happiness and welfare of their country, secured the throne foi their young King and preserved his life, and at the same time saved the honour of the flag as well as their own honour.

T h e British Prime Minister, the eminent statesman Mr.

Churchill, in his speech of A p ril 28, emphasised precisely the moral significance of March 27, as well as its significance for the future of our nation. T h e tragedy of Yugoslavia, said Mr. Churchill, consists in the fact that this brave people had a Government which expected that they would be able to buy their shameful security by submitting themselves to a Nazi dictator- ship. W hen at last the Yugoslav people showed themselves to be what they were always believed to be, when they revolted and saved their soul and the future of their country, it was too late to save their territory.

A ll those who served our enemy, either as ordinary agents or those who were responsible for the insufficient technical pre- paration of our army and for the normal hesitation in certain Tesponsible quarters of our society, will probably try to state that the signing of the Tripartite Pact had for its object to save us from the horrors of war and enemy occupation. However, to-day the terrible fate of our brother Czechoslovaks, who be­

lieved in Hitler’s word, is well known all the world over. That Hitler, after having made preparations for an attack on Greece and Turkey, had the intention to start the occupation of our country is now obvious to all; it is proved by his demand for the demobilisation of our army.

In his Speech delivered on M ay 4 Hitler clearly and expressly declared that he gave orders to Ins Supreme Command on March 27 for operations agamst Yugoslavia. In this way he fully confessed that he was decided to go to war without any provocation whatsoever on the part of Yugoslavia. A t the same time he had shown how false and untruthful were his former assurances of friendship to Yugoslavia, and of the guaran- tee of her independence and of the inviolability of her frontiers.

T h at Italy, too, the most close collaborator and ally of Germany, was working even earlier towards the destruction of Yugoslavia— even at the time when Italian relations with our country were officially good— is evident from the meetings be­

tween Ciano, Mussolini, and Pavelič in January and May, 1940, when it was decided to dismember Yugoslavia and create an Independent Croat State.

T h e act of March 27 spared our country from a revolu- tion, but it could not change overnight the position of our country with regard to foreign countries, and which had been created by our former Government. T h e German armies were already in Bulgaria, concentrated against our Eastern frontier and ready to launch an attack. W e had no agreements either with Greece or with Turkey for common defence. In addition to this fact, and following upon our joining the Tripartite Pact, we were under an Obligation towards Germany not to hinder her military operations. T im e was needed for such a Situation to be altered. In order to quieten down the agitation created in the public mind after the joining of the Tripartite Pact, the new Government headed by the King made a pact of friendship with the U.S.S.R., but no diplomatic activity could be efficiently carried out, because on April 6 the unprovoked and brutal attack by Germany had already begun.

Both our people and their rulers knew in advance the out- come of this unequal struggle, and had done all in their power to avoid an armed conflict. But once this struggle was imposed upon them by a perfidious attack, our people did not hesitate to step forward courageously, although insufficiently equipped, to defend their endangered countrv, to defend the freedom, honour, independence, and ideals of democracy and of human rights.

T h e traditional perfidy of Hitler is now being experienced by Russia. Hitler wishes to justify the latest attack on his eastern neighbour, his friend of yesterday and his chief sup- porter, by inventing arguments and partially puts the blame on Yugoslavia. But such inventions are far from the truth.

W ith reference to the military preparations, the Govern­

ment of Cvetkovič, in order not to offend Germany, hesitated to

undertake the necessary mea.sures for the defence of the country, and in the first place did not carry out the mobilisation. Nor were all the measures of defence put into readiness. W hat is worse, half-mobilised forces in the South, more with a view to deluding public opinion and quietening down the populär agitation than for the sake of actual defence, the Government of Cvetkovič— already having decided on signing the Tripartite Pact and on betraying the national ideals— gave orders for them to be demobilised. T h e grouping of our forces and the plan of defence, developing stronger forces in the northern and north- western fronts, did not correspond to the Situation created by the entry of Germans into Bulgaria, and the lack of a powerful strategical reserve made it impossible for any correction of the already fixed operational plans.

T h e Government formed by me on March 27 speeded up mobilisation, but Germany did not allow us even the time to complete the mobilisation, much less to carry out the concen- tration of troops and make the essential changes in the planned disposition. As soon as the war started the enormous superioritv of the enemy in aircraft and armoured units was immediately feit. T h e Government immediately appealed for help to the Allies: but the fighting lasted only a short time, so that the Allies, in spite of their goodwill, were not able to send us their assistance in time. In launching the attack against Yugoslavia almost immediately after the formation of my Government, Germany compelled us to fight exclusively with those resources and under those conditions which we had inherited from our previous Governments, who had already sold the country to the enemy.

Germany attacked us suddenly without any declaration of war and in a perfidious manner. Her military forces, concen- trated for an attack, were partially against Greece, but prin- cipally against Turkey, and intended to begin possibly on A pril 1, were urgently transferred to the eastern frontier of Yugoslavia.

T h e strength of the German forces amounted to thirty-three divisions, of which six were armoured and four mechanised divisions.

T h e operations of the German army were supported power- fully by two groups of aircraft, with over 2,000 planes, of which one was concentrated in Bulgaria and the second in Western Rumania and Southern Hungary. This air force, which was under the direct control of Field-Marshal Goering, the “ great friend of Yugoslavia,” had as one of their principal tasks the wanton and merciless destruction of Beigrade, “ the home of conspirators,” in order to vent the full rage of H itler because

his preconceived plan for the conquest of the East was upset by a small but proud people, who always loved the liberty and independence of their country.

W hile the very forces of German armies from Bulgaria, powerfully supported by aircraft and armoured units, were attacking in previously determined directions, the Bulgarian divi- sions along the whole eastern front towards our frontier were backing up this action by a frontal pressure against our forces.

T h e Hungarian armies, which by their holding the front in Backa, Baranja, and on the River Drava were covering on the north the German operations against Yugoslavia, also launched an attack on A p ril 10, in order “ to re new the ancient glory of its arms,” according to the words of Hitler. T h e Hungarians occupied Backa.

Of the twenty-eight infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions which were at the disposal of Yugoslavia only five infantry divisions and one and a-half cavalry divisions took part in the decisive fighting against the German forces. These forces were stemming the penetration of the German army. Our forces were supported very energetically by the feärless action of our aircraft, whose number amounted to 300 first-line planes. But this number was considerably reduced almost at the outset of the fighting owing to the fierce attacks of superior enemy aircraft.

T h e rest of our forces were standing along the long frontiers, where the Germans did not attack at all; but these fronts were covered by the Bulgarian, Hungarian, and Italian armies.

T h e disproportionate weakness of the Yugoslav military forces in comparison with the attacker, who was concentrated at the points chosen by him, was accentuated by a very long front which required defending and which amounted to 2,000 kms.

T o this length of the front should be added the front along the sea from Susak to the mouth of the River Bojana, which adds another 600 kms. T h e weak Yugoslav forces were thus out- stretched and dispersed according to the previous plan of opera­

tions, which could not be rearranged, and therefore they could not offer any strong resistance— the more so, since, on our Northern and Western fronts, where defences and tank traps had previously been prepared, and where our Yugoslav forces were concentrated, we were outmanoeuvred by a German attack launched from Bulgaria.

Having realised the weakness of our forces, the irrational disposition of our troops, and the insufficient possibility of defence, and especially the vulnerability of our rear Communica­

tions and links with the Allies, the Supreme Command paid special attention to the offensive action of our 3rd Arm y facing the Albanian front.

T h e Supreme Command intended that the 3rd Army, by swift and energetic action on the left flank and in the rear of the Italian army in Albania, should put it into a critical posi- tion, and thereby link up with our Albes with the object of open- ing up the way for the evacuation of our army in the direction of Greece should our Communications with Salonika be cut off.

T h e planned manceuvre of the 3rd Army, which was to open the door for our army through Albania, unfortunatelv did not succeed:

Firstly, because our preparations were not completed and two days were lost. Secondly, because the German troops broke through quickly in the rear of the Kosovo and Vardar divisions as a consequence of the weakness of the defences of our eastern front.

T h e attack of the enemy, carried out by a sudden action of a superior air force and by very powerful armoured formations directed against our flank and rear, had serious consequences, as our forces were spread out over a long front and only halt- mobilised. Our troops resisted the enemy on ali sides and fought heroically, generously shedding their blood. T h e soldiers of the Sumadija, Morava, and T oplica divisions fought like lions in the battles round Strumica, Stracin, and Pirot. W ith fixed bayonets and hand grenades they leapt on to the armoured cars, of the enemy and destroyed them b y throwing their grenades, through the openings. But all the bravery of these heroes was utterly insufficient to overcome the terrible onslaught of an enemy superior both in number and technical equipment.

T h e activities of the Italian army, on the contrary, were nowhere effective, and were stopped everywhere even by our weak action. It seems that the Italian troops confined themselves to running at the heels of their ally, that they might cheaply get the fruits of his efforts.

In this unequal struggle and after twelve days ol heroic resistance our armed strength succumbed; but the people con- tinued the struggle, for they preferred an honest death to shame- ful slavery. T h e legal representatives of the people were com- pelled to leave our beautiful fatherland so as not to permit the flag of freedom and justice to fall into the hands of the enemy or to jeopardise the future of our people. W e were- compelled to do this after a heavy and bloody struggle.

T h e struggle on all the fronts and along all the lines cost us enormous losses. Steel and technics were stronger than wairiors and heroes. Our men died in an unequal struggle of men against guns and hand grenades, against tanks and aero- planes. Our small air force was annihilated in cruel battle

in the first two days of the war. T h e soldier was left without defence from the air, just as he was without means of technical defence on land.

He fought bare-breasted and with his muscles. He died for freedom and honour, and, although brief in time, our war with Germany was not fought in vain. It revealed the real atti- tude of Yugoslavia to the present world crisis. It revealed that, when faced by a superior enemy, the Serbs were not ready to sacrifice their independence without fighting. It revealed that we quite understand that the cause for which the Western democracies are fighting is not only their own fight, but also of all the peoples who desire to live in freedom. By this atti- tude Yugoslavia, being unable to strike a blow at Hitler in a military sense, dealt a moral blow, and this gave the lie to H itler’s boasting that the so-called New Order would be intro- dueed into the Balkans without resistance, and presumably with the free acceptance of the Balkan peoples themselves. How heavy was this moral blow to Hitler is to be seen from the rage with which he ordered the bombing of Beigrade, and with which even to-day he Orders the torture of the peaceful popula­

tion of enslaved Serbia.

What our armed resistance to the Germans meant cannot yet be accurately ascertained. It is known that it cost Hitler both in material and men more than is admitted in German official sources. By sending a considerable number of aircraft to our front the Germans were compelled for the time being to weaken their air offensive on other fronts, especially in Libya.

There is some evidence, based on the disposition of troops, that Germany intended to conquer Turkey in A pril and there to create a base for a further attack, first in a Southern direction against Suez, and later to the North against Russia in the direc­

tion of the Caucasus, co-ordinating this latter move with a frontal attack from Rum ania and Poland against the Ukraine and Central Russia.

This German action miglit have had very serious military consequences. However, the attack against Turkey, the Near East, and Russia was postponed by the events following upon March 27, when Yugoslavia became her chief enemy. In any case, Yugoslavia, in taking up the fight against Germany took upon herseif the greatest risk that a country could take. She staked her very existence. But, apart from the moral blow which affected the prestige of the rulers of the Reich, Yugo­

slavia frustrated the plans of the German General StafE, forced it to lose time, and thereby saved Turkey and the Near East and made impossible the envelopment of Russia from the south, and the attack on it from the rear over the Caucasus to

the east of the Caspian Sea, and forced Hitler to limit himself to a frontal attack.

To-day the territory of Yugoslavia is occupied by Germans, Italians, Hungarians, and Bulgarians. In Berlin plans are being made for Yugoslavia’s final dismemberment. According to German conceptions, Yugoslavia should cease to exist becasue in her present framework she is a hindrance to Germany harnessing the Balkans to its yoke.

T h e very same fate would have befallen Yugoslavia had she not resisted on March 27. Only with the difference that her fall in that case would have been shameful and final.

A nd for this reason all Yugoslavs are firmly convinced that the victorv of the Western democracies must at the same time be the day of resurrection of their free and indivisible State.

A n d even more: this victory will also mean freedom for the Slovenes in Carinthia, the Croats in Gradisco, the Serbs and Croats in Hungary. By the victory of the great democracies ali those regions where Yugoslavs are living will be joined to one mother country, namely, Istria, Trieste, Gorica, Zadar and all other Yugoslav national territories.

O ur neighbours, in spite of ali pacts of eternal friendship which they had with our country, permitte d our enemy to attack us from their own territories. And what is more, Bulgaria and Hungary even actively took part in the action against us, and thereby shamefully belied their spoken and signed pacts.

T h e cruelties which their armies and theii authorities perpe- trated, and are stili perpetrating, against our defenceless popu­

lation, our Serbian people w ill never forget. T h e day of reckoning will inevitably comc and then woe to the assassins!

W ith the greatest indignation we refute all the lies of miserable faithbreaking Bulgaria and Hungary. T h ey are trying to find an excuse for their perfidious acts and for breaking their word and their written pacts of “ eternal friendship.” Neither the Bulgarian nor the Hungarian peoples can justify before history their faithlessness; there can be no excuse for the actions for which they will be held responsible. Only if a people’s tribunal— a rapid, a decisive, and a just one— destroys in time that base oligarchy can these grievous sins be redeemed.

T h e British Government has given us a solemn written declaration: that all attempts at the dismemberment of Yugo­

slavia and all similar acts are to be considered invalid, null, and void. T h ey point out at the same time their feeling of deep indignation at the shameless attempt at the dismemberment of Yugoslav territory, and the subjection of part of her territory to a foreign power. W e have received with satisfaction similar

declarations from authorised representatives of the United States of America. T h e Royal Yugoslav Government deeply appre- ciates this decisive and clear attitude of the great democratic potvers, and sees in them a precious pledge for the complete re-establishment and realisation of a glorious future for Yugo­

slavia. Yugoslavia’s attitude with regard to the German attack on Russia is in complete agreement with that of the allied British Government.

Serbs, Croats and Slovenes!

His Majesty the King and His Royal Government are pain- fully conscious of your immeasurable sufferings. Even as the Son of God, to-day our people spiritually and physically are living through their Golgotha. Before, what you knew of suffering by hearsay, now you are experiencing, you who have stayed in your homes, as well as the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and youths who are being marched by the enemy along stränge roads and to unknown destinations.

W e know, mothers and children, that as soon as we return with victory we shall find many graves and homes draped in mourning. W e feel that your most grievous sufferings are those which have been inflicted upon you by perverts and traitors of our own blood.

For your consolation, I ran teil you that there will be no pardon, for those evil doers. Our King has already sent a warning to all our enemies, to be careful and not to transgress the rules of humanity in their treatment o£ you. He emphasised that on his return every transgression within his country would be punished. T h a t promise will be kept.

Take heart and do not permit your pain to cause in you doubt and weakness. You wanted, and we wanted, to be a free people, but those who are now ruling over Germany and Italy did not want to have free men close to their frontiers. You did not want to be slaves, and therefore you are suffering now.

Great are the sacrifices and great are the deeds that are being done. Already victory is in sight. T h e two greatest world democracies, Great Britain and America, are giving the full measure of their inexhaustible wealth; each blow they receive is answeied by a stronger blow. T h e towns throughout Germany are beginning to feel the horrors equal to those to which Beigrade and our other bombed towns have been exposed.

Whenever enemy propaganda, lying and base, tries to poison you, remember that our country, rieh in moral Capital as never before in her history, is Standing now aligned with the most powerful and noblest peoples in the world, led by the greatest statesmen, Churchill and Roosevelt. T h e President of the U.S.A., of that powerful democratic State, Mr. Roosevelt, sends us the following message: “ T o d a y the world is divided between

slavery and freedom. W e have chosen freedom and Christian civilisation. T h e world should be freed from terror and plunder.”

T h a t will be soon.

Our people are sufiering bitterly, just the same as our brother Czechs and Pole?, together with all other freedom- loving civilised people to-day in Western Europe, who are now plunged into darkness. But in our darkest hour keep your faith in the victory of our just cause, and know that the day of our national resurrection is much nearer than your oppressors think.

Brave soldiers! you proud citizens of martyred Beigrade and other towns and villages of our beautiful land, all of you to-day, but especially the Serbian people, are carrying your heavy burden of your glorious history, and are passing through un- heard-of suffering. Our people, you w ill not grow faint-hearted because you are conscious that before you lies an even more glorious and noble future. You who are living in our enslaved country are creating for the future generations by your super­

human suffering an even mightier and happier fatherland. T h e Royal Government, under the leadership of our King, Peter II., will not neglect even for a single moment to speed the end of the sufiering of our people and speed the resurrection of our happy life, of which the nation will be proud, for it will be just in a human, social, and international sense.

If you cannot speak openly because the enemy is eaves- dropping say to one another in your thoughts and in your eyes whenever you meet: “ W e believe in victory over the powers of evil, we believe in freedom, we believe in our national resur­

rection.” Inspired by these thoughts, I send you the following greeting:

Long live our beloved people!

Long live His Majesty King Peter II., the worthy son of our valiant people and his glorious ancestors!

A Broadcast by the Yugoslav Prime Minister, General D u š a n S i m o v i ć , London, September 3, 1 9 4 1 :-

S

E R B S, Croats, and Slovenes,

In a few days our young King, the hope of our people and the greatest guarantee of the freedom of our dear fatherland, will become 18 years old.

There are few examples in history that show a Sovereign taking over his powers under such difficult circumstances as our young King did. His Majesty’s aim was to keep order within the country and peace with her neighbours. T h e order was maintained and the country saved from a revolution which seemed inevitable. It was not possible to maintain peace because that did not depend upon our wishes alone. But even if peace could not be maintained, the honour of the people and the future of our country have been saved.

Conscious of the extreme difficult Situation of our country, on the one hand geographically and on the other because of the neighbours which surround us, we tried to stay out of the big battle— a battle wrhich is fought to the bitter end on the one side for the subjugating of the world and serfdom and on the other side for the freedom of peoples and human rights.

Denying our own feelings, we wished to save our people the bloodshed and suffering. But the enemy, who, with the accep- tance of the Tripartite Pact, wanted to expose us to degradation, had prepared the military occupation of our country. Docu- ments found confirm that the Axis Powers had prepared for us also an arbitration to the profit of our neighbours, as they did in Rumania, which clearly proves their aim to divide our State.

There is no doubt that Hitler secretly nursed the intention to lead our people to the slaughterhouse as he had done with his satellites the Italians, Finns, Hungarians, Rumanians, Bul- garians, and the clique of Pavelič, who serve him in turn for his dark objects, exposing their people to heavy losses and senseless sufferings and against their own wills. T h e honour and freedom of our people and the future of our country was at stäke. In spite of glorious examples of individual courage and self-sacrifice of our troops, we could not defend the mountains ajid valleys, the villages and towns against the attack of the raving hordes of a far more powerful enemy. But, led by our young King, we saved something more important than that: we saved our national honour, and thus we confirmed for ever our right to a free existence among the nations.

T h e brutalities committed in our country by the blood- thirsty enemy without feeling and conscience and the sufferings

of our people are indeed terrible. Our thought dwells on the mothers and wives in mourning, on the children whose parents die slowly in prison camps, on the spiritual and physical suffer- ings of peace-loving citizens, persecuted by the enemy under any pretext, we think of the masses of hanged and shot people and villages burnt to the ground, and our hearts become heavy with grief and sadness.

But the day of justice is not far. T h e foe who tried to take our honour and our souls tries by misdeeds and threats to break the spiritual power of our people. But they have not succeeded in that. A ll the information which reaches us confirms that the S P IR IT O F K O SO VO is alive and that it is U N B R E A K A B L E , and that proves that our present generation is worthv of their forefathers. T h e hour of victory and justice w ill come perhaps sooner than we think. T h e whole world follows with admiration the struggle of our people, who prefer a honourable death to a shameful life. T h is struggle is followed, too, with great interest by our brothers who live outside our country, and who give us all their moral and material help.

W ith its dignity and its sacrifices Yugoslavia has earned the unanimous admiration of all free people in the whole civilised world. T h e moral dignity which Yugoslavia to-day enjoys is the best guarantee that, after the breaking of the Axis Powers, which daily becomes more inevitable and nearer, our people will get their retribution for all sacrifices suffered in this war.

T h e most noble and the most powerful nations, Great Britain, Russia, and America, with swords in their liands, with inexhaustible reserves of people and material, and with a vast industrial potential capacity, are united to save the world from dark serfdom, and to secure for every nation the rights of life and development in freedom. From this struggle a new world will grow, a new Europe will arise, whose peace and security will not rest any more on Maginot and Siegfried lines and on armed armies, but which will rest on trust and mutual solidarity of the European people, on economic collaboration and economical exchange and ties between the various parts of Europe. Only in such a way w ill Europe find peace and save its civilisation. Only by developing a European solidarity and creating the conditions for the conception of the European United States can we hope that mutual butchering will stop and that such wars will not be repeated.

W e, the Balkan people, must work to make our mutual rela- tions such that they will not give any more cause for conflicts.

From this war, also, the aggressor nations will emerge wiser by expensive experience. But a true Balkan peace cannot exist without Balkan solidarity. T h e Balkan people must become con-

scious of their close economic relationships, of the unity of their interests, and of the necessity of creating an atmosphere of mutual trust, which is a better guarantee of security than any heavily fortified frontiers. T h ey must become able to collaborate for the fulfilment of their common interests' as closely with one another as possible. After this war the question of an economic Organisation of Europe will take first place. From the economic point of view the Balkans are a self-contained unit, and the quicker the Balkan people grasp that the quicker they w ill be able to organise their collaboration. It is on Yugoslavia and Greece, just because they took the initiative in the struggle for the political freedom of the Balkans, that the duty falls to take the initiative for its economic Organisation after the war.

In these historical hours let us look into the future, and let us create the conditions for happier days for the Balkans and the Danubian countries. Yugoslavia is ready to take her part and collaborate in the great work of promoting peace and unity.

W e call on all the peoples of the Balkans and Danubian coun- tries, who wish to live in peace, unity, and love, to gather round the banner of Balkan freedom, solidarity, and union.

YUGOSLAVIA

UNITED

The Jerusalem Declaration of the Yugo- slav Government on May 4, 1941:

P

L A C E D a t t h e h e a d o f t h e c o u n t r y b y t h e c o n f i d e n c e o f t h e K i n g , a n d u n a n i m o u s l y s u p p o r t e d b y t h e p e o p l e , t h e S i m o - v i ć G o v e r n m e n t s e t i t s e l f a d o u b l e t a s k — t o m a i n t a i n o r d e r i n t h e c o u n t r y a n d p e a c e a b r o a d .

T o m a i n t a i n o r d e r i n t h e c o u n t r y w e e n d e a v o u r e d t o m i t i - g a t e t h e r u l e o f p r e v i o u s g o v e r n m e n t s , a r u l e w h i c h h a d b e e n t h e c a u s e o f l a s t i n g d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n i n t h e c o u n t r y . T h e p r e s e n t G o v e r n m e n t t h e r e f o r e t o o k i m m e d i a t e s t e p s t o a c h i e v e t h i s e n d . N o t h i n g w a s c h a n g e d i n t h e S e r b o - C r o a t A g r e e m e n t o f A u g u s t 2 6 , 1 9 3 9 , b u t n e w r e g u l a t i o n s w e r e l a i d d o w n t o p u t i t i n t o e f f e c t . T h e e n t r y o f M . M a č e k a n d o f h i s c o l l a b o r a t o r s i n t o t h e G o v e r n ­ m e n t w a s t h e b e s t g u a r a n t e e t h a t t h e A g r e e m e n t w a s t o b e o n e o f

t h e p o l i t i c a l f o u n d a t i o n s o f t h e S t a t e .

W h e n o n A p r i l 6 G e r m a n y a t t a c k e d u s w i t h e x t r e m e b r u t a - l i t y , w i t h o u t t h e s l i g h t e s t p r o v o c a t i o n o n o u r p a r t , b o m b i n g B e i ­ g r a d e a n d s l a u g h t e r i n g t h e p o p u l a t i o n o f t h e C a p i t a l , a l l p a r t i e s w i t h o u t d i s t i n c t i o n , a n d i n c o m p l e t e a g r e e m e n t w i t h t h e G o v e r n ­ m e n t , w e r e u n a n i m o u s i n t h e v i e w t h a t t h i s w a r , w h i c h h a d b e e n f o r c e d u p o n u s , w a s a w a r f o r t h e i n d e p e n d e n c e o f t h e c o u n t r y . A l l s o c i a l c l a s s e s o f t h e n a t i o n s h o w e d t h a t t h e y w e r e p r e p a r e d t o m a k e a n y s a c r i f i c e i n t h i s f i g h t f o r o u r n a t i o n a l l i b e r t y . N o w h e r e w a s e n e m y p r o p a g a n d a a b l e t o w e a k e n t h i s s e n t i m e n t .

E n e m y p r o p a g a n d a f i r s t a i m e d a t f o s t e r i n g i l l - f e e l i n g b e - t w e e n S e r b s a n d C r o a t s , a n d e s t r a n g i n g u s f r o m o n e a n o t h e r . I t i s n o w t r y i n g t o t u r n t h e o c c u p a t i o n o f t h e C r o a t d i s t r i c t s t o t h e s a m e p u r p o s e . U n d e r t h e p r o t e c t i o n o f t h e a r m y o f o c c u p a t i o n , f o r e i g n a g e n t s h a v e p r o c l a i m e d a s o - c a l l e d i n d e p e n d e n t C r o a t i a . T h e w h o l e C r o a t p e o p l e , h o w e v e r , k n o w t h a t w h a t i s a i m e d a t i s n o t a n i n d e p e n d e n t C r o a t i a , b u t t h e w o r s t t y p e o f c o l o n y o f a

f o r e i g n c o u n t r y . F o r t h i s r e a s o n t h e C r o a t s a n d t h e i r l e g i t i m a t e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s i n t h e p r e s e n t G o v e r n m e n t w i l l h a v e n o t h i n g t o d o w i t h a m a n o e u v r e o b v i o u s l y e n g i n e e r e d f r o m a b r o a d .

I n o u r f o r e i g n p o l i c y w e h a v e e n d e a v o u r e d t o m a i n t a i n p e a c e . W e t r i e d , b y a l l p o s s i b l e m e a n s , t o s a v e o u r p e o p l e , w h o h a d m a d e e v e r y s a c r i f i c e t o a c h i e v e t h e i r f r e e d o m a n d d e s i r e d n o t h i n g o f w h a t b e l o n g e d t o o t h e r s , f r o m t h e h o r r o r s a n d d e v a s - t a t i o n o f w a r . W e t h o u g h t t h a t p e a c e w o u l d b e b e t t e r s a f e - g u a r d e d b y a p o l i c y o f s t r i c t n e u t r a l i t y a n d t h e l o y a l f u l f i l m e n t o f a l l o u r i n t e r n a t i o n a l o b l i g a t i o n s . T h e T h r e e - P o w e r P a c t , s i g n e d a f t e r t h e e v e n t s i n R u m a n i a a n d B u l g a r i a , c a u s e d g r e a t u n e a s i n e s s i n t h e m i n d s o f o u r p e o p l e . T h e a t t i -