For all of us who have been wondering about the warring going on in the Balkans here's something to think about for a bit."On learning at what had happened, Hitler ordered Yugoslavia to be destroyed. Ten days later at, at 5 a.m. on Palm Sunday 6 April, the fuirst German troops entered Yugoslavia and soon wave after wave of German bombers were systematically obliterating Belgrade. "Operation Punishment " had begun. The campaign was over in a few days. Skoplje fell on 9 April, Zagreb on 10 April, Ljubljana on 11 April, and Belgrade on 12 April. On 16 April King Peter left the country. On 17 April the High Command capitulated.
Yugoslavia, the Fuhrer had decided, must cease to exist. Her place on the map must be taken in future by a large, nominally independent Croatia, closely linked to the Axis, and by a separate and much diminished Serbia under German occupation. Her remaining territories would be distributed piecemeal among her neighbors, Germany and Italy,
Hungary, Bulgaria, and Albania."
pp. 43-44
"What was left of Serbia was now placed under direct German military control, a puppet government of half-hearted Serbian quislings under General Milan Nedic being later formed for administrative purposes. Slovenia was divided between Germany and Italy. The Italians occupied Montenegro, most of Dalmatia, and parts of Croatia. The Bacvka went
to Hungary, Macedonia to Bulgaria, and the historic plain of Kosovo to the Albanians. By the end of April, Yugoslavia had ceased to exist."
pp. 44-45
Maclean, Fitzroy. (1980). Tito: A Pictorial Biography. MacMillan London Limited.
