The Axis Invasion of Yugoslavia (1941) – The Battle of Yugoslavia

The German invasion of Yugoslavia took place in April 1941 and is also known as Operation Punishment or the April War. Also the Italians and Hungarians took part in the Battle of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia initially joined the Triparte Pact but shortly after a military coup took place. Hitler vowed to destroy Yugoslavia and on 6 April the Yugoslav campaign started. The Battle for Yugoslavia (1941) was be concluded in twelve days. On 10 April 1941 the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) was proclaimed. After the German take-over Yugoslavia was partitioned by the Germans, Italians, Hungarians and Bulgarians.
History Hustle presents: The Axis Invasion of Yugoslavia (1941) – The Battle of Yugoslavia.

SOURCES
– Hitler's New Disorder. The Second World War in Yugoslavia (Stevan K. Pavlowitch).
– Death of the Wehrmacht. The German Campaigns of 1942 (Robert M. Citino).

IMAGES

VIDEO
Video material from:
Vežbe inženjerijske jedinice Jugoslovenske vojske kod Čukarice, 1940
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MUSIC
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

SOUNDS

[HistoryHustle]

More forgotten WW2 battles in THIS PLAYLIST:

[GiuseppeDeRosa]

I like how he talks about the smaller countries that nobody talks about during WW2.

[jeffreywacker]

Even as a student of WW2, pre and post, I still find your videos highly informative and entertaining. We need more teachers like you.

[rustymetal]

3:50 "the Yugoslav air force had just a few modern planes". Actually, the Yugoslav air arm was very modern and big for the size and economic standing of Yugoslavia. Since both the Allies and Germany wanted to win over Yugoslavia to their side, Yugoslavia could buy both modern German and British aircraft. The fighter force included 73 Me-109Es and 47 Hurricanes, the bomber fleet 69 Dornier 17s, 61 Bristol Blenheims and 42 SM 79s. None of these were regarded as obsolete in 1941.

[GoogleAccount-tflh]

Very disappointed that this guy does not have more than a million subscribers, the quality of the videos are better than a lot of other channels

[itsblitz]

Yugoslavian history is so interesting, Not a lot of people or historians discuss about it. I am glad you are taking the time to explain the less-than-discussed the invasion of Yugoslavia and occupation.

[anonymousphantom]

For the Axis, the invasion was easy and swift. But during the occupation, they faced continuous resistance from Yugoslav partisans.

[SashJ.McMishmosh]

Thank you, you always do a great job. My grandmother lived in Yugoslavia during the war. Shame what happened many people from different places living in peace prewar.

[mikewest]

What a beauty spot to film on location!
What will we learn next!
Just let’s me have something always to look forward too!!
Thanks again!!

[daviddoran]

Great to see you on location!!!! That's the real joy of military

[Hunnia]

You forgot to mention the unorthodox strategy of the Hungarian prime minister during the invasion. By commiting suicide, he managed to delay the allied declaration of war for about 600 days.

[jamesbodnarchuk]

Very interesting! Didn’t know to much about the invasion of the Balkans. Thanks Stephan for explaining!

[georgekaragiannakis]

Thanks Stefan for another important episode of WW2. Noteworthy, the invasion of Yugoslavia was necessitated by the victory of Greece over Italy’s invasion on 28 October 1940. The inability of the Yugoslav, Greek and British militaries to agree on a common strategy meant that the sudden collapse of the Yugoslav army (11 days) opened the Monastir valley and exposed northern Greece to the panzer thrust that led to the ultimate defeat on mainland Greece. It would be good if you did a follow up episode on the Greek campaign.

[johnvanstone]

Another excellent video Stefan, keep them coming please 🇬🇧✌️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[Lawrance_of_Albania]

My grandgrandfather was yugoslav soldier in 1941.

How mobilization was poor tells his story, he recived letter for mobilazation, guy had to walk for some~70km to Belgrade, witch took day and a half. Once he came in belgrade, instead of yugoslav army he was greeted by germans standing on tanks.

[draug]

I like how you put the spotlight on those more or less forgotten(at least here in the west) parts of the war. D-day and operation barbarossa in all glory but there are so many books, documentaries and YT videos about them basically pumping out the same information over and over again. The more obscure battles, formations and events are just as as interesting.

[tecnics]

Dude i have to congratulate you for this vid, is great. is not common to see channels talking about yugoslavia, ¡thanks for making this kind of vids!

[oceanhome]

The landscape in your background looks very inviting!

[mohamedadelabughrara]

I absolutely love those on location videos. Great video 👍🏻

[archstanton]

Well done, my friend. You are a very good teacher. I enjoy our shared passion for this history. Thanks.