In World War II, Germany invaded Yugoslavia, which can be said to be smooth sailing. From the beginning of the invasion on April 6, 1941, to the end of the invasion on April 17, 1941, it took Less than half a month for Germany to be pacified. But for Germany, entering the Balkans to fight is really a matter of more than worth the loss, after all, it is known as the "Balkan powder keg", and the Yugoslav state is small and weak, with no oil and water. So why did Germany enter?
1. Balkan powder kegs
The Balkans are actually a very pit place, which is known as the European powder keg.
The word "Balkan" comes from the Balkan mountains within Bulgaria and Serbia, and the word may come from the Turkish word balkan, meaning "wooded mountains".
Another theory is that the word comes from the Persian word ''bālkāneh'' or ''bālākhāna'' meaning 'tall and magnificent house'.
In the 11th and 12th centuries, Turkish tribes brought the word into the Balkans and used it as a place name. Turkmenistan in Central Asia still has the State of Balkan, which retains the earliest usage of the word.
But this place has mountains, and there are tall and magnificent houses. But unfortunately, there is no more living and working in peace. Historically, the Balkans were typical powder kegs, blown up at one point and fried one piece at a time.
A typical example is the First World War, because it was someone in the Balkans who raised a pistol and fired a few shots in Sarajevo, and then the First World War broke out.
The reason for this is that the Balkans are highly contradictory, attacking each other is a daily phenomenon, and there is a strange chain of contempt and hatred. Romania, for example, has a feud with Hungary because of centuries-old ethnic and territorial disputes.
So on the battlefield, Romania and Hungary were more willing to fight each other than to fight the Soviets, with the aim of killing each other. Therefore, on the battlefield, the Germans had to separate the troops of the two countries, otherwise they would certainly fight first.
Yugoslavia, on the other hand, is a model of national contradiction in the Balkans.
In Yugoslavia, the national contradictions can be described as extreme.
In addition to the Serbs, who are the main body, there are Croats and Slovenes, but unfortunately they look down on each other, either because of the language or because of the faith.
Therefore, before the establishment of the country, the three parties can be described as constantly in conflict. It is not easy to get together and make a country. Of course, if you ignore the big and small problems here, this is not bad.
Even if there was a Hitler in Europe later, the situation was not particularly complicated.
For for Hitler, what he had to do was not to conquer these small countries of Eastern and Southern Europe, but to pull them into his Axis powers.
Although prince Paul, the leader of Yugoslavia at that time, tried his best to avoid too much intersection with Germany, Germany's strong military power still affected him.
After all, he was powerless to defy Germany, nor could he disobey Hitler's will. For Yugoslavia, a real dilemma has arrived.
Second, the plight of Yugoslavia
At that time, Yugoslavia was already the last neutral country in the Balkans, and countries such as Hungary and Bulgaria had joined the Axis powers, which put great pressure on Yugoslavia. In particular, the german army poured in like a tide, which made Yugoslavia feel the pressure.
Because as long as the Yugoslav government accidentally angered Hitler, Yugoslavia would be destroyed. A mighty German army would sweep through Yugoslavia at once, and the countries that followed Yugoslavia would inevitably dismember Yugoslavia like hungry wolves.
On the other hand, Hitler's offers made it difficult for Yugoslavia to refuse.
Hitler stated that he had no intention of invading Yugoslavia, and that he only wanted Yugoslavia to join the Axis powers. On the contrary, as long as Yugoslavia signs, he can get the port of Thessaloniki that he dreamed of and consolidate his future position in the new European order.
With such a good thing, Prince Paul, of course, hastened to agree to it. Soon he announced that Yugoslavia was about to join the Axis powers.
Strictly speaking, Prince Paul was right, but that doesn't mean that Yugoslavs think so.
From the moment he announced his accession, the Yugoslavs were filled with hatred, and the angry crowd immediately surrounded the Yugoslav palace, and letters flew into the offices of Yugoslav cabinet members and military leaders like snowflakes.
There is only one content, can not join the Axis Powers, if Prince Paul announces to join, they will take assassination operations. There were also many officials within the government who objected, claiming that if they joined the Axis, they would immediately resign.
More importantly, the international situation is not ideal for Yugoslavia either. Both the United States and the United Kingdom expressed shock at Yugoslavia's imminent entry into the Axis powers.
Roosevelt in the United States was still implicit, saying that Prince Paul's move was to upset the balance of the Balkan Peninsula and was not a wise move. Churchill of England, on the other hand, was much more emotional, scolding in a telegram that Prince Paul had brought Yugoslavia into a state of perdition, and that Prince Paul was going to hell in the future.
But reality left Prince Paul with no choice, although his advisers told him that if the treaty was signed and the Axis powers were joined, then a domestic uprising could occur.
But in the face of German pressure, especially the growing German military pressure in the Balkans, Prince Paul could do nothing, and he told his staff: "I have no way, I am forced to be helpless, I can only give in." ”
However, radicals in the country did not heed his explanation, and on March 27, a military coup d'état was launched against Serbian officers who had joined the Axis powers, and King Peter II took the place of Prince Paul in charge.
The people of Yugoslavia generally had a favorable view of Britain, and they cheered for the coup. People hang the British flag at street lamps. The national anthem is sung, and people carry a portrait of King George V through the streets.
Churchill excitedly told the members of the House of Representatives after receiving the news: "Yugoslavia has rediscovered her soul." ”
When the news reached Berlin, Germany, Hitler thought it was a message from the German Embassy in Yugoslavia, an April Fool's Joke that had arrived early.
It was not until German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop came to inform him of the more detailed report that Hitler returned the favor, and the emotional victory was taken away at the last minute.
This made him feel unacceptable, and for Hitler it was a naked insult.
He described the Coup d'état in Yugoslavia this way: "If God wants some people to perish, he must make some people crazy!" "It can be seen that the Balkan Peninsula, especially Yugoslavia, will inevitably fall into a bloody storm.
III. Balkan Campaign
Hitler was so angry not without reason, because the Balkans were indeed very important to him.
First of all, the minerals of the Balkans include copper, mercury, chromium, lead, zinc, oil, iron and coal, which are extremely important to Germany.
You know, Germany's resources are scarce, can be more than one, especially the Balkan Peninsula is very rich in resources. For Germany, therefore, the Balkans are imperative.
After additional control of the Balkans,
Germany had access to the Black Sea, and its bombers could take off from Romania to bomb Sevastopol, the anchorage of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet. At the same time, it was possible to spread the front along the Ukrainian border when attacking the Soviet Union.
That is, if the Balkan Peninsula were to be controlled, the Black Sea would be completely blockaded by Germany when attacking the Soviet Union. Of course, this consideration is also based on the fact that Turkey has remained neutral in the war, so the only way to blockade the Black Sea is to fight for the Balkan Peninsula.
But the awkward problem was that the axis prestige was affected by Italy's defeat in Greece.
Despite Hitler's repeated dissuade Mussolini, do not take any drastic military action in the Balkans.
But Mussolini, who was very happy, believed that the pacification of Greece was only in an instant, so he did not listen to Hitler's words and directly sent troops to invade Greece.
The result is very full of ideals, and the reality is very bone. The Italian army, with its "fine tradition" (experience of surrender), was once again defeated. Beaten by the Greeks, Albania, which had been hard to occupy, was also partly occupied by the Greeks.
What was even more unbearable was that not only the Greeks and Italians were fighting each other, but also the British.
The Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, led by The British General Henry Maitland Wilson, the W Corps, arrived in Greece.
This meant that the British extended their tentacles to the Balkans.
If Britain had deployed bombers in Greece, Britain would have been able to bomb German oil fields in Romania.
This is a terrible thing for Germany, because Germany's oil is completely dependent on the Romanian oil fields, and if it is hit here, then Germany will fall into a terrible oil shortage, which is completely unacceptable to Germany.
Even more frightening, if Yugoslavia fell to Britain, the British W Corps would immediately advance into Yugoslavia, threatening Germany's deployment in the Balkans.
If this problem cannot be solved, not only at the time of the Barbarossa Plan,
The British W Corps is likely to launch a destructive offensive that would cut off the logistical passage of the German Army Group South.
What is even more frightening is that if both Yugoslavia and Greece fell to Britain,
Turkey, on the other hand, could not guarantee neutrality and would inevitably open the strait to the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, leading to the Mediterranean Fleet entering the Black Sea.
In this way, Romania is not just bombed.
The British might even launch a landing operation in Romania, and the fragile Romanian army was unlikely to resist the British.
In this way, not only the oil fields will be destroyed, but even the rear road of the Southern Army Group will be completely cut off. Even the Turks would have appeared in Romania, eventually leading to the complete collapse of the southern front in the Barbarossa Plan.
So in order to avoid this situation, the Germans must eliminate the Yugoslav resistance as soon as possible, and immediately march into Greece and drive the British out of the Balkans to prevent this series of terrible situations.
The new Yugoslav leaders, who had seized power at this point, found themselves in an awkward position and realized that although the British acknowledged and even supported the coup, they could not provide them with any protection.
So they immediately picked up Prince Paul's policy and declared their continued loyalty to the Axis.
But none of this could dispel Hitler's suspicions, much less offset his ambition to eliminate Yugoslavia. In order to eliminate this threat, even if he knew that the Balkan Peninsula was a powder keg, Hitler could only choose to ignite its war.
epilogue
In the end, the balkans, the powder keg, were ignited by the Germans. Yugoslavia was easily conquered by Germany in the war, and Greece became Germany's next target.
After all, the Germans still had to save their indisputable allies, the Italians. But for this reason, the Germans had to slow down their offensive against the Soviet Union, and the consequences of attacking Yugoslavia were far more than that.
Reference: History of the Second World War
German Paratroopers of World War II
Battlefield Diary of the High Command of the Wehrmacht
The Battle of Crete