At the Belvedere in Vienna, on 25 March 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia accedes to the Tripartite Pact (the Axis). The principal signatories are Joachim von Ribbentrop (Germany) and Prime Minister Dragiša Cvetković (Yugoslavia). The document is transcribed by ambassador Ivo Andrić.

Under the agreement the Axis powers respect Yugoslav sovereignty and territorial integrity and neither seek permission to move troops through Yugoslavia nor request military assistance. Germany accepts in notes the guarantees demanded by Regent Prince Paul and Cvetković after months of diplomatic pressure.

Context: after the Anschluss, Italy’s occupation of Albania and the accession of Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria to the Pact (November 1940–March 1941), Yugoslavia is encircled. Hitler hurries accession before Barbarossa; on 4 March he receives Paul at the Berghof. The Crown Council votes for accession, seeing the army unprepared and no concrete British military aid.

The next day Belgrade chants “Better the grave than a slave, better a war than the pact.” On 27 March a British-backed coup removes Paul and proclaims Peter II of age; Simović’s new government refuses ratification.

Hitler issues Directive 25; on 6 April the Axis invade Yugoslavia and Greece. Belgrade is bombed; the country surrenders on 18 April 1941. The accession of 25 March thus lasts only two days of effective government.

Yugoslavia’s accession to the Tripartite Pact on 25 March 1941 remains the episode that triggered the coup and, immediately, the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia.

Image: Belvedere / period; Wikimedia Commons. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Yugoslav accession to the Tripartite Pact. Treaty text: Prelude to Barbarossa: Germany and the Balkans (Journal of Modern History / JSTOR).