Friendship and non-aggression treaty between the USSR and Yugoslavia

Abstract

The article deals with the Soviet-Yugoslav relations on the eve of World War II, developed in adverse conditions. This was primarily due to the fact that the Yugoslav government headed by Cvetkovic had rapprochement to the Axis Powers. His trips together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs to Berchtesgaden, and later to Vienna led to Belgrade's accession to the Tripartite Pact. Rumors about the imminent catastrophe were spread immediately. Seeing that it is impossible to save the monarchical dictatorship, a group of Yugoslav generals and officers connected with the opposition bourgeois parties and the British Intelligence service decided to pre-empt the developments and eliminate the unpopular government. They staged a coup on March 27. The Regency Council headed by Prince Paul and pro-German cabinet of Cvetkovic-Macek was overthrown. The commander of the Yugoslav Air Force General Simovic headed the new government. It ran to signing of the Treaty of friendship and non-aggression with the Soviet Union, which has not entered into force as a result of German aggression against Yugoslavia.