Axis invasion of Yugoslavia

Invasion of Yugoslavia
Part of the Balkans Campaign of World War II
Illustration of the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia from the Why We Fight series
Date 6–18 April 1941 Location Yugoslavia Result Axis victory Occupation of Yugoslavia Partition of Yugoslavia between the Axis Creation of pro-Axis puppet states Continuation as a guerrilla war
Belligerents
Axis Powers:  Germany  Italy Hungary	Yugoslavia
Commanders and leaders
Walther von Brauchitsch Maximilian von Weichs Wilhelm List Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist Alexander Löhr Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen Vittorio Ambrosio Alessandro Pirzio Biroli Elemér Gorondy-Novák	Dušan Simović Danilo Kalafatović Milorad Petrović Milutin Nedić Milan Nedić Vladimir Čukavac Dimitrije Živković Borivoje Mirković
Strength
Germany: 337,096 875 tanks 990 aircraft Italy: 22 divisions 666 aircraft Hungary: 9 brigades 6 air squadrons	700,000 (400,000 of which were poorly trained) 110–200 tanks (50–54 of which were modern) 460–505 aircraft (including 103 modern bombers and 107 modern fighter aircraft)
Casualties and losses
Germany: 151 killed 392 wounded 15 missing 40 aircraft shot down Italy: 3,324 killed or wounded 10+ aircraft shot down, 22 damaged. Hungary: 120 killed 223 wounded 13 missing 7 aircraft shot down	Thousands of civilians and soldiers killed 254,000–345,000 captured by Germans, 30,000 by Italians 49 aircraft shot down, 103 pilots and aircrew killed 210–300 aircraft captured 3 destroyers and 3 submarines captured

Axis victory

The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put forward in "Führer Directive No. 25", which Adolf Hitler issued on 27 March 1941, following the Yugoslav coup d'état.

The invasion commenced with an overwhelming air attack on Belgrade and facilities of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force (VVKJ) by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) and attacks by German land forces from southwestern Bulgaria. These attacks were followed by German thrusts from Romania, Hungary and the Ostmark. Italian forces were limited to air and artillery attacks until 11 April, when the Italian army attacked towards Ljubljana (in modern-day Slovenia) and through Istria and Lika and down the Dalmatian coast. On the same day, Hungarian forces entered Yugoslav Bačka and Baranya, but like the Italians they faced practically no resistance. A Yugoslav attack into the northern parts of the Italian protectorate of Albania met with initial success, but was inconsequential due to the collapse of the rest of the Yugoslav forces.

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