The events of March 27, 1941 put the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on the winning side of history in World War II. Yugoslavia was and remained part of the anti-fascist coalition and one of the founders of the United Nations Organization in the spring of 1945.

Using old clichés, it is often repeated that Yugoslavia could have preserved its existence by signing the Triple Pact and that the Serbian people would have been spared casualties, that communism would not have won, that the coup was a British action. Really? What do the sources tell us about the real plans of the leaders of the Axis powers, and what about the others?

According to the Italian notes of the conversation with Hitler on July 7, 1940, it is stated that "Yugoslavia as it is now will not be able to have the right of citizenship in the new Europe created by the Axis". The German notes state that due to the current circumstances, the final solution for Yugoslavia is (slightly) delayed: "It is important to note that Yugoslavia is not friendly to the Axis and that in the New Europe after the war it will not have the right to retain any of its present form." and that the Führer, "who holds everything in his hands," decides the moment when it will be carried out. Hitler spoke of the delimitation of zones of influence and emphasized that when the time came, "the Yugoslav problem will be solved according to Italian guidelines", mentioning other claims. Satellite, revisionist regimes were also informed of the intentions: Dalmatia was projected to be in the Italian zone, Slovenia and most of Croatia in the German zone, Hungary following a good part of the current border to Zemun. It was heard in the Bulgarian capital that they were told in Berlin that Yugoslavia would be reduced to the borders of Old Serbia, and Greece, which is an ally of England, would be subjected to "the treatment it deserves".

At the same time, intensifying the pressure, Hitler convinced the prince on March 4 that "Yugoslavia is being given a unique opportunity, which will not be repeated, to establish and secure its position in a reorganized Europe." By siding with the Axis powers, Yugoslavia could provide Germany with a permanent guarantee of its territorial integrity."

Similarly, in 1938 he convinced France and Britain – that his intentions towards Czechoslovakia were only related to the Sudetenland. At the same time he had secret plans to dismember that country. The Allies thereby gave him weapons for 30 divisions, as well as the Czech military industry.

In the midst of the drama with the pressures of the Axis and the offer of the USA for Yugoslavia not to side with the fascist countries and thus to remain on the "right and victorious side", although temporarily subdued, Milan Gavrilović, the representative of the Kingdom in Moscow, calls his minister Cincar-Marković on February 18, 1941, with a telegram Pov. no. 145: "Whether Yugoslavia accepted the Führer's demands or not, her fate was sealed." If he accepts, he can still save a status like that of Slovakia for Serbia, and if not, it will be completely destroyed. When asked what about the rest of Yugoslavia, he said: Bosnia goes to Croatia and thus becomes an integral part of the Italian Empire with the status of a protectorate. The Slovenian goes to the Germans. The rest is divided among Hungarians, Bulgarians and again Italians."

Gavrilović's source was a friendly representative of one of the Axis countries, who relayed to him his conversations with German diplomats in Moscow.

History has shown this information to be correct: dismemberment was carried out along these lines in April 1941. The accuracy of the report of the Yugoslav military attaché in Berlin dated December 28, 1940, that the plan for the war against Yugoslavia had been completed in October, was also confirmed. When that report was handed to Prince Paul in January 1941, he simply refused to believe it, believing it could be a British plot.

Was March 27 a British coup? Let's pay attention to the fact that all reports from Belgrade until the late hours of March 26 indicated that the coup was not yet certain. Those who were financially supported by the British (not the actual organizers) promise that they may reach him in a few days because they are still looking for a person among the retired (!) generals to take the lead. When everything was successfully completed, and Churchill was delighted, the British representatives in Belgrade in their reports and statements began to claim the merits. Yes, the British were looking for him, their secret services had agents and prepared diversions on the Danube and on communication links, but the soldiers who carried it out had been planning their action since 1937, against Milan Stojadinović and Prince Pavle. The British could not have organized such demonstrations in Serbia as broke out after the coup became known, without it being a spontaneous outpouring of the nation's feelings in accordance with its sense of justice and freedom.

Not only in Britain, the coup was greeted and celebrated as a rebellion of freedom-loving people against evil on many sides, including in occupied and unoccupied parts of France, where people came out in spontaneous demonstrations.

The column was published in the Serbian daily "Policy"