NEW YUGOSLAV REGIME

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23928, 31 March 1941, Page 7

NEW YUGOSLAV REGIME

PUBLIC'S SYMPATHIES WITH ALLIES GERMANS LEAVING CAPITAL BERLIN'S REVIVAL OF SUDETEN TACTICS (Received March 20, 7.10 p.m.) LONDON, March 20 The new Yugoslav Government has still made no statement in more than general terms on foreign policy, but popular demonstrations continue against Germany and for the democracies. Britons and Americans were cheered in the streets, and the Greek Minister was chaired shoulder-high. The Belgrade radio is reported to have announced that a state of siege, which is a modified form of martial law, has been proclaimed in Yugoslavia. The people hSve been asked to obey the orders of the army and prevent the foreign element from taking advantage of the situation to cause trouble. According to the Belgrade correspondent of the British United Press, the German Legation burned its documents yesterday afternoon. The German Minister, von Herren, is reported to have been recalled to Berlin. All Germans except diplomats and those with urgent business are to return to Germany on Monday. It is now revealed that the German tourist bureau was wrecked on Friday night. Tactics similar to those used by Hitler to split Czecho-Slovakia before the Munich pact are developing in Yugoslavia, American correspondents report. The Berlin radio has been broadcasting all day stories of disturbances in Yugoslavia. It alleged that the Croats refused to collaborate with the Serbs, and that Serbian civil guards were trickling into Zagreb in an attempt to force the population to join the new movement. The Croats, Berlin said, were awaiting further events, showing that they were determined not to take part in any adventurous policy dictated from Belgrade. The Yugoslav wireless services have ceased to broadcast Axis-inspired news. The editor of the pro-Axis newspaper, Vreme, has been arrested, and German sympathisers on the staffs of other newspapers and also of Government institutions have been suspended or detained. It is reported that those arrested include the chief of police, the chief censor, and the editor of the journal Avala. All the former Ministers have been released with the exception of M. Tsvetkovich and M. Cincar-Markovich, who signed the Axis Pact.

DRAMATIC ARREST

FORMER PREMIER SCENE IN BEDROOM COUP BiY AIR OFFICERS GENERAL AWAKES KING (Rccd. 7.10 p.m.) LONDON, March 2!> A dramatic highlight, of the coup in Yugoslavia was the arrest, at pistol-point, of the then Prime Minister, M. Tsvetkovieh, in his bedroom. The coup was carried out by about 300 Air Force officers, supported by officers of the Boyal Guards, on plans prepared by General Dusan-Simovich, the present Prime Minister. Government and public buildings were seized first, says the Belgrade correspondent, of the Times, and then the Cabinet Ministers were arrested. A group of Air Force officers entered the bedroom of M. Tsvetkovieh and their leader, Captain Rakotchevieh. wakened him. saying: "Please follow me " Officer Draws Pistol M. Tsvetkovieh went pale, and asked. 'What right have you to ask me to obey such orders? I certainly will not obey." Captain Rakotchevieh then drew his revolver, saying, "March, or I fire!" This time M. Tsvetkovieh obeyed. When all the Government and public buildings were occupied, and all the Cabinet Ministers* were under lock and key, General Dusan-Simovich drove to the Royal Palace and asked that the King should he awakened. Servants protested, but the general insisted The King Informed A few minutes later King Peter appeared in a dressing-gown, heavy-eyed. The general said: "Your Majesty, from now on you are King of Yugoslavia, exercising full sovereign rights." Within 90 minutes Yugoslav troops began to move toward the frontiers. M. Tsvetkovieh later insisted on an interview with General Dusan-Simovich, when he demanded arrogantly, "in whose name have you assumed power?" The general curtly replied: "In the name ol those whom you never represented." M. Isvctkovich and the former I'oreign Minister, M. C'incar-Markovich, arc still held under house arrest. The coup was the cause of only one casualty. A gendarme who did not remember the password was killed. OLDER MEN TO REGISTER (Rccd. 0.30 p.m.) LONDON. March 20 Men ol »41 and >l2 not engaged in civil defence services or a number of stated essential industries will register next Saturday, says a British official wireless message. The purpose of registration is to see whether they can in the national interest be spared from their present employment and, if so, to what more essential work they can be transferred, RECALLED TO TOKIO (Rccd. 8.45 p.m.) SYDNEY, March 30 The .Japanese Consul-General in Sydney, Mr. Akiyama, has been notified of his recall to Tokio for a new post, the nature of which has not been disclosed. He said: "Wherever 1 go I shall continue to promote the friendliest relations between Australia and Japan."

PLAN UPSET

PROBLEM EOli HITLER QUESTION OF PRESTIGE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPLIES (Rccd. 0.30 p.m.) LONDON, March 29 The expectation that in the face of the serious setback to her intrigues in the Balkans, Germany will —at least to begin with—play a waiting game, is common to most of to-day's press comment in London, says a British official wireless message. The Times makes three points regarding the manifestation of national feeling that brought the new Yugoslav Government into power. The first is that the signature appended to the I ripnrtitc Pact may not be repudiated, but the present Government will not permit it to be used as an instrument to assist German aggression against an old friend and ally of three victorious wars. Second, this is not ji military revolution; it is the result of universal popular sentiment; and. third, the German plans have been thrown out of gear. Attitude to Greece Examining the third point, the Times says that before pursuing a direct attack upon Greece through Bulgaria. Germany will now have to decide whether tho Yugoslav Government of to-day would stand by and watch the development of an operation leading toward Salonika, where Yugoslavia has a tree zone—her only present outlet to the world not dominated by the Nazis and Fascists. Germany would have to make up her mind what would be the possible fate of tho Italian forces in Albania, which would be isolated. As to a large-scale invasion of Yugoslavia, vulnerable as that country is north of the Sava, that would mean embarking upon a campaign of the first magnitude, the developments of which no man could foresee. "Turning-point of War" The Times and other newspapers insist, too, on the importance to Germany of not interrupting supplies from south-eastern Europe, either by the hostilities themselves or the extra strain they would impose upon the already overburdened transport system. At the same time, inaction in the face of this reverse would involve serious loss of Nazi prestige, and Hitler is accordingly presented with embarrassing problems. The Times thinks Thursday's events in Belgrade "may come to be looked upon in the future as tho turning-point of the war." it is interesting to note that this estimate of the importance of the Yugoslav revival under King Peter finds similar expression in the press of several capitals, including Madrid and New York. REACTION IN FRANCE MARSEILLES, March '2B Ten thousand demonstrators, shouting "Long live Serbia," surged in the Place do la Bourse, where King Alexander of Yugoslavia .was assassinated in 1934. The demonstration grew spontaneously when it was reported that the new Yugoslav Government was opposed to the Axis,