ABSTRACT
Events in Yugoslavia prevented Hitler from attacking the Soviet Union on 15 May 1941 as originally planned. On 20 March 1941 Yugoslavia joined the Axis, but the overthrow of the Belgrade government by Serbian officers opposed to an alliance with Germany forced Hitler to order German troops, which had been moving into Poland, to move into Yugoslavia and suppress the rebellion.1 This development postponed the invasion of the Soviet Union by more than a month.
