Aleksandar Životić
Soviet Diplomacy on First Days of Occupation of Serbia (April-June 1941)
Abstract: The paper analyzes the assessment of Soviet diplomacy regarding the consequences of the Yugoslav military breakdown during the April War, based on unpublished and largely unknown documentary sources resulting from the work of the Soviet diplomatic service, the character of the occupational division of the Yugoslav territory, with special reference to the Serbian national space, the establishment of an occupation system, education of the occupying governing bodies, the first political, economic and repressive measures of the German military authorities, problems in supplying the population, reconstruction of the wrecked infrastructure, and the evacuation of diplomatic missions in Belgrade.
Key words: Serbia, Yugoslavia, Soviet Union, Belgrade, April War, occupation, 1941, diplomacy.
After the end of the April War and the capitulation of the Yugoslav Army, the Soviet mission remained in Belgrade for about a month. During this time, despite the strictly controlled sources of information, as well as the controlled and restricted movement of its diplomatic officers, the Soviet mission became acquainted with the characteristics of the German occupation regime on the territory of Yugoslavia, and especially in Serbia proper, which was under direct German military administration. The image formed by observing the organization of German military and civilian authorities in the field, as well as the use of domestic administrative authorities to implement the main occupation policy measures more effectively, served as a basic representation of the Soviet diplomatic authorities on the German administration's behavior in the occupied territories. At the same time, analyzing the modes of economic exploitation of the occupied areas by the Germans represented a way to look at a thoroughly organized and designed system of full economic exploitation of the occupied space. Soviet diplomats also sought to testify neutrally about the harsh occupation order against Serbian citizens and the extent of the destruction of Belgrade and Serbia during the April War. The Soviet diplomatic mission also used the time spent in occupied Belgrade to analyze and evaluate the political situation in Serbia and its ability to organize resistance to the invader.