Führer Directive No. 25 () was a March 1941 directive issued by German dictator Adolf Hitler during World War II. It ordered German intervention against Yugoslavia and Greece in the Balkans campaign, in particular focusing on the invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia.
Background
In October 1940, Fascist Italy had attacked the Kingdom of Greece only to be forced back into Italian-occupied Albania. German dictator Adolf Hitler recognised the need to go to the aid of his ally, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Hitler did this not only to restore diminished Axis prestige, but also to prevent Britain from bombing the Romanian Ploiești oilfields from which Nazi Germany obtained most of its oil.
In 1940 and early 1941, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria all agreed to adhere to the Tripartite Pact and thus join the Axis. Hitler then pressured Yugoslavia to join as well. The Regent, Prince Paul, yielded to this pressure, and declared Yugoslavia's accession to the Pact on 25 March 1941. This move was highly unpopular with the Serb-dominated officer corps of the military, various Serbian organizations, a large part of the Serbian population as well as liberals and Communists. Military officers (predominantly Serbs) executed a coup d'état on 27 March 1941, forced the Regent to resign, and declared 17-year-old King Peter II to be of age.
On the same day as the coup in Yugoslavia, Hitler issued Führer Directive 25, which called for Yugoslavia to be treated as a hostile state. Hitler took the coup as a personal insult, and was so angered that he was determined, in his words, "to destroy Yugoslavia militarily and as a state" (Jugoslawien militärisch und als Staatsgebilde zu zerschlagen) and to do so "with pitiless harshness"International Military Tribunal, The Trial of German Major War Criminals, Judgement: The Aggression Against Yugoslavia And Greece , p. 32. and "without waiting for possible declarations of loyalty of the new government".
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Strategic consequences
The German-led Axis powers launched simultaneous invasions of both Yugoslavia and Greece, commencing on 6 April 1941; both nations were forced to surrender within the month, and were subsequently occupied and partitioned among the Axis members and their newly-created puppet states. The invasion of Yugoslavia was initiated with the heavy German bombing of the capital Belgrade, which devastated the city and killed thousands of civilians. The airborne invasion of the Greek island of Crete at the end of May completed the German conquest of the Balkans.
With their victory on Crete the Germans had secured their southern flank and turned their attention towards the Soviet Union. The reason most commonly cited for the postponement of Operation Barbarossa from the initially planned date of 15 May to the actual invasion date of 22 June 1941 (a 38-day delay) is the unforeseen contingency of invading Yugoslavia and Greece from April to June 1941.
Legacy In November 2023, the Republic of Serbia acquired one of the original copies of Directive No. 25 at an auction in the United States. The document is held by the Serbian government since January 2024, and has been displayed in the National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade. This acquisition underscores the directive's historical significance and its impact on Serbian national consciousness.
Gallery
See also List of Adolf Hitler's directives World War II in Yugoslavia The Holocaust in Yugoslavia Military history of Greece during World War II Axis occupation of Greece The Holocaust in Greece Wilhelm Keitel – Chief of the High Command of the German Armed Forces Walther von Brauchitsch – Head of the High Command of the German Army (1938–1941) Hermann Göring – Head of the High Command of the German Air Force Viktor von Heeren – German Ambassador to Yugoslavia (1933–1941) Victor zu Erbach-Schönberg – German Ambassador to Greece (1936–1941)
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