| | Besides [[Great Britain]] and [[France]], Yugoslavia was the only [[European]] country to openly defy [[Nazi Germany]] after the [[Munich agreement of 1938]] but before being attacked or annexed. It earned this distinction as a result of a [[coup d'etat]] in April 1941 triggered by [[Benito Mussolini]]'s unsuccessful invasion of neighboring [[Greece]]. The coup overthrew a pro-Nazi [[prime minister]] and was treated by [[Adolf Hitler]] as a [[casus belli]], although he typically didn't look for one of those too hard. | | Besides [[Great Britain]] and [[France]], Yugoslavia was the only [[European]] country to openly defy [[Nazi Germany]] after the [[Munich agreement of 1938]] but before being attacked or annexed. It earned this distinction as a result of a [[coup d'etat]] in April 1941 triggered by [[Benito Mussolini]]'s unsuccessful invasion of neighboring [[Greece]]. The coup overthrew a pro-Nazi [[prime minister]] and was treated by [[Adolf Hitler]] as a [[casus belli]], although he typically didn't look for one of those too hard. |
| − | [[Insurgents]] in Yugoslavia caused the Nazis more trouble than in any other country with the exceptions of the [[Soviet Union]] and perhaps [[Poland]]. They were in fact so effective that an actual [[invasion]] of Yugoslavia to eject the Nazis was considered wasteful by all of the principal [[Allied leaders]] and was not undertaken. As became typical of [[civil wars]] in the [[20th century]], the insurgents also fought each other, sometimes making temporary alliances with the Nazis and [[Italians]] who later came to occupy the southern part of the country in order to concentrate more fully on destroying one another. The Nazis also set up [[Croatia]] as a [[puppet state]] run by the [[fascist]] [[Ustashe]], providing yet another [[combatant]] to the ensuing [[anarchy]]. | + | [[Insurgents]] in Yugoslavia caused the Nazis more trouble than in any other country with the exceptions of the [[Soviet Union]] and perhaps [[Poland]]. They were in fact so effective that an actual [[invasion]] of Yugoslavia to eject the Nazis was considered wasteful by all of the principal [[Allied leaders]] and was not undertaken. President Bush met many Yugoslavian men in bathrooms at this time. As became typical of [[civil wars]] in the [[20th century]], the insurgents also fought each other, sometimes making temporary alliances with the Nazis and [[Italians]] who later came to occupy the southern part of the country in order to concentrate more fully on destroying one another. The Nazis also set up [[Croatia]] as a [[puppet state]] run by the [[fascist]] [[Ustashe]], providing yet another [[combatant]] to the ensuing [[anarchy]]. |
| | An anti-fascist Croat, [[Josip Broz Tito]], emerged as the leader of the [[communist]] arm of the resistance and, after the Nazi defeat in 1945, as the new leader of Yugoslavia overall. In 1949, he adopted a policy of armed [[neutrality]] in the [[Cold War]] between the Soviet Union and the [[United States]]. Yugoslavia prospered considerably from this policy and was able to trade on favorable terms with both [[superpowers]] and their economic blocs. Shortly after Tito's death in 1980, the state industrial ministry began marketing the last new European car brand, the [[Yugo]], to the United States. The Yugo suffered, however, from the same quality deficiencies as the state-made cars of other communist countries and never caught on. | | An anti-fascist Croat, [[Josip Broz Tito]], emerged as the leader of the [[communist]] arm of the resistance and, after the Nazi defeat in 1945, as the new leader of Yugoslavia overall. In 1949, he adopted a policy of armed [[neutrality]] in the [[Cold War]] between the Soviet Union and the [[United States]]. Yugoslavia prospered considerably from this policy and was able to trade on favorable terms with both [[superpowers]] and their economic blocs. Shortly after Tito's death in 1980, the state industrial ministry began marketing the last new European car brand, the [[Yugo]], to the United States. The Yugo suffered, however, from the same quality deficiencies as the state-made cars of other communist countries and never caught on. |