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In 1940,-41 Germany was able to enlist the support of Roumania, Hungary (the latter at the expense of the former), and Bulgaria, in the Balkans. Yugoslavia initially signed on with Germany, then soon switched sides and declared herself for the Allies.

Why did Yugoslavia do this? I have a recollection of a difference of opinion between the minor (seventeen year old) king, and his uncle, the regent. Was this the real cause, or were one or both men pawns in a larger struggle?

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Was there a united Yugoslavia? There was a Yugoslavia, but it was split to Croatia (with Bosnia and Herzegovina), Serbia and Slovenia (which was again split for Germany/Austria Italy and Hungary).

I don't think you can say Yugoslavia switched the side, there were different parties. During the war, the Ustaše (More or less Croatia) stayed with Nazi-Germany.

Those who fighted against Germany were the winner in the end - and the winner writes the history.

I think the early switch is a myth of the later Yugoslavia.

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Good point, +1. Apparently it was a lot more complicated than the power struggle between the underaged king and his uncle. I would like to hear from others. – Tom Au Mar 17 at 19:07
I'm afraid we lack European users from various countries and with knowledge of several languages. What I believe to be the difference is that in USA people learn in schools primarily about the history of all USA and secondarily about own state, while in Europe, primarily about own country, then secondarily about Europe in overall. – Darek Wędrychowski Mar 17 at 19:58
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@DarekWędrychowski: I am an AMERICAN user of the site who has visited Russia, Poland, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, France and the UK, and speaks several languages represented on SE sites. – Tom Au Mar 17 at 20:48
I know you're an American. But I'm talking about users from f.e. Balcan countries with knowledge of Slavic languages that are spoken there. Of course it's possible that you know one of them, but this website still needs more diversity. But it's meta topic and I have no ideas how to improve it. – Darek Wędrychowski Mar 17 at 21:56
I would emphasize input from non-English written sources provided by such users. Judging from the Polish or Russian example, the number of areas where the English books/articles lag behind the current research is unexpectedly high; here-and-there they could be considered plainly incorrect. – kubanczyk Mar 18 at 10:01

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