A regent pressed toward the Axis while trying to keep Yugoslavia out of war
Two days after Yugoslavia joined the Tripartite Pact on 25 March 1941, a military coup removed him from the regency.
Paul Karađorđević was the prince regent who governed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia for the minor Peter II after the assassination of Alexander I. He sought to soften the legacy of centralised rule and reconcile the state with the Croatian national movement, culminating in the 1939 Cvetković-Maček Agreement and the creation of the Banovina of Croatia. As war spread and British and French guarantees weakened, his attempt to preserve neutrality shifted toward concessions under German pressure, and Yugoslavia’s 1941 accession to the Tripartite Pact triggered a military coup that removed him. He lived in exile after the war, died in 1976, and was rehabilitated by a Serbian court in 2011.
Activities and affiliations
- 1934–1941 Monarchs and royalty · Yugoslavia
Career Timeline
- 1893Born in St. Petersburg
- 1912–1921Studied at Christ Church, Oxford; served in World War I
- 1929Founded and patronised the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade
- 1934–1939Chairman of the Regency Council of Yugoslavia
- 1939Advanced the Cvetković-Maček Agreement and Banovina of Croatia
- 1941Removed in a military coup after Yugoslavia joined the Tripartite Pact
Related historical events
Croatian autonomy and pressure to join the Axis
After becoming regent following the 1934 assassination of Alexander I, Paul sought a political compromise with Croatian leaders rather than simply continuing the king’s centralising rule. In February 1939 he dismissed Prime Minister Milan Stojadinović and appointed Dragiša Cvetković, directing him to negotiate with Vladko Maček, leader of the Croatian Peasant Party. The Cvetković–Maček Agreement, concluded in August, granted substantial autonomy to the Banovina of Croatia. Many Serbs considered the settlement to give Croats too much power, while some Croatian separatists regarded its autonomy as insufficient.
As war approached, Paul sought to keep Yugoslavia neutral in view of its military vulnerability. At his meeting with Hitler at Berghof near Berchtesgaden on 4 March 1941, no demand for German troops to transit Yugoslav territory was made. Paul proposed a non-aggression pact and a declaration of friendship instead of accession to the Tripartite Pact, but Hitler pressed for accession. On 25 March, the Yugoslav government joined the Pact in Vienna. Its terms provided for German respect for Yugoslavia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and stipulated that the Axis would not seek permission to transit its territory or request military assistance. Two days later, a military coup led by General Dušan Simović overthrew the regency and Peter II assumed full monarchical powers. Paul relinquished power; the German and Italian invasion began on 6 April.