The Serbs Chose War, Ruth Mitchel 20. SOMETHING NEW AND SOMETHING OLD GENERAL BORO MIRKOVICH's carefully laid plans had been perfectly carried out. Attention to detail made it a completely successful bloodless revolution, something new in Balkan history. All government buildings, the post office, police, telephone, telegraph, radio, and newspaper offices were put under heavy guard. All the ministers of the Prince Paul government were taken into custody. The manner of their arrest as described to me by M.P. was interesting. Cincar-Markovich, the Foreign Minister, was the only one to resist. His barricaded door had to be broken open. The others, the weaklings, had been merely terrified, especially Cvetkovich, who was offered a cup of coffee to give him some semblance of self-control, but whose hand had shaken so wildly that he could not hold the cup. A certain captain who shall be nameless was wakened at midnight, told to dress and, a revolver shoved into his hand, ordered to go and arrest General Peshich. "I to arrest-the Minister of War?" he stammered, horrified. However, he did it tactfully. Prince Paul, to avoid what he thought would be merely a passing unpleasantness, had left for his country seat in Slovenia. His train was stopped by telegram and forced to return to Belgrade. General Simovich, the new Prime Minister, at first intended to meet him, accompanied by the whole new Cabinet, and some discussion of suitable raiment took place. It suddenly struck him that the once-powerful regent was now ex. Only the general and one other minister met the train. The Prince was politely given the opportunity to depart to Greece, the country he had agreed to stab in the back. There he was taken charge of by the British and with his family was transported to the hospitable land of Kenya. I was told a charming tale of how General Simovich broke the news to the new boy-king. When he arrived at the palace on Dedinje Hill, and ordered the servants, "Wake the King!" they were terrified. Well they remembered the fate of other kings in Balkan history. But he convinced them that he came as the King's friend. The handsome boy, still confused with sleep, came out of his bedroom in his dressing gown. "Your Majesty," said General Simovich, "I salute you as King of Yugoslavia. From this moment you will exercise your full sovereign power." He bowed low, and then the two warmly grasped hands. With perfect courage and calmness the boy assumed the great responsibility. That morning I saw him as he drove back from his coronation slowly through Belgrade alone in an open car, a significantly courageous thing to do in such a crisis, and one which few if any other Balkan rulers would have dared to risk. Never has a boy more radiantly expressed joy, pride of his people, eager determination to be worthy of their loyalty. It should be noted that the democratic tradition of Serbia is that their kings shall be elected. King Peter I submitted himself to election and urgently enjoined upon his son, King Alexander, to do the same. Alexander, however, as King of Yugoslavia, did not follow his father's wish. He was never crowned. Although young King Peter II in the crisis was crowned in haste, I have no doubt he will revert to sound Serb democratic tradition and submit himself to election for the satisfaction of his people and himself. General Simovich had tried to make his Cabinet representative of every side of public opinion but the pro-Axis groups (excepting, of course, Machek). Many of the new ministers were men popular and respected, who had retired from public life for years because of the un-Serbian, undemocratic, dictatorial, and unscrupulous form of government that had recently prevailed. Simovich himself, less a statesman than a soldier, had fought with distinction in all the Balkan wars and in World War I, and had become in 1928 Chief of Air Staff. Since then he had struggled to build up the Yugoslav Air Force despite French, American, and British refusal to grant Yugoslavia credits for armaments. Lacking cash, these, Serbia's allies, refused to accept payment in Yugoslav produce, thus not only proving themselves ungrateful but also depriving themselves of orders for their factories. In spite of this glaring stupidity on the part of the great democracies, he had remained staunchly pro-Ally Professor Yovanovich, the leading Serb authority on international and constitutional law, took office as First Vice-Premier, with Machek Second Vice-Premier. The Third Vice-Premier, Kulovec, was later killed in the Belgrade bombardment, and Miha Krek, a Slovene took his place. Dr. Ninchich, who as Foreign Minister had for years tried to come to some fair working agreement with Italy, returned to the same office. Bogolyub Yevtich who had accompanied King Alexander on his last fatal journey to Marseilles and discussed with him the plans which the King was then working out to reintroduce a democratic constitution for Yugoslavia, joined the Cabinet, as did also Milan Gavrilovich, who had for years worked for better relations with Russia. He was at that moment in Moscow and in the next few days received and transmitted to Belgrade Russia's promise of help if Yugoslavia should be attacked. As it turned out, it was not Russia that helped Serbia, but little Serbia that helped to save Russia. There were representatives of Montenegro and Bosnia, as well as of the Slovene People's Party, the Serbian Peasant Party, and other smaller groups. Dr. Machek, leader of the Croatian peasants, accepted office under General Simovich after staying in Croatia for three days, grudgingly negotiating guarantees of the continuance of Croat autonomy. He had his own military organization called the Croat Peasant Guard Though he half-heartedly called upon the Croats to join the colors, he had privately ordered his guards to prevent mobilization. This order was carried out. (When Germany attacked, Dr. Machek's Peasant Guards shot down from the rear those Serb units which tried to de fend the country. There is complete proof of these facts.) After the bombardment Machek still urged a humiliating peace with Germany. Instead of remaining with the King and Government: he returned to Croatia "to stay with his people," and on the radio in Zagreb ordered the Croats to follow Pavelich, the new Croar leader put in by the Axis. But he sent two of his own representatives to remain with and to put pressure upon the Yugoslav Government in-Exile so as to be sure to be on the winning side, whichever it turned out to be. Incredible as it sounds, it is a fact that the night before the King was removed to safety Machek secured the Government's signature to an agreement by which the Serbs would after the war ask for no change of frontiers to which the Croats had not agreed. The Serbs are still "primitive" enough to believe that their word is binding upon them: Machek had the Government-in-Exile by the throat. And within only a few hours practically the whole of the autonomous government Machek himself had set up, including the police, immediately went over complete to the Axis, took service under Ante Pavelich, the ex-patriate thug-organizer of the Ustashi, responsible for the murder of the Yugoslav king. Machek's own most trusted henchmen are now, at this moment, in charge of and carrying out the massacres and expulsion of not less than 1,200,000 Serbs long resident in Croatia. Soon most of the intelligentsia of Croatia, who had only a few years ago hailed the Serbs as their "dear brothers," avowed their pro-Axis sympathies, and the peasants upon Machek's own advice rushed to join or co-operate with the Ustashi. As the photos and films of the Axis entry into Croatia show, the populace received the Germans with wholehearted enthusiasm and bearing large signs: "The Croats and Germans Always Together." Hysterical women jumped on the tanks and kissed the soldiers while the Germans looked on with-amused contempt. Even their latest "dear brothers" despised the traitors. Previous Chapter | Content | Next Chapter The Serbs Chose War, Ruth Mitchel