4th Army (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)
The 4th Army was a Royal Yugoslav Army formation mobilised prior to the German-led Axis invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during World War II. It consisted of three divisions, a brigade-strength detachment, one horse cavalry regiment and one independent infantry regiment. It was responsible for defending a large section of the Yugoslav–Hungarian border, being deployed behind the Drava river.
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The 4th Army was a Royal Yugoslav Army formation mobilised prior to the German-led Axis invasion of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during World War II. It consisted of three divisions, a brigade-strength detachment, one horse cavalry regiment and one independent infantry regiment. It was responsible for defending a large section of the Yugoslav–Hungarian border, being deployed behind the Drava river between Varaždin and Slatina. Like all Yugoslav formations at the time, it had serious deficiencies in both mobility and firepower. Despite concerns over a possible Axis invasion, orders for the general mobilisation were not issued by the government until 3 April 1941, out of fear that this would offend Adolf Hitler and precipitate war. When the invasion commenced on 6 April, the 4thArmy was only partially mobilised, and this weakness was exacerbated by fifth-column activities within its major units and higher headquarters. The army did put up scattered resistance to the Germans, but it began to withdraw southwards on 9 April. On 10 April it quickly ceased to exist as an operational formation in the face of two determined armoured thrusts by XXXXVI Motorised Corps from bridgeheads at Zákány and Barcs. The 14th Panzer Division captured Zagreb late that day, and the Germans facilitated the proclamation of an independent Croatian state. Under the leadership of its commander, Armijski đeneral Petar Nedeljković, the mostly ethnic Serb remnants of the4th Army attempted to establish defensive positions in northeastern Bosnia, but were brushed aside by the 14th.
Panzer Division as it drove east towards Sarajevo, which fell on 15 April. The Yugoslav Supreme Command surrendered unconditionally effective on 18 April, and a ceasefire was agreed on that day to stop fighting. The Army of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was formed around the nucleus of the victorious Royal Serbian Army, as well as armed formations raised in regions formerly controlled by Austria-Hungary. From the beginning of public life in the new kingdom, the army was dominated by ethnic Serbs who saw it as a means by which to secure Serb political hegemony. It had a wartime strength of 26,000 men, as compared to British infantry divisions of half that strength. The VK had several serious weaknesses, which included reliance on draught animals for transport, and large size of its formations. Generals were neither trained nor trained to resist the fast-moving combined arms approach of the Germans and France in their invasions of Poland and France. In 1929, King Alexander changed the name of the country to the Kingdom Of Yugoslavia, at which time theArmy was renamed the Royal Yugoslavia Army. The army budget remained tight, and as the 1930s rose across Europe, it became difficult to secure weapons and munitions from other countries. At the time of the break out in September 1939, the VK had a strength of 26,000–27,000.
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