Shipbucket

International Assistance to Greece, 1939/1940

From the 1923 Corfu Incident, Greece had considered Italy as the gravest threat to Greece, while the ancient enemies of Bulgaria and Turkey were viewed with suspicion. Metaxas hoped that Germany would act as a counterbalance to Italian intrigues in the southern Balkans, and like the other Balkan countries Germany became the leading trading partner of Greece, though Great Britain attempted to break the German dominance with an economic offensive in 1938. While Metaxas had been educated in Germany and had a personal pro-German bias, the King and most of the country’s elite were very pro-British. Britain had been a traditional ally of Greece, and given Italy’s growing maritime power and expansionism in the Mediterranean, the strength of the Royal Navy drew Greece towards the Anglo-French Entente.
On the 4th April 1939 Italy invaded Albania and committed a number of troops vastly greater than that needed to subdue a small, backwards nation like Albania, convincing Metaxas that those forces would be shortly sent south into Greece. With German support for Italy’s annexation of Albania, on the 8th April the British ambassador in Athens was called in to a late night meeting to request British aid in the event of an Italian invasion. In response, on the 13th April Chamberlain announced that Britain would guarantee both Romania and Greece if either were attacked: Britain had now committed itself to the security of Poland, Romania and Greece.
With the Anglo-French declaration of war on Germany on 3rd September 1939, Greece declared its neutrality. However the increasing tensions led to an understanding that the Greek air force needed further strengthening. An order for 25 Bloch MB.151 fighters from France was placed in September 1939. However, a similar fate to that of the Potez bombers befell these fighters. Only 9 were delivered by the time that Bloch advised that all production was being dedicated to French orders and no further export supply was possible. This was taken to mean that France was no longer willing to defend Greece.



The failure of the order for Bloch fighters coincided with the United States enacting the Fourth Neutrality Act with its “cash and carry” provisions for the export of military matériel. Both France and Britain had ordered versions of the Grumman Wildcat for their navies, and Greece followed suit with an order for 30 F4F-3A Wildcats as land-based fighters, but with a delivery date of April 1941.
While Britain had minimal past ties to either Poland or Romania, Greece had been supported by Britain even before its liberation from Ottoman rule. Greece’s strategic position in the eastern Mediterranean also made it vital for British interests to remain within the British sphere. Even though Britain held back part of Greece’s order for Bristol Blenheims it was only because those aircraft were strategic necessary for the defence of Britain. Instead Britain filled the order with Fairey Battles which had been withdrawn from RAF service. With implementation of the Brooke-Popham modifications, the Battles were upgraded to still be effective in Greek service.
With the Armistice and then Romania’s repudiation of Britain’s territorial guarantee, Greece held the only national guarantee remaining. Poland and Romania were both humiliations of British foreign policy, and the British government were in no mood to be seen to have failed in the defence of Greece, while the economic and military imperatives of protecting Suez ensured that resources were made available.
As Soviet troops moved into Romania, and Hungary and Bulgaria started sabre-rattling towards Romania, Greece became more concerned over her own security. Already operating Dornier Do 22’s, Greece requested the purchase of additional seaplanes. Germany was happy to sell aircraft, and Dornier was still in the middle of a production run that had been destined for Latvia before that nation was occupied by the Soviet Union. Two aircraft had already been built as Do 22Kl landplanes which were able to be delivered immediately, with the next two nearing completion. Greece added another 8 aircraft to the order for delivery into 1941. On arrival the aircraft were deployed to the Aegean Islands.



Britain also responded to requests from Greece for additional aircraft. To bolster Greece’s defence of her northern borders, 10 Westland Lysander Mk.I’s were delivered to Greece in August 1940.



With the Anglo-German Armistice Britain started delivery of Reggiane Falcon Mark.I aircraft Italy. An order for 300 aircraft had been made, with the initial batch of 60 supplied from aircraft already assembled and in storage. Additional production was to be completed at a new factory in Portugal set up by Caproni and Sociedade Aero Portuguesa. The Falcons were supplied directly from Italy to the RAF squadrons in Egypt, to replace their Gloster Gladiators. With the arrival of the new fighters, the now surplus Gladiators were supplied to Greece, where they in turn replaced the PZL.24’s of 21 Mira.

Italian Intentions in the Balkans, 1940

While Hitler’s Reich had considered its rightful sphere of influence and conquest was east towards the Urals with its concept of “Lebensraum”, Mussolini had expressed a similar “Spazio vitale” for Italy, with the Balkans and Mediterranean Europe in the Italian sphere. Although it did not have the economic clout of Germany, Italy pursued diplomatic and military relationships with the Balkan nations in an attempt to tie them into Italy.
After the invasion of Abyssinia had initiated Italy’s wars of conquest in 1935, Italy followed up by committing significant forces In the Spanish Civil War. Italy played a decisive role in the victory of Francisco Franco, action in Spain that was to not only prepare Italy for a future war against European rather than African armies, but to also initiate an Italian-led Latin alliance. In April 1939 Italy occupied Albania and positioned significant military forces in Albania, with the ability now to project the Italian stick as well as the Italian carrot into the heart of the Balkans.
Germany’s ongoing presence in the Balkans became a cause of irritation to Mussolini who considered it as interference in Italy’s plans, although both nations were united in the Pact Of Steel. The German invasions of Norway and then the Low Countries without any advance notification to Italy had infuriated Mussolini. With the stopping of the panzers, and then the removal of Hitler, Mussolini considered an appropriate punishment had been meted out on Germany for Nazi hubris. In the aftermath of Hitler, Germany was expected to be concentrated on its own internal power struggles, leaving Italy free to pursue its Balkan goals, and invasion plans were drawn up for both Greece and Yugoslavia, nations that Italian had territorial claims against and that were both holding out against Italian hegemony.
Germany’s deployment of military personnel into Romania in October 1940 caught Italy off guard, sending Mussolini into a fury. On 13th October, Mussolini called Marshal Pietro Badoglio, the Supreme Chief of the Italian General Staff, to a meeting where he declared that Italy was going to war in the Balkans.

Anglo-Greek Relations, 1940

Britain was also caught unaware by both the Soviet and then German moves into Romania. The Balkans were now seen to be descending into instability, with only Greece remaining as a bastion of British influence. Britain had been loathe to advance the guarantee given to Greece to a full alliance, considering that a potential alliance would only mire Britain in the internecine squabbles of the Balkan states. But now with Soviet, German and Italian troops established in the region, the foreign threat to the eastern Mediterranean rendered that concern moot, Britain needed to act quickly to stabilise Greece and protect its own interests.
Metaxas had been apprehensive that positioning British troops in Greece, within striking distance of the Reich, would serve as a threat to Germany and lead to Germany invading Greece. Now with the Armistice Anglo-German tensions there were much reduced, but Italy was mounting an increasing campaign of intimidation. With the agreement of the King, Metaxas now formally requested British assistance for the defence of Greece.
The ANZAC troops from Australia and New Zealand had initially arrived in Egypt in June 1940, and then deployed to Palestine. On the 10th October they received orders to redeploy to Greece with minimal delay. The first command units arrived in Athens by air on the 12th October to much fanfare and publicity. On the same day lead elements of 80 Squadron, RAF with their new Falcon Mark.I’s arrived in Greece to support the incoming ANZAC’s.



News of Britain finally backing up one of its guarantees with deployment of troops rapidly reached the wider world and Rome.
Mussolini had initially been dismissive of Britain’s guarantee to Greece, and expected no more of a British response to an Italian move on Greece than they had received over Abyssinia in 1935. Marshal Badolgio though counselled a more cautious approach, leaving Greece out of any immediate military plans. Italy had already drawn up Emergenza G and Emergenza J as military plans for assaults on Greece and Yugoslavia respectively, and Badolgio recommended initiating an alliance with Hungary and Bulgaria, who both also had territorial claims against Yugoslavia, for a joint operation. Mussolini had been anxious to initiate the assault on Greece before the end of October, leaving Yugoslavia to a later date, but Badolgio’s analysis and a later meeting with King Victor Emmanuel III redirected Mussolini. With 600,000 troops demobilised only 3 weeks before to assist with the Italian harvest, and winter approaching, a rapid and successful military campaign in 1940 was deemed unlikely, instead an invasion date was planned for early 1941 with the conquest of Yugoslavia being the goal.

Yugoslavia

Created in the aftermath of the dismembering of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the state that came to be named Yugoslavia was a multiethnic union, intrinsically at odds with the post-war concept of national self-determination. Surrounded by former allies and former enemies who all had territorial claims against her, and riven by internal ethnic tensions, Yugoslavia never managed to achieve the degree of stability of the other Balkan states.
Initially titled the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Serbia was the dominant partner in the new nation with Belgrade becoming the capitol and King Peter of Serbia becoming the head of state as King Peter I of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Centralisation and industrialisation were focussed on Serbia to the detriment of the other regions of the country. After continuous political and parliamentary tensions led to shootings within the parliament itself, in early 1929 King Alexander abolished the constitution, established a personal dictatorship and renamed the country to Yugoslavia in an attempt to create a singular Yugoslav nation. Opposition leaders were arrested or went into exile, including Ante Pavelić who founded the Croatian revolutionary Ustaše in exile.
The King’s rule was still too focussed on Serb interests for other nationalities within Yugoslavia, with very strong opposition from Croat leaders leading to further imprisoning of political opponents. By 1934 the King planned to introduce democratic reforms and attempt to reconcile Serbian and Croatian interests, however, on 9 October 1934, the King Alexander was assassinated in France by terrorists of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization in a conspiracy with Yugoslav exiles, banned political parties and the Ustaše.
With the heir, Peter II, being only 11 years old, his cousin Prince Paul took control as Regent of Yugoslavia. Prince Paul was very much a Yugoslavian rather than a Serbian, and with an education in Britain and a Greek wife was an anglophile and hellenophile, with a distrust of both Italy and Germany. Even so Germany’s economy was seen as the way out of the Great Depression and Yugoslavia became a major exporter of minerals and agricultural produce to the Reich. Knowing the weakness of Yugoslavia’s position, Prince Paul now played a delicate game of diplomacy, trying to keep his country from being pulled too deeply into any of the major powers’ sphere of influences, and the associated risks to Yugoslav independence.
External threats were not the only problems faced by Yugoslavia, as internal separatist organisations had been mounting political and terrorist campaigns against the unity of the state since the initial establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Since 1927 Croat nationalists had been in contact with Mussolini, and gained Italian support for an independent Croatia. The banning of nationalist political parties and the exile of Pavelić in 1929 led to the formation of the Ustaše as a militant organisation amongst Croat exiles with training camps in Italy. Terrorist attacks and bombings in Yugoslavia followed, culminating in the assassination of King Alexander in a joint Ustaše/Macedonian operation. The Ustaše was now banned throughout Europe and Pavelić jailed in Italy, as Mussolini saw that the Nazi-style racial nationalism of Ustaše would lead an independent Croatia into the German sphere, and Italian support for the organisation stopped. With Hitler’s death Mussolini saw this as no longer a probability and recommenced supplying and training the Ustaše, with the understanding that Italian claims to the Yugoslav coast would be honoured with Italian support for an independent Croat state.
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization had been founded in the Ottoman territories of Macedonia and Thrace in the 19th century, the organisation eventually becoming supportive to Bulgarian interests. After the Great War Bulgaria ceded territory to both Greece and future Yugoslavia, and the IMRO conducted terrorist activities in those regions. In the 1920’s IMRO armed bands roamed both Yugoslav and Greek Macedonia from bases in Bulgaria, committing attacks on state forces and acts of terrorism. After internal strife, the IMRO forged alliances with the Ustaše and Italy, culminating in the assassination of King Alexander. However the IMRO’s continual use of assassination eventually alienated it from its support in Bulgaria, and in 1934 was disbanded there. The international branches still functioned, and by 1936 the whole organisation was absorbed into the Balkan Communist Federation.
Montenegro had also fought an insurgency against Serbia domination and its absorption into the Yugoslav state, although the nationalist monarchist Greens gave up armed resistance in 1929 and instead continued their struggle politically. The Italian Queen Elena was herself Montenegrin royalty, and kept communications with the political machinery of the Greens.

Military Imports To Yugoslavia

In the 1920’s Yugoslavia fielded an air force of almost exclusively French aircraft, with local plants set up to effect repairs and construct aircraft. By 1931 a review by the British military attaché noted weaknesses within the air force, and so several aircraft were evaluated for their potential for Yugoslavia service. As well as fighters, Yugoslavia considered updating their bomber force to include heavy bombers. The decision was made to acquire a small number of three-engined bombers for comparison before purchasing a new bomber force. As a result 6 bombers of 3 different types were ordered: Dornier Do Y’s, Junkers G.24’s Czechoslovak Avia Fokker F.39’s, all of which were delivered in 1932. In 1937 the 2 improved Dornier Do Y’s, now renamed as Dornier Do 15’s, were also taken into Yugoslav service, joining the earlier heavy bomber candidates in the 261st Air Group. By 1939 the aircraft were considered obsolete and were relegated to transport duties.



The decision on a new fighter was a slower process, and only in September 1935 was an order placed for Hawker Fury’s with licences for local construction of additional aircraft and their Rolls Royce engines, although the delivery of the aircraft from Britain was not expected before mid-1937.
Meanwhile aviation technology was progressing rapidly, and the aircraft selected as frontline combat aircraft in the early 1930’s were rapidly rendered obsolete before they were even entered service. The Yugoslav acquisition process was so ponderous though, that the Fury’s remained in service as frontline combat aircraft into 1941.



Yugoslavia then entered a second round of aircraft selection, and in 1936 evaluated the Dornier Do 17. By 1937, with the increase in world tensions, Yugoslavia finally changed their procurement processes and started placing large orders for new aircraft.
In January 1937 Italy offered Yugoslavia a suite of combat aircraft types, but due to mistrust of Italian motives the offer was not seriously considered. But by March a Friendship Agreement had been signed with Italy and several types were demonstrated during the year, leading only to a sale of Caproni Ca.310 light transports. With the later sale of twin-engined Savoia-Marchetti SM.79’s to Romania, an order was placed for SM.79K’s for Yugoslavia.
In 1938 an order for the Dorniers and 100 Messerschmidt Bf 109’s was placed. Although Yugoslavia pre-paid for the orders, German politics intervened and, like similar purchases from other Balkan states, delays and misdirection dogged the orders. The Dorniers were finally shipped by April 1939, the Messerschmitt order remained in limbo.



Turning back to Britain, in 1938 Yugoslavia ordered 12 Hawker Hurricanes , and with the delivery of the first aircraft on 15th December 1938 Yugoslavia became the first export customer for the Hurricane. A second order for another 12 quickly followed, with a licence for local production. Both the Rogožarski and Zmaj factories near Belgrade were tasked with building another 100 Hurricanes, although neither plant proved to be up to the task of building at the rates hoped for. One flaw in the plan for the Hurricane was that the Merlin engines were all to be imported from Britain, which would lead to delays in future production.
Bristol Blenheim Mk.I’s were also ordered, with Yugoslavia being their second export customer, and produced locally, with the first 2 arriving in 1938 and the first from the Ikarus factory near Belgrade flying in March 1939.
In June 1939 Prince Paul made a state visit to Germany, and after meeting with Hitler the order for Bf 109’s was finally cleared, and delivery for the aircraft commenced in December 1939, although spares and support were not provided. In October 1939 Yugoslavia attempted another large order for German aircraft; a further 100 Bf 109’s, 30 Bf 110’s, 50 Hs 126’s and 31 Ju 87’s. But, again Germany procrastinated and prevaricated and these orders were never realised.
While Yugoslavia had developed a strong air force, the armoured vehicle branch had been significantly lower resourced. France had been the almost exclusive manufacturer of Yugoslav armour, with the initial tank purchase being outdated Renault FT’s and more advanced M28’s in 1929. Another batch of FT’s were bought from Poland in 1932, and in 1936 another 20 FT’s, in poor condition and now virtually obsolete, were received as military aid from France.
The Renault R35 was Yugoslavia’s first modern tank, and 54 were received from France in April 1940, effectively doubling the number of Yugoslav armoured vehicles. In early May 1940 Yugoslavia now formed 2 armoured units, the 1st Battalion equipped with the FT’s and M28’s were dispersed to Sarajevo, Skopje and Zagreb, while the 2nd Battalion with the R35’s remained in Belgrade.

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Yugoslav Domestic Aircraft Designs

While Yugoslavia purchased foreign designs and built them locally, indigenous designing was also supported with home-made designs progressing from light aircraft and trainers to fighter aircraft in the mid 1930’s. The first local fighter in production had been designed by freelance designers as the IK-2 which although the prototype had been built in 1934, with production delays only entered service with 12 aircraft in 1939, but was by then already obsolete. The design team had immediately followed up with a more modern design as the IK-3, but with the loss of the prototype due to a mid-air failure, only a further 12 aircraft were delivered.
Meanwhile each of the Yugoslav aircraft manufacturers was preparing modern designs for advanced aircraft with prototypes being prepared to fly before 1941.
Perhaps the most novel design was completed in 1939 for Europe’s first tilt-wing VTOL aircraft, built as a prototype for a naval multi-role aircraft for the seaplane-tender Zmaj. A scaled-down prototype was constructed by the designer and tested unsuccessfully due to its small underpowered engine. At the time the inability to take to the air led to military interest switching too less radical designs that would be able to enter service more rapidly.



Yugoslav policy had focussed on Serbia to the exclusion of the other regions of the country, and all aircraft factories were located in Serbia, with 3 of the 4 production facilities in the vicinity of Belgrade. Yugoslavia’s local aircraft industry had concentrated on the design and production of light aircraft and trainers, and licence building of foreign designs, but each of the Belgrade factories had been working on indigenous combat aircraft designs with prototypes flying in 1940.
Zmaj had been working on the R-1 Razarača as Yugoslavia’s future reconnaissance and light bomber. After successfully completing its first flight and in April 1940 and performing well in the test flying, a wheels-up landing causing damage to the German and French engines and gear systems paused the programme as replacements were sourced.
Rogožarski were also working on a destroyer that first flew in April 1940, the R-313. A very manoeuvrable design, the aircraft was to fill the roles of heavy fighter or reconnaissance bomber. The prototype was supplied to the Royal Yugoslav Air Force for evaluation, and a production run of 25 aircraft was planned for 1941.



The third main Yugoslav aircraft manufacturer was Ikarus, and they also produced a light bomber prototype, with the Orkan first flying in June 1940. Designed in two versions; a 3-seat attack bomber Orkan BN, and a two-seat heavy fighter Orkan TL. The first prototype was for the Orkan BN, and like the Zmaj R-1, was involved in a landing accident that grounded it into 1941 awaiting replacement components from France. Meanwhile work continued on the second Orkan TL prototype for a first flight of the heavy fighter version in 1941. Ikarus was also in pre-production of the IK-5 heavy fighter, designed as the Yugoslav equivalent to the Messerschmitt Bf 110, with 15 aircraft planned for construction in 1941.
With the success of the Ju 87 in Spain, Yugoslav engineers considered the g-loading problem for pilots and designed a single-seat dive bomber prototype for a prone pilot. The project was taken up by Ikarus and the resulting B-5 was flown as a prototype in September 1940. Test flying confirmed the validity of the concept, and the aircraft was prepared for submission to the Yugoslav air force in early 1941.

United States Presidential Election, 1940

In November 1939, against much opposition from the isolationist faction in Congress, the Fourth Neutrality Act was passed, allowing now for arms sales to belligerent nations on a “cash and carry” basis, effectively ending the American arms embargo which had prevented sales to Britain and France – and to Germany.
The Anglo-German armistice of 22 May reduced flagging American public support for intervention in European wars to a very low level. The European nations were seen to be able to sort out their own squabbles without the shedding of American blood. Within a week of the Armistice Yale law School students had formed the America First Committee as an isolationist pressure group. The organisation rapidly expanded, with prominent business leaders and politicians of both main parties publicly supporting the organisation. Its most prominent spokesman was Charles Lindberg, who had very publicly argued against the foreign policy of Roosevelt administration for years. Even before the formation of the AFC, most Americans were against involvement in European wars, but supported strong measures against Japanese expansionism. America First concerned itself almost exclusively with the potential of American intervention in Europe, advocating for a plan that would guarantee American neutrality and ensure America remained in a position of power against potential enemies.
The AFC stated that the following four principles were essential to keep America safe and neutral:
• The United States must build an impregnable defence for America,
• No foreign power, nor group of powers, can successfully attack a prepared America,
• American democracy can be preserved only by keeping out of any European war,
• Support to only one side in a foreign conflict weakens national defence at home and threatens to involve America in war abroad.
The driving issue of the election very rapidly became that of foreign policy, and the domestic policies flowing from that. Isolationist sentiment in general varied between absolute pacifism (primarily from religious groups) through to militant exclusive isolationism advocating for the whole American hemisphere being closed to the rest of the world. The AFC position quickly became the most popular and rational expression of American isolationism.
Although Democrat James Farley was able to mount his campaign on the success of the New Deal and call for a continuation of Roosevelt’s policies that had pulled America out of the Great Depression, he found himself very much on the wrong side of public opinion with regards to Roosevelt’s policies which were seen to have been moving America towards international interventionism.
Robert Taft had gained the Republican nomination on the strength of his isolationist stance in June 1940, within a month of the Armistice. Taft was able to call on broad bi-partisan support, promising non-interventionism and expansion of military and support industries for both domestic military build-up and selected foreign sales.
The Gallup Polls leading up to the election all showed a comfortable lead for Taft, and in the election itself on 5 November 1940 proved the polls correct with a very comfortable win for President Robert Taft and Vice President Charles McNary.
In line with the standard protocols, Roosevelt remained in power as President until the scheduled inauguration on the 20 January 1941. Roosevelt was most disturbed that his candidate and policies had been rejected, but the margin of the vote of disapproval was such that there could be no doubt as to the mood of the American public. For the 2½ months of Roosevelt’s “lame duck” administration Roosevelt chose to not initiate any legislation or policy directions that would have been in opposition to the wishes of the incoming administration.

Italian Support For Hungary, Bulgaria And Croatia

Both Hungary and Bulgaria had strong irredentist claims against Yugoslavia, and with the awarding of Romanian territories in 1940 both were buoyed with nationalistic fervour and keen to regain more of their former glories. Privately, Italy used acceptance of their further territorial claims to argue for assistance in a combined multi-front invasion of Yugoslavia.
Both countries saw the opportunity to gain concessions from Italy, both economic and military. With the Germano-Italian Pact of Steel languishing, Italy decided to enter into a separate pact with the Balkan nations to institute a new alliance. On 17 November 1940, Tsar Boris III and the Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivan Popov met with Mussolini during a state visit to Rome. At meetings the future relationship between Italy and Bulgaria was negotiated, although no formal document was signed. On the 12th December 1940 Hungarian Prime Minister Pál Teleki and the Italian foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano signed the Treaty Of Eternal Friendship in Budapest.
In January 1941 Mussolini and the foreign ministers of Bulgaria and Hungary announced their nations withdrawal from the League Of Nations, and signed the Tripartite Pact in Rome, a new alliance committing themselves to:
• ARTICLE 1. The Contracting Powers recognise and respect the leadership of Italy in the establishment of a new order in Southern Europe.
• ARTICLE 2. Italy, Bulgaria and Hungary agree to cooperate in their efforts on aforesaid lines. They further undertake to assist one another with all political, economic and military means if one of the Contracting Powers is attacked by any other Power.
• ARTICLE 3. With a view to implementing the present pact, joint technical commissions, to be appointed by the respective Governments of Italy, Bulgaria and Hungary, will meet without delay.
Italy commenced military a programme of support to bolster its new allies’ forces. Italy supplied Fiat BR.20 medium bombers and G.50 fighters to both Hungary and Bulgaria, and to ensure smooth co-operation with Italian forces in future operations, backed this up with seconding Italian training crews for the aircraft, and military advisors for their armies. Neither nation was particularly interested in receiving armoured vehicles, but Italian trucks were a very welcome addition to both the Bulgarian military and civil economies.



On 21st January 1941 Mussolini invited Pavelić from his exile in Florence to his private residence in Rome, their first meeting since Pavelić's exile in Italy. Pavelić and Mussolini discussed Croatia's future after the Yugoslav conquest, with confirmation of Italian sovereignty over the Dalmatian coast being the price for Italian recognition of Croatia. Although Dalmatia was considered an integral part of a greater Croat state, Pavelić recognised the necessity of agreeing to any Italian demands for the greater goal of Croat independence. The remaining interned Ustaše were now released and formed into the nucleus of a military/political force for the liberation of Croatia from Italian camps. Pavelić returned to Florence to plan the new Croatia, broadcasting liberation propaganda into his homeland from a radio station in Florence.

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