Capitulation of Yugoslavia

Signed in Belgrade on the 17th

Yugoslav representatives signed an armistice in Belgrade on 17 April 1941 whose terms required the unconditional surrender of all Yugoslav armed forces. The document was styled an armistice but imposed unconditional military capitulation.

General Maximilian von Weichs signed for Germany and an Italian military representative for Italy; Aleksandar Cincar-Marković, the former foreign minister, and General Janković signed for the Yugoslav side. Modern Serbian sources give the general's name as Radivoje Janković, the US Army history as Milojko.

A Hungarian liaison officer attended but did not sign, because Hungary was technically not at war with Yugoslavia.

Effective at noon the following day

The agreement did not take effect on signature. Official cessation of fighting was set for 12:00 on 18 April — twelve days from the initial German attack, by the US Army history's count.

The Yugoslav command had sought a general armistice after rapid German and Italian advances, the loss of Belgrade and Sarajevo, the fragmentation of its formations and failed attempts at local ceasefires. Germany would accept only unconditional surrender of the entire army.

What did not end that day

The capitulation bound the armed forces. King Peter II and Dušan Simović's government had already left the collapsing battlefield and continued in exile, so the state itself did not surrender.

Nor did it begin the occupation: Belgrade had fallen and the Independent State of Croatia had been proclaimed before 17 April.

Organized resistance did not end either; resistance movements developed under the occupation that followed.