22 MAY 1941, Page 2

Yugoslavia Dismembered - Poland was the prey of two Powers—Germany and

Russia. Yugoslavia is the prey of four—Germany, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria. They are tearing her to pieces and rivalling one another in savagery (the behaviour of the I lians being perhaps the least inhuman). Serb patriots, in particular, have been shot and hanged, local politicians known for hostility to the " Axis " and its satellites have been murdered, priests have been persecuted, and the inhabitants of whole districts deported. Macedonian terrorism, suppressed under King Alexander, has been revived by the invading Bnlprs. The internal weakness of Yugoslavia was greatly underrated in London. The army was ill-equipped to meet German armoured divisions. The whole administration was shattered by the first German onslaught. The central authorities lost control almost overnight. As a consequence the Yugoslays have ceased to exist as a nation. The only part of their country that has received a definite status is Croatia, where the Germans and Italians had worked up a following long ago. Rome has now declared Croatia to be "occupied territory" no longer, but an "allied country " in which Italian troops are stationed. Croatia thereby becomes a vassal kingdom. The crown was given to the Duke of Spoleto on the very day the surrender of his brother, the Duke of Aosta, was announced in Rome. He has in prospect a reign inglorious, troubled and brief.