File talk:Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.jpg

Może ten świat byłby inny napewna to nic złego to jest moje zdanie?—the preceding unsigned comment is by 83.5.102.205 (talk • contribs)

• Note: There was a DR in 2008/2009 and the result was keep. --Leoboudv (talk) 02:39, 19 February 2013 (UTC)

Munich or Yugoslavia?

The place was changed from Yugoslavia to Munich. Yet the cited source (USHMM photograph #89908 [1] ) says Yugoslavia. What is the source for the change? --Jmk (talk) 10:31, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

On 27 March 1941, a coup d'état was succesfully launched against Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, Regent for the under age King Peter II after the assassination of that one's father King Alexander I in Marseille in 1934. It was King Peter II who would be declared of age and would replace his uncle during the short period of the coup. The reason for this was the signing of the Tripartite Pact aligning Yugoslavia to the Axis. Hearing about this coup d'état, Hitler took this as a personal insult and ordered the German Wehrmacht to invade Yugoslavia, which happened on 6 April 1941. The Yugoslavian army was crushed and divided between the victors, de facto ceasing to exist as a homogeneous state.

Hitler continued southward invading Greece, where Italy's army did not succeed in taking out Greek resistance and was pushed back into Albania (partially with Yugoslavian help). Hitler needed to restore Axis prestige but also needed to secure Greece in order to protect the Romanian oil fields, vital to the German war machine. In 1939 Prince Paul was on a nine days state visit in Berlin, on invitation of Hitler. Hitler himself however never visited Yugoslavia, except for once, when visiting Marburg an der Drau (Maribor) in German annexed Slovenia (Untersteiermark) on 26 April 1941 on his trip from Mönichkirchen to Berlin, which was already nine days after the signing of the capitulation.

During this period, Hitler had already seized full control over the Wehrmacht, being the commander in chief. This was already the case since 1938, which can be seen the best when you look at Hitlers visor cap (Shirmmütze). Prior to 1938, it remains blank, after this date, an oak leaf wreath with the traditional German colours inside it was added. This however cannot be seen on the picture of Hitler and Mussolini, meaning that it has to date prior to 1938. Mussolini visited Hitler from 25 to 29 September 1937, during a state visit in Germany, including a visit to Munich. It is most likely the given picture dates back to this visit, and other pictures from that visit seem to confirm that, as does the description on Wikimedia Commons. 2A02:A03F:12C6:9100:58A3:F6AA:5904:3E22 21:24, 27 February 2017 (UTC)