Yugoslav coup d'état

The Yugoslav coup d'état occurred on 27 March 1941 in Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The coup was planned and conducted by a group of pro-Western Serb-nationalist Royal Yugoslav Air Force officers formally led by Air Force General Dušan Simovic, who had been associated with a number of coup plots from 1938 onwards. For practical purposes Brigadier General of Military Aviation Borivoje Mirkovic, Major Živan Kneževic of the Yugoslav Royal Guards, and his brother Radoje Kneževic all performed leadership roles in the conduct of the coup. In addition to Radoje Kneževic, some other civilian leaders were probably aware of the coup before it was launched and moved to support it once it occurred, but they were not among the organisers.