Prince Paul of Yugoslavia

Early life

Paul was educated at the University of Oxford, where he was a member of the exclusive Bullingdon Club - a dinning club notorious for its practice of destroying restaurants' property. His closest friends (including the American-born, naturalized British politician Chips Channon) and outlook on life were said to be British. He was installed as a Knight of the Garter in 1939.

Regent of Yugoslavia

Prince Paul, far more than Alexander, was Yugoslav rather than Serb in outlook. In its broadest outline his domestic policy was to eliminate the heritage of the Alexandrine dictatorship centralism, censorship, and military control, and to pacify the country by solving the Serb-Croat problem.

In August 1939, the Cvetkovic-Macek Agreement set up the Banovina of Croatia. The central government retained control of foreign affairs, national defence, foreign trade, commerce, transport, public security, religion, mining, weights and measures, insurance, and education policy. Croatia was to have its own legislature in Zagreb, and a separate budget.

When World War II broke out, Yugoslavia declared its neutrality. On March 25, 1941, Yugoslav government signed the Tripartite Pact with significant reservations as it received three notes. The first note obliged the Axis powers to respect territorial integrity and sovereignty of Yugoslavia. In the second note the Axis promised not to ask Yugoslavia for any military assistance. In the third note they promised not to ask Yugoslavia for permission to move military forces across its territory during the war.

Two days later, Prince Paul was forcibly removed from power.

From this distance, the Prince Paul's foreign policy including the signing of the Tripartite Pact seems to have been best possible in the adverse circumstances. After the fall of France, after the rout of the British, Paul saw no way of saving the country, but to adopt policies of accommodation to the Axis powers. But even under those circumstances Prince Paul, outwardly neutral, remained determinedly pro-Allied. He aided Greece when Greece was invaded. He fostered military collaboration between Yugoslav Army and the French. And for almost three years he parried the Axis thrust toward Yugoslavia.

Exile

Princess Elizabeth, his only daughter, obtained and published information from the Special Operations Executive files in the Foreign Office in London and published them in Belgrade, in the 1990 edition of the Serbian-language biography of her father. The original book Paul of Yugoslavia was written by Neil Balfour and the first was published by Eaglet Publishing in London in 1980.

Prince Paul died in Paris on 11 September 1976, aged 83, without ever returning to Yugoslavia.

Prince Paul is father of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia the Elder and Prince Nikola of Yugoslavia, and a grandfather of American actress Catherine Oxenberg.

Art collections

See also

References

Category:Yugoslav princes Category:House of Karađorđević Category:Regents Category:Knights of the Garter Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Category:Recipients of the Royal Victorian Chain Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) Category:Knights of the Order of the Most Holy Annunciation Category:1893 births Category:1976 deaths