In 1941, during the Helleno-Italian War, when Hitler demanded passage around the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to attack Greece, the Regent Prince Pavle of Yugoslavia attempted to appease Hitler by offering a non-aggression pact but, ultimately, signed the Tripartite Pact that would allow German passage. In return, the Greek city of Thessaloniki was promised to Yugoslavia. Two days later the army, aided secretly by the UK and the USSR, overthrew the regime with the popular support of both the Serbian people. Although it is arguable that this had more to do with the Serbs' anti-German sentiments rather than a love for Greece, the fact remains that the Serbian people still remembered Venizelos' response to Vienna's suggestion for Greece to attack and invade Serbia decades earlier: "Greece is too small a country to do such big malice". Despite the fact that the new Yugoslav government again tried to appease Hitler (given that the country was surrounded on three sides) with neutrality and promises of adhering to previous agreements, the Serbian people were enthusiastic in denouncing the Tripartite Pact and Serb crowds paraded the streets of Belgrade shouting slogans like "Better War than the Pact". Hitler was not pleased and, immediately following the coup had decided to invade Yugoslavia—no longer trusting their proclamations—and divide the Yugoslav territories of the Adriatic coast, Banat, and Macedonia between Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria, respectively. After the fall of Yugoslavia, the Serbian people were punished with genocide by the pro-German Croatian Ustaše.