Following the 1939 German invasion of Poland, the Cvetković–Maček government declared its neutrality. After the Axis Tripartite Pact was joined by neighboring countries of Hungary, Romania on 20 and 23 November 1940 respectively, and by Bulgaria on 1 March 1941, Yugoslavia followed their example on 25 March 1941 and joined the alliance. Two days later, the government was overthrown and replaced by a new one led by General Dušan Simović who withdrew Yugoslavia from the Tripartite Pact. Aiming to improve support for his cabinet among ethnic Croats, Simović continued to cooperate with the HSS and expanded the authority of Banovina of Croatia to include the police and armed forces. As a result, the president of the HSS and deputy prime minister of Yugoslavia Vladko Maček to consider disbanding HSS paramilitaries. At the time, the HSS was the most popular political party in Croatia, and the party's ideology included commitment to pacifism.