Evening star., 1945-06-17


that the Communist group should be
entitled to IMPOSE monopoly of leader
ship" after the liberation because of its
contribution during the war.
The Russians and the British ap-
peared to be in amicable accord about
the future leader of Yugoslavia. Al
though nothing has been officially told
about what went on in Teheran, the
march of events prove conclusively that
it was milestone of supreme import
ance. One demand that Premier Stain
made at that conference, according to
published reports, was that de jure
recognition be granted Marshal" Titos
government. President Roosevelt is
said to have replied that he had no
objections provided Tito demonstrated
that he was backed by the majority of
the Yugoslav population-the Serbs.
From the date of the Teheran Confer
ence until the day his headquarters
were raided by Nazi paratroopers, Tito
made strenuous efforts to get into
Serbia eproper and to demonstrate that
he was actually master of all Yugo-
slavia. He began to accuse Mihailovich
of collaborating with the Germans
But the Serbs refused to flock to his
banner. Violence was needed to bring
the Yugoslavs to reason, and Tito ap-
pealed to the Allied Military Command
IN the Middle East to bomb Serbian
towns. The request was needed and
PnHpOricQ Nf ,1ofi
where Mahailovich's detachments were
stationed, was bombed and 1000 civil
ians killed. Belgrade was bombed on
the nh of April, 1914, the anniversary
of the terrific aerial onslaught which
the Nazis had visited on that capital
three years before IT was Orthodox
Easter Sunday, and most of Belgrade
was in the streets
From clipping that appeared in an
Algiers newspaper on April "a, 1914,
comes the proof that Marshal" Tito
was the inspirer of these bombings. In
La France, published in Algiers, ap-
pears the following notice entitled: "A
Message From Tito" 1t goes on to say:
Marshal Tito has just sent the Raj
message to thank British for the aid
which they have brought to the Yugo-
slav Army of Liberation by bombing
certain objectives which were desig-
mated by Marshal Tito"
Tito's Headquarters Raided.
In spite of the help from British
American bombers, Tito failed to become
the national leader of Yugoslavia On
May 25, 1914, the Germans raided and
destroyed his headquarters and Tito
just managed to escape. He became
guest of the British on the Isle of Wis,
a small island 60 miles from Yugoslavia
in the Adriatic.
In London, King Peters new Prime
Minister, Mr.. Shubasitch, was having
difficulty in organizing a united Yugo-
slav front while Tito awaited develop
ments on the Isle Of Wis.
The Kremlin's masterful diplomacy
had created q vacuum in the Yugoslav
situation into which Broz Tito, former
member Of the Commitern, would one
day step. Months passed after the
American-British invasion of Western
Europe, and the promised Soviet drive
in Germany's eastern front had failed
to materialize, but Soviet troops spread
into the Balkans and Russian divisions
approached the frontiers of Yugoslavia.
A widely publicized agreement between
the British and Russian governments
that neither power would enter Yugo-
slavia stood in the way of Soviet troops.
This agreement was based on the plan
to isolate Yugoslavia militarily until the
Nazis were forced to evacuate useless
position. Broz Tito came forward with
a convenient invitation to Russian
troops to enter the country. Widely
heralded as Liberation" army, Soviet
forces met with an enthusiastic recep-
tion from the Serbian population. Ser
bian soldiers under the command OF
Gen. Mihaibvich's Chetnik officers, CO.
operated with the Soviet forces. Ac-
cording to official American reports, a
number of these officers, after the lib
eration," were interned, executed or de-
ported to the U. S. S. R.
The process of totalitarianizing Yugo-
slavia had begun, and shortly afterward
American newspapermen were banished
from the country.
British Turn Cool.
The Trieste incident and Marshal
Tito's truculent attitude toward the
British h-American forces in Istria have
noticeably cooled British championship
of the Partisan leader
1t is reported that the Longon govern
ment is once more making overtures to
Gen. Michailovitch who still has a
strong following in his native land.
The American policy toward Tito was
governed largely by the British attitude,
in spite of the late President Roosevelts
belief that the Chetnik leader was
"better bet"
1t can now be revealed that in August,
1943, the War Department ordered Col.
A. Seiz, U. S. A., and Capt. w. Mans
field, U. S. M. c., to 60 to Gen. Mic
hailovich's headquarters in the noun
tains of Yugoslavia and make factual
report of the Chetnik leaders activities.
The two officers spent several months
travelling through Bosnia and Serbia.
They returned to Washington in 1914
and presented a complete report which