(4 of 5)
Dr. Matchek hurried to Zagreb, there to confer for days with other leaders of the minority which King Peter's father, Alexander I, treated so high-handedly for years. The Croats could exact a high price for their allegiance, for Croatia could not be defended. Even complete autonomy would hardly pay them for the loss of their homes, if Germany attacked Yugoslavia. As one old Serb said to the ubiquitous Ray Brock: "In Serbia, if you find a single piece of furniture older than 30 years, it has probably been imported from Croatia or somewhere else. We Serbs had to fight, and time and again we have lost everything in defense of our honor and our integrity. The Croats—well, they still have their furniture." The German Minister, Georg Viktor von Heeren, rushed to the Foreign Office to bluster. Old Dr. Nintchitch gave him exactly six minutes to speak his piece.
When Herr von Heeren asked what the new Government intended to do about the Axis Pact, the Foreign Minister answered: "I cannot tell you that yet." Later Dr. Nintchitch announced that Yugoslavia would respect all "public and open" commitments which previous governments had made; i.e., it would not respect any secret clause in the treaty. (Insiders said that the pact contained a clause creating a no man's land on the Greco-Serb border, where Germany would be allowed to concentrate motorized divisions.) Still later Dr. Nintchitch elaborated some more: Yugoslavia was returning to a policy of "strict neutrality" and was prepared to fight for it. Germany countered by ordering all German citizens to leave Yugoslavia at once. Herr von Heeren caught the last train.
There was little more the new Government of Yugoslavia could do but prepare to face what came. But even if Hitler detached Croatia from Serbia, that would not get him at the Greeks. To reach them he would have to fight the Serbs in their own mountains or risk exposing his flank. Either course would be hazardous. At week's end Premier General Simovitch sternly demanded of his people that they stand fast and "if destiny so orders it, give their lives for the good of their homes, their fatherland and King."
Hitler had lost the initiative at last; at last he faced a dilemma. In Berlin these four days was the little Japanese, Yosuke Matsuoka, whose nation makes much of "face." If Hitler backed down before a Government of what his press called "democratic thickskulls," he would lose face in the eyes of Japan. If he went ahead, he might lose the war. Yosuke Matsuoka, gentleman that he is, refrained from discussing the week's news with his hosts, and at week's end set out for Rome, where there would be little to talk about either.