Ka whai ake i te "Anschluss" o Maehe 1938, i te wā i whakaurua ai a Tiamana ki Austria, ka tohaina e Yugoslavia tana rohe ki te raki ki te hauauru ki a Tiamana, a, ka nui haere te pehanga i te wa e piri ana ona hoa noho ki nga mana Axis. I te Paenga-whāwhā o te tau 1939, ka whakaekehia a Itari
ka noho a Albania, nā reira ka whakatū i tētahi rohe whenua tuarua ki Yugoslavia. I te pakarutanga o te Pakanga Tuarua o te Ao, i kii te Kawanatanga o te Royal Yugoslav i tana tuuru. I waenga i te Mahuru me te Noema 1940, ka uru a Hungary me Romania ki te Tiriti e toru, ka hono atu ki te Axis, a ka whakaekea e Itari a Kariki. I taua wā tata tonu a Yugoslavia ki nga mana Axis me o ratou kaitautoko, a ka kaha ake tana tuakore ki te pakanga. I te mutunga o Hui-tanguru 1941, ka uru atu a Bulgaria ki te Pact. I te ra i muri mai, ka uru mai nga hoia Tiamana ki Bulgaria mai i Romania, ka kati i te mowhiti huri noa i Yugoslavia. I a ia e hiahia ana ki te whakamana i tana taha ki te tonga mo te whakaeke tata ki te Soviet Union, ka tiimata te mana rangatira o Tiamana a Adolf Hitler ki te akiaki i a Yugoslavia kia uru atu ki te Axis. I te 25 o Poutu-te-rangi 1941, i muri i etahi whakaroa, i hainatia e te Kawanatanga o Royal Yugoslav te Pact. E rua nga ra i muri mai, he roopu o nga rangatira o te Royal Yugoslav Air Force, he roopu o nga kaitautoko o te Hauauru, Serbian nationalist, i whakakahoretia te rangatira o te whenua, Prince Paul, i roto i te coup d'état kore toto. I whakanohoia e ratou tana taina taiohi a Pita ki runga i te torona ka kawea mai ki te mana he kawanatanga o te kotahitanga o te motu i arahina e te upoko o te Royal Yugoslav Air Force, General Dušan Simović. I riri a Hitler i te hurihanga, i hiahia ia ki te whakakore i a Yugoslavia, i tapaina e ia he "hanga Versailles". Na reira ka whakahaua e ia te whakaekenga o Yugoslavia, i timata i te 6 o Aperira.