Today in History – 11/12 April

İnönü visits Belgrade

Prime Minister İsmet İnönü paid an official visit to Yugoslavia with Minister of Foreign Affairs Tevfik Rüştü Aras on April 11-15, 1937. The purpose of the visit was to reestablish mutual trust between Turkey and Yugoslavia, both member countries of the Balkan Pact.

Signed in 1934 between Turkey, Greece, Yugoslavia, and Romania, the Balkan Pact was fundamentally established against Italy, which had declared its desire to expand across the Mediterranean and the Balkans as part of its “mare nostro” project. At the time, Italy was allies with England and France against Germany.

Italy’s increasingly close ties with Germany in 1937 disrupted the equilibrium. Once Yugoslavia signed a treaty of friendship with Italy in March, concerns over the dissolution of the Balkan Pact escalated. İnönü’s visit to Belgrade was prompted by the need to assess the new situation. Although both sides reassured the press and the public after the visit that there was no threat against the Balkan Pact, the Balkan Entente became obsolete following the outbreak of World War II.