Balkan League

The Balkan League (Serbian:иусхист лига ) is a common English name for the period of history in the Balkan League 1928-1947, when it was ruled by the NSBWP (National Socialist Balkan Workers Party) in a dictatorship under Visarion Belojevic. Although the official name of the nation during this time was still the Serbian Empire it is called the Balkan League to avoid confusion with the Serbian Empire (1232-1919) that came before it.

Visarion Belojevic the leader of the NSBWP gained a tremendous amount of power from the people due to the weakness of the democratic Balkan Republic which caused suffering and economic collapse. Visarion joined the party in 1923 while in the city of Athens and later gained leadership of the party in 1928, although his advisors suggested that he should gain power through winning the elections Visarion made the remark "What's the point of waiting for elections when we hold elections right now". Visarion Belojevic started the short 3 months Serbian Civil War also known as the 1928 Coup D'etat winning the short civil war within three months after capturing Belgrade (15 July - 28 September) and overthrowing the Balkan Republic with support of the people changing it into a National Socialist Dictatorship and appointing himself as Prvak of the Balkan League. Visarion Belojevic and the NSBWP restored the Balkan League's economy, unemployment issues, and military power which he was most notable for.

Racism, particularly ethnic nationalism, was a central feature of the regime. The South Slavic people's, particularly the Serbs, were considered to be the only ethnicities that should be allowed to exist in the League which also brought on the need for territorial ambition for territories deemed "ethnically South Slavic." Opposition to Visarion Belojevic's rule was largely suppressed. Members of the liberal, socialist, and communist opposition were silenced or imprisoned/exiled at times. Education was largely focused on population policy and fitness for military service. Women enjoyed a fair amount of career and educational opportunities. The 1938 World Cup showcased the Balkan League on the international stage which brought on a fair amount of recreation and tourism to the country. Apistoli Anastopoulos, a diplomat and propaganda minister made effective use of mass rallies and film to influence the public opinion.

Beginning in the late 1930's, the Balkan League made increasingly aggressive territorial demands, threatening war if they were not met. Visarion Belojevic issued the order for the United Balkan Army to march into Bucharest in 1937 and after arguing for the return of the whole or parts of Croatia in 1938 the British, in an attempt to appease Belojevic and stop any further demands, returned Serbian North Africa which was taken following the First World War. But this was not enough, in on April 5th, 1941 Belojevic invaded the South German Confederation and Hungary simultaneously after arguing that the ethnic Serbian/Croat populations had been seeing severe mistreatment under their rule demanding their return into the League which was refused instantly. This launched the Second World War in Europe with the Balkan League making allies with the Union of Soviet Italian Republics, and the North German Confederation who had their own territorial ambitions in South Germany, and for North Germany, this meant uniting all Germans. In an alliance with the North German Confederation, Aquitaine, the Union of Soviet Italian Republics, Great Moravia, and later Sweden this alliance called the League Alliance managed to conquer most of Europe and Anatolia by 1942 threatening the United Kingdom. In Hungary, a national socialist puppet state was established and territory claimed by the League ceded to Hungary after the First World War was returned. The South German Confederation completely ceased to exist being split into three pieces between the Balkan League, the North German Confederation, and Italy, partially based on ethnic but more on historical terms. The Vizantiyan Empire fell back as far as Ankara but held a strong line after that.

The Russian Empire, however, had remained neutral. Despite it being against their interests for the Balkan League to be the main power on the continent seeing as they also had territorial ambitions and sought vengeance against Russia, Tsar Michael II remained neutral. The United Kingdom urged Tsar Michael to reconsider his choice and he reluctantly agreed after realizing that neutrality was not possible and the League would in time declare war on him. The Russians were caught off guard following the Balkan League's invasion of the Russian Empire in September of 1942, being in the midst of planning for offensive operations themselves they were hindered and quickly fell back. It was first a struggle between the League and Russia on the Carpathian mountain range, but after a decisive victory and aid from the North German Confederation the Balkan League was able to break through the mountain range into Dezarussiya and parts of Poland liberating Dezarussiya and forming a puppet state which was ruled by the former Vovannslav II, deemed the reconqueror by Visarion Belojevic himself who sought the support as many people as he could seeing as the Balkan war machine was somewhat overstretched as they had been bogged down in Anatolia but needed to invade Russia as they had suspicions the Russians would not wait long to invade them given time from the United Kingdom who would surely be constantly trying to convince them to. Although initially very successful the tide gradually turned against the Balkan League,. Following a Syndicalist revolution in Russia after a disastrous Russian Imperial campaign and weak support for the authoritarian monarchist government, Visarion Belojevic believed that peace was in arms reach. However, the new leader of Russia, Nikolai Zhonov intensified the war effort against the Balkan League allowing for more competent commanders to lead and using components of propaganda to boost morale of the population. By 1944 the Balkan League started suffering major military defeats. A large-scale aerial bombing of the Balkan League escalated in 1945 and the League Alliance was pushed back in Eastern and Western Europe. Following the allied invasion of Aquitaine and France, North Germany and Italy faltered under the pressure with, the North German Confederation more so. Eventually the North German Confederation was crushed and neutralized by joint military operations between the Allies and Syndicalist Russia. Italy then fell soon after after a British landing in Sicily which progressively worked further up until all of Italy was liberated. In Anatolia, Syndicalist Russia pushed back the forced of the Balkan League and established a Syndicalist State as it had in Hungary, Moravia, and Dezarussiya. From there the Balkan League was isolated and finished off by March 21, 1947 when the armistice was signed. Belojevic's refusal to admit defeat lead to massive destruction of Serbian infrastructure and additional war-related deaths in the closing months of the war. The victorious allies initiated a policy of de-balkanization and put many of the surviving Balkan leadership on trial for war crimes at the Munich trials.

Name
The official name of the state was "Srpsko Carstvo" from 1928 to 1941, then "Veliko Srpsko Carstvo" from 1941 onwards. While common English terms, on the other hand, are "the Balkan League" or the "Serbian Carstvo".

Background
The Balkan economy suffered severe setbacks after the end of World War I, partly because of reparations payments required in the Treaty of Vienna (1919). The government printed money to make the payments and to repay the country's war debt, but the resulting hyperinflation led to highly inflated prices for consumer goods, economic chaos and food riots. When the government failed to make the reparations payments in 1924, Hungarian troops occupied the rich Ploesti oilfields and industrial areas in most of the Rumanian territory.

The National Socialist Balkan Worker's Party (NSBWP) founded in 1920 was one of the several far-right political parties active in Serbia at the time. The party platform included removal of the Balkan Republic, rejection of the terms of the Treaty of Vienna, radical pan-south slavism and anti-communism. They promised a strong and central government as well as reuniting the former territories which used to be part of the Balkan League, particularly the rich Croatian industrial sector.

When the stock market in the South German Confederation crashed on June 16th, 1926, the effect in the Balkan League was dire. Millions were thrown out of work and several major banks collapsed. Visarion Belojevic and the NSBWP prepared to take advantage of the emergency to gain support for their political party. They promised to strengthen the economy and provide jobs. Many voters decided the NSBWP was capable of restoring the order, quelling civil unrest, and improving the League's international reputation. However, instead of waiting for elections the NSBWP started a coup in July of 1928 which saw the short Serbian Civil War of 1928, the unpopular Balkan Republic quickly collapsed and casualties were minor. The NSBWP then took control of the country forming an National Socialist Dictatorship which would only give way with the Balkan Leagues defeat in the Second World War.