368 KINGDOM OF YUGOSLAVIA Area...... 249,00 sq. km. Population (III. I93I)... I3,93,000 Density per sq. km...... 55.9 MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ARMED FORCES? The armed forces of Yugoslavia comprise the land army, the military air force and the navy, and are under the Ministry of War and Marine. In war time, the command of the army in the field may be entrusted to a field-marshal or a general, who is responsible to the Minister of War and Marine. The army is distributed among the five army areas which make up the territory of the Kingdom. Each army area is divided up into three or four divisional areas, making in all sixteen. Each army area includes an artillery regiment and a number of engineer units. Each divisional area includes one brigade of infantry and one brigade of artillery. Cavalry, air force and railway and motor units are organised independently and are not attached to the army or divisional areas. I. Army. ORGANS OF MILITARY COMMAND AND ADMINISTRATION MINISTRY OF WAR AND MARINE. In time of peace, the Minister of War and Marine commands the army and navy, with the assistance of the General Staff. A Department of Marine is attached to the Ministry of War for questions connected with the naval forces. GENERAL STAFF. The General Staff is the organ of the Ministry of War and Marine. It is responsible for all questions connected with the defence of the country, and in peace time serves both for the army and the navy.
KINGDOM OF YUGOSLAVIA 369 INSPECTORATES OF TROOPS. The inspectorates are subordinate to the Ministry of War and Marine. An inspectorate is attached to each of the principal arms.- There are at present inspectorates of infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineers, the medical service and the economic service. The commander of the navy and the commander of the air force are the inspectors of the navy and of the air force respectively. MILITARY BOARDS. There are technical, intendance and medical boards ; they are organs of the Ministry of War and Marine. COMPOSITION OF THE ARMY i. Higher units : 6 infantry brigades, I6 artillery brigades, 2 cavalry divisions (5 brigades). 2. Arms and services. Infantry : 57 infantry regiments. The composition of regiments varies and may include 2, 3 or 4 battalions; each battalion has 4 companies; each regiment also has i machine-gun company. Cavalry : io cavalry regiments. Each regiment consists of 5 squadrons, i of which is a machine-gun squadron. Artillery : 32 divisional artillery regiments, 5 army artillery regiments, i fortress artillery regiment, i Royal Guard artillery regiment, 2 horse artillery groups. In all: 71 field batteries, 45 mountain batteries, 48 howitzer batteries, 4 batteries of the Royal Guard (2 horse artillery batteries, I mountain and i howitzer battery), 21 large-calibre gun and howitzer batteries. 6 horse artillery batteries. Total I95 batteries. Engineers: 5 pioneer battalions, 4 bridging battalions, i special battalion. 24
370 KINGDOM OF YUGOSLAVIA Air force: 6 air regiments, forming i8 flights, 3 balloon companies, I air battalion. AIR MATERIAL. (Extract from the communication from the Yugoslav Government, dated September i 4 th, I93I.) NUMBER OF AEROPLANES AND HORSE-POWER. Number Total horse-power Land army... 568 2 269,585 Navy... 592 23,706 SUMMARY TABLE OF UNITS. tarv sional Divi- Bri ' Regi- Batta- Squad- ht Corn- BattAreas on sions gades ments lions rons Fli panis teries Higher units... 5 i6. Infantry.... - - 16 i 57*1 54-6732 Cavalry... 2 51 O 483 - Artillery... - 6 391 i64 95 Air force.. - 6 i 18 35 - Engineers... - - Io 41 - Train.... I7 - - - Army Medical Corps. -.... I7.' - Railway troops... 2-7 - Motor troops....._. Total... 5 i6 2 37 112 168 65 8 76 I95 - One of the Royal Guard. ' 57 of which are machine-gun companies. i xo of which are machine-gun squadrons. ' Fortress troops. 5 Balloon companies. GENDARMERIE, POLICE AND FRONTIER GUARDS Gendarmerie. The gendarmerie is under the Ministry of the Interior. It is considered part of the army only as far as organisation and discipline are concerned. It consists of 9 regiments, 2 independent battalions and i squadron. 1 Document C.763.M.361.i 9 3 I.IX (Conf.D.3o). 2 This figure represents the number of aeroplanes in commission in the present organic units, and does not include 263 training aircraft (34 seaplanes for the navy) at present in commission, or a certain number of aeroplanes under construction included in the programme for the organisation of land and naval aviation in peace time.
KINGDOM OF YUGOSLAVIA 3'7 Police. The police is under the Ministry of the Interior, and numbers (I930-31) about 1,9oo men. Frontier Guard. The frontier guard is under the Ministry of War and Marine. RECRUITING SYSTEM AND PERIOD OF SERVICE Military service is compulsory. The period of military service is twenty-nine years (from the age of 21I to the age of 50), and is divided up as follows: Active army : From the age of 21 to the age of 40. Reserve: From the age of 40 to the age of 50. Under the law on the organisation of the army and navy, the period of service with the colours is as follows: Normal period Reduced period 1 (Months) (Months) Army... 18 92 Air force.... 24 i2a Navy..... 24 9 Under the law on the organisation of the army and navy, all officers of the reserve and reservists may be called up each year for a period of training as follows: four weeks during their service in the army of operations (from 21 to 40 years); two weeks during their service in the territorial reserve army (from 40 to 50 years). RECRUITING OF N.C.O.s AND OFFICERS. N.C.O.s are recruited from among soldiers who have completed their course in the schools for N.C.O.s. Officers are recruited through the Military Academy, and are promoted to higher ranks by seniority or selection. Reserve N.C.O.s are recruited from among N.C.O.s who have left the active army, and from among men who have attained the rank of reserve N.C.O. Reserve officers are recruited from among retired officers, cadets and N.C.O.s who have passed the examination for reserve officers. 1 For the army: eldest sons, sole supporters of families, and students; for the air force: trained pilots; for the navy: students. 2 Six months for seminarists. a Nine months for eldest sons, sole supporters of families and students.
372 KINGDOM OF YUGOSLAVIA EFFECTIVES I. DAILY AVERAGE EFFECTIVES. (Extract from the communication from the Yugoslav Government, dated September i 4 th, i93i.)1 Total effectives Officers N.C.O.s Land army... i84,448 1 6,741 2 - Formations organised on a military basis -a Gendarmerie.1... I9,848 555 4,392 5 Frontier guard.8,567 232* 192 5 Air army... io,8o10 - - Including officers of the reserve and reservists called up for a period of training. The disproportion between the number of officers and the total effectives is due to the fact that these cadres have not yet been brought up to the requisite number of officers. I Although the gendarmerie and frontier guard are organised on a military basis, they could not be used for military purposes without first being reorganised and mobilised. Their organisation differs considerably from that of the actual military units; in addition, they are without armament and other necessary material (machine-guns, accessory appliances, artillery, means of communication, medical service, transport, etc.). Furthermore, in accordance with the provisions of their respective regulations, these two formations would remain in their places in the event of mobilisation, and would perform the same services as in peace time. 4 Including officials ranking as officers. Non-commissioned officers and officials. SUMMARY TABLE OF BUDGETARY EFFECTIVES OF THE LAND ARMY. The figures in the following table, which are extracted from previous editions of the Armaments Year-Book, differ in character from the figures in the preceding table. These two kinds of returns are not comparable with each other. 1926-27 1927-28 1928-29 1929-30 1930-31 Officers.. 6,433 6,641 6,795 7,052 7,527 N.C.O.s and men 109,509 Ioo00,900 ioi,8oo 103,393 104,222 Total.... 115,942 107,541 108,595 110,445 111,749 II. Navy. (Extract from the communication from the Yugoslav Government, dated September I4th, 1931-) NUMBER OF UNITS AND TONNAGE Tonnage 4 submarines... 2,880 In addition, there is a cruiser of 1,88o tons under construction. A number of cruisers, destroyers, submarines and other vessels are authorised (ioo,ooo tons). Also authorised are 3 coast-defence vessels. 1 Document C.763.M. 3 61.1 9 3 1.IX (Conf.D.3o).
KINGDOM OF YUGOSLAVIA 373 The Yugoslav navy comprises, in addition, a number of exempt vessels and special vessels-namely, 8 torpedo-boats, 6 mine-layers, 4 monitors, i training vessel (Dalmacija, 2,360 tons), 4 store-ships, 2 salvage vessels. The global tonnage of all these latter vessels is I3,570 tons. III. Expenditure on National Defence. i. ACTUAL EXPENDITURE FOR 1929-30. (Extract from the communication from the Yugoslav Government dated September I 4 th, I93I.)' Land Naval Air forces forces forces Total Effectives... 997.1 70.3 49.8 1,117.2 Transport... 140.5 34-0 27.0 201.5 Buildings... 169.5 20.4 46.2 236.1 i War material... 462.7 44-4 I I5.7 622.8 Total... 1,769.8 I69g. 238.7 2,177.6 Joint budgetary and extraordinary credits.. 904.3 Grand Total.... 1,769.8 169.1 238.7 3,081.9 NOTES. - I. Joint budgetary and extraordinary credits in the table above represent: Dinars (ooo, ooo's) (a) Extraordinary credits for land, sea and air armed forces.. 714.9 (b) Expenditure on transport and construction works.... 150.2 (c) Expenditure in settlement of amount due by the State on account of the Ministry of War and the Marine... 39.2 Total..................... 904-3 2. The figures in the table above do not include expenditure on the gendarmerie and frontier guards, which amounted to 468-4 million dinars. Although the gendarmerie and the frontier guards are constituted on military lines, they could not be used for military purposes in view of their organisation, armament and equipment. They would have first to be re-organised and mobilised in much the same conditions as those in which new recruits from the civil population are mobilised. 3. Global expenditure in respect of pensions amounted to 129.2 million dinars. 2. BUDGET EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEARS I925-26 TO I930-3I. The data in the table below are from earlier editions of the Armaments Year- Book. These data should not be compared with those in the foregoing table, which 1Document C.763.M.361.I93I.IX (Conf.D.3o).
374 KINGDOM OF YUGOSLAVIA is based on the answer of the Yugoslav Government in response to the Cotincil's request for information concerning the state of its armaments (see Preface, page 5). 1925-26J 1926-27 X927-28 1928-29 1929-30 1 930-31 Ministry of the Army and Navy.,956.0 2,4I3.0 2,398.6 2,428.6 2,428.6 2,522.9 1 For the financial year I925-26, monthly votes on account were adopted, based on the budget for 1924-25. NOTES. - I. Expenditure on the Air Force is included in the expenditure of the Ministry of the Army and the Navy. 2. Expenditure on the gendarmerie is not included in the figures above. It is charged to the budget of the Ministry of the Interior and has amounted to the following sums: 1925-26 1 926-27 I927-28 1928-29 1929-30 I 930-31 Gendarmerie...... 375.5 391.6 365.9 366. 365.0 37-.4 3. Military pensions and war pensions are shown in the general budget under the special heading " Pensions ". Prior to 1928-29, war pensions were charged to the Ministry of Social Welfare. Military pensions are shown jointly with civil pensions. War pensions have amounted to : 1925-26 I 1926-27 1927-28 I928-29 I929-30 J 930-31 War pensions... 316.2 400.0 254.0 250.2 342.3 240.0 4. In the general budget are shown the following amounts referring to budgetary reserve credits: I925-26 1926-27 1927-28 1928-29 1929-30 1930-31 3I.-0 39 7 5.2I j 4.6 74.0 74.0 It is impossible to ascertain whether and what portion of this expenditure has been devoted to military purposes.