Editing Special Operations Executive (section)

===Yugoslavia===
{{See also|Yugoslavia and the Allies}}

1941, SOE helped considerably in anti-Axis propaganda and in preparing the [[Yugoslav coup d'état]] which overthrew the pro-Axis regent, [[Prince Paul of Yugoslavia|Prince Paul]].<ref>{{cite journal| url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/23C920B170CF14692F3A25784B9245F7/S0037677900145619a.pdf/soe-and-british-involvement-in-the-belgrade-coup-detat-of-march-1941.pdf| title=SOE and British Involvement in the Belgrade Coup d'État of March 1941| last=Stafford| first=David A. T| journal=Slavic Review| publisher=Cambridge University Press| date=27 January 2017| volume=36| issue=3| pages=399–419| doi=10.2307/2494975| jstor=2494975| archive-date=11 August 2022| access-date=11 August 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811150441/https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/23C920B170CF14692F3A25784B9245F7/S0037677900145619a.pdf/soe-and-british-involvement-in-the-belgrade-coup-detat-of-march-1941.pdf| url-status=live}}</ref> After the pro-British coup succeeded, the Axis [[Invasion of Yugoslavia]] ensued. In the aftermath of the German invasion and the Yugoslav capitulation, the [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]] fragmented. [[Croatia]] had a substantial pro-Axis movement, the [[Ustaše]]. In Croatia and the remainder of Yugoslavia, two resistance movements formed: the royalist [[Chetniks]] under [[Draža Mihailović]], and the Communist [[Partisans (Yugoslavia)|Partisans]] under [[Josip Broz Tito]].

Mihailović was the first to attempt to contact the Allies, and SOE despatched a party on 20 September 1941 under Major [[Bill Hudson (British Army officer)|"Marko" Hudson]]. Hudson also encountered Tito's forces. Notable members of this party included actor [[Christopher Lee]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUSHMUVu-Xk&ab_channel=EyesOnCinema| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211104/yUSHMUVu-Xk| archive-date=2021-11-04 | url-status=live|title=Christopher Lee talks Special Forces and receives an incredible gift|website=YouTube|access-date=18 February 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Through the royalist government in exile, SOE at first supported the Chetniks. Eventually, however, due to reports that the Chetniks were less effective and even collaborating with German and Italian forces on occasion, British support was redirected to the Partisans, even before the [[Tehran Conference]] in 1943.

Although relations were often touchy throughout the war, it can be argued that SOE's unstinting support was a factor in Yugoslavia's maintaining a neutral stance during the [[Cold War]]. However, accounts vary dramatically between all historical works on the ''"Chetnik controversy"''.