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The Kingdom of the Serbians, Croatians and Slovenes was formed after World War I of the Kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro and the South Slave populated formerly areas of Austro-Hungary. Because the tensions between the ethnic groups grew, King Peter I. repealed the constitution and proclaimed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After Yugoslavia acceded to the tripartite agreement on 25th March 1941, anti-German demonstrations happened in Yugoslavia. Two days later, an overthrow of government - which was supported by Great Britain - occurred in Yugoslavia. The new head of government General Simovic cancelled the agreement concluded two days before. As a result to this situation, the German Reich decided to expand the planed invasion of Greece to Yugoslavia. The Balkans campaign started on 6th April 1941. Already on 17th April 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia had to sign an unconditional surrender.
The equipment of the Yugoslavian army was obsolete and the grade of motorisation was low. An automotive industry was effectively not present. So, one had to use equipment of foreign manufacturers. Some Chevrolet 1.5 ton lorries were assembled in Yugoslavia in 1939/40. An involvement of Ford in Yugoslavia failed. Beginning in October 1940, Praga lorries were manufactured under license by IMAD in Belgrade.
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