Boy in the Middle

Yugoslavia's youthful King Peter II, exiled in London, had two long conversations with Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Then Peter fired his Government. Prime Minister Bozhidar Punch. War Minister Draja Mihailovich lost their jobs. But Peter's royal prospects remained poor.

The growing power of Partisan Leader Josip (Marshal Tito) Broz, Russian pressure for Tito's full recognition, and British insistence forced Peter to ditch his anti-Tito ministers. At 20, two months after his marriage to Princess Alexandra of

Greece, King Peter found himself between great pressures. Alone, he could never have dismissed ministers who had been loyal to him, even to the point of fighting Partisans who fought for his country's liberation. His power stemmed from Winston Churchill and the British Government, determined to meet Russia's minimum demands for a remodeled, broadened Yugoslav Government. Britain's interest was intelligently selfish: a solution which satisfied Russia, embraced Tito and preserved the monarchy was the only one which could also preserve at least a vestige of British influence in that part of the Mediterranean world.

But stubborn Peter sidestepped the main issue, the question of a plebiscite to determine whether his people want him back. Churchill urged him to promise the plebiscite now. Peter refused; would Tito yield in his demand for a popular vote?

The harassed King said that he wanted a "neutral" government, i.e., one composed of men supporting neither Tito nor Mihailovich. To form such a cabinet, he summoned Ivan Subasich, onetime Governor of Croatia, a leader of the Croatian Peasant Party, who had recently lived in the U.S. Handsome, hardy Dr. Subasich was flatly anti-Mihailovich, pro-Tito. His assignment was tough. Its success depended on Russian approval, since Tito would surely look to Moscow for guidance.

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