were closer economic links with Germany, which lacked many of the raw materials necessary for a modern industrial economy and whose population exceeded the capacity of German farmers to feed it. As Germany needed both food and raw materials such as iron, bauxite, copper and manganese, Yugoslavia enjoyed an economic bloom from 1935, exporting minerals and agricultural products to Germany on an enormous scale, leading to an economic revival and placing Yugoslavia in the German economic sphere of influence. The Prince Regent had hoped that Stojadinović would make overtures to the Croats, but Stojadinović's unwillingness to discuss federalisation of Yugoslavia presented major difficulties to this end. As part of an attempt to reach out to the Croats, Stojadinović signed a concordat with the Vatican in 1935. The purpose of the Concordat was to win Croat support for the JRZ as it agreed informally during the negotiations if the Concordat was passed, then the Roman Catholic Church would ensure its moral influence with Croat voters in favor of the JRZ, but opposition from the Serbian Orthodox Church caused Stojadinović to put off submitting the concordat for ratification. In another concession to the Croats, Stojadinović allowed a statue of the assassinated Croat politician Stjepan Radić to be erected in Zagreb and for Croats who went into exile under King Alexander to return, including the son-in-law of Radić who had once called for independence for Croatia. Though in theory a supporter of economic liberalism, in practice Stojadinović favored an etatist economic policy, arguing that the state should intervene to end the Great Depression. Diplomacy Stojadinović recognized the military threats from Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and surrounding countries as imminent. Right from the beginning of his prime-ministership, Stojadinović had worked towards bringing Yugoslavia closer to Germany and away from its traditional ally, France. In late 1935, Stojadinović appointed a well known Germanophile as the Yugoslav minister in Berlin to replace the former minister who had a more critical attitude towards the Reich. Even before the remilitarization of the Rhineland, Yugoslavia under the leadership of Stojadinović was moving towards a pro-German foreign policy. In 1935, Yugoslavia observed the sanctions that the League of Nations had imposed on Italy, which inflicted harm on the Yugoslav economy, and Stojadinović signed his first economic treaty with Germany at the same time. In February 1936, Stojadinović welcomed King Boris III of Bulgaria to Belgrade, marking the beginning of Yugoslav-Bulgarian