Fall Grün (Czechoslovakia)
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| Fall Grün | |
|---|---|
| Part of German occupation of Czechoslovakia | |
| Planned | 1937 |
| Objective | Capture and defeat Czechoslovakia |
| Date | Cancelled and never carried out (planned for 28 September 1938) |
Fall Grün (German for 'Case Green') was a pre-World War II plan for the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany. Although some preliminary steps were taken to destabilise Czechoslovakia, the plan was never fully realised since Nazi Germany achieved its objective by diplomatic means at the Munich Conference in September 1938, followed by the unopposed military occupation of Bohemia and Moravia and the creation of a nominally independent Slovakia, in March 1939.
Background
The plan was first drafted in June 1937, then revised as the military situation and requirements changed - such as after the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in March 1938. Following the May Crisis war scare of that year, the plan acquired a target date scheduling the attack for not later than 1 October 1938. The directive, signed by Adolf Hitler on 30 May 1938, indicated it was his "unalterable decision" to destroy Czechoslovakia in the near future.[1]
Czechoslovakia's principal ally, France, in conjunction with Britain, pursued a policy of "Appeasement" towards Nazi Germany, culminating in the Munich Agreement, signed on 30 September 1938. The agreement, between the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Italy, transferred the mainly German-inhabited regions (known as the "Sudetenland") to Germany.[2] The territory concerned contained Czechoslovakia’s strategically significant border fortifications,[3] and, as a result, the plan for a military attack was no longer relevant. The destruction of Czechoslovakia was completed in March 1939, when Slovakia became a nominally independent state under the influence of Nazi Germany. The remaining western parts of Czechoslovakia were occupied by Germany and became the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.[4]
The name Fall Grün was later assigned to the plans for an invasion of Ireland.
Psychological warfare
The plans of Fall Grün had a large role for psychological warfare, both within Czechoslovakia and against Czechoslovakia's allies. Internally, the Czechoslovak government and citizenship were supposed to be intimidated and have their will to defend themselves broken, and the ethnic German minority (which was largely pro-German and pro-Nazi), was supposed to internally weaken and disrupt the country.[5] Internationally, co-ordinated Nazi psychological and propaganda warfare aimed at making the country isolated to the point that it would stand alone against any aggression, with defence having no hope.[5] Modern media, especially radio, played key role in the Nazi psychological warfare. Within Czechoslovakia, Nazi Germany also relied on using the Sudeten German Party as well as its paramilitary organization the Freiwilliger Schutzdienst.[5]
Undeclared German-Czechoslovak war
On 17 September 1938, Adolf Hitler ordered the establishment of Sudetendeutsches Freikorps, a paramilitary organisation that took over the structure of Freiwillinger Schutzdienst/Ordnersgruppe, an organisation of ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia that had been dissolved by the Czechoslovak authorities the previous day because of its implication in large number of terrorist activities. The organisation was sheltered, trained and equipped by German authorities and conducted cross-border terrorist operations into Czechoslovakian territory. Relying on the Convention for the Definition of Aggression, Czechoslovak President Edvard Beneš[6] and the Czechoslovak government-in-exile[7] later regarded 17 September 1938 to be the beginning of the undeclared German-Czechoslovak war. That understanding has been assumed also by the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic in 1997.[8]
See also
References
- ^ Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series D, vol. 2, London, 1950, no. 221, pp. 357-362.
- ^ "Munich Pact September 30, 1938", The Avalon Project, Yale Law School.
- ^ Interactive map of Czechoslovak Fortifications
- ^ Dowling, M, ‘’’Czechoslovakia’’’, London, 2002, pp. 58-59.
- ^ a b c Hruška, Emil (2013). Boj o pohraničí: Sudetoněmecký Freikorps v roce 1938 [Fight for the Border: Sudeten German Freikorps in 1938] (in Czech). Prague: Nakladatelství Epocha, Pražská vydavatelská společnost. pp. 9–10.
- ^ President Beneš's declaration made on 16 December 1941
- ^ Note of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile dated 22 February 1944
- ^ Ruling No. II. ÚS 307/97 (Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic 1997) ("Stran interpretace "kdy země vede válku", obsažené v čl. I Úmluvy o naturalizaci mezi Československem a Spojenými státy, publikované pod č. 169/1929 Sb. za účelem zjištění, zda je splněna podmínka státního občanství dle restitučních předpisů, Ústavní soud vychází z již v roce 1933 vypracované definice agrese Společnosti národů, která byla převzata do londýnské Úmluvy o agresi (CONVENITION DE DEFINITION DE L'AGRESSION), uzavřené dne 4. 7. 1933 Československem, dle které není třeba válku vyhlašovat (čl. II bod 2) a dle které je třeba za útočníka považovat ten stát, který první poskytne podporu ozbrojeným tlupám, jež se utvoří na jeho území a jež vpadnou na území druhého státu (čl. II bod 5). V souladu s nótou londýnské vlády ze dne 22. 2. 1944, navazující na prohlášení prezidenta republiky ze dne 16. 12. 1941 dle § 64 odst. 1 bod 3 tehdejší Ústavy, a v souladu s citovaným čl. II bod 5 má Ústavní soud za to, že dnem, kdy nastal stav války, a to s Německem, je den 17. 9. 1938, neboť tento den na pokyn Hitlera došlo k utvoření "Sudetoněmeckého svobodného sboru" (Freikorps) z uprchnuvších vůdců Henleinovy strany a několik málo hodin poté už tito vpadli na československé území ozbrojeni německými zbraněmi.").
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