Fall Grün (Czechoslovakia)
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Fall Grün | |
---|---|
Part of German occupation of Czechoslovakia | |
Planned | From 1937 |
Objective | Destruction of Czechoslovakia |
Date | Planned for no later than 1 October 1938 |
Outcome | Never carried out, as objective achieved by other means |
Fall Grün (
Background
The plan was first drafted in June 1937, then revised as the military situation and requirements changed - such as after the
Czechoslovakia's principal ally,
The name Fall Grün was later assigned to the plans for an invasion of Ireland.
Plan of attack
In addition to specific military assignments, the directive for Fall Grün also focussed on political preparations. The Czechoslovak authorities were to be intimidated by belligerent threats from Nazi Germany and the ethnic German minority population within the country organised to support the military operations. An incident would be staged to provide a pretext for opening hostilities. Attention was also to be given to encouraging Poland and Hungary to pursue their territorial claims against Czechoslovakia. [6]
The military campaign was to emphasise speed of action and an element of surprise. The aim of the army, in coordination with the air force, was to stage a surprise attack, penetrating and outflanking the border defences adjacent to Germany. The attack was to be carried out by five army formations massed along the western borders of Czechoslovakia. The main thrust of the campaign would come from the west, into Bohemia, in the direction of Plzeň and Prague. Simultaneously, a pincer movement in Moravia, from the north towards Olomouc and the south towards Brno, would prevent the withdrawal of the Czechoslovak army eastwards into Slovakia. Even the Danube flotilla would be brought into action in support of the army. With future armed conflict in mind, the directive also required, wherever possible, for Czechoslovakia’s industrial capacity to be preserved.[6]
Political pressure
A significant role in the preparatory stages of the campaign was played by the radicalised section of the ethnic German minority population in Czechoslovakia organised in the
Undeclared German-Czechoslovak war
Following a bellicose speech by Hitler in Nuremberg on 12 September 1938, during which he complained of the “intolerable” oppression of Czechoslovakia’s ethnic German population,
See also
References
- ^ Lukes, I., Czechoslovakia between Stalin and Hitler, Oxford, 1996, pp. 143-6.
- ^ 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
- ^ Mamatey, V. S. and Luža, R. (eds.), A History of the Czechoslovak Republic, 1918-1948, Princeton, 1973, pp. 268-70.
- ^ a b Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series D, vol. 2, London, 1950, no. 221, pp. 357-362, no.388, p.618-620 and no. 448, pp. 727-730.
- ^ Bruegel, J. W., Czechoslovakia before Munich, Cambridge, 1973, pp. 119, 123 & 206.
- ^ Smelser, Ronald M., The Sudeten Problem, 1933–1938: Volkstumspolitik and the Formulation of Nazi Foreign Policy, Folkestone, 1975, p. 222.
- ^ Vyšný, Paul, The Runciman Mission to Czechoslovakia, 1938: Prelude to Munich, Basingstoke, 2003, pp. 243-60.
- ^ Baynes, N. H. (ed), Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922 - August 1939, vol. 2, London, 1942, pp. 1487-99.
- ^ Luža, R., The Transfer of the Sudeten Germans: A Study of Czech-German Relations, 1933-1962, New York, 1965, p.143-4.
- ^ Dowling, Maria, Czechoslovakia, London, 2002, p. 58. President Beneš's declaration made on 16 December 1941.