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ESPANSIONISMO (e approfondimenti)
L’”esuberante” politica estera di Hitler proseguì con l’ "anschluss", l’annessione dell’Austria, avvenuta il 13 marzo 1938, tra il tripudio della gente; ciò non fu sufficiente per placare i propositi espansionistici del III Reich. Con il pretesto della tutela delle minoranze tedesche, venne infatti reclamata la regione dei Sudeti, che si trovava sotto la sovranità cecoslovacca; ne seguì una violenta attività propagandista, che portò il mondo sull'orlo di una guerra evitata solo grazie alla mediazione di Mussolini, promotore e sostenitore di un accordo, quello di Monaco del 29-30 settembre 1938, nel quale, pur di evitare di ripiombare nell’incubo, si decise di accontentare di nuovo Hitler, che ottenne i Sudeti, impegnandosi a non avanzare altre pretese. La parola del fuhrer, tuttavia, rsi rivelò "carta straccia" e ben presto le truppe tedesche invasero ed annientarono una Cecoslovacchia privata delle proprie fortificazioni di confine e delle difese naturali, creando il protettorato di Boemia e Moravia.
I fragili equilibri e la speranza di mantenere la pace furono però definitivamente vanificati dall’ulteriore progetto di Hitler, quello di impossessarsi del cosiddetto "corridoio di Danzica" che separava la Prussia orientale dal resto della nazione e che era stato concesso alla Polonia, nel 1919, con il trattato di Versailles, per consentirle di avere uno sbocco sul mare.
Mappa dell’espansionismo tedesco in Europa
[S1]
E PER CHI VUOLE APPROFONDIRE...
Munich Pact September 29, 1938
Agreement concluded at Munich, September 29, 1938, between Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy
GERMANY, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, taking into consideration the agreement, which has been already reached in principle for the cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory, have agreed on the following terms and conditions governing the said cession and the measures consequent thereon, and by this agreement they each hold themselves responsible for the steps necessary to secure its fulfilment:
(1) The evacuation will begin on 1st October.
(2) The United Kingdom, France and Italy agree that the evacuation of the territory shall be completed by the 10th October, without any existing installations having been destroyed, and that the Czechoslovak Government will be held responsible for carrying out the evacuation without damage to the said installations.
(3) The conditions governing the evacuation will be laid down in detail by an international commission composed of representatives of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Czechoslovakia.
(4) The occupation by stages of the predominantly German territory by German troops will begin on 1st October. The four territories marked on the attached map will be occupied by German troops in the following order:
The territory marked No. I on the 1st and 2nd of October; the territory marked No. II on the 2nd and 3rd of October; the territory marked No. III on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of October; the territory marked No. IV on the 6th and 7th of October. The remaining territory of preponderantly German character will be ascertained by the aforesaid international commission forthwith and be occupied by German troops by the 10th of October.
(5) The international commission referred to in paragraph 3 will determine the territories in which a plebiscite is to be held. These territories will be occupied by international bodies until the plebiscite has been completed. The same commission will fix the conditions in which the plebiscite is to be held, taking as a basis the conditions of the Saar plebiscite. The commission will also fix a date, not later than the end of November, on which the plebiscite will be held.
(6) The final determination of the frontiers will be carried out by the international commission. The commission will also be entitled to recommend to the four Powers, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, in certain exceptional cases, minor modifications in the strictly ethnographical determination of the zones which are to be transferred without plebiscite.
(7) There will be a right of option into and out of the transferred territories, the option to be exercised within six months from the date of this agreement. A German-Czechoslovak commission shall determine the details of the option, consider ways of facilitating the transfer of population and settle questions of principle arising out of the said transfer.
(8) The Czechoslovak Government will within a period of four weeks from the date of this agreement release from their military and police forces any Sudeten Germans who may wish to be released, and the Czechoslovak Government will within the same period release Sudeten German prisoners who are serving terms of imprisonment for political offences.
Munich, September 29, 1938.
ADOLF HITLER,
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN,
EDOUARD DALADIER,
BENITO MUSSOLINI.
29/42
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