759.6215/11–2746
Memorandum by the Deputy Director of the Office of European Affairs (Hickerson) to the Secretary of State
Subject: Danish Policy with Respect to German Schleswig.
The Danish Foreign Minister desires, in the course of his conversation with you,37 to raise a question as to the fate of the Schleswig region lying between Denmark and the Kiel Canal. He will in all probability justify his Government’s interest in such a question on the ground that the region contains a “Danish-minded” minority and that it is contiguous to Denmark.
It is anticipated that the Foreign Minister will present substantially the following points:38
- (1)
- Denmark does not seek a rectification of the Danish-German frontier or separation of South Schleswig from German allegiance but does wish to secure for the “Danish-minded” populace of that region a specific guaranty of minority rights so that the Danish element might compete peacefully and equally with the German for the maintenance of their culture and have the freedom of political organization and activity. This recognition of rights, in the Danish view, should include the separation of the administration of Schleswig from purely German Holstein.
- (2)
- Denmark wishes the progressive removal from Schleswig of the refugees from the East who now equal or even exceed in numbers the old resident population. This proposal rests on the alleged fear that this great concentration of Germans will make the frontier district a fertile breeding ground for German expansionist propaganda and politics. A Danish note of October 19 to the British Government states, “The future security of Denmark will essentially depend upon a cessation of the refugee pressure in the frontier areas.”
- (3)
- Denmark wishes assurance that it will have an opportunity in coming negotiations to defend its national interests which, in its judgment, are attached to the future status of affairs in South Schleswig.
During the past year the Government and the public have devoted much attention to the fate of South Schleswig. There has been much popular sympathy for the Danish minority expressed not only in terms of food packages but also in terms of varying degrees of political ambition. The Prime Minister has been privately a supporter of outright annexation but he has not been able to carry the country with him. The program which the Foreign Minister will discuss with you is in substance that which was stated in a parliamentary resolution of July 9, 1946. No political party in Denmark has ventured to come out for annexation, but the strong desire of the Danes both officially and popularly to secure cultural and political privileges for the Danish minority stems from the hope that a plebiscite in the course of time after a careful preparation would result in a vote for annexation to Denmark.
The area under discussion belonged to Denmark until 1864. Thereafter, as a part of Germany, a process of Germanization went on and, as a consequence of the plebiscite in 1920, the present frontier was drawn to create a minimum minority on each side.
The actual number of the Danish minority can not be accurately counted but the Danish-speaking group in 1939 numbered about 7,000 out of a total population of 286,000 for Schleswig as a whole. In the plebiscite of 1920 over 12,000 voted for Denmark. The present Danish stand is that the important consideration is “Danish-minded” rather than “Danish-speaking” and the Danish Government has been critical of the British military government authorities for restricting membership in the pro-Danish South Schleswig Association to persons who have demonstrable prior connections with the Danish minority. There is probably just one reason for the British suspicion that the influx of members into the Association is inspired by the appetite of Germans, including many Nazis, for Danish bacon and by the desire to escape the liabilities of German defeat.
With the Danish Government now limiting itself officially to championing the right of self-determination the leaders of the South Schleswig Association are now preparing a campaign for either autonomy or independence with a customs union with Denmark in the thought that such an arrangement would eventuate in annexation. Two weeks ago a distinguished Danish journalist and explorer, Mr. Ebbe Munck, came to Washington privately and personally to talk of the plans being formulated and to sound out the Department as to what attitude might be taken here. Mr. Munck said that he had stopped in [Page 1316] London en route and had received informal encouragement in the Foreign Office. (He was informed that the Department had no comment to make at the present time in view of the fact that Schleswig was in the British zone and we had had no discussions with London on the matter.)39
It may be assumed that, whatever the security apprehensions the Danish Government might have because of the inundation of German refugees from the East, there is a grave apprehension on their part that the refugees will so swamp the “Danish-minded” element with their numbers that a plebiscite would be fatal to the aspirations of the Danish minority. The German inhabitants of Schleswig apparently have such a resentment against the refugee intruders that at least some of them are becoming “Danish-minded” in the hopes of easing their burdens.
The British Government and military authorities have made numerous concessions to the Danish minority at the instance of the Danish Government but have refused to remove any refugees and have denied the right of Denmark to intervene, as stated in a British note of September 17, “with the object of securing political discrimination in favour of German citizens of Danish origin”.
-
Danish Foreign Minister Gustav Rasmussen visited New York from November 28 to December 15, 1946, in connection with his responsibilities as head of the Danish Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. The Secretary of State met with Foreign Minister Rasmussen in New York on December 5, 1946, and discussed the future of Greenland, the disposal of German refugees, and the question of South Slesvig. No American record of the full substance of that conversation has been found, but telegram 942, December 10, 1946, from Copenhagen, reported the meeting in part as follows:
“Perusal of Rasmussen’s telegraphic report of conference with Secretary Byrnes and Matthews December 5 reveals he is quite satisfied with reception. He had theretofore discussed South Slesvig and refugee matters with Bevin but has not as yet conferred with Molotov. He is most gratified by Secretary’s observation that Denmark as one of countries adjoining Germany will be heard by Council of FonMins as to terms of German treaty and also by assurance matter of refugees will be taken up by Secretary in Council of FonMins.” (859.00/12–1046)
The discussion regarding German refugees was summarized in telegram 3008, December 19, 1946, to Berlin, vol. v, p. 196.
↩ - The points set forth here are substantially those contained in a Danish Foreign Ministry memorandum, dated November 21, 1946, not printed, which Foreign Minister Rasmussen handed to the Secretary of State on December 5, 1946.↩
- The memorandum of conversation of November 19, 1946, by David Harris, Assistant Chief of the Division of Central European Affairs, of the meeting between Ebbe Munck and officers of the Department of State is filed under 711.59/11–1946.↩