September note
The September note of September 9, 1946 denotes a diplomatic note from the British to the Danish government regarding the constitutional constitution of southern Schleswig .
history
Südschleswig represents the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig , which was a fiefdom of Denmark until 1864, annexed by Prussia after the German-Danish War in 1864 and after a referendum in Schleswig in 1920 it was finally divided into the Danish north and German south Schleswig has been. Schleswig is linguistically and culturally shaped by German , Danish and North Frisian , with Danish and Frisian being replaced as the colloquial language in the southern parts of Schleswig as part of a language change from the early modern period . The German-Danish conflict over Schleswig led to two major wars in the 19th century and was a dominant topic well into the 20th century. After the end of the Second World War and the collapse of the Nazi dictatorship , there was a large influx of the Danish minority in southern Schleswig and corresponding demands for a reunification of the part of the country with Denmark. There was also support from the Danish public for a possible connection to southern Schleswig. By January 1946, half a million citizens had already signed a corresponding appeal and a survey in the same month shows that 75% of Danish citizens were in favor of another referendum in Schleswig. However, the Danish Liberation Government had already announced on May 9, 1945 that the course of the border from 1920 should not be changed.
The British government, in the occupied zone of southern Schleswig, said it wanted to tackle the problem. In the meantime, the Soviet Union had also given the Danish government to recognize that they would base a possible claim by Denmark on southern Schleswig. In fact, however, the Danish side was deeply divided on how to proceed on the southern Schleswig question. The government and the opposition in Copenhagen agreed at least on a memorandum that demanded the safeguarding of the cultural and political rights of the Danish people from southern Schleswig and the removal of the East German expellees. This ultimately led to the British September Note of September 9, 1946. In this, the British side made it clear that they forbade any interference in politics relating to the British zone of occupation. At the same time, however, the September note also opened up the possibility of a new border revision. The British government specifically offered a population exchange between the two minorities or a border shift with or without a prior referendum. With the September Note, the British side put the Danish government under pressure to take a firm stand on the South Schleswig question. On October 19, the Copenhagen government finally declared in the so-called October Note that the national right of self-determination of the Danish southern Schleswig-Holstein had to be respected, but that a change in the national affiliation of the part of the country was not intended, which means that a possible change of the border after the Second World War is definitely a rejection was granted.
Documents
literature
- Reimer Hansen (among others): Minorities in the German-Danish border area , Kiel 1993.