mar 30, 1939 - The Geneva Peace Conference

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March 30 1939, the German and Yugoslav diplomats, translators and leaders sat together patiently and quietly in the empty council chamber of the Palace of Nations. Both sides from their respective nations continued to eye each other, especially Prince Paul and the German Führer. Paul stares down at Hitler with a slight look of anger, and Hitler returns the favour by paying so little attention to the prince.

Swiss observers were in the room too. They chose to stay in the back to watch the peace treaty from afar. The palace and conference room were guarded by the Swiss Armed Forces too.

This charmer they sat and waited in was full of golden art of men and pillars from the ceiling and walls.
Each wall was constructed and done in a white marble-like material: the wood looked like a dark oak. Its neo-classical Greco-Roman design made Hitler quite fond.

The silence swiftly broke as the doors opened and revealed the diplomats and leaders of France, the UK, Poland, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, the Low Countries and Denmark. They entered the room with mixed feelings.

Adolf Hitler, who had very little interest in the details of how peace happened, had goals for how he could dismantle the Allies' power for good.

So after hearing all of the introduction, Hitler stood up in total silence and left the room, leaving many of the diplomats confused. Hitler instead went back to the special German quarters of the palace where the peace was to be discussed after being kindly offered the space by the Swiss Chancellor George Bovet.

The negotiations were left to be handled by Wilhelm Keitel and Joachim von Ribbentrop; they were the most senior Germans at the time.
They represent the military and political interests of the German side.

What Hitler did do, however, was set forward and placed down a set of vital areas that the Reich must secure to help "secure peace" in western Europe.

Adolf Hitler didn't want France to be in a position of power to challenge his Reich in a significant amount of time.
To do this, Hitler initially wanted to annex the former German region of Elsaß-Lothringen from France. But, many German ideologues and politicians like Joseph Goebbels said they wished to take back the historic territories that used to be part of the Kingdom of Burgundy since 1525 AD.
They wanted it to reach from the Somme River to the Swiss border.

This new demand began to take afloat with the NSDAP, and Hitler would soon change his mind and accept this demand for a new post-war border.

There was another proposal for establishing an SS-controlled country called the 'Order-State of Burgundy'.
This proposal wasn't popular with anyone in Germany except for Reichsführer Himmler and his SS.

Furthermore, Luxembourg and Belgium would be annexed by Germany and the Netherlands be placed under Military occupation by Germany led by a Military Government for five years.

The first set of German demands was;
- The annexation of Luxembourg, Belgium, Slovenian Styria and Upper Carniola.
- The recognition of the German occupations of Poland, Czech-speaking parts of Czechoslovakia and Denmark.
- The annexation of all Danish colonies.
- That Germany allowed to annex the region that they called the "North-East Line" from France.
- The right to expel any citizen of France from the "North-East Line" and seizure of their property and lands.
- A ten-year treaty of friendship be signed between the belligerents.
- The German Navy should be allowed to use the naval ports of Oran, Dakar, Algiers and Alexandria.
- That France should limit her military to 250,000 men.
- That the French Navy should be limited accordingly
- That the French Air Force and armoured forces prohibited.
- France should cede the island of Madagascar, the port cities of Dakar and Conakry, Middle Congo, Réunion and Mayotte, and the French Class B Mandates of Cameroon and Togo, with the territory around the Cameroons that used to be part of Neukamerun during 1911.
- The United Kingdom should cede the Channel Islands, the British Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Zanzibar islands, Seychelles, the city of Mombasa, and British Cameroon, Tanganyika, Western Togo Class B Mandates.
- Annexations of the Belgian Congo and the Class B Mandate of Ruanda-Urundi.
- That German vessels are guaranteed use of the Suez Canal.
- The recognition of the German Antarctic claim of New Swabia.

To the Allies, these terms were a disaster. Unfortunately, many of these terms were not easily rejectable.
Even though they were defeated, they could try to stop some of the terms delivered from Germany.

The advantage of negotiating as a bloc rather than as individual nations is that one country could not be subject to vast and damaging terms without another protesting.
Unfortunately, when one power is entirely defeated (like France was during the conflict), there is little an alliance can do to protect them except to stop their destruction as a nation.

Nevertheless, the Allies set out clear terms for peace should they reach an agreement;
- That Germany should respect the neutrality of the Kingdom of Norway.
- That Yugoslavia's independence and territorial integrity be secured.
- That the Governments of the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium restored.
- That Germany agrees to a renewed naval treaty to limit the size of the Kriegsmarine to avoid being a threat to the UK.
- Under no circumstances should the Allies accept any war guilt or pay war reparations.
- That under no circumstances the French Navy should be transferred to Germany.
- That the United Kingdom shall not cede the city of Mombasa and the Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Seychelles and Zanzibar islands.

The Germans were far keener on the idea of weakening France as a threat than they were on securing control of the Netherlands.
After several days of discussions, the two sides eventually agreed that the German Government would occupy the Netherlands (with their colonial possessions) for five years.

They will help rebuild all the damages done in the war, especially what Germany did to Rotterdam, and the German Army will withdraw from the country when those years are up.
During the occupation, the pre-existing Dutch Government-in-Exile was allowed to return.

Germany would agree to the request that the Allies pay no war reparations [this means the 400 million French Francs that France was supposed to send to Germany after the 12 February Armistice was cancelled too] or accept any war guilt and respect the independence and neutrality of Norway, despite concerns from some of the German delegations over the access of Norwegian steel and iron.

With the status of Denmark, Germany agreed to make Denmark a protectorate than an annexed territory. This choice pleases the Allies a little, but Germany demands if they do this, the Danish Protectorate Government should have their overseas colonies returned and placed under the protectorate's supervision, not Germany's.
The Allies were sceptical, but they had agreed to this demand because it meant the Kingdom of Denmark would still have some autonomy.

Unlike the French, the British were able to stand firm and resist Germany's claims on their territories of Mombasa, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, Seychelles and the Zanzibar islands.
This somewhat angered some of the German diplomats, but since the UK didn't lose anything quite significant (except for the losses of warships, equipment, soldiers and the Channel Islands), they refused, and the Germans went nowhere from pressuring the British into giving in.

However, in return for these demands, they expected the full concessions of the territories demanded from France and Belgium to ensure German security.

The Germans focused on annexing the strip of land; that the Germans called the "North-East Line" and taking strategic French bases in Africa.
Despite the best efforts of the British to guarantee the future of Belgium, eventually, it became clear that Germany would not accept anything but their demands in that area, sealing the fate of Belgium.

During the week-long discussions, France eventually agreed to concede their territory. They did this in the name of peace and their independence. As well as the fact in the backrooms, the UK remained loyal to the idea of liberating Europe soon, once the Allies were ready.

For such a massive concession, Germany had to guarantee French security for a decade - a joint German demand - and became legally bound to treat the former French citizens in the "North-East Line" with respect to their property and rights.

Germany lost the right to expel French citizens from the new border unless the French citizens had fled from Germany, while France would be required to recognize the new territory.

Finally, and by far the most important victory for the British Government, France would be permitted to maintain a standing army of 400,000 men.
It was nearly double the initial proposal but still forced France to remove 500,000 men from its standing military.

These terms were incredibly harsh for the French Republic, but it was more difficult for the French cabinet to accept.

But the French had agreed to the decision. For their survival as a nation from Germany's threats to continue the war and abuse the French people.
This decision was without broad and notable opposition.

If it were not for the fall of Paris, Germany would most likely have been unable to demand so much of France, but sadly for France, this had become their Versailles.

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