9. april var ikke på programmet: Generalerne og skiftet i socialdemokratiets forsvarspolitik

Resumé

The Danish Social-Democratic Party had historical close relations with its German sister party. When severe persecution started following Hitler’s coming to power, the Danish Party under Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning started to consider a revision of its security and military policies. Traditionally the party had sought security through unilateral disarmament, and the army officer corps had been considered class enemies. However, Stauning had never been one of the Party’s pacifists, and in 1931 he had selected Major-General Erik With as Commanding General against the strong opposition of the government coalition partner, the Social Liberal (“Radical”) Party. With was an old acquaintance of Stauning. He was known to be a dynamic national-conservative protagonist, networker and lobbyist for the re-establishment of an army large enough to resist invasion. With understood that the success any such project required the acceptance and support of the Social Democrats, and he was eager to make any reform of his service making this possible. Initially the focus of co-operation was exclusively on the creation of a defence of the border against National-Socialist gangs: However by spring 1935 it was clear that Stauning was willing to go further. It is now clear that he sought a new combination of political understanding with Germany and a politically broadly supported defence compromise as his Liberal Party predecessor, J.C. Christensen, had achieved prior to the First World War. However, both traditionalist inside his own party and the Social-Liberal leader, Foreign Minister Peter Munch, were unwilling to go so far, and the article follows to which extend With and Stauning were able to develop the army up to the spring 1939 international crisis. With and his General Staff chief end eventual successor, Ebbe Gørtz, sough to use this and later crisis and the war in the same way as the First World War neutrality defence had been used as a framework of expansion. The generals’ planning had long-term goals. The occupation that came on 9 April 1940 was an unforeseen interruption.