Pawns, provocateurs and parasites: Great Britain and German fifth column movements in Europe and the Middle East, 1934 – 1941

[摘要] This dissertation will explore and examine Great Britain’s understanding of German fifth column movements in Europe and the Middle East from 1934 to 1941. These movements are made up of Germans and non-German, pro-Nazi sympathisers who live in states outside of Germany and work to weaken those states through various legal, political, economic and violent means for the benefit of Hitler’s Third Reich. This essay will examine case studies of the most notorious and important of the fifth column movements, the Austrian fifth column between 1934 and 1938. The Sudeten German fifth column in the Sudetenland districts of Czechoslovakia in 1938. The non-German Slovak nationalist fifth column in the eastern constituent nation of Czechoslovakia in 1939. The Danzig fifth column in the League of Nations protected Free City of Danzig in 1939. The non-German Iraqi fifth column in 1941 during the Second World War and finally the fifth column that was understood to have existed in Iran until the joint Anglo-Soviet invasion of the country in August 1941. Britain’s evolving understanding of these movements will be examined and how the British Government sought to formulate ways to counter these groups.

[发布机构] University:University of Birmingham;Department:School of History and Cultures, Department of History

[关键词] D History General and Old World;D History (General);D731 World War II