Liberation
In the first year following the liberation of the Netherlands in May 1945, dozens of pamphlets and brochures were published that propagated annexation of territory of the former German Reich, preferably without the accompanying German population. Several highly-placed persons, including then Foreign Minister Eelco Nicolaas van Kleffens, put forth their own ideas regarding annexation in these publications. Opinions varied widely as to how much territory should be annexed. Some people only wanted a few border corrections, others drew the new border past Hamburg.
The proponents of annexation joined in several local committees. On June 19, 1945, the Hague committee to examine the question of Dutch territorial expansion was founded. During a meeting of this committee on July 12, 1945, it was decided to split the committee in the Study Group Territorial Expansion (Studiegroep Gebiedsuitbreiding), chaired by Ph.J. Idenburg, and the Action Committee (Comité van Actie), which had as its primary function the education of the Dutch population about the expansion plans. Six days later, the latter committee was renamed the Dutch Committee for Territorial Expansion. It was chaired by former Finance minister Johannes van den Broek. On August 25, 1945, Minister Van Kleffens founded the State Commission for the Study of the Annexation Question, which was charged with writing a final report regarding the annexation question by May 1946.
The Study Group Territorial Expansion set up many groups that reported about their findings. The final judgment of the State Commission would be largely based on the results of this study group. The Dutch Committee for Territorial Expansion published on the progress of the study group by giving out brochures and giving lectures. The annexation question however led to intense discussions, which lead certain groups to go their own way and among other things found the Annexation Committee of the Foundation for Agriculture.
Read more about this topic: Dutch Annexation Of German Territory After World War II
Famous quotes containing the word liberation:
“It’s not greed and ambition that makes wars—it’s goodness. Wars are always fought for the best of reasons, for liberation or manifest destiny, always against tyranny and always in the best interests of humanity. So far this war, we’ve managed to butcher some 10,000,000 people in the interest of humanity. The next war, it seems we’ll have to destroy all of man in order to preserve his damn dignity.”
—Paddy Chayefsky (1923–1981)
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