Churchill, le “ventre mou de l’Europe” et la Roumanie(1941-1944)

Résumé En

Attacking Germany and its allies through the “soft belly” of Europe by landing inSouth-Eastern Europe - Gallipoli, Trieste, Greece - was the great idea of WinstonChurchill during WWI. Nevertheless, the idea was used in WWII by the creatorsof the Bodyguard project to make Hitler believe that the defence of the Balkanswas a priority and send more troops in Greece and Yugoslavia thus depleting theAtlantic wall in France of its best soldiers. The book that first revealed all thehidden details of the Western Allies’ grand strategy was Anthony Cave Brown’sbest-selling Bodyguard of Lies, New York, 1975.We also have the testimony of the German officer Hans Graf von Holtzendorff,son-in-law of Manfred von Killinger, who reveals that Marshall Ion Antonescuand the German minister in Romania wished since 1941 an American landing inthe Balkans in order to advance to the Baltic and create an obstacle to theRussian offensive. The same testimony reveals that Killinger was a member ofthe military conspiracy against Hitler and declared he was ready toassassinate Hitler when the moment was ripe.On the other side, Bodyguard insisted on creating an armed opposition andfoment troubles and sedition in the satellite countries in order to enforce theGerman military presence to the detriment of the armies guarding the FrenchAtlantic coast thus facilitating the operation Overlord. The article depicts themodus operandi of the British in the case of Hungary which was finally occupiedby the Germans in March 1944 (the plan Margarethe I). The authors demonstratethat the same scenario was prepared for Romania which had begun not sosecret negotiations with the Allies, an activity that made Hitlerprepare Margarethe II for the occupation of the country. Finally, theFuhrer renounced at it because he had confidence in the capacity of Antonescu tocontinue the war against USSR, but also because of the massive presence ofSoviet troops in North-Eastern Romania since March 1944. Nevertheless, theBritish agents worked on the same scenario and manner as their colleagues inHungary (operation Autonomous), but they failed to provoke Hitler thanks,probably, also to the lenient and favourable reports on Romania Killinger used tosend to Berlin.