Limitrophe states

Limitrophe states:

  1. historically — from Latin: limitrophus[1], provinces at the borders of the Roman Empire, which were obliged to provide billeting of the limitanei legions deployed on their territory, mostly in limes.
  2. in the broader sense (from diplomatic French "pays limitrophes", border countries) — any group of neighbours of a given nation which border to each other thus making a rim around this country.[2]
  3. in modern history — provinces which seceded from the Russian empire at the end of World War I, during the Civil War in Russia (1918–1922), thus forming a kind of belt separating the Soviet Russia from the Western powers.[3]

1918–1939

Before the Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919 and even after it was not clear yet, which territories of Russian Empire, either occupied by German troops or engaged in the Civil War in Russia, may maintain their independencies which they started to proclaim from late 1917. Thus the very composition of the Limitrophe zone was uncertain and varied widely. Arguing that these nations were then "the cards to change hands in big political games", authors name among them the Baltic peoples, Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians and so on.[4]

The usage of term "limitrophe states" continued after the World War I treaties were signed through the beginning of the World War II. The Small Soviet Encyclopedia (1929) defines the limitrophe states as "states formed from the outskirts of the former Tsarist Russia, mainly from the western provinces". It includes in their list Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, adding "and, partially, Poland and Finland".[5] Nine years later the Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary (1938) also syntaxically 'separates' Finland fron the three Baltic States: ("Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Finland as well"), however Poland is not mentioned in this list.[6]

The Directive "On the preparation of Wehrmacht for 1939-1940" signed on 11 April 1939 by Adolf Hitler said, in particular, that:

The status of the limitrophe states will be defined exclusively by the military interests of Germany. As the events develop there might arise necessity to occupy the limitrophe states as far as the border of the former Courland and to annex these territories to the Reich.
—Adolf Hitler, Directive as of 11 April 1939 on the preparation of Wehrmacht for 1939-1940

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1998). Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch. Nachdruck Darmstadt. p. Band 2, Sp. 660. http://www.zeno.org/Georges-1913/A/limitrophus. 
  2. ^ Calvo, Carlos (2009). Dictionnaire Manuel de Diplomatie et de Droit International Public et Privé. The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. p. 246. http://books.google.ru/books?id=T7DXvH0k3lcC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=territoire+de+l'Etat+limitrophe&source=bl&ots=kcDG7wTEwz&sig=1zZdxj7tJkoNWzKjCDJZgQBjubc&hl=en#v=onepage&q=limitrophe&f=false. 
  3. ^ Smele, John (1996). Civil war in Siberia: the anti-Bolshevik government of Admiral Kolchak, 1918-1920. London: Cambridge University Press. p. 305. http://books.google.com/books?id=VNFiD_v6fj4C&pg=PA305&dq=limitrophe+Baltic&hl=en#v=onepage&q=limitrophe%20Baltic&f=false. 
  4. ^ Filiushkin, Alexander (2008). Ivan the Terrible: a military history. Frontline Books. p. 305. http://books.google.com/books?id=rycMAQAAMAAJ&dq=limitrophe+Baltic&q=limitrophe#search_anchor. 
  5. ^ Волин, Б.. Лимитрофы. Малая Советская энциклопедия. М.: 1929, — т.4, стлб.641.
  6. ^ Лимитроф. Толковый словарь русского языка. Под ред. проф. Д.Н.Ушакова. т. 2. — М.:ОГИЗ, 1938. — стлб.61.