The Slavic Corridor in Czech Plans of Creating a Bulwark Against the German Drang nach Osten

Izbijanjem Prvoga svjetskoga rata, češko vodstvo u egzilu započinje diplomatsku borbu za uspostavu neovisne čehoslovačke države koja je trebala biti u bliskom savezništvu sa zapadnim silama Antante. Svjesni nepovoljnog geostrateškog položaja buduće države, češki lideri Masaryk i Beneš od samoga početka projekt uspostave neovisne Čehoslovačke vezuju uz stvaranje neovisne Poljske i južnoslavenske države. U tom kontekstu barataju i s idejom Slavenskog koridora koji bi preko zapadne Ugarske – naseljene Nijemcima, Mađarima, ali i gradišćanskim Hrvatima – trebao spojiti dvije slavenske države i onemogućiti obnavljanje Austro-Ugarske, ali i spriječiti daljnji njemački Drang nach Osten. Na temelju teorije strukturalnog realizma, rad proučava ideju koridora u ratnoj fazi, kada je inicijativa u rukama češke političke emigracije, te u fazi Pariške mirovne konferencije, kada inicijativu preuzima "Velika četvorka". Rad nastoji pružiti odgovor na pitanje je li Slavenski koridor predstavljao jedan od temeljnih zahtjeva političkih predstavnika Čehoslovačke ili je korišten kao pregovarački alat za ostvarenje važnijih geopolitičkih ciljeva.After the outbreak of World War I, the exiled Czech leadership began its diplomatic quest for the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state that was to become a close ally of Western Entente powers. Fully aware of the adverse geostrategic position of their future state, Czech leaders Masaryk and Beneš coupled the project of establishing an independent Czechoslovakia with the creation of an independent Poland and South Slavic state. In this context, they were considering the idea of a Slavic Corridor that would connect Czechoslovakia with Yugoslavia through a passageway in Western Hungary – an area populated by Germans, Magyars and Croats. The erection of the Corridor would neutralize the threat of an Austro-Hungarian restoration and hinder Germany’s advance towards the East (Drang nach Osten). Based on structural realism theory, the paper explores the idea of the Corridor during the war phase, when the initiative is in the hands of Czech political émigrés, and in the phase of the Paris Peace Conference, when the initiative is seized by the "Big Four". The paper attempts to resolve the question whether the Slavic Corridor was a central demand of Czechoslovak representatives or if it was used as a negotiation tool for the attainment of more important geo­political goals