Saar (protectorate)
Encyclopedia
The Saar Protectorate was a German borderland territory twice temporarily made a protectorate state
. Since rejoining Germany the second time in 1957, it is the smallest Federal German
Area State (Flächenland), the Saarland
, not counting the city-state
s Berlin
, Hamburg
and Bremen
. It is named after the Saar River.
After World War I
and World War II
, the state was forcibly made a protectorate by the victorious allies as part of a policy of "industrial disarmament" and re-settlement of peoples mandated on the new German
governments. The Saar protectorate was a short lived post-World War II protectorate (1947–56) partitioned from defeated Nazi Germany
; it was administered by the French Fourth Republic
.
The region about the Saar River
and its tributary valleys
is a geographically folded, mineral rich, ethnically German, economically important, heavily industrialized area. It possesses a well-developed transportation infrastructure that was one of the centres of the Industrial Revolution
in Germany
and which, like the Ruhr Area
, fuelled the German war industries from during the early 19th century to the end of World War II. Like the nearby Ruhr valley
, it was heavily bombed by the allies as part of the strategic bombing campaigns.
Territorially, the protectorate corresponded to the current German state of Saarland
, which it became known as after it was returned to West Germany on January 1, 1957. After World War II, a policy of industrial disarmament and dispersal of industrial workers was officially pursued by the allies until 1951 and the region was made a protectorate
under French
control in 1947. Cold War
pressures for a stronger Germany allowed renewed industrialization, and the French returned control of the region to the government of the Federal Republic of Germany
in 1957.
, when it had been included in the First French Empire
as the département Sarre
between 1798 and 1814. As almost all of the local population is ethnically German, this resulted in strong anti-French sentiments..
, the Saar area was occupied jointly by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
and France
. In 1920 Britain and France established for the League of Nations mandate of the Saar
a nominally independent occupation government in an area separated from the previous Prussian Rhine Province
(main part) enlarged by two Bavaria
n districts (Homburg and St. Ingbert), ceded from the Palatinate. This was sanctioned by a 15 year League of Nations
mandate. However the Saar's coal industry, the dominant industry in the region at the time, was nationalized and directly administered by France.
for the re-union of the Saarland with the German Reich (Rückgliederung des Saarlandes) it was reincorporated in 1935. Its area was not redivided among the Prussian Rhine Province
and the Bavarian Palatinate, but united with the latter as the Gau
of Saar-Palatinate
(Saarpfalz). In 1942 it was renamed Westmark (Western Boundary) of the Reich. This renaming intended its territorial enlargement by parts of German-occupied French Lorraine
which, however, did not materialise.
.
The French policy towards the native population in the formerly German territory was completely different from that of the Soviet Union which governed the former eastern territories of Germany east of the Oder-Neiße line, an area also outside the jurisdiction of the Allied Control Council. While France refrained from expelling the Saar population (ethnic cleansing
), as France generally had not agreed to the expulsions approved by the Potsdam agreement by the allies (a decision made without input from France), it still strictly refused to absorb war refugees who were denied return to their homes in the eastern annexed territories or post-war expellees from there, in the French Saar protectorate or the French zone. However, the native population, returning after Nazi-imposed removals (e.g., political and Jewish refugees) and war-related relocations (e.g., evacuation from air raids), were allowed to return to the areas under French control. France aimed at winning over the Saar population for a future annexation.
The principal reason for the French desire for economic control of the Saar was the large coal deposits. France was offered compensation for the return of the Saar to Germany: the treaty permitted France to extract coal from the Warndt coal deposit until 1981.
With effect of 20 July 1946, 109 municipalities of the Prussian Rhine Province
within the French zone were added to the Saar Protectorate. By 18 December 1946 customs controls were established between the Saar area and allied occupied Germany. By further territorial redeployments between the Saar Protectorate, constituted in early 1947, and neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate
(a new state established on 30 August 1946 in the French zone), 61 municipalities returned to Germany, while 13 other municipalities were ceded to the Saar Protectorate between 8 June 1947 and 1949, followed by one further Palatine municipality incorporated into the Saar in the latter year.
In the speech Restatement of Policy on Germany
, given in Stuttgart
on 6 September 1946, the U.S. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes
stated the U.S.' motive in detaching the Saar from Germany as "The United States does not feel that it can deny to France, which has been invaded three times by Germany in 70 years, its claim to the Saar territory".
On 16 July 1947 the Saar mark
replaced the Reichsmark as legal tender in the Saar Protectorate, followed by the integration of the Saar into the French currency area on November 15 the same year. While only French franc
banknotes circulated from 1954 on, Saar franc
coins, designed similar to French coins, were issued too. On 15 December 1947 the Saar was constituted by its constitution as the Saarland
, with an elected government under the control of the French high commissioner Gilbert Grandval. On 23 March 1948 the customs union with France was confirmed, taking effect on 1 April. In July the same year the Sarrois nationality replaced the German nationality of the Saar population.
Initially, a policy of industrial disarmament was pursued in Germany by the Allied powers (see industrial plans for Germany
). As part of this policy limits were placed on permitted production levels, and industries in the Saar were dismantled as they had been in the Ruhr, although mostly in the period before the detachment (see also the 1949 letter from the UK Foreign minister Ernest Bevin
to the French Foreign minister Robert Schuman
, urging a reconsideration of dismantling policy). This policy was quickly reversed in mid 1946 or early 1947.
Under the Monnet Plan
France attempted to gain economic control of the German industrial areas in its assigned zones, especially areas with large coal and mineral deposits, such as the Ruhr area
(in the British zone) and the Saar area. Similar attempts to gain control of, or permanently internationalise, the Ruhr (see International Authority for the Ruhr
) were abandoned in 1951, when France rejected the traditional aims of European hegemony predicated upon European enmity. In the face of U.S. and Soviet domination of Europe the French government took a historic step in deciding that the only viable political model for the future lay in European integration; this resulted in the Schuman Declaration
in 1950, a plan drafted for the most part by Jean Monnet
. The plan put forward France and Germany as the core of a new Europe, requiring a rapprochement and the establishment of close ties between the two states. As a first step France and Germany were to agree to pool their coal and steel resources (see European Coal and Steel Community
). German participation in the plan was contingent upon a return of full political control of German industry to the western
Federal Government of Germany. However, France delayed the return of the Saar in the hope of cementing its economic control over the region.
As had been the case from 1920 to 1935, postage stamps were issued specially for the territory from 1947 to 1959 (see postage stamps and postal history of the Saar
).
Under French rule, pro-German parties were initially banned. Much support was given to the Mouvement pour le Rattachement de la Sarre à la France, a francophile movement founded by Saar exiles in Paris in early 1945, with many of the exiles having returned after the war. However, a French annexation did not gain the support of a majority of the Sarrois. In the general election of December 1952, a clear majority expressed support for the parties who wanted the Saar to remain autonomous, although 24% cast blank ballots in support of banned pro-German parties.
(WEU), but a referendum held on 23 October 1955 rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite the public support of West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer
for the plan. The rejection of the plan by the Sarrois was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany.
On October 27, 1956, the Saar Treaty
established that Saarland should be allowed to join West Germany
, as provided by its Grundgesetz constitution art. 23, and so Saarland did on January 1, 1957. Germany had to agree to the channelization of the Moselle
. This reduced French freight costs in the Lorraine
steel industry. Germany was also made to agree to the teaching of French
as the first foreign language in schools in the Saarland; although no longer binding, the agreement is still in the main followed as the practice is well-established.
The treaty also stated that economic union with West Germany was to be completed by 1960, with the exact date of the replacement of the Saar and French franc by the Deutsche Mark being kept a secret called "Day X" (Tag X). Although the Saar joined West Germany (as Saarland
) on January 1, 1957, the franc remained legal tender in Saarland until July 6, 1959. Thus on that date the Kleine Wiedervereinigung (little reunification) was completed, after 14 years of separation.
As a footnote in the overall settlement of the Franco-German conflict, which was dating back to the Napoleonic Wars, to the creation of the European Union
and the process of European integration, the territorial dispute over control of the Saarland was one of the last between member states and even led to the European flag
being given a politically neutral ring of twelve stars rather than the originally proposed 15 (one of which was to represent a nominally independent Saar).
in Helsinki
, and the Saarland national football team
participated in the qualifying section of the 1954 FIFA World Cup
, but failed to qualify after coming second to the West German team
, but ahead of Norway
.http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/02/world-cup-2010-player-managers Helmut Schön
was the manager of the Saarland team from 1952 until Saarland became a part of West Germany in 1957.
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
. Since rejoining Germany the second time in 1957, it is the smallest Federal German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Area State (Flächenland), the Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
, not counting the city-state
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
s Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and Bremen
Bremen (state)
The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen is the smallest of Germany's 16 states. A more informal name, but used in some official contexts, is Land Bremen .-Geography:...
. It is named after the Saar River.
After World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the state was forcibly made a protectorate by the victorious allies as part of a policy of "industrial disarmament" and re-settlement of peoples mandated on the new German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
governments. The Saar protectorate was a short lived post-World War II protectorate (1947–56) partitioned from defeated Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
; it was administered by the French Fourth Republic
French Fourth Republic
The French Fourth Republic was the republican government of France between 1946 and 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic, which was in place before World War II, and suffered many of the same problems...
.
The region about the Saar River
Saar River
The Saar is a river in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains on the border of Alsace and Lorraine and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier. It has two headstreams , that both start near Mont Donon, the highest peak...
and its tributary valleys
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
is a geographically folded, mineral rich, ethnically German, economically important, heavily industrialized area. It possesses a well-developed transportation infrastructure that was one of the centres of the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
in Germany
Kingdom of Germany
The Kingdom of Germany developed out of the eastern half of the former Carolingian Empire....
and which, like the Ruhr Area
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
, fuelled the German war industries from during the early 19th century to the end of World War II. Like the nearby Ruhr valley
Ruhr
The Ruhr is a medium-size river in western Germany , a right tributary of the Rhine.-Description:The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet...
, it was heavily bombed by the allies as part of the strategic bombing campaigns.
Territorially, the protectorate corresponded to the current German state of Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
, which it became known as after it was returned to West Germany on January 1, 1957. After World War II, a policy of industrial disarmament and dispersal of industrial workers was officially pursued by the allies until 1951 and the region was made a protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
under French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
control in 1947. Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
pressures for a stronger Germany allowed renewed industrialization, and the French returned control of the region to the government of the Federal Republic of Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
in 1957.
History
The region had previously been occupied by France during the Napoleonic WarsNapoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, when it had been included in the First French Empire
First French Empire
The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...
as the département Sarre
Sarre (département)
Sarre is the name of a department of the First French Empire which is now part of Germany and Belgium. It is named after the river Saar. It was formed in 1798, when the left bank of the Rhine was annexed by France. Prior to the occupation, its territory was divided between the Archbishopric of...
between 1798 and 1814. As almost all of the local population is ethnically German, this resulted in strong anti-French sentiments..
Post-World War I
Under the Treaty of VersaillesTreaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, the Saar area was occupied jointly by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
and France
French Third Republic
The French Third Republic was the republican government of France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed due to the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, to 1940, when France was overrun by Nazi Germany during World War II, resulting in the German and Italian occupations of France...
. In 1920 Britain and France established for the League of Nations mandate of the Saar
Saar (League of Nations)
The Territory of the Saar Basin , also referred as the Saar or Saargebiet, was a region of Germany that was occupied and governed by Britain and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate, with the occupation originally being under the auspices of the Treaty of Versailles...
a nominally independent occupation government in an area separated from the previous Prussian Rhine Province
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg...
(main part) enlarged by two Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n districts (Homburg and St. Ingbert), ceded from the Palatinate. This was sanctioned by a 15 year League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
mandate. However the Saar's coal industry, the dominant industry in the region at the time, was nationalized and directly administered by France.
Plebiscite
On 13 January 1935, a plebiscite held in the territory at the end of the 15-year term, resulted in 90.7% of voters cast their ballot in favour of a return to Germany, and 0.4% voted for union with France. Others (8.9%) favoured the third option of a continued British-French occupation government. After several years of political agitation and maneuvering by Chancellor Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
for the re-union of the Saarland with the German Reich (Rückgliederung des Saarlandes) it was reincorporated in 1935. Its area was not redivided among the Prussian Rhine Province
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg...
and the Bavarian Palatinate, but united with the latter as the Gau
Gau (German)
Gau is a German term for a region within a country, often a former or actual province. It was used in medieval times, when it can be seen as roughly corresponding to an English shire...
of Saar-Palatinate
Gau Westmark
The Gau Westmark was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Previous to that, since 1926, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party.-History:...
(Saarpfalz). In 1942 it was renamed Westmark (Western Boundary) of the Reich. This renaming intended its territorial enlargement by parts of German-occupied French Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
which, however, did not materialise.
Post-World War II
In July 1945, two months after World War II had ended in Europe, the allied forces were redeploying from the areas they had conquered into their respective zones of occupation. On 10 July 1945, US forces left the Saar area and French troops established their occupational administration. On 16 February 1946, France disentangled the Saar area from the allied zones of occupation and established the separate Saar Protectorate, which was no longer under the joint allied jurisdiction by the Allied Control Council for GermanyAllied Control Council
The Allied Control Council or Allied Control Authority, known in the German language as the Alliierter Kontrollrat and also referred to as the Four Powers , was a military occupation governing body of the Allied Occupation Zones in Germany after the end of World War II in Europe...
.
The French policy towards the native population in the formerly German territory was completely different from that of the Soviet Union which governed the former eastern territories of Germany east of the Oder-Neiße line, an area also outside the jurisdiction of the Allied Control Council. While France refrained from expelling the Saar population (ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
), as France generally had not agreed to the expulsions approved by the Potsdam agreement by the allies (a decision made without input from France), it still strictly refused to absorb war refugees who were denied return to their homes in the eastern annexed territories or post-war expellees from there, in the French Saar protectorate or the French zone. However, the native population, returning after Nazi-imposed removals (e.g., political and Jewish refugees) and war-related relocations (e.g., evacuation from air raids), were allowed to return to the areas under French control. France aimed at winning over the Saar population for a future annexation.
The principal reason for the French desire for economic control of the Saar was the large coal deposits. France was offered compensation for the return of the Saar to Germany: the treaty permitted France to extract coal from the Warndt coal deposit until 1981.
With effect of 20 July 1946, 109 municipalities of the Prussian Rhine Province
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg...
within the French zone were added to the Saar Protectorate. By 18 December 1946 customs controls were established between the Saar area and allied occupied Germany. By further territorial redeployments between the Saar Protectorate, constituted in early 1947, and neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
(a new state established on 30 August 1946 in the French zone), 61 municipalities returned to Germany, while 13 other municipalities were ceded to the Saar Protectorate between 8 June 1947 and 1949, followed by one further Palatine municipality incorporated into the Saar in the latter year.
In the speech Restatement of Policy on Germany
Restatement of Policy on Germany
"Restatement of Policy on Germany" is a famous speech by James F. Byrnes, the United States Secretary of State, held in Stuttgart on September 6, 1946.Also known as the "Speech of hope" it set the tone of future U.S...
, given in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
on 6 September 1946, the U.S. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes
James F. Byrnes
James Francis Byrnes was an American statesman from the state of South Carolina. During his career, Byrnes served as a member of the House of Representatives , as a Senator , as Justice of the Supreme Court , as Secretary of State , and as the 104th Governor of South Carolina...
stated the U.S.' motive in detaching the Saar from Germany as "The United States does not feel that it can deny to France, which has been invaded three times by Germany in 70 years, its claim to the Saar territory".
On 16 July 1947 the Saar mark
Saar mark
The Saar Mark was a currency issued in June 1947 by the French government for use in Saar. It was at par with the German Reichsmark, and composed of six denominations of banknotes, 1, 2, 5, 10, 50 and 100 Mark....
replaced the Reichsmark as legal tender in the Saar Protectorate, followed by the integration of the Saar into the French currency area on November 15 the same year. While only French franc
French franc
The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
banknotes circulated from 1954 on, Saar franc
Saar franc
The franc was the currency of the Saar Protectorate and, later, the state of Saarland in West Germany between 20 November 1947 and 6 July 1959...
coins, designed similar to French coins, were issued too. On 15 December 1947 the Saar was constituted by its constitution as the Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
, with an elected government under the control of the French high commissioner Gilbert Grandval. On 23 March 1948 the customs union with France was confirmed, taking effect on 1 April. In July the same year the Sarrois nationality replaced the German nationality of the Saar population.
Initially, a policy of industrial disarmament was pursued in Germany by the Allied powers (see industrial plans for Germany
Industrial plans for Germany
The Industrial plans for Germany were designs the Allies considered imposing on Germany in the aftermath of World War II to reduce and manage Germany's industrial capacity.-Background:...
). As part of this policy limits were placed on permitted production levels, and industries in the Saar were dismantled as they had been in the Ruhr, although mostly in the period before the detachment (see also the 1949 letter from the UK Foreign minister Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin was a British trade union leader and Labour politician. He served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1945, as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government.-Early...
to the French Foreign minister Robert Schuman
Robert Schuman
Robert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...
, urging a reconsideration of dismantling policy). This policy was quickly reversed in mid 1946 or early 1947.
Under the Monnet Plan
Monnet Plan
The Monnet plan was proposed by French civil servant Jean Monnet after the end of World War II. It was a reconstruction plan for France that proposed giving France control over the German coal and steel areas of the Ruhr area and Saar and using these resources to bring France to 150% of pre-war...
France attempted to gain economic control of the German industrial areas in its assigned zones, especially areas with large coal and mineral deposits, such as the Ruhr area
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
(in the British zone) and the Saar area. Similar attempts to gain control of, or permanently internationalise, the Ruhr (see International Authority for the Ruhr
International Authority for the Ruhr
The International Authority for the Ruhr was an international body established in 1949 by the Allied powers to control the coal and steel industry of the Ruhr Area in West Germany....
) were abandoned in 1951, when France rejected the traditional aims of European hegemony predicated upon European enmity. In the face of U.S. and Soviet domination of Europe the French government took a historic step in deciding that the only viable political model for the future lay in European integration; this resulted in the Schuman Declaration
Schuman Declaration
The Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950 was a governmental proposal by then-French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman to create a new form of organization of States in Europe called a supranational Community. Following the experiences of two world wars, France recognized that certain values such as...
in 1950, a plan drafted for the most part by Jean Monnet
Jean Monnet
Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet was a French political economist and diplomat. He is regarded by many as a chief architect of European Unity and is regarded as one of its founding fathers...
. The plan put forward France and Germany as the core of a new Europe, requiring a rapprochement and the establishment of close ties between the two states. As a first step France and Germany were to agree to pool their coal and steel resources (see European Coal and Steel Community
European Coal and Steel Community
The European Coal and Steel Community was a six-nation international organisation serving to unify Western Europe during the Cold War and create the foundation for the modern-day developments of the European Union...
). German participation in the plan was contingent upon a return of full political control of German industry to the western
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
Federal Government of Germany. However, France delayed the return of the Saar in the hope of cementing its economic control over the region.
As had been the case from 1920 to 1935, postage stamps were issued specially for the territory from 1947 to 1959 (see postage stamps and postal history of the Saar
Postage stamps and postal history of the Saar
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the German territory of the Saar. As a border region contested between France and Germany, the Saar has a somewhat complicated philatelic history...
).
Under French rule, pro-German parties were initially banned. Much support was given to the Mouvement pour le Rattachement de la Sarre à la France, a francophile movement founded by Saar exiles in Paris in early 1945, with many of the exiles having returned after the war. However, a French annexation did not gain the support of a majority of the Sarrois. In the general election of December 1952, a clear majority expressed support for the parties who wanted the Saar to remain autonomous, although 24% cast blank ballots in support of banned pro-German parties.
Independence Referendum and the Little Reunification with Germany
In the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954, France offered to establish an independent "Saarland", under the auspices of the Western European UnionWestern European Union
The Western European Union was an international organisation tasked with implementing the Modified Treaty of Brussels , an amended version of the original 1948 Treaty of Brussels...
(WEU), but a referendum held on 23 October 1955 rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite the public support of West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer was a German statesman. He was the chancellor of the West Germany from 1949 to 1963. He is widely recognised as a person who led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that had forged close relations with old enemies France,...
for the plan. The rejection of the plan by the Sarrois was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany.
Saar Treaty
The Saar Treaty, or "Treaty of Luxembourg" is an agreement between West Germany and France concerning the return of the Saarland to West Germany...
established that Saarland should be allowed to join West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, as provided by its Grundgesetz constitution art. 23, and so Saarland did on January 1, 1957. Germany had to agree to the channelization of the Moselle
Moselle River
The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....
. This reduced French freight costs in the Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....
steel industry. Germany was also made to agree to the teaching of French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
as the first foreign language in schools in the Saarland; although no longer binding, the agreement is still in the main followed as the practice is well-established.
The treaty also stated that economic union with West Germany was to be completed by 1960, with the exact date of the replacement of the Saar and French franc by the Deutsche Mark being kept a secret called "Day X" (Tag X). Although the Saar joined West Germany (as Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
) on January 1, 1957, the franc remained legal tender in Saarland until July 6, 1959. Thus on that date the Kleine Wiedervereinigung (little reunification) was completed, after 14 years of separation.
As a footnote in the overall settlement of the Franco-German conflict, which was dating back to the Napoleonic Wars, to the creation of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and the process of European integration, the territorial dispute over control of the Saarland was one of the last between member states and even led to the European flag
European flag
The flag of Europe consists of a circle of 12 golden stars on an azure background. It is the flag and emblem of the European Union and Council of Europe . It is also often used to indicate eurozone countries, and, more loosely, to represent the continent of Europe or the countries of Europe...
being given a politically neutral ring of twelve stars rather than the originally proposed 15 (one of which was to represent a nominally independent Saar).
Sport
The Saar competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics1952 Summer Olympics
The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...
in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, and the Saarland national football team
Saarland national football team
The Saarland national football team was the association football team representing Saarland from 1950 to 1956 during the French occupation following World War II...
participated in the qualifying section of the 1954 FIFA World Cup
1954 FIFA World Cup
The 1954 FIFA World Cup, the fifth staging of the FIFA World Cup, was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzerland was chosen as hosts in July 1946. The tournament set a number of all-time records for goal-scoring, including the highest average goals scored per game...
, but failed to qualify after coming second to the West German team
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
, but ahead of Norway
Norway national football team
The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen...
.http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jun/02/world-cup-2010-player-managers Helmut Schön
Helmut Schön
Helmut Schön was a German football player and manager. He is best remembered for his exceptional career as manager of West Germany....
was the manager of the Saarland team from 1952 until Saarland became a part of West Germany in 1957.
See also
- SaarSaar (League of Nations)The Territory of the Saar Basin , also referred as the Saar or Saargebiet, was a region of Germany that was occupied and governed by Britain and France from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate, with the occupation originally being under the auspices of the Treaty of Versailles...
, a League of Nations governed territory (1920–1935) - SarreSarre (département)Sarre is the name of a department of the First French Empire which is now part of Germany and Belgium. It is named after the river Saar. It was formed in 1798, when the left bank of the Rhine was annexed by France. Prior to the occupation, its territory was divided between the Archbishopric of...
, a département of France (1798–1814) - Saar RiverSaar RiverThe Saar is a river in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains on the border of Alsace and Lorraine and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier. It has two headstreams , that both start near Mont Donon, the highest peak...
- Monnet PlanMonnet PlanThe Monnet plan was proposed by French civil servant Jean Monnet after the end of World War II. It was a reconstruction plan for France that proposed giving France control over the German coal and steel areas of the Ruhr area and Saar and using these resources to bring France to 150% of pre-war...
plan for the detachment of German industrial regions for the benefit of France - KehlKehlKehl is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the river Rhine, directly opposite the French city of Strasbourg.-History:...
directly annexed to France in 1945 and returned to Germany in 1953 - List of French possessions and colonies
External links
- French proposal regarding the detachment of German industrial regions September 8, 1945
- interets-union-economique-franco-sarroise-1952 Documents relating to the Saar-France Issue.
- Morgenthau (post surrender) Plan from 1944 Purpose of proposed Saar transfer is to weaken German industry.
- Restatement of Policy on Germany. Secretary of State James F. Byrnes. Stuttgart. September 6, 1946 Statement in favour of the transfer of the Saar to France.
- France, Germany and the Struggle for the War-making Natural Resources of the Rhineland Describes the contest for the Saar over the centuries.
- Foreign relations of the United States, 1947. Council of Foreign Ministers; Germany and Austria Pg. 1073 onwards deals with "Attitude of the United States Regarding the Detachment of the Saar from Germany and its Integration into the French Economy"
- THE SAAR CONFLICT 1945-1955 at Questia