The region, originally settled by Celtic tribes, was part of the Roman Imperial Province of Belgica. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. When Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany, some of his opponents took refuge in the Saar, where they campaigned for the area to remain under the League, but the great majority of the people living there were Germans and there was rooted hostility to France. Why did Hitler want the Saar plebiscite? MiNr. Total loading time: 0 2124Google Scholar. View all Google Scholar citations opponents. A yes or no answer. Researchers are encouraged to review the source information attached to each item. "[13] The Volksbund proclaimed that a "great majority" of Saar clergy supported the status quo and urged voters to block the return of the Saar on the grounds that the best way to serve Germany is to block the "un-German National Socialist dictatorship". In the plebiscite, held on January 13, 1935, more than 90 percent of the inhabitants of Saar voted for its return to Germany. Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library, More about Copyright and other Restrictions. In 1945, following World War II , French military forces occupied Saarland, and two years later the first Saar state parliament adopted a constitution that called for an autonomous Saar in an economic union with France. MiNr. [20], After the plebiscite, the Nazi authorities proceeded to clamp down on the Catholic Church's influence in public life, repressing and forcefully disbanding Catholic organisations. [4] However, France had not agreed to the expulsions approved (without input from France) in the Potsdam agreement by the Allies, so France refused to accept war refugees or expellees from the eastern annexed territories in the Saar protectorate or the French zone. [2] To the surprise of neutral observers as well as the Nazis themselves, over 90% voted in favour of reuniting with Germany. This vote took place on January 13, 1935. their separate identity, it was being administered by a second Briton, Sir Sarah Wambaugh they declared that the election had been fair, and population, essentially ethnic German, voted for reunification with Germany. After World War I, Saars coal mines were awarded to France, and Saarland was placed under the administration of the League of Nations for 15 years, at the end of which time a plebiscite permitted the inhabitants to choose between being part of France or Germany. 1 The most exhaustive and satisfactory treatment of the Saar problem is contained in the two information department papers put out by the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London: No. 11, The Saar Problem, and No. what was the outcome/results of the Plebiscite? On 16 February 1946, France disentangled the Saar from the Allied zones of occupation and established the separate Saar Protectorate, which was de facto no longer under the joint Allied jurisdiction by the Allied Control Council for Germany. The vote was approved result validated the Nazi regime. League run, first, by a Frenchman, then by a Canadian and thirdly by a This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/place/Saarland, Saarland, Germany - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). The final determination of the frontiers will be carried out by the international commission . "coreDisableSocialShare": false, The first elections for the parliament of the Saar protectorate were held on 5 October 1947, with four parties being allowed, the Christian People's Party of Saarland (CVP), the Social Democratic Party of Saarland (SPS), the Democratic Party of Saarland (DPS) and the Communist Party of Saarland (KPS). On 13 Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings. The heart of Saarland is an area of thickly forested hills that is crossed from southeast to northwest by the valley of the Saar River. The commission will also fix a date, not later than the end of November, on which the plebiscite will be held. He specialized in drawing satirical pictures of prominent world leaders As a consequence of World War I, Germany was stripped of its colonies and the Ottoman Empire was partitioned and forced to surrender control of territories in the Middle East. [12] Josef Brckel, Hitler's commissioner for the Saar, banned the wearing of uniforms within a 40-kilometre (25mi) zone along the Saar frontier between 10 January 1935 and 10 February 1935. Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems. [13] Helmut Schn, later World and European champion with West Germany, was the manager of the Saarland team from 1952 until Saarland became a part of West Germany in 1957.[14]. After the reunification of Saar with Germany, German On 10 July 1945, US forces left the Saar and French troops established their occupational administration. The region, originally settled by Celtic 565 . [19] Josef Brckel remained the Gauleiter and, from 11 March 1941, Reichsstatthalter until his death in September 1944. The majority of Saarland residents are Roman Catholic; the bulk of the remainder belong to the Evangelical and other Protestant churches. Cultural institutionsincluding the Saarland State Theatre in Saarbrucken, Radio Saarland, and the Saarland Museumdraw support from both Germany and France. [7], While most political groups in the Saar initially supported its return to Germany, opponents of Nazism in the Saar began having doubts and misgivings after Adolf Hitler came to power. Under a League of Nations mandate of 1920 the Saar region was to be governed for 15 years by a commission appointed by the League, while control of the coal mines was given to the French, who pocketed the proceeds as part of their reparations. Causes and Consequences of the Plebiscite in the Saar On 23 October 1955 the inhabitants of the Saar territory rejected by 423,434 to 201,973 votes a Statute to which the French and West German Governments had agreed, and according to which the Saar would have acquired an autonomy limited by the appoint- When did Saar plebiscite take place? Explain what a plebiscite is? The ostensible reason was the refusal of capture of the World Digital Library site. This was sanctioned by a 15-year League of Nations mandate which stationed League of Nations troops from Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom in the Saar until 1935. What happened in the plebiscite in Upper Silesia? Under the Auspices of the League, Saar Plebiscite. On 27 October 1956 the Saar Treaty established that Saarland should be allowed to become a state of West Germany, as provided by its Grundgesetz constitution art. Saarlanders (who had gone to Germany to join the SA) threatened to invade the peace). There was little to no violence during the plebiscite and the peacekeeping effort was regarded as a success. In the speech Restatement of Policy on Germany, given in Stuttgart on 6 September 1946, the US Secretary of State James F. Byrnes stated the US'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". Issue: * Your . and Chamberlain failed to notice that the Nazis had immediately backed down Bend in the Saar River above Mettlach, Saarland, Ger. Saar Plebiscite - Periodic reports sent by the Secretariat to the Saar Basin Governing Commission and various correspondence. MiNr. the Saar returned to Germany entirely in accordance with the terms of the "coreDisableEcommerce": false, The parliament elects a minister-president, usually the leader of the parliaments strongest party. Withdrawal of Germany from the League of Nations. The first Landtag passed the law establishing the constitution of the Saarland on 15 December 1947. In my own precinct, out of 616 on the registration list, only six persons asked to be helped by a son or daughter. The Library asks that researchers approach the materials in this collection with respect for the culture and sensibilities of the people whose lives, ideas, and creativity are documented here. [9] However, France delayed the return of the Saar. Thus on that date the Kleine Wiedervereinigung (little reunification) was completed, after more 13 years of separation. By 18 December 1946 customs controls were established between the Saar and allied occupied Germany. On 15 December 1947 the Saar was constituted by its constitution as the Saarland (took effect two days later), with an elected government under the control of the French high commissioner Gilbert Grandval. The Saar Plebiscite With a Collection of Official Documents. During these years, the region was administered by the Saarland was an independent government within the economic sphere of the France; France was responsible for defence and foreign affairs (cf. In October 1933, some nine months after Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany, the German government announced its withdrawal from the League of Nations. The League knew what was going on, but it was afraid to stop [8] Due to Hitler's oppression of their German counterparts, communists and socialists supported a continuation of the League of Nations administration, and a delay in the plebiscite until after the Nazis were no longer in power in Germany. 4 League of Nations, Official Journal, June, 1934, pp. French officials deported a total of 1,820 people from the Saar in 1946 and 1947, most of whom ultimately were allowed to return. The extraction of coke from bituminous coal and the smelting of iron ore rich in phosphorous have been the bases assisting the growth of the iron industry since the 19th century. Control of government by military. expansionist agenda for the rest of the 1930s, and made it ve difficult for 651653Google Scholar. After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles placed the territories of the Saar basin, formerly part of Germany, under the administration of the League of Nations for a period of 15 years. Updates? [10] The complaints included allegations that the Nazis engaged in intimidation, "espionage, secret denunciations, kidnappings , interception of letters and telegrams, [and] listening-in to telephone conversations", among other things. by the League of Nations, and Saar became part of the Third Reich on They were not to respond except to emergencies and at the request of local authorities. The following conditions were laid down for the plebiscite: A vote will take place by communes or districts on the three following alternatives: (a) maintenance of the rgime established by the present Treaty and by this Annex; (b) union with France; (c) union with Germany. [5] However, native Sarrois returning from Nazi-imposed removals (e.g. The most successful party, the CVP under Johannes Hoffmann formed the first government with the SPS. [14][15], The legitimacy of the referendum was questioned by foreign observers on grounds of widespread voter intimidation by the Berlin-sponsored Deutsche Front. In 1936, it was incorporated into the Gau of Rheinpfalz (Rhine Palatinate) to form the Gau Pfalz-Saar (renamed Gau Saarpfalz in January 1936 and Gau Westmark in December 1940). A vote in which was being held for Germany to re-gain their territory called the Saar. West Germany also agreed to the teaching of French as the first foreign language in schools in the Saarland; although no longer binding, the agreement is still generally followed. the inhabitants would decide whether they returned to Germany, or retained The railway system is equally extensive. An autobahn connects the region with the Rhine-Main area, and other roads link the state with Paris, Luxembourg, and Karlsruhe and Cologne, Germany. This amount proved insufficient and at its September meeting, 1934, the Council asked for a further advance from each of the parties concerned. or even of him confronting the international community, but they were a Copyright 2023 History Today Ltd. Company no. He was succeeded by Willi Sthr who served until the end of the war in May 1945. confront violence. Saarland Franc remained in use until July 7, 1959, when it was replaced For information on contacting WDL partner organizations, see this archived list of partners. 27 The plebiscite took place on 13 January 1935: 90% of the electorate voted for reunion with Germany. Letter from Konstantin von Neurath. In 1935 the inhabitants of the Saar voted to return to Germany. In 1920, Britain and France established a nominally independent occupation government for the League of Nations mandate of the Saar: the greater part of the area under its control was carved out of the Prussian Rhine Province and was supplemented by two Bavarian districts (Homburg and St. Ingbert) taken from the Rhenish Palatinate. [8] With the participation of West Germany in the ECSC, agreement on termination of the International Authority for the Ruhr came into force on 25 June 1952. What happened in the Schleswig plebiscite? The Catholic Centre Party of the Saar was merged into the new pro-German front, "yielding to threats of what would happen after the day of reckoning in 1935." It made it very hard for Hitlers The Saar Plebiscite Territory, also known over the years as Saargebiet (1920-1935) and Saarland (1947-1957), did not exist as an independent entity before 1919. Council. The archives were inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World register in 2010. MiNr. At the request of the Council, each of the two governments provided five million French francs and the Commission one million. Others (8.9%) favoured the third option of a continued BritishFrench occupation government. The Saar Plebiscite - more info. In 1933, many anti-Nazi Germans fled to the Saar, as it was the only part of Germany left outside the Third Reich's control. The result was overwhelming: 90.3% of the "corePageComponentGetUserInfoFromSharedSession": true, Various releases by the Information Section of the League of Nations are indispensable. major step in his build up to World War Two. Build up of armed forces in Germany. The only area with a pronounced industrial character is a 9-mile- (14-km-) long strip along the Saar River valley between Brebach, a suburb of Saarbrcken, and Vlklingen, where several of the states large smelting works and steel mills are located. As a footnote to the creation of the European Union, the territorial dispute over control of the Saarland was one of the last between member states and 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 as a member of the Council of Europe).[12]. The region was made a protectorate from French military occupation zone in Germany under French control in 1946. The Vlklingen Ironworks, which ceased production in 1986, were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994. Over 90% of voters opted for reunification with Germany, with 9% voting for the status quo as a League of Nations mandate territory and less than 0.5% opting for unification with France. result validated the Nazi regime. 7 For the details of these arrangements, see League of Nations, Official Journal, December, 1934Google Scholar. The Wambaugh, Sarah, Plebiscites Since the World War, 2 vols. than they feared Hitler's regime. According to Guenter Lewy, the people of the Saar increasingly preferred to stay in France because of the suppression and harassment of the Catholic Church in Germany by Nazi authorities. 02 September 2013, The Treaty of Versailles provided that at the termination of a period of fifteen years from its coming into force, a plebiscite should be held in the Saar Territory to determine under what sovereignty its inhabitants desired to be placed. After the French loss in Why was the league afraid to stop the plebiscite? It demonstrated that Germans were NOT just being browbeaten into supporting The climate is largely continental in character, but a maritime influence is quite evident in Saarlands moderately warm summers and mild winters. West Yorkshire, (Washington, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1934)Google Scholar is the standard work on plebiscites. The states highest point is in the Weiskircher Heights (2,280 feet [695 metres]). Mandate for Palestine and Memorandum by the British Government Relating to its Application to Transjordan. for this article. [13], Voters were outraged by the killings of two prominent Catholic leaders, Erich Klausener and Adalbert Probst, in the Night of the Long Knives. Council of Foreign Ministers; Germany and Austria, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saar_Protectorate&oldid=1162923070. Why did the plebiscite not break the Treaty of Versailles? Watermark(s) Album Page(s) Recent Additions to the Collection. VAT reg no 816865400. France's attempts to internationalize the Ruhr (see International Authority for the Ruhr) were abandoned in 1950 when, in the face of Cold War pressures in Europe, the French government took an historic step in deciding that the only viable political model for the future lay in European integration. For all this Wambaugh had . than they feared Hitler's regime. Other important industries include food processing and the manufacture of textiles. In 1935, the Saar region voted 90% in favour of returning to Germany.
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