The Territory of the Saar Basin (german: Saarbeckengebiet, ; french: Territoire du bassin de la Sarre) was a region of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

occupied and governed by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

from 1920 to 1935 under a League of Nations mandate. It had its own flag (adopted on July 28, 1920): a blue, white, and black horizontal tricolour. The blue and white stood for Bavaria, and white and black for Prussia, out of whose lands the Saar Territory was formed. Initially, the occupation was under the auspices of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

. Its population in 1933 was 812,000, and its capital was Saarbrücken. The territory closely corresponds with the modern German state of

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

, but was slightly smaller in area. After a plebiscite was held in 1935, it was returned to Germany.

Governing Commission

Under the

, the highly industrialized Saar Basin, including the Saar Coal District (german: link=no, Saarrevier), was to be occupied and governed by the

and

under a

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

mandate for a period of fifteen years. Its coalfields were also to be ceded to France. During this time, the Saar Territory was governed by the five-person ''Governing Commission''Cf. Paragraph 23, Chapter II, Annex to Article 45–50, Treaty of Versailles. (german: link=no, Regierungskommission; abbreviated ''Reko'') made up of representatives of the occupation forces. Under the terms of the mandate, the Commission had to include at least one French person and one German resident of the Saar. After the fifteen years, a

plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of ...

would be implemented to determine the Saar's future status. The Territory comprised the portions of the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n Rhenish Trier Region and the

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of the Palatinate, whose populations included a significant number of the miners who worked in the Saar coal mines. The Territory issued its own

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

s and currency (the

Saar franc The Saar franc was the French franc (german: Franken) used as the official currency of the Saar during the times that the Saar territory was economically split off from Germany, in 1920–1935 as the Territory of the Saar Basin, in 1947–1957 as ...

Chairman of the Governing Commission

The Saar region was governed by the following Chairmen of the Commission of Government:

Regional Council of the Saar Territory

The Saar Territory had no

home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...

; instead, the Governing Commission (known in German as the ''Regierungskommission'' or "Reko" for short) decided on all legislation alone.Cf. Paragraph 26, Chapter II, Annex to Article 45–50, Treaty of Versailles. According to paragraph 23 of the

Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 19 ...

the Governing Commission had to establish an assembly of elected representatives of the inhabitants of the Saar Territory in such a manner as the Governing Commission would determine itself. So on 24 March 1922, after four years without any official representation of the people, the Reko decreed the formation of a Saar Territory assembly called the Regional Council (german: link=no, Landesrat). In June 1922 the Governing Commission held the first election of the Regional Council, and starting with the second election of the Regional Council the legislation period was extended from three to four years, with elections in 1928, and in 1932. The Regional Council counted 30 members, the Governing Commission deliberately determined one person as the chairperson, the president of the Regional Council (Landesratspräsident).Michael Sander
"Die Anfänge der Sozialdemokratie an der Saar"
on
''Solidarisch und stark. SPD-Landtagsfraktion''
retrieved 20 February 2014. In the first legislative period the Reko did not even choose the president from amongst its members. The assembly was no parliament, but only a consultative body; the representatives could be heard, but had no say in the agenda to be debated, let alone in legislation. The agenda of matters to be debated was exclusively set up by the Governing Commission. The members of the Regional Council had neither the right of interpellation, nor the right to actively bring a subject to the agenda, nor the right to table a bill. Its members did not enjoy immunity. When the Governing Commission did not set an issue on the Regional Council's agenda, they could only send delegations to the League of Nations with pleas, and so they did. With this situation, all the representatives elected to the Regional Council, regardless of the party, opposed the system of autocratic rule in the Saar Territory. All parties demanded the return of the Saar Territory to Germany where the people could elect the parliament, and the latter again, the government in self-determination. Only after the Nazi takeover in Germany, outlawing all other parties except their own

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

, did the Bezirk Saar of the SPD and the Saar branch of the KPD leave the opposing block and support the status quo. For the 1935 status referendum, Social Democrats and Communists suggested, unsuccessfully, that the voters should decide in favour of a continued status quo.

Government-appointed presidents of the Regional Council

Plebiscite

In 1933, a considerable number of political opponents of

National Socialism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Naz ...

moved to the Saar, as it was the only part of Germany that remained under foreign occupation following

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. As a result,

anti-Nazi Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

groups agitated for the Saarland to remain under British and French occupation under a League of Nations mandate. However, as most of the region's population was German, the mandate was unpopular. A

was held in the territory on 13 January 1935. With

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

anxious for the propaganda advantages of the return of the Saar to Germany, Joseph Goebbels designed a concerted campaign to sway voters. The support of the local Catholic authorities for a return also helped, as did concerns about

Bolshevism Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, ...

, against which Hitler was seen as a bulwark. Kershaw, Ian, ''Hitler: 1889-1936: Hubris'' (1998) pp.546-547 With a voter participation of 98%, the result of the plebiscite was that the overwhelming majority, 90.8%, voted to re-join the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...

, with only 8.8% wanting to retain the status quo, primarily as they did not wish to be ruled by Nazis. A third option of joining France received 0.4% of the vote. Following the vote, Hitler announced that Germany "had no further territorial demands to make of France." The Nansen International Office for Refugees was responsible for the successful settlement of the Saar refugees in

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

after 1935.

German rule

On 17 January 1935, the territory's reunion with

was approved by the League Council. On 1 March, Germany re-integrated the region into the

, appointing Josef Bürckel as ''

Reichskommissar (, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official gubernatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany. Ger ...

für die Rückgliederung des Saarlandes'', "Reich Commissioner for the reincorporation of the

." Many opponents of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

who had taken refuge in the territory and former politicians and office holders of the Saar who had collaborated with the occupation were imprisoned. When re-incorporation was considered complete, the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

's title was changed again to ''Reichskommissar für das Saarland'', "Reich Commissioner for the Saarland," on 17 June 1936. As the new Gau was extended to the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

, including the Bavarian district of Palatinate, the region's name was changed again on 8 April 1940 to ''Saarpfalz'', "Saar-Palatinate." After the Battle of France, the re-annexed territory of the

CdZ-Gebiet Lothringen The Civil Administration Area of Lorraine (CdZ=Chef der Zivilverwaltung) () was an administrative division of the Gau Westmark from 1940 to 1945. History After the outbreak of the Second World War and the defeat of France in 1940, the ''départe ...

was incorporated in the Reichsgau. The region's name was finalized on 11 March 1941 as ''Westmark'', meaning "Western

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...

" or "Western Boundary," with its governor styled as '' Reichsstatthalter in der Westmark'', "Reich Governor in the Western March." On 28 September 1944,

Reich Commissioner (, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official gubernatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany. Germ ...

Josef Bürckel died, and was succeeded by Willi Stöhr until 21 March 1945, when the region was conquered by troops of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, which handed over the occupation to French forces in July the same year.Cf. Rainer Freyer, "Die Entstehung der Parteien im Saarland nach dem 2. Weltkrieg", on
''Die Parteien im Saarland 1945-59''
retrieved on 20 February 2014.

French protectorate

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, a French protectorate was established within borders similar to those of the Territory. A referendum was held on 23 October 1955 which ended French rule and influence. On January 1, 1957, the Saarland joined

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

Notes

External links

Saarland in the page about Germany on WorldStatesmen.org
{{coord, 49, 23, N, 6, 50, E, source:kolossus-nowiki, display=title 1935 disestablishments in Europe States and territories established in 1920 States and territories disestablished in 1935 Weimar Republic History of Saarland Treaty of Versailles League of Nations mandates 1920 establishments in Europe Former countries of the interwar period