Editing Saarland (section)

== History ==
=== Before World War I ===
[[Image:Historical map of the Saarland 1793.gif|upright=1.8|right|thumb|Map of the Saar region in 1793]]

The region of the Saarland was settled by the [[Celt]]ic tribes of [[Treveri]] and [[Mediomatrici]]. The most impressive relic of their time is the remains of a fortress of refuge at [[Celtic circular wall of Otzenhausen|Otzenhausen]] in the north of the Saarland. In the 1st century BC, the [[Roman Empire]] made the region part of its province of [[Belgica]], and the Celtic population mixed with the Roman conquerors. The region became wealthy, which can still be seen in the remains of Roman villas and villages.

Roman rule ended in the 5th century, when the [[Franks]] conquered the territory. For the next 1,300 years the region shared the history of the [[Kingdom of the Franks]], the [[Carolingian Empire]] and the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The region of the Saarland was divided into several small territories, some of which were ruled by sovereigns of adjoining regions. Most important of the local rulers were the [[Nassau-Saarbrücken|counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken]]. Within the Holy Roman Empire these territories gained a wide range of independence, threatened, however, by the [[king of France|French kings]], who sought from the 17th century onwards to incorporate all the territories on the western side of the river [[Rhine]]. They invaded the area in 1635, 1676, 1679, and 1734, extending their realm to the river [[Saar (river)|Saar]] and establishing the city and stronghold of [[Saarlouis]] in 1680.

It was not the king of France but the armies of the [[French Revolution]] who terminated the independence of the states in the region of the Saarland. After 1792 they conquered the region and made it part of the [[French Republic]]. While a strip in the west belonged to the [[Moselle (department)|Moselle department]], the centre in 1798 became part of the [[Sarre (department)|Sarre department]], and the east became part of the [[Mont-Tonnerre|Mont-Tonnerre department]]. After the defeat of [[Napoleon]] in 1815, the region was divided again. Most of it became part of the Prussian [[Lower Rhine Province|Rhine Province]]. Another part in the east, corresponding to the present Saarpfalz district, was allocated to the [[Kingdom of Bavaria]]. A small part in the northeast was ruled by the [[Wilhelm, Duke of Oldenburg|Duke of Oldenburg]].

On 31 July 1870, the French Emperor [[Napoleon III]] ordered an invasion across the River Saar to seize Saarbrücken. The first shots of the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 1870{{en dash}}71 were fired on the heights of [[Spicheren|Spichern]] during the [[Battle of Spicheren]], south of [[Saarbrücken]]. The Saar region became part of the [[German Empire]] which came into existence on 18 January 1871, during the course of the war.

=== Interwar history ===
{{Main|Territory of the Saar Basin}}
In 1921, the [[Territory of the Saar Basin|Saargebiet]] was occupied by Britain and France under the provisions of the [[Treaty of Versailles]]. The occupied area included portions of the Prussian Rhine Province and the Bavarian [[Palatinate (region)|Rhenish Palatinate]]. In practice the region was administered by France. In 1920, this was formalized by a 15-year mandate by the [[League of Nations]].

In 1933, a considerable number of communists and other political opponents of [[Nazism]] fled to the Saar, as it was the only part of Germany that remained outside national administration following the First World War. As a result, anti-Nazi groups agitated for the Saarland to remain under French administration. However, with most of the population being ethnically German, such views were considered suspect or even treasonous, and therefore found little support.

When the original 15-year term was over, a [[Saarland status referendum, 1935|plebiscite]] was held in the territory on 13 January 1935 in which 90.8 percent of those voting favoured rejoining Germany.

=== Nazi period ===
Following the referendum [[Josef Bürckel]] was appointed on 1 March 1935 as the [[German Reich]]'s commissioner for reintegration ({{lang|de|[[Reichskommissar]] für die Rückgliederung des Saarlandes}}). Once the reincorporation was accomplished, on 17 June 1936 his title was changed to {{lang|de|Reichskommissar für das Saarland}} (Reich Commissioner for the Saarland). In September 1939, in response to the German [[invasion of Poland]], French forces [[Saar Offensive|invaded]] the Saarland in a half-hearted offensive, occupying some villages and meeting little resistance, before withdrawing. After 8 April 1940 Bürckel's title was changed again to {{lang|de|Reichskommissar für die Saarpfalz}} (Reich Commissioner for the Saar Palatinate); finally, after 11 March 1941, Bürckel was made {{lang|de|[[Reichsstatthalter]] in der [[Gau Westmark|Westmark]]}} (Reich Governor of the Western Borderland). He died on 28 September 1944 and was succeeded by [[Willi Stöhr]], who remained in office until the region fell to advancing American forces in March 1945.

=== History after World War II ===
{{Further|Saar Protectorate}}
After [[World War II]], the Saarland came under French occupation again and became the [[Saar (protectorate)|Saar Protectorate]]. France did not annex the Saar or expel the local German population, in contrast to the fate of the territories which were merged by Poland and the USSR. In his speech "[[Restatement of Policy on Germany]]", made in Stuttgart on 6 September 1946, [[United States Secretary of State]] [[James F. Byrnes]] stated the U.S. position on detaching the Saar from Germany: "The United States does not feel that it can deny to France, which has been invaded three times by Germany in 70 years,<ref group="Note">In [[Franco-Prussian War|1870]], [[First Battle of the Marne|1914]], and [[Battle of France|1940]].</ref> its claim to the Saar territory".

The Saar and Ruhr areas were historically a central location for coal mining. This attracted the steel industry, which is essential for the production of munitions.<ref name="yoder">{{cite journal |last=Yoder Becker |first=Amos |date=July 1955 |title=The Ruhr Authority and the German Problem |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/S0034670500014261 |journal=Review of Politics |publisher=Cambridge University Press |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=345–358 |doi=10.1017/S0034670500014261 |s2cid=145465919}}</ref>{{rp|346}} The [[Treaty of Paris (1951)]] established the [[European Coal and Steel Community]], which led to the termination of the [[International Authority for the Ruhr]] (whose purpose was to regulate Ruhr coal and steel production and distribution). However, the Treaty sidestepped the issue of the Saar protectorate: an attached protocol stated Germany and France agreed the Treaty would have no bearing on their views of the status of the Saar.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum:xy0022|title=Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, ECSC Treaty &#124; EUR-Lex|website=eur-lex.europa.eu}}</ref>

In 1948, the French government established [[Saarland University]] under the auspices of the [[University of Nancy]]. It is the principal university in the state, the other being {{Ill|Saarland University of Applied Sciences|de|Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft des Saarlandes}} (HTW Saar).

The Saarland was headed by a military governor from 30 August 1945: [[Gilbert Grandval|Gilbert Yves Edmond Grandval]] (1904–1981), who remained, on 1 January 1948, as [[High Commissioner]], and from January 1952 – June 1955 as the first of two French ambassadors, his successor being Éric de Carbonnel (1910–1965) until 1956.
Saarland, however, was allowed a regional administration very early, consecutively headed by:
* a president of the Government:
** 31 July 1945 – 8 June 1946: Hans Neureuther, non-partisan
* a chairman of the (until 15 December 1947, Provisional) Administration Commission:
** 8 June 1946 – 20 December 1947: Erwin Müller (1906–1968), non-partisan
* Minister-presidents (as in any state):
** 20 December 1947 – 29 October 1955: [[Johannes Hoffmann (CVP)|Johannes Hoffmann]] (1890–1967), [[Christian People's Party of Saarland|CVP]]
** 29 October 1955 – 10 January 1956  [[Heinrich Welsch]] (1888–1976), non-partisan
** 10 January 1956 – 4 June 1957: [[Hubert Ney]] (1892–1984), [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|CDU]]

In 1954, France and the [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] (West Germany) developed a detailed plan called the {{lang|fr|Saarstatut}} (Saar Statute) to establish an independent Saarland. It was signed as an agreement between the two countries on 23 October 1954 as one of the [[Paris Pacts]], but a [[Saar Statute referendum, 1955|plebiscite]] held on 23 October 1955 rejected it by 67.7%.

On 27 October 1956, the [[Saar Treaty]] declared that Saarland should be allowed to join West Germany, which it did on 1 January 1957. This was the last significant international border change in Europe until the [[fall of Communism]] over 30 years later.

The Saarland's unification with West Germany was sometimes referred to as the {{lang|de|[[Kleine Wiedervereinigung]]}} ('little reunification', in contrast with the post-Cold War [[German reunification|reunification with the GDR]]). After unification, the [[Saar franc]] remained as the territory's currency until West Germany's [[Deutsche Mark]] replaced it on 7 July 1959. The Saar Treaty established that French, not English as in the rest of West Germany, should remain the first foreign language taught in Saarland schools; this provision was still largely followed after it was no longer binding.

Since 1971, Saarland has been a member of [[SaarLorLux]], a [[euroregion]] created from Saarland, [[Lorraine (province)|Lorraine]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Rhineland Palatinate]], and [[Wallonia]].

[[File:1953 SAAR ID issued under the French occupation of the territory.jpg|thumb|1953 SAAR ID issued under the French occupation of the territory.]]