Editing Saarland (section)

=== 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.