Saarland

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Saarland , state (1994 pop. 1,080,000), 991 sq mi (2,567 sq km), SW Germany; formerly called the Saar or the Saar Territory. Saarbrücken is the capital; other cities include Völklingen, Saarlouis , and Sankt Ingbert. Saarland is bounded by France (S and W), by Luxembourg (NW), and by Rhineland-Palatinate (N and E). A region of low, partly wooded hills, Saarland is drained by the Saar River. The population is German-speaking and largely Roman Catholic. There is a university at Saarbrücken.

Economy

Saarland long supported a large iron and steel industry based on vast coal fields. Although iron and steel fell off greatly in the 1990s, bringing a dramatic rise in unemployment, the development of car and auto-parts industries, along with the establishment of high-tech businesses, helped counter the decline. Other manufactures include machinery, motors, ceramics, processed foods, and textiles. Agricultural production is limited. The state is an important road and rail junction and is served by a dense rail network; it also is connected with the Rhine-Marne Canal. There is a domestic and international airport at Saarbrücken-Ensheim.

History

The Saarland possessed little unity before the 20th cent. Until the late 18th cent. it was divided among France (which held the city Saarlouis and the adjacent territory), the county of Saarbrücken (a dependency of Nassau), and the palatine duchy of Zweibrücken. In 1797 it was ceded to France by the Treaty of Campo Formio. The Treaty of Paris of 1815 divided the territory between Bavaria (i.e., the Bavarian or Rhenish Palatinate) and Prussia. Industrial development in the area occurred after 1871, when Alsace-Lorraine became a part of the German empire. With Lorraine's iron ore deposits, the Saarland was able to take advantage of its extensive coal fields.

The Saar Territory came into existence as a political unit when the Treaty of Versailles (1919) made it an autonomous territory, administered by France under League of Nations supervision, pending a plebiscite to be held in 1935 to determine its final status. France also received the right to exploit its coal fields until that time. When more than 90% of the votes cast in the plebiscite favored its reunion with Germany, the Saar was restored (Mar., 1935) to German control and constituted the Saarland prov.

During World War II, Hitler incorporated it (1940) with Lorraine (annexed from France) into the province of Westmark. The scene of heavy fighting at the close of the war (1944-45), the Saarland was placed under French military occupation in 1945 and in 1947 was given an autonomous government. In a referendum (1947) the population voted for economic union with France, and in 1948 a customs union went into effect. Strong West German claims to the Saar, however, were a serious cause of friction in postwar Franco-German relations.

An agreement between France and West Germany in 1954 (see Paris Pacts ) provided for an autonomous Saar under a neutral commissioner to be named by the Western European Union; the economic union with France was to be maintained for 50 years. However, the agreement was rejected (Oct., 1955) by the Saarlanders in a popular referendum, and, in accordance with subsequent Franco-German agreements (1956), the Saar Territory became (Jan. 1, 1957) a state (as Saarland) of the Federal Republic of Germany. The agreements permitted France to extract coal from the Warndt deposit until 1981, but the customs union with France was dissolved in July, 1959, whereupon the Saarland became economically integrated with West Germany (now Germany).

Saarland A German state on the border with France and Luxemburg. After unsuccessful French attempts at annexation in the Versailles Treaty, it was placed under the trusteeship of the League of Nations for fifteen years. In the 1935 plebiscite, 90 per cent voted to belong to Germany. After World War II, it was administered separately from West Germany, and on 1 April 1948 it entered a customs union with France, which also controlled its main industry, the coal and steel works. The Saar Statute negotiated between Germany and France in 1954 aimed at a ‘Europeanization’ of the Saarland, with its own representatives in European institutions, but this was rejected in a plebiscite on 23 October 1955. The elections of 18 December 1955 produced a majority for those parties who favoured a return to Germany, and on 1 January 1957 the Saarland was incorporated into Germany. This became a constitutional precedent for the incorporation of the five newly created East German states into West Germany in 1990.

Saarland State in sw Germany on the borders with France (s) and Luxembourg (w); the capital is Saarbrücken. Belonging intermittently to France, the Saar was finally ceded to Prussia after the defeat of Napoleon I in 1815. France administered the region after World War I but in a 1935 plebiscite 90% of the people voted for German administration. French forces again occupied the Saar after World War 2. Saarland finally gained the status of a West German state in 1967. The valley of the River Saar includes many blast furnaces and steel works, which exploit local coal and nearby iron ore. There is little agriculture, and some market gardening. Area: 2570sq km (992sq mi). Pop. (1999) 1,071,501.

Saarland, Germany A state named after the River Saar. Occupied by the French on several occasions, it was administered by the League of Nations in 1920–35 before being returned to Germany. It was removed again from Germany following the Second World War, not rejoining that country until 1957 when it became a state.

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