The Saar Plebiscite: With a Collection of Official Documents [Reprint 2014 ed.] 9780674366459, 9780674366442

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THE SAAR PLEBISCITE

LONDON : HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY

PRESS

THE SAAR PLEBISCITE WITH A COLLECTION OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS

BY

SARAH W A M B A U G H Technical Adviser and Deputy Member of the Saar Plebiscite Commission

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1940

COPYRIGHT,

I94O

B Y T H E P R E S I D E N T AND F E L L O W S OF HARVARD C O L L E G E

A grant from the Bureau of International Research of Harvard University and Radcliffe College has aided the author in carrying on research and in publishing the results. The Bureau, however, assumes no responsibility for the views expressed. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

P R I N T E D AT T H E HARVARD U N I V E R S I T Y CAMBRIDGE, MASS., U.S.A.

PRESS

PREFACE THIS account of the plebiscite in the Territory of the Saar Basin appears on the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the French Revolution. While fortuitous, this is singularly fitting, for it was the early leaders of the Revolution who first gave formal expression to the doctrine of self-determination as a means to end conquest, and who first attempted to settle questions of national sovereignty by the device of the plebiscite. T h e plebiscites of the Revolution were primitive affairs, lacking in every safeguard which modern political science requires of a free and fair vote. In our own time we have seen such votes, accompanied by pressure and intimidation, used by dictators in an effort to impress democracies. T h e effort has been vain. In the one hundred and fifty years since the first plebiscite regarding sovereignty the technique of the fair and sincere plebiscite, used not to "ratify" a fait accompli but to ascertain the popular will, has undergone a rapid evolution toward perfection. T o contrast the voting of Avignon in 1791 with that of the Saar in 1935 should give some reassurance as to the capacity of mankind to perfect other devices fashioned by our forefathers to end other abuses. T h e Saar plebiscite has often been condemned as unnecessary, for the reason that the population was of only one nationality. It is interesting to recall that this was true also of most of the plebiscites of the French Revolution, as of those of the nineteenth century. T o argue in the twentieth century that race alone creates fundamental differences is to disregard the reality of history. Most of the thirteen American colonies fought for freedom from a mother-country of the same racial strain. So too did the republics of South America, while in Switzerland four different nationalities have willed to unite rather than to be absorbed by their neighboring kindred. A s the present wave of nationalism recedes it will become still more evident than before that the choice of sovereignty is a matter not of blood alone but of the individual in his entirety — his head, his heart, and, though far less powerful, his economic interests. A study of the Saar plebiscite is of first importance not only because it has settled what it is hoped is the last frontier dispute between France

vi

PREFACE

and Germany, and so has removed one of the most threatening dangers to European peace, but because it marks the highest point yet attained by the technique of the international plebiscite. T h e last of the plebiscites provided in the treaties of peace ending the World War, it was the first held by the League of Nations. It marked also the first occasion on which the League made use of international contingents as a police force. It is not for nothing that it was the first international plebiscite after which there was no protest from either side. T h e essential prerequisite of a convincing international plebiscite is neutralization. With its inexhaustible reservoir of neutrals and its experience of fifteen years in selecting them for commissions of inquiry and other matters, the League was admirably fitted to carry neutralization further than had the Supreme Council of the Allies, under which were held the earlier plebiscites required by the Paris treaties. T h e task of the Governing Commission and of the Plebiscite Commission in the Saar was a difficult one. T h e duty of the League to administer a free and fair plebiscite ran counter to one of the most ardent national movements in all history. A t the time the Deutsche Front found many of the measures to be Draconian. Victorious, they now, one may hope, appreciate that it was to the interest of the victor as well as of justice that the Commissions should carry out the duty of fairness. Without such measures the plebiscite would not enjoy the convincing character which it now has before the world, and the title of the Reich to the Saar would lack the validity it now possesses. T h e author has had a long experience with the Saar question. In 1920 she was attached to the League Secretariat for six months as expert adviser on the administration of the Saar Territory, and during the ensuing years she made as many as four visits to the area before she was called to Geneva in 1934 by the Committee of Three of the League Council to aid in drafting the Plebiscite Regulations. Finally, as technical adviser and deputy member of the Plebiscite Commission appointed by the Council of the League, she became herself a resident of Saarbrücken for the seven months of the plebiscite proceedings. T o the Bureau of International Research of Harvard University and Radcliffe College, which has made possible the preparation of this study, the author wishes to acknowledge once more her indebtedness. T o name the many people, Saarlanders as well as officials of France, Germany, and the League, who have been of assistance in the preparation would be impracticable. T h e author wishes to take this opportunity to express her most sincere appreciation of their patience and of the encouragement they have afforded.

PREFACE

Vil

Since the book was written, the strategic importance of the Saar has once more been demonstrated by war, and the unhappy position of a border people in an age of nationalism has once again awakened the attention and sympathy of the world. For the benefit of readers in Germany it should perhaps be said that the Christian name of the author does not denote Hebraic descent but one from a long Une of Calvinists. SARAH

Cambridge, Massachusetts October, 1939

WAMBAUGH

CONTENTS P A R T I.

INTRODUCTORY

I. LAND AND PEOPLE II. FROM THE ROMAN LEGIONS TO THE WORLD WAR

3 .

.

.

III. THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES

16 37

P A R T II. T H E L E A G U E R É G I M E I V . VERSAILLES TO LOCARNO V.

LOCARNO — HITLER

73 104

P A R T III. P R E P A R A T I O N S F O R T H E P L E B I S C I T E V I . THE GOVERNING COMMISSION V I I . THE LEAGUE COUNCIL V I I I . THE PLEBISCITE COMMISSION

131 165 186

P A R T IV. T H E P L E B I S C I T E I X . THE VOTE

295

APPENDIX

323

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

473

INDEX

477

ILLUSTRATIONS T H E S A A R TERRITORY ( M A P ) STEEL W O R K S THE

SAAR

frontis.

AT D I L L I N G E N

TERRITORY:

IO

ADMINISTRATIVE

DIVISIONS,

MINES,

AND

STEEL W O R K S ( M A P ) THE

PLEBISCITE

24

COMMISSION

184

REGISTRATION L I S T S , S A A R B R Ü C K E N

232

POSTERS ON H O U S E G A B L E S

252

S T A T U S Q U O POSTER G I V I N G E C O N O M I C A R G U M E N T S

.

.

.

.

254

D E U T S C H E F R O N T POSTERS

256,257

STATUS Q U O

260,261

THE

POSTERS

ELECTORAL C E R T I F I C A T E

280

HEADQUARTERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL P O L I C E F O R C E VOTING

DIRECTIONS

POSTED

BY

THE

PLEBISCITE

.

.

.

.

COMMISSION

284 AT

THE POLLS

299

F A C S I M I L E OF THE B A L L O T U S E D I N THE PLEBISCITE

300

T H E D A Y OF THE V O T I N G

302

C O U N T I N G THE B A L L O T S I N THE W A R T B U R G

303

R E S U L T S OF THE PLEBISCITE, BY V O T I N G D I V I S I O N S ( M A P )

.

.

.

305

DOCUMENTS ι . Ordinance concerning the maintenance of public order. Published by the Governing Commission of the Saar Territory on May 22, 1

325

933 2. Ordinance making legally autonomous all local branches of trade, professional, or political associations having headquarters in the Reich. Published June 1, 1933

332

3. Ordinance providing regulation of the Saar Chambers of Commerce. Published November 15, 1933

334

4. Ordinance requiring a special permit for entrance into the Territory to participate in public meetings or to carry on political activities. Published November 8, 1933

338

5. Further ordinance concerning the maintenance of public order. Published December 1, 1933

339

6. Ordinance requiring neutrality of public officials in the discharge of their functions. Published December 1, 1933

346

7. Ordinance increasing penalties for the betrayal of public secrets, etc., by public officials or employees, active or retired. Published December 1, 1933

347

8. Further ordinance regarding autonomy of political associations in the Territory. Published December 1, 1933

350

9. Proclamation of the Plebiscite Commission on arrival in the Territory on July ι, 1934

353

10. Regulations for the Plebiscite as published on July 7, 1934, with the later amendments incorporated, and with the ordinances of October 31, and December 20 and 21, 1934, the application form for registration, and the protocol for proceedings of communal committees annexed

354

1 1 . Proclamation by the Plebiscite Commission regarding applications for registration, and list of voting divisions and registration committees. Published July 20, 1934

398

12. Ordinance setting up the Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal and eight Kreis courts and establishing rules of procedure. September 8, 193 4 13. Ordinance prohibiting recruiting for the Reich Voluntary Labor Corps or for the "S.A." or "S.S." and requiring former Saar members to report to the police. Published September 8, 1934 .

401

416

DOCUMENTS

XIV

14. Proclamation by the Plebiscite Commission warning the Saar officials to cease all cooperation with political parties. September 12, 1934 41» 15. Executive ordinance regarding claims and appeals, published September 22, 1934, with ordinance concerning the hearing of witnesses, of October 15, 1934, annexed 419 16. Proclamation by the Plebiscite Commission regarding claims. September 26, 1934. Annexes: Forms for claims regarding registration, for decision by the Kreis Bureau, for appeal to the Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal, and for final decision by the Tribunal . . 431 17. Ordinance empowering the Kreis inspectors to requisition halls for the use of political parties. September 30, 1934

436

18. Ordinance empowering the Kreis bureaus to remove ex officio entries clearly due to an error of fact. November 8, 1934 . . .

438

19. Proclamation by the Plebiscite Commission recalling that there are three parties with equal rights and calling for moderation in propaganda. November 12, 1934

440

20. Ordinance requiring officials to maintain a neutral attitude at all times and prohibiting them from engaging in political activities. November 22, 1934

441

21. Ordinance prohibiting public exhibition of written matter, posters, etc., except on billboards specified by the Kreis inspectors. December ι, 1934

442

22. Decrees regarding entrance into the Territory. November 29 and December 22, 1934

443

23. Proclamation by the Plebiscite Commission reassuring the inhabitants of the Saar as to the secrecy of the casting and counting of the ballots. December 1 1 , 1934 448 24. Ordinance forbidding display of flags until proclamation of the result of the vote. December 20, 1934

449

25. Ordinance forbidding political meetings in public places from January 10 until proclamation of the results of the vote. January 3, !935 450 26. Ordinance forbidding sale of alcoholic drinks on licensed premises from January 12 to 15, inclusive. January 5, 1935 451 27. Proclamation by the Plebiscite Commission giving date and hour of voting, form of ballot, and details of voting procedure, January 5, 1935 28. Composition of Kreis bureaus. Published January 8, 1935

.

.

452

. 454

29. Directions to chairmen of voting bureaus. Published January 8, x

935

455

DOCUMENTS

XV

30. Ordinance forbidding flight over the Territory by airplanes other than those of regular commercial lines. January 10, 1935 . .

461

3 1 . Ordinance forbidding distribution of printed matter on the day of the vote. January 10, 1935

462

32. Protocols to be filled out by the voting bureaus for the voting in hospitals and prisons and for the general vote on January 13, J

935

463

33. Certificate regarding transport of the voting urns to Saarbrücken, to be signed by the representatives of the Plebiscite Commission and of the political parties

468

34. Official statement by the Council of the League of Nations giving the result of the vote

469

PART I INTRODUCTORY

I L A N D A N D PEOPLE THE SETTLEMENT by ballot of the Franco-German frontier in the basin of the Saar is one of the more picturesque victories of peace. Of all the frontier areas of Europe few have seen more marchings and countermarchings of hostile armies. Since the Gothic hordes and the Roman legions, every invasion which either neighbor has launched against the other has swept across it. It is to war that the Saar iron and steel industries owe their early stimulus and, in great part, their later development, and for more than a century Saar coal has been of great military importance. The disputed area, called for the fifteen years of the League regime the Territory of the Saar Basin (in French, Territoire de la Sarre; in German, Saargebiet), lies where the low hills of the Rhineland merge into the plateau of Lorraine. Its importance comes not from size, for its surface covers only 730 square miles (1,912 square kilometers) and can be crossed by motor from east to west or north to south in from two to three hours. The riches of the Saar are, however, extensive. The coal field which lies under the surface and extends into Lorraine is the third in importance in Europe, and above it are grouped some of the large iron, steel, glass, and ceramic industries of the Continent. In consequence the population, which on January 1, 1934, numbered 828,128, is the most densely concentrated of all European industrial areas, the average being 433 inhabitants to the square kilometer.1 Unlike other less populous industrial centers, the region retains a degree of scenic beauty, for the towns are surrounded by wooded hills and the coal mines are hidden in the forests, only the tips of their superstructures showing above the treetops. The iron foundries and steel works, however, are plainly visible from afar, tall chimneys and great mountains of slag topped by a beetle-like structure marking them by day, the blaze from their high ovens lighting the sky by night. The Territory of the Saar Basin, never previously a political entity, 1 Unless otherwise stated, the statistics in this chapter are taken from Saarwirtschaftsstatistilj (Saarbrücken), Heft 8, 1934. The Saar Territory as delimited at Versailles was slightly larger than the Free City of Danzig.

4

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

was formed by the Treaty of Versailles out of parts of what had been since 1815 the Prussian Rheinprovinz and the Bavarian Palatinate. On the north and east the Territory, consequently, touched these two parts of the German Reich. On the south and west it bordered on Lorraine, with which it had for years had close economic ties, the Saar steel industries depending on Lorraine for their iron ore, the Lorraine steel industries depending on Saar coal. The river which gives the area its name flows north languidly from its source in the Vosges through Lorraine, past Sarreguemines, thence across the southwest part of the territory to Mettlach, where, after making a magnificent curve, it joins the Moselle to the north, some six miles above Trier. Extending from the heights of Spicheren, three miles south of Saarbrücken in Lorraine and famous as the scene of the first engagement of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, a line of low hills, marking the edge of the Lorraine plateau, swings west around the thickly forested bay of the Warndt, which juts southwest into Lorraine. Beyond the Warndt the line of hills passes north into the area itself, forming, a few kilometers west of Saarlouis, a steep escarpment from the edge of which, at Berus and Felsberg on the routes to St. Avoid and to Metz, the entire area lies before one, the sky illuminated at night by the flames from the great steel works at Dillingen and Völklingen below. Heavily wooded, the escarpment continues north as far as Merzig, where it merges into a picturesque gorge cut by the river. Beyond the magnificent curve of the Saar near Mettlach was the northern boundary of the former Territory. Outside, on the river slopes near the Moselle, lie the famous Saar vineyards. Between the escarpment of the Lorraine plateau and the river the land is flat. From the right bank it rises in gently rolling hills, for the most part densely wooded. These, beyond the area, become to the north the heights of the Hochwald and the Hunsriick, and to the southeast the Pfälzerwald and Haardt. On its right bank there flow into the Saar several streams, the most important being the Koller, which joins it at Völklingen; the Sulzbach, which enters the Saar at Saarbrücken; and the Blies, which, flowing by St. Wendel, Ottweiler, Neunkirchen, and Blieskastel, joins the Saar at Sarreguemines, just south of the border in Lorraine. Of the eight administrative districts into which the Territory was divided, the portion cut from Prussia contained the Land\reis and Stadtkreis of Saarbrücken, the Kreise of Saarlouis and Merzig, called the Saargau, and, in the north, the Kreise of Ottweiler and St. Wendel, while the portion cut from Bavaria was divided into the Bezirke of

L A N D A N D PEOPLE

5

2

St. Ingbert and Homburg. The northern and eastern part of the Saar is largely agricultural. Most of the mines and industries, and consequently the greater part of the population, are to be found in the center and southwest, which for a century had been a part of Prussia. The chief city, Saarbrücken, with a population on January i, 1934, of 132,375, is a typical Prussian provincial center. Neunkirchen, with its 42,082 inhabitants, is the only other one of the numerous industrial cities and towns which has, separately, a population of over 40,000 inhabitants; yet most of the industrial settlements lie so close together as to make the road connecting them seem like a continuous city street. Especially is this true of the highway which follows the Saar downstream from Brebach on the eastern edge of Saarbrücken through Völklingen to Saarlouis and Dillingen, and that running north from Saarbrücken through Dudweiler and Neunkirchen. Saarlouis,3 the second city in political importance in the area, had by itself in 1934 only 17,569 inhabitants, but with the surrounding villages of Fraulautern, Lisdorf, and Wallerfangen, and their dependencies, the population came to 46,000. The number of inhabitants of the other chief industrial centers was in 1934 as follows: Völklingen, 35,824; Dudweiler, 26,094; Sulzbach, 22,795; St. Ingbert, 22,864; Püttlingen, 21,441; Friedrichstal, 14,773; Homburg, 12,038; Merzig, 10,661. To the north of the river valley the population is very dense over the whole coal basin as far as Ottweiler, and particularly along the two parallel railroad lines from Saarbrücken to Neunkirchen. To the south of the valley the settlements are interrupted by the great forests of the Warndt. The solid mass of inhabitants in the industrial region along the river is surrounded in all directions by a zone where the density is much lower, although still considerable. Beyond this zone the land becomes gradually more sparsely settled. While it partly depends on the mining region, because of the miners who inhabit it, its most important settlements are Merzig, where the 11,000 inhabitants find their chief employment in the pottery works, and St. Wendel, which is primarily a cattle market. Before the World War the Prussian portion of the Basin looked to 2 Bezirk. is the term for the Bavarian administrative district corresponding to the Prussian Kreis. Parts of the Prussian Kreise of Merzig and St. Wendel lay outside the Territory, as did also part of the Bavarian Bezirk of Homburg, while a part of the Bezirk. of Zweibrücken had been included in the Territory and united with that of Homburg into one administrative division. 3 Shortly after the Territory was handed back to the Reich in 1935 the name of Saarlouis was changed to Saarlautern. The form of the name in use from 1815 to 1935 is retained here, since it was the one in use during the plebiscite.

6

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

Trier as its center, the Palatinate portion to Speyer. After the Treaty of Versailles both parts, perforce, depended on Saarbrücken, the capital of the little Territory. The seat of the Governing Commission representing the League of Nations, and also of the Landesrat, the Landgericht, the Bergwerksdirektion (after Versailles the Direction des Mines Domaniales Françaises de la Sarre), the German Handelskammer, the Chambre de Commerce Franco-Sarroise, and the Eisenbahndirektion, Saarbrücken was, during the fifteen years of the League régime, the center of the Territory for administrative, political, cultural, and economic purposes. While the French origin of Saarlouis can be traced from the market place, which is the old place d'armes of Vauban, from the remains of the fortifications, and from the Bürgermeisterei, which is the old hôtel de ville — its tapestried walls and chairs presents from the Roi Soleil himself — it has for the most part been overlaid with German architecture. Saarbrücken is entirely German in plan. In spite of its age the ravages of war and of industry have left little in the nature of historical monuments beyond several fine churches. Of these, the thirteenth-century church of St. Arnual, named for its founder, an early bishop of Metz who is said to have been the means of converting the region to Christianity, and the baroque Ludwigskirche with the dwellings in the square surrounding it, are the most interesting. Under the hill called the Triller the chateau of the princes of NassauSaarbrücken, rebuilt after being burned twice — in 1677 and 1793 — rises above the old town. A plaque in the garden wall below commemorates the visit of Goethe in 1770. On the Halberg, across the river near Brebach, rises the modern château built by "König" Stumm, the great figure in the steel industry in the nineteenth century. In the northern, agricultural part of the area the Romanesque abbey of Tholey still exists at the foot of the Schaumberg, and St. Wendelin, its abbot, the fabled son of an Irish king, is still the patron saint of the shepherds and cowherds round about. At Wadgassen and at Mettlach abbeys of later date have been turned into glass and pottery factories. Of no less importance than its mines and steel works is the geographical situation of the Saar. Lying between the Ardennes and the Vosges, it is a natural highway between the Rhine and western Europe, and it is for this reason that the land has suffered the visitations of the armies of Charles V, Gustavus Adolphus, Louis XIV, the Grand Alliance, and the French Revolution, and, since the opening of the nineteenth century, the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Holy Alii-

L A N D A N D PEOPLE

7

ance, Napoleon III and von Moltke in 1870, and the later Moltke of 19x4. For peace as well as war Saarbrücken has occupied from Roman times a very important position in the system of European transportation. From Saarbrücken radiate seven great railroad lines: by Metz to Paris; by Trier to Cologne; by Strasbourg to Basel; by Landau to Stuttgart and Munich; by Kaiserslautern to Ludwigshafen and Mannheim; by Bingerbrück to Frankfurt and Berlin; and by Thionville and Luxembourg to Brussels. The city is also the meeting point for great international motor highways connecting France, Germany, and Luxembourg, the chief being the old route impértale or Kaiserstrasse of Napoleon, from Metz to Kaiserslautern and the Rhine.4 The need of easy transportation for the great numbers of miners and factory workers has covered the Basin with a vast network of tramways radiating from Saarbrücken, Saarlouis, and Neunkirchen. Some connect with towns in the Palatinate; others run to the Warndt and connect at the frontier with lines to the Lorraine mining centers of StyringWendel, Petite Rosselle, and Forbach. While rail transport has for many decades been highly developed, water transport, so important to the Saar metallurgical industries, and especially to a low-cost marketing of the coal, is sadly lacking. The Saar River is navigable only where it has been canalized from Sarreguemines to Völklingen. There navigation ends. As the river below, like the Moselle into which it later flows, is impracticable for freight, there is no access by water to the Lower Rhine, while to the Upper Rhine it is to be had only by the Canal des Houillières, opened in 1865 from Sarreguemines to Strasbourg and running through what is now again French territory. By means of the Canal des Houillières, which at Strasbourg joins the Canal Marne au Rhin (the great waterway of eastern France which has connections with the Upper Rhine, the Marne, the Saône, and the Rhone), Saar coal, loaded on a canal boat at the coal port at Saarbrücken, could be carried by water with ease to Paris and Havre, to Marseilles, and to Switzerland, as well as to southern Germany, while to central and northern Germany it could be carried only by rail, a far more costly method. The remoteness of the Saar Basin from seaports, its lack of water transport through Germany, and its almost complete dependence on railroad transportation, 4 Saarbrücken also has an airport of importance, where planes of the Deutsche Lufthansa and the Air France land on regular flights to Paris, to Mannheim-StuttgartMunich, to Cologne-Diisseldorf, and to Frankfurt-Berlin. By rail Saarbrücken is five and a half hours from Paris and about eleven hours from Berlin. By air it is two hours and a quarter from Paris and four hours and a half f r o m Berlin.

8

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

placed the Saar in a position of distinct inferiority to the other coal and industrial regions of the Reich. While the strategic importance of the Saar region was apparently of less moment than its economic value in determining French policy at the Peace Conference, the district is far from negligible in this respect, not only because of its multiplicity of roads and its mines and steel works but also because of its geographical situation. T w o great military routes are open between France and Germany — Luxembourg and the Saar. In 1914 it was through Luxembourg and the Moselle country that the German armies deployed on Paris. In 1870 it was by the roads and railroads connecting Mainz, Bingen, and Kaiserslautern with the Saar. T o French strategists the Saar in the hands of the Germans forms a magnificent and threatening base of deployment which affords a springboard for attack on Lorraine and Paris. A break in the German General Staff's historic base line of Trier-Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern would have obliged the Germans to push their base far back into the mountainous territory of Hunsriick and Hardt. The return of the Saar to Germany has thrown France back on the weak frontier forced on her by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and the French outposts along the edge of Lorraine on the heights of Spicheren and St. Avoid and in the golfe of L a Rosselle are again dangerously exposed, as they were in 1870. The continuous French frontier fortifications, of the largest and most modern type, on the heights to the south and west of the border indicate how important to the French mind was the military command of the Saar route even under the regime of the League of Nations and while the area from the French frontier to the other side of the Rhine was demilitarized by Versailles and Locarno. The Germans felt equally nervous over this great ring of concealed cannon, trained, so they said, on every one of the steel works in the area and commanding the entire Basin. They remember the invading armies of Louis X I V and Napoleon and the fact that Saarbrücken was the only German city to be visited by French troops in 1870. T o them the plateau of Lorraine is a springboard enabling the French to make a sudden advance into German territory. The French fortifications on the height of Spicheren alone, they said, commanded most of the Saar valley, and under their cover the French tanks in three hours could reach the Rhine. The Saar coal deposits stretch from Frankenholz, northwest of Homburg, under the Warndt into Lorraine. Toward the southwest, however, the strata dip so far below the surface as to be unworkable. The practicable part of the coal field is in the Saar valley, and the

L A N D A N D PEOPLE

9

mines are for the most part east of the river, the rich deposits under the Warndt having been left untouched by the Prussian state, as a reserve. The Saar mines have the advantage of lying at a moderate depth — the average ranging from 300 to 600 meters below ground — but the veins are rather thin and the coal not very good, so that with the higher cost of production and lack of water transport Saar coal cannot compete with Westphalian coal. Excellent for factories and for all domestic purposes, especially for illuminating gas, Saar coal has small value for making coke. For the manufacture of steel, therefore, it has been necessary to mix it with coal brought from Westphalia. In its last years the French Mines Administration claimed to have perfected a method of producing high-grade coke from Saar coal alone, but the practical value of this discovery has so far been questioned by the Germans. The Saar mines, which, after the German state railways, are the chief industrial state enterprise in Europe, are the greatest employers of labor in the Territory, about one-third of the population depending on them for a livelihood. In 1924, the highest period of production during the League regime, the number employed came to almost 76,000, and the output exceeded 14,000,000 tons a year. After the World War, as before, from 33 to 36 per cent of the total production was consumed in the area itself, and about 12 per cent was used in Alsace and Lorraine. The figures for consumption in France and in the Reich, however, exclusive of Alsace-Lorraine and the Saar, were practically reversed. While in 1913 Germany, not counting the Saar and Alsace-Lorraine, consumed 36.9 per cent of the total output and France 8.1 per cent, in 1933 France, also exclusive of these areas, absorbed 31.6 per cent and the Reich 10.6 per cent. In other words, where the entire Reich (including the Saar and Alsace-Lorraine) in 1913 had taken 82.7 per cent of the Saar coal, in 1933 France (which now included Alsace-Lorraine) consumed, together with the Saar, 89.4 per cent. Although during the period from 1920 to 1930 the Territory was administered by the Saar Governing Commission as the representative of the League of Nations at Geneva, the exploitation of the mines, which belonged to the French state, was carried on by the French Mines Administration representing the Ministère des Travaux Publics at Paris. 5 5 The Ministry was assisted by the Conseil d'Administration des Mines Domaniales Françaises de la Sarre, a body of fifteen, eight representing ministerial departments, four the French consumers of coal and the Chambre des Deputes, two the present or former coal operators, and two present or former coal miners. The French member of the Saar Governing Commission was ex officio a member in a consultative capacity.

IO

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

The central bureau of the French Mines Administration 6 was housed in the large building in the center of Saarbrücken occupied formerly, and now again, by the German Bergwerksdirektion. Over the entrance is carved the miners' salutation, Glüc\ auf! The Saar iron and steel industries are of scarcely less importance than the coal. In 1933 the steel production of the little Territory was equal to about 26 per cent of that of France, 25 per cent of that of Germany, and i l per cent of that of the United States. In times of prosperity the two industries employed over 36,000 men. The steel works are for the most part grouped in the Saar valley from Brebach, above Saarbrücken, down to Dillingen, with important works at St. Ingbert and Neunkirchen. For iron ore they are dependent almost entirely on Lorraine minette. Originally the Saar iron industry developed because of the local iron ore deposits and the great forests, which provided abundant fuel. As the coal, which played little part in the industry until the late eighteenth century, became important, the Saar iron mines became exhausted, and the iron industry of the Territory fell back on the cheap ore of Lorraine. In 1933 this Lorraine minette constituted 88.5 per cent of the ore consumed annually by the Saar. Since 1920 the greater part of the Saar iron and steel industry had been controlled by French capital; the Reich, however, had remained the chief market. By the side of these two great industries — coal and steel — the Saar possesses various smaller ones of considerable importance. The ceramic industry, devoted to the making of tiles and mosaics, porcelain, pottery, and pipe, employed in 1929 over 5,000, and in 1933 somewhat over 3,000 workers. French capital, which, before the war, amounted to 45 per cent in the firm of Villeroy and Boch, the foremost in the area, did not penetrate further after the Versailles Treaty. The making of glass, which is an ancient industry in the Saar, also continued in German hands, and Saar glass made little inroad into the French market. In some of the newer industries, such as brewing, the manufacture of soaps, perfumes, cigars and cigarettes, clothing, and matches, French capital was invested, bringing the total amount of French interests in the Saar in 1933 to about 350,000,000 gold francs. β T h e officials in this central bureau were French, as were the engineers, about 300 in all, w h o were scattered through the area in the mines and their electrical and other subsidiaries. T h e entire French personnel of the mines staff, including clerks and chauffeurs, came to about 1,200. T h e other employees, numbering about 2,000, including managers and office workers were, like the miners, German, and were for the most part former officials of the Prussian and Bavarian states. T h e Berghauptmann and his assistant were French, the officials under them German.

L A N D A N D PEOPLE

II

For food the Saar is largely dependent on imports. There are numerous small farms in the center and eastern part of the area, and countless market-gardens on the edge of the towns and in the vacant lots in residence areas, worked largely by the wives and children of the miners and factory workers. These, however, produce only enough to feed the dense industrial population for about forty days a year. Before the war most of the food came from the Palatinate and the Hunsriick, while a large part of the milk came from Lorraine. After the establishment of the customs union with France in 1925 and the imposition of the French tariff on German foodstuffs entering the Saar, imports from Lorraine and Upper Alsace increased so greatly that the food imported from France far surpassed in quantity that from Germany. It was calculated by M. Capot-Rey, the chief French writer on the subject, that in 1931-32 over 92,000 tons of cereals came from France and only 20,829 from the Reich, and that the amount of milk, butter, eggs, and cheese far exceeded that brought from Germany, although the imports from Germany of cattle and hogs came to almost fourteen times those of livestock from France. 7 In 1934, according to M. CapotRey, the value of the imports by the Saar from France came to approximately 79 per cent of her total imports, and that of Saar exports to France to 61 per cent of her total exports — both figures far above those for Saar trade with the Reich. 8 German authorities, however, considered these percentages for the trade with France too high and the estimates for the trade with Germany too low. 9 Robert Capot-Rey, La Région industrielle sarroise (Nancy, 1934), p. 576. Ibid., p. 584. T h e figures given on p. 585 for Saar foreign trade from April 1, 1932, to March 31, 1933, in thousands of francs are: 7

8

SAAR

Totals From France From Germany

IMPORTS

1.954,637 1,347,761 457,145

SAAR

Totals T o France T o Germany

EXPORTS

2,058,714 1,256,296 602,562

On the basis of these figures the value of imports from France was 60 per cent of the total imports, and that of imports from Germany 23 per cent; the value of Saar exports to France was 60 per cent, and that of exports to Germany 29 per cent of the total exports. T h e Saarbrücken Chamber of Commerce estimated the value of Saar exports to the Reich for 1933 at 116,072,000 RM, and of her imports from the Reich at 83,568,000 RM, or some $2,500,000 more than the figures of M. Capot-Rey (Saarwirtschaftsstatistik., Heft 8, 1934, pp. 48 and 49). (In terms of the dollar, the value of the franc in 1933 averaged 0.0503; and that of the mark, 0.3051.) 0 After the disappearance of the customs line between the Saar and France in 1925, figures for trade between these two areas could only be approximate. French calculations were made by taking the official Saar statistics for tonnage imported from France by rail and water, estimating those for entry by road, and calculating the value of the total merchandise by means of the unitary price in accordance with the Statistiques du commerce extérieur de la France. This method was admittedly unsatisfactory, and the results

12

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

The old Saar stock is essentially that of eastern Lorraine, as French and German writers agree, and intermarriage has continued with Lorraine families from early times.10 As to the sentiments of the descendants of these early inhabitants of the Saar, however, there has been the same wide divergence between French and German writers as regarding those of the people of Lorraine and Alsace. The French view the people of Lorraine and the Saar as descended from the early Mediomatrici, living for a thousand years on the same land, with Metz as their common center, and always looking toward France. Saarlouis, built on Lorraine soil, was, they say, French in origin and owed to France its early prosperity as well as the military glory of its sons. The Germans say, on the other hand, that it is impossible to trace any inheritance in the Saar or in Lorraine either from Romans or Celts, that the population was very thin before the coming of the Germans, and that even in Saarlouis there is very little French blood. Unquestionably the language of the Saar people is, and always has been, German. The language frontier runs north and south in Lorraine about fifteen miles east of Metz and ten miles west of St. Avoid. Since early times this frontier has shifted back and forth within narrow limits. The French Revolution pushed it east, and Prussian domination after 1815, and particularly after 1871, west; but it has scarcely changed since the early Middle Ages and has always run west of the Saar area. Descendants of the earlier stock, as of those who came in later, speak habitually either German or a mixed dialect similar to that of Lorraine, 11 and they consistently call themselves Deutsch. Some at least, however, still looked on themselves at the time of the plebiscite primarily as Saarländisch and not Prussian, and many of those of the old stock were unquestionably conscious of being a border people, with ties in both directions. The descendants of the newer Saar stock, brought in by the industrial development of the last hundred and fifty years from other parts of the Reich, while regarding themselves as were held by the Germans to be valueless. The situation regarding calculations of the trade with the Reich was reversed, for, while there were no separate statistics for this before the year 1925, after that year the Germans instituted a special column for the item in their trade statistics. 10 After the Thirty Years' War a number of Swiss from Berne came in, and also soldiers from Tyrol and Bohemia, filling the gaps left by the war and the pestilence which followed (Friedrich Metz, in Das Saargebiet, edited by Fritz Kloevekorn, Saarbrücken, 1929, p. 43). This immigration, however, seems to have been rapidly assimilated. 11 By the 1 9 1 0 Prussian census, the last taken in the Saar covering language statistics, 568,096 of the 571,690 inhabitants of the Prussian part of the Basin (99.36 per cent) gave German as their mother tongue; 342 (0.06 per cent) gave French; 166 (0.029 P e r cent) Polish; and 3,086 (0.54 per cent) various other languages.

L A N D A N D PEOPLE

13

belonging to the Saar, have not this border feeling but are primarily Prussian in sentiment. The industrial development of the area in the late eighteenth century brought in new blood from both east and west. It was then that the family of Villeroy came from Fénétrange in Lorraine, and the founders of the Stumm iron and steel industry from the Hunsriick. After 1815 there came to Saarbrücken a considerable number of Prussians, not only officials but others, also, settling there for business reasons. Unlike the other mining areas of Europe and America, and even of the neighboring iron district of Lorraine, the Saar had no great influx of labor from eastern or southern Europe. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries labor was entirely local. When the building of the first railroad in 1853 opened new markets and it was necessary to recruit miners outside the Basin, they were brought for the most part from the near-by Hunsriick, the Eifel, the Palatinate, and Thuringia. This immigration stopped in 1867, and the new stock soon merged with the old. Since then the normal increase of the local population has provided enough labor in the area itself and in the immediate vicinity, travel to and from work, even from a considerable distance, having been made possible by the many tram, railroad, and bus lines. 12 Because of its free market in France and its almost free market in Germany, in the years following the World War and until 1929, industry in the Saar was, on the whole, very prosperous, and the number of workers employed was some 29 per cent higher than before the war. This meant a considerable increase in the additional labor coming for the week's work from the neighboring districts in the Reich. Some of these men went back and forth daily, and others spent the working week in workmen's barracks, going home to their families for Sundays. With the fall in 1925—26 of the franc, in which their wages were paid, the German government, in order to enable them to maintain their families in Germany, where they must buy in marks, paid the traveling expenses of these workers from their homes in the Hunsriick and the Palatinate to their places of work in the Saar and granted them " T h e official figures of the French Mines Administration for the origin of the mines personnel on December I, 1925, when the number amounted to about 70,000, were: BIRTHPLACE

NUMBER

PER

CENT

Saar 58,035 83.41 Germany 10,902 1 5 67 France 495 0.71 Other countries 143 0.21 (P. Waelbroeck, "Les Relations industrielles dans les mines domaniales françaises de la Sarre," Revue internationale de travail, Geneva, June and July 1930, vol. XXI, no. 6, and vol. XXII, no. 1 ) .

ι4

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

in addition a direct monthly allowance. 13 Until the world depression the number of these Saargänger remained almost constant at 18,000 to 20,000. With the depression the number decreased, falling in 1930 to 13,000 and in 1933 to below 7,000. T h e fact that the miners of the Saar were so largely natives of the Territory gave the area a very different atmosphere from that of other mining regions. Here the workers lived close to the soil and felt a deep attachment to it. About 35 per cent of the miners possessed a small house and a small field or a garden, assisted thereto by their Knappschaft, or organization for social insurance, pensions, and welfare. T h e Knappschaft dates from the eighteenth century and has a uniform — a black velvet coat, feathered cap, and miner's pick and lamp — w h i c h is donned with pride for celebrations and funerals. T h e miner's position in the community is one of dignity and pride, and his sons look forward to following in their father's footsteps. Many also of those employed in the glass and pottery works have been working in the same establishment, father and son, for generations. Although trade unions did not begin to secure a foothold in the Saar until the end of the nineteenth century, by the time of the plebiscite 90 per cent of the miners were unionized and belonged to the two great German unions until these were suppressed by the National Socialist regime in the Reich. About 28,000 were members of the Gewerkverein Christlicher Bergarbeiter Deutschlands, and about 25,000 belonged to the Socialist Verband der Bergarbeiter Deutschlands. In addition, about 1,500 metal workers employed in the mines belonged to the Christlicher Metallarbeiterverband, and about 1,000 to the Deutscher Metallarbeiterverband. T h e directors of the Saar branches of these unions had habitually been sent from the national headquarters at Essen and Bochum, with which close relations were maintained until the advent of the Hitler regime stamped out the Reich unions. T h e steel and other workers belonged similarly either to the German Christliche or to the Socialist unions, the former being far the larger and more influential organization. T h e workers also had many clubs for sport and other purposes, for the most part branches of those in the Reich. Of the religious groups in the Territory the Catholics were by far 13

" F o r t y - f o u r t h Periodical Report of the G o v e r n i n g C o m m i s s i o n , October i s t to D e c e m -

ber 31st, 1 9 3 0 , " League

of Nations

Official

Journal

(hereafter referred to as

M a r c h 1 9 3 1 , p. 560. T h e G e r m a n s regarded the credits to the Saargänger

L.N.O.J.),

as a necessary

subsidy to relieve the economic situation in the frontier areas, w h i c h w e r e severely h u r t by the cutting off of the Saar, w h i l e the French looked upon the maintenance of the subsidy as a purely political measure on the part of the Reich.

L A N D A N D PEOPLE

15

the largest, even the Socialists and Communists being largely devout adherents of the Roman Church. The Catholics in 1927 numbered 558,857 or 72.6 per cent, while the Protestants came to 201,354 or 26.1 per cent, and the Israelites, the next largest group, to 4,038 or 0.5 per cent. For religious purposes the Protestants and Catholics were under the heads of the German church organizations, the Catholics being under the Bishop of Trier in the Prussian part and the Bishop of Speyer in the Bavarian part of the Territory, and the Protestants under the Evangelical Church of the Rhine Province. The small groups of Jews were very largely descendants of the Jewish colonists established in the Territory in the thirteenth, fourteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, only a quarter being recently arrived from France or eastern Europe. Shopkeepers and clerks, with a strong percentage in the professions, they were concentrated in the towns and villages. In the smaller towns, and in the country regions, there were a considerable number of natives of Alsace and Lorraine who had been living in the area before the war and who automatically became French citizens through the Treaty of Versailles. After the separation from the Reich several thousand more came from Lorraine and Alsace. At the time of the plebiscite the number of French citizens living in the Saar, including the officials in the State Mines Administration, the engineers, the customs officers, the teachers scattered through the towns and countryside, and the numerous merchants, who had settled chiefly in Saarbrücken, was calculated at about 15,000. German as were the great mass of the Saar people in stock and language, why did the French at the Paris Conference conceive the idea that a plebiscite held in the Territory fifteen years after the ratification of the Treaty might be favorable to union with France, or to the maintenance of the League regime? The answer is largely to be found not only in the close economic ties of the Saar with Lorraine but also in the earlier history of the area.

II FROM T H E ROMAN LEGIONS TO T H E WORLD W A R THE HISTORY of the Saar has been the checkered one characteristic of a border land. The earliest known inhabitants of the region belonged to the Gallic tribe of Mediomatrici, which extended from the Ardennes to the Vosges and the Meuse, and had its chief settlement at Metz. It was they who gave to the River Saar, or Sarre, its name, derived from the same root as the Isar and the Isère, and signifying running water. During the Roman Empire, which held sway west of the Rhine for over four hundred years, the whole of the valley of the Saar, as well as the cities of Metz and Trier, formed part of the province of Belgic Gaul, with its capital at Rheims. 1 To the Romans the Saar region seems to have been more important as a passageway than a place of settlement, for here, in marked contrast to the country around Trier and the Rhine, there are few signs left of any intensive Roman cultural life. Except for the roads and fortified places to guard them, little remains in the Saar from Roman times. When in the fifth century the Gallo-Romans were driven out of the valleys of the Moselle and the Saar by the wild foray of the Huns, their place was taken by the Alemanni from the southeast, who were in turn displaced by the Franks from the north and northwest. During the Carolingian era the Saargau and the Bliesgau were administrative divisions of the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia, which had its capital at Metz. With the division of the Carolingian Empire by the Treaty of Verdun (843) the Saar area, with Metz and Trier, fell to the middle kingdom of Lothaire, of which Metz was the capital, and under the Treaty of Mersen (870) it became, with the rest of Lotharingia, part of the kingdom of the East Franks. During these early times the Saar region was almost entirely covered 1 Albert Ruppersberg, Geschichte des Saargebietes (Saarbrücken, 1923), p. 5. This, with the earlier and larger work in four volumes by the same author, entitled Geschichte der ehemaligen Grafschaft Nassau-Saarbrücken (1900—1903), is the chief work on the history of the Saar on the German side. The French consider the earlier work more objective. While the most detailed French history of the region is by Ernest Babelon, Au pays de la Sarre: Sarrelouis et Sarrebrück. (Paris, 1 9 1 8 ) , the later work by Capot-Rey, Quand la Sarre était française (Paris, 1928), is more dependable.

ROMAN LEGIONS TO T H E WORLD WAR

17

with forest and was thinly populated. After the coming of Christianity various monasteries were founded and small towns began to spring up. The land shortly became parceled out in a great number of estates held in fief under the Holy Roman Empire. Of all these feudal estates the most important in what was later the Saar Territory was the Grafschaft of Saarbrück, of which the nucleus was the town of Saarbrück. This town and the fishing village of St. Johann had been founded in early times on opposite banks of the Saar where a Roman bridge spanned the river. In the tenth century the citadel and chateau of Saarbrück, together with the domains of Völklingen, Quierschied, and the Warndt, were given by the German emperor in fief to the Bishopric of Metz. In the eleventh century the Bishop of Metz gave the fief to the count of the lower Saargau, which extended from Saarbrück to the region of Merzig. 2 The family, which took the title of Count of Saarbrück, gradually extended its possessions, even obtaining land about Mainz and the Palatinate, and grew to be one of the most powerful noble families of Lorraine. The German view, important to the later argument, is that for their holdings in the present Saargebiet the counts of Saarbrück were vassal to the Bishop of Metz only for the citadel and chateau of Saarbrück and for the châteaux of Völklingen, Quierschied, and Warndt, although it is said by some that these last names were inserted later in the original grant. 3 In 1235, the Count of Saarbrück dying without male heirs, the estate came, through the marriage of his daughter, into the hands of the noble French house of Commercy, which owned lands in Champagne, Lorraine, and Burgundy. The counts of Sarrebruck-Commercy (1274—1381) did homage at the same time to the King of France, to the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and to the Bishop of Metz. While they identified themselves with French rather than with German affairs, and joined the French in fighting the English at Crécy and Poitiers, calculation rather than sentiment probably directed them, for doubtless the counts of Sarrebruck of the French line, like 2 Ruppersberg, pp. 22-24; and Babelon, p. 124. The latter says that this first Count of Saarbrück possessed Ottweiler and Zweibrücken as well. The counts of Saargau were of the Frankish house of Ardenne, from which came also the dukes of Lorraine and Luxembourg. There is a considerable difference of opinion as to the dates of the giving in fief to the Bishopric of Metz and of the devolution of the counts of Saarbrück. The various authors agree, however, on the main facts. The name of the town was originally Saarbrück. s Kloevekorn, "Zur politischen Geschichte des Saargebietes: Preussischer Gebietsteil," Das Saargebict, pp. 72-73.

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

ι8

those of the later German line, had as their chief ambition one shared by all feudal nobles, namely that of conquering and preserving their sovereign independence and escaping from any feudal duties whatever, whether to Emperor, Duke of Lorraine, Bishop of Metz, or King of France. As a means to this end we find the counts of Sarrebruck through the centuries following the policy, common in all border areas, of playing off emperor against king and king against emperor. Whether or not during the century and a half of possession by this French house the language of administration and society was French, as the French say, or was German, as the Germans claim, there is no doubt that the tongue spoken by the mass of the people was a German dialect. The heiress of Count Jean II of Sarrebruck-Commercy had married into the German house of Nassau, and in 1381 the estates passed to her son, Philip, Count of Nassau-Saarbrück, who married Elizabeth, daughter of the Duke of Lorraine, and established his residence at Saarbrück. The title had now come into German hands. Philip, however, throughout his life received a pension from the French king. His descendant, Johann Ludwig (1472—1545), on the other hand, joined with the Emperor Charles V , became one of his chief lieutenants, and in 1521 led the imperial army which invaded Champagne and was turned back by Bayard. In 1574 the direct line ended, and the title passed to another and Protestant branch of the Nassau family, that of Nassau-Weilburg, which, though under French influence, at times leaned toward the Emperor rather than the King. During the seventeenth century the swing back and forth continued. In the Thirty Years' War, Wilhelm Ludwig, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken from 1627 to 1640, fought on the French side against the Emperor, 4 and his successor held high rank in the armies of Louis X I V . Count Gustavus Adolphus (1632—1677) fought against France in the imperial armies. The next count, his son, Ludwig Kraft (16771713), fought in the French armies against the League of Augsburg. 5 From Ludwig Kraft until the French Revolution the counts, later princes, of Nassau-Saarbrücken attached themselves to the French court and, like the other petty princes whose possessions bordered on those of the French Crown, served in the French armies and raised regiments for the king. 6 4

Babelon, p. 1 3 5 ; Ruppersbcrg, p. 1 2 0 . Ruppersberg, pp. 164 et seq. Babelon, pp. 1 3 8 - 1 3 9 . " D u r i n g the Thirty Years' War, Count Wilhelm L u d w i g commanded an infantry regiment in the pay of France and later became colonel in the Régiment d'Alsace. In the 5

R O M A N LEGIONS T O T H E W O R L D W A R

19

Meanwhile in 1552 Henri II of France, in his promenade d'Austrasie, had taken back by force the Trois Évêchês of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, which had been lost in the ninth century. The Treaty of Câteau Cambresis in 1559 improved the French title to the three bishoprics. The Treaty of Münster in 1648, at the end of the Thirty Years' War, confirmed the cession to the Crown of France of the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, and their dependencies, Article 74 of the Treaty reading: Premièrement, que le supreme Domaine, & tous les autres Droits sur les Evéchés de Metz, Toul & Verdun, & sur les Villes de même nom & leur finage,7 nommément sur Moienvic, lesquels apartenoient cy-devant à l'Empire, apartiendront à l'avenir à la Couronne de France, & lui devront être incorporés à perpétuité irrévocablement, sauf le Droit de Métropolitain qui apartient à l'Archevêque de Trêves.8 The loss of the three cities is blamed by German writers on the lack of vigorous protest by the German negotiators, whom they score particularly for not securing for the German vassals of the bishoprics freedom from feudal obligations to the new ruler. The Treaty of Münster, so the Germans say, for the first time created a Saar question. By the treaty France secured also most of Alsace, parts of Lorraine, and the enclaves of Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate and Breisach on the east bank of the Rhine, and, in addition, the right of free access to and occupation of fortresses on the Rhine. By entrenching her position as protector over the lay and ecclesiastical sovereignties on the left bank of the Rhine, France extended her influence far beyond the Saar. In 1670 France occupied Lorraine, thus bringing her frontier to the western edge of the Saargau. As soon as he had made peace with the Dutch at Nijmwegen, in 1678, Louis XIV ordered his great military engineer, Vauban, to draw up plans for a belt of fortified cities which campaigns of Louis X V and Louis X V I there figured several regiments raised by the counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken. From 1744 to 1762 there was a regiment first called Nassau-Sarrebrück Cavalerie, later Nassau-Ousigne (Usingen). In 1756 there was raised a regiment of Volontaires de Nassau-Sarrebrück, which later was called the NassauSarrebrück Cavalerie Légère. Prince Wilhelm Heinrich of Nassau-Saarbrücken, who served under Louis X V , raised a regiment, the Royal-Allemand, in the Rhenish country. In 1745 was formed the Nassau-Sarrebrück Infanterie, later called the Nassau-Infanterie, and, after 1793, the 96 bis de ligne. (Babelon, pp. 1 3 5 - 1 3 7 , 144, 1 5 1 et seq.) 7 An ancient legal term meaning jurisdiction. 8 "Traité de Paix entre l'Empéreur, La France et les Électeurs, Princes, et États du Saint Empire conclu à Munster en Westphalie le vingt-quatre octobre 1648," Recueil de tous les traités de paix faits et conclus pendant ce siècle entre les Potentats de l'Europe (À Paris, Par les Imprimeurs Associés, MDCXCVIII), p. 39.

20

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

should secure the newly won eastern frontier of France by serving as a line of outposts to withstand the first attack of an invading enemy. One of the units in this ceinture de Vauban was to be a new city named Sarrelouis, to be built on the banks of the Saar a few miles from Wallerfangen (Vaudrevange), the former capital of the bailliage d'Allemagne, one of the three ancient administrative and judicial divisions of Lorraine, which had been ceded to Louis by D u k e Charles I V of Lorraine in 1661.9 T h e city was begun in 1680, Halley's comet, which appeared at the time, being taken as a good omen. A s Wallerfangen had been largely destroyed by the bands of Gustavus Adolphus and decimated by the plague, Louis conceived the idea of transplanting the remaining population to the new town, about two miles to the south. There were brought, besides, people from neighboring towns on the right and left banks of the river. Settlers also came from the Rhenish lands laid waste by the wars, from Metz, from all over Lorraine, from Alsace and Switzerland, and even from Italy. After the Treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, when the fortress of Mont-Royal on the Moselle had to be evacuated, the officials and inhabitants were transferred to the new city. T h e surroundings of the places where the regiments were quartered were settled by the families of the furnishers to the army and by small merchants who supplied the soldiers. T h e new villages took the names of the regiments quartered there, the present hamlet of Picard being named for the regiment of Picardie, and Beaumarais having come from Beauvoisis, the regiment, and marais, the neighboring swamp. T h e Germans say that the statement that Sarrelouis was "settled by French colonists" is untenable. That it was founded as a French fortress they admit, but they contend that it was never a typical French city, in spite of the placing there by Louis of the high court of justice and the chief administrative officers of the province. T h e German view is that Sarrelouis was a French garrison town reinforced with civilians who were almost entirely from the neighboring towns in Lorraine. Moreover, not even the regiments of the garrison had a French character, they say, and cite the Royal-Allemand and the Nassau-Infanterie, 10 9 Vauban's plan of fortification of Sarrelouis is given in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (13th ed.), X, 690. T h e other fortifications of the ceinture were at Mont-Royal, Longwy, Phalsbourg, the citadel of Strasbourg, Kehl, Neu-Breisach, Freiburg, Belfort, Huningue, and Mont-Louis. After the Treaty of Ratisbon in 1683, Landau and Fort-Louis du Rhin were added. 10 Babelon, p. 45.

ROMAN LEGIONS T O T H E W O R L D W A R

21

the second of which in 1790 had a conflict with the regiment of Aquitaine, the latter accusing it of being anti-French.11 The language of the town was mixed French and German, like that of Strasbourg, they say, and while many of the people of Sarrelouis gallicized their names 12 the town remained German in its ways and took its place easily and quickly in German life in the rapid development after 1815, owing to the Prussian impetus to industry and to the presence of the Prussian garrison. At the same time that he started the building of Sarrelouis Louis renewed his efforts to assert his status as suzerain over the vassals of the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, to which, by the Peace of Westphalia, the Crown of France had received absolute sovereignty. To achieve his purpose he set up in 1679 a chambre de réunion of the Parlement of Metz, before which were summoned lords and princes, among them the Archbishop of Trier, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Elector Palatine, the Bishop of Speyer, and the King of Sweden as Duke of Deux-Ponts (Zweibrücken), all owners of some fief depending on the Trois Évêchês, in the region between the Rhine and the Moselle. Within two years the Chambre de Réunion had pronounced the union with the Crown of France of more than eighty fiefs, including the Marquisate of Pont-à-Mousson, the Duchy of Zweibrücken, and the whole of the basins of the Saar and the Blies, the Abbey of Tholey, and portions of the Palatinate and of the Electorate of Trier. The Germans say not only that the whole réunion policy of Louis XIV was improper in that it meant a settling of an international question by a national action in which he was at the same time party, judge, and executioner, but that the action, as regarded the Grafschaft of Saarbrücken, was absolutely illegal, since only the citadel and château of the city were fiefs of Metz, or, at the most, the châteaux of Völklingen, Quierschied, and Warndt in addition, while the main portion of the country — the towns of Saarbrücken and St. Johann — was a freehold estate held direct from the Emperor. 13 As for the estates of 11 The French say that the one regiment accused the other not of being anti-French but anti-revolutionary. 12 The French point to the number of authentic French names, not gallicized, still in the Saarlouis directory. 13 Kloevekorn, op. cit., pp. 7 2 - 7 3 . See also Friedrich Meinicke, in The Region of the Saar, edited by Dr. A. Hofrichter (Berlin, 1 9 1 9 ) , p. 8. According to the French view these courts of justice were set up to bring order out of the chaos of the varied and often conflicting titles to the lands between the Meuse and the Rhine, where there was no fixed frontier. Babelon, like many other French writers, admits, however, that the legal advisers of the Crown went too far in their desire to establish the royal prerogative.

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Blieskastel and Zweibrücken, they belonged, the Germans say, not to the Bishopric of Metz but to that of Trier. 14 These annexations, with those of neighboring areas, formed the nucleus for a new province of the French kingdom, the Province de la Sarre. The town of Homburg, which with its citadel commanded traffic in all directions, was strongly fortified and the intendant of the province was installed there until Sarrelouis, which was to be the capital, should be ready. During the sixteen years' existence of the Province de la Sarre the hand of Louis on it, according to the Germans, was a heavy one. No one was allowed to take service in foreign armies or to leave the province without a pass; children might not be sent out of France for an education; heavy contributions for military purposes were levied on the merchants and others owning property; and the royal attitude toward Protestants was so intolerant as to make the inhabitants wish for an early return to Germany. The existence of the province was soon ended. Outraged by the great extension of the realm of France, the Emperor, the kings of Sweden and Spain, and the electors of Bavaria, Saxony, and the Palatinate formed the League of Augsburg which, with the addition of England and Holland, became the Grand Alliance. The war, beginning in 1688, ended disastrously for Louis, who, by the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697, was forced to withdraw from the right bank of the Rhine and to give up not only Luxembourg, Lorraine and the Duchy of Zweibrücken but also Saarbrücken and Homburg, and France retained in the Saar only Sarrelouis and six neighboring villages. The city was a garrison post surrounded by enemies until in 1766 the Duchy of Lorraine was united with France. Although Saarbrücken was now once more a part of the German Empire the counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken continued to revolve in the French orbit. This was not only because of their feudal dependence on Metz and the affinity of the inhabitants with the people of Lorraine but also because of the system of pensioning by the French king, which, reinforced by the fascination, artistic and social, of the French Court, brought Coblenz, Trier, and many other small German courts of the Rhine region into the sphere of influence of Paris and the glories of Versailles. 14 During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the Blieskastel estate, the central part of the ancient Bliesgau, had swung back and forth, sometimes in pawn, sometimes in outright ownership, between the counts of Salm, the Bishopric of Metz, the Duke of Lorraine, the counts of Saarbrück, and the Bishop Elector of Trier. In 1634 the Elector of Trier gave the Ami to the family of von der Leyen, which extended its holdings on both sides of the Blies as a fief of the Bishopric of Trier.

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Prince Guillaume-Henri, or Wilhelm Heinrich, of Nassau-Saarbrücken, the most illustrious of his line (born 1718, ruled 1741-68), raised a regiment for the French armies, volunteered in the War of the Austrian Succession, became a field-marshal and later a lieutenantgeneral, and was decorated with the Grand croix de mérite militaire·15 A connoisseur and patron of the arts, with the help of the architect Stengel he changed the architecture of Saarbrücken from Renaissance to baroque, erected a new Schloss, Schlossplatz, and Rathaus, the Ludwigskirche and the square of fine baroque dwellings around it, and built in St. Johann the Martybrunnen and the Catholic church of St. Johann, toward the construction of which the French king gave 20,000 francs.16 He also took in hand the economic development of his possessions and greatly advanced agriculture, commerce, and industry. That the tie with the Empire still held is shown by the fact that when on his death the deficit in the public treasury left the finances in a precarious position the Emperor sent to Saarbrücken a representative to supervise expenses and receipts. The most important measure of Prince Wilhelm Heinrich was to declare the coal mines state mines and to start their systematic working. The existence of subterranean riches in the region of the Saar had been known or suspected as far back as Roman times. Their value was not understood, however, and the coal, scratched from the surface, was used only locally and for domestic purposes. In the early centuries the greatest natural wealth of the area was thought to be its timber, which was used for glassmaking. It was not until the discovery and spread of the use of steam, toward the middle of the eighteenth century, that the value of the coal deposits was realized and the industry organized. Even then coal was extracted only by galleries, and no shafts were sunk until 1822. In the eighteenth century the metallurgy of the Saar was more important than the coal. The iron foundries, like the glass industry, were first based on the wood and charcoal of the region, and for many generations small forges fired with charcoal were scattered through the forests and were only gradually consolidated and placed on the main traffic routes. The early forges had been destroyed in the Thirty Years' War and the wars of Louis XIV, and only one at Dillingen remained. In 1730 the Princess Amelie of Nassau founded a forge at Geislautern, and in 1732 the counts von der Leyen built one at St. 1,1

Babelon, p. 144. " I t is said that the princes of Nassau-Saarbrücken received 100,000 livres a year from Louis X I V for the maintenance of their regiments, and that the K i n g not only had a part in building the churches but paid the clergy and the teaching body.

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Ingbert. Shortly after this the great foundry at Neunkirchen was set up which Goethe describes in Dichtung und Wahrheit. The steel industry was founded in the middle of the eighteenth century by the first of the important steel manufacturing family of Gouvy. 17 Another important industry of the eighteenth century was that of porcelain, which was brought in from France by the princes of NassauSaarbrücken. The fine works at Ottweiler have now disappeared. Their successor is at Sarreguemines. In 1788 the ceramic industry was brought in by the family of Villeroy of Wallerfangen (Vaudrevange), where the principal factory of the firm of Villeroy and Boch is still active. In spite of its growing industries the region, perhaps owing to the great number of invading armies which had passed through, continued to be a thinly populated forest region with only Saarbrücken, Sarrelouis, and a few smaller settlements scattered through it. Goethe called it ein waldig-felsiges Land which to him seemed wüst und traurig. How magnificent the forests were one can see from the stretches now standing. When in the eighteenth century this forest region began to fill up with inhabitants the growth was slow. Even at the opening of the ninteenth century there were no large settlements. Saarbrücken and St. Johann combined had only 6,400, and Sarrelouis only 4,200. Since 1766 the French Crown had been endeavoring to "rectify" its frontiers and eliminate enclaves by exchanges with its neighbors, the electors of Trier, the princes of Nassau-Saarbrücken, the counts von der Leyen of Blieskastel, and the dukes of Zweibrücken. By the outbreak of the Revolution the Saar, from Sarreguemines to Merzig, had become the frontier of France.18 All of the area to the east of the river now belonged to the Empire, parceled out in a great number of small feudal estates.19 17 Pierre Joseph Gouvy, the founder of the steel industry in the Saar, was born in the Walloon country, in the hamlet of Goffontaine. He studied in Trier and settled in the Saar while it was under France. In 1745 Louis X V made him Bürgermeister of Sarrelouis. Gouvy obtained from the Prince of Nassau-Saarbrücken the monopoly for steel manufacturing throughout the estates of Saarbrücken and Ottweiler, and in 1759 set up works at Goffontaine, which he named for his native village, and in 1777 at Jägersfreude. He bought the foundry at Dillingen in 1765. 18 For the principal steps in this rectification see Paul Vidal de la Blache, "La Frontière de la Sarre," Travaux du Comité d'Études, vol. I: L'Alsace-Lorraine et la frontière du Nord-est (Paris, 1 9 1 8 ) , pp. 83-85. In 1790 Sarrelouis, Wallerfangen (Vaudrevange) and the neighboring towns, and Tholey were made part of the Département de la Moselle. " T h e chief of these were the Abbey of Tholey and the Oberämter of Schaumberg and Homburg, the feudal estates of Saarbrücken (including the Warndt, the Köllerthal, the Sulzbachthal, Neunkirchen, and Ottweiler), the Grafschaft of Blieskastel, belonging to the von der Leyen, and the Ämter (bailliages) of St. Wendel and Merzig, which be-

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25

Beyond these estates were little states under German princes, lay and ecclesiastic, vassals of the Emperor but many of them under certain servitudes to France, such as the right of passage of the French armies through the estates of Saarbrücken, under certain circumstances. Pensioned by the King of France and under his protection, these princes for the most part never quitted the French camps or the antechambers of Versailles. Since the reign of Louis XIV, Paris had been the intellectual center of the entire country on the left bank of the Rhine, and even across the river. Feudal princes, nobles, and bourgeoisie were attracted by the favors of the king and the luxuries of the court, while the poets and litterateurs felt themselves a part of the active intellectual life centering there. Except for the nobles, the clergy, and the administrative officials, throughout the Rhine region the French Revolution was received joyously, the termination of feudalism and the promise to each people of the right to the government which it desired being taken as meaning a rebirth not only of the French nation but of the entire civilized world. Whether moved by idealism or by hope of personal advantage, middle class, intellectuals, laborers, and peasants all hailed the Rights of Man, planted the Tree of Liberty, and welcomed with open arms the soldiers of France as they marched by to Trier, Coblenz, Speyer, and Mainz. Sarrelouis, in the general emotion, was renamed Sarrelibre. While the cry of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité was less enthusiastically welcomed, perhaps, in the lands of Nassau-Saarbrücken, Zweibrücken, and Blieskastel, it swept St. Ingbert and regions far beyond. As the soldiers passed, many communes far to the east of the Saar sent petitions to Paris begging for union with France in order to continue to enjoy the fruits of freedom which she had brought them. On November 3, 1792, such a request from the people of Mainz was read before the Convention.20 On November 15 was read the address of the citizens of Saarbrücken and seven other communes of NassauSaarbrücken reciting that the townspeople had planted the Tree of Liberty and broken away from the tyranny of their prince and begged longed to the Elector of Trier. The Oberämter of Homburg and Schaumberg belonged, with that of Zweibrücken, to the King of Sweden as vassal of the Empire. The Grafschaft of Saarbrücken was itself cut by several enclaves belonging to the Reichsherrschaften of Saarwellingen and Illingen, while around Beckingen was the property of the Deutschherrenorden, or Teutonic Knights. 20 Archives parlementaires, I e série, LUI, 1 2 7 . On March 2 1 , 1793, the Convention of Mainz decreed union with France, and on March 3 1 the city, together with some ninety near-by communes, was annexed by the Convention at Paris on the basis of "a free vote of the inhabitants" (ibid., L X , cx, 7 1 4 - 7 1 6 ) .

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

26

to be placed under the laws of the French Republic. "La France est notre ancienne famille. . . . Nos relations commerciales et la conformité de langue semblent nous placer naturellement dans le département du Bas-Rhin." 21 Many of the other petitions, including that of Puttelange (Püttlingen) in the Köllerthal, cited communal votes which had been taken in favor of union with France.22 Between 1792 and 1795 similar petitions were received from other communes of the Saar and the Blies.23 When the bailliage of Schaumberg was ceded by France to the Duchy of Zweibrücken in 1786, bitter protests had been heard from it, and the vote there for union in 1792 may well have represented the popular wish. So, too, in other communes the vote for union, in spite of the opposition of the clergy, courts, and corporations, may have represented a real majority. Union with France held a special appeal not only to the intellectuals, the burghers, and the peasants but also to those who had bought the sequestrated property of the churches, monasteries, and exiles at forced sales and wished to make their titles permanent. However, here, as in Püttlingen and various near-by communes of Lorraine, and in Mainz, Worms, Speyer, and the other communes between Landau, the Moselle, and the Rhine, the votes were taken while the country was under military occupation, many inhabitants in exile, and the sans-culottes swarming over the countryside. The results are, therefore, far from convincing.24 In any case the period of rejoicing was short. The French who had been hailed as liberators came quickly to be regarded as oppressors. Disaffection over the large requisitions for the troops quartered in the areas was increased by the persecutions for modérantisme promoted by the commissioner sent by the Paris Convention to the region. The placards calling for Paix aux chaumières, guerre aux châteaux resulted in the burning of the chateaux, that of the counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken among them.25 Accusations of lack of civisme resulted in the imprison21

Archives parlementaires, I e série, LUI, 418. See report by Carnot to the Convention on February 14, 1793 (Archives parlementaires, I e série, LVIII, 547 et seq.). 23 André Tardieu, The Truth about the Treaty (Indianapolis, 1 9 2 1 ) , pp. 2 5 1 - 2 5 2 . 24 See Sarah Wambaugh, A Monograph on Plebiscites (New York, 1920), pp. 5 1 - 5 5 and 3 1 6 - 3 1 7 . N o one could vote who had not taken the oath of liberty and equality, and renounced in writing the privileges of which he had been possessed. 25 On January 2, 1793, the Représentants du Peuple sequestrated the property of the princes of Nassau-Saarbrücken and of the counts von der Leyen. Later they received from Napoleon lands on the east bank of the Rhine, joined the Confederation of the Rhine under his protection, furnished contingents for his armies, and fought for France in Spain, Austria, and Russia. In 1 8 1 3 they joined the coalition against him. 22

ROMAN LEGIONS TO T H E WORLD WAR

27

ment of many inhabitants of Saarbrücken and in the guillotining of many others in the Schlossplatz. Others were forced to exchange large sums of money for the assignats. The Reign of Terror had already brought its own reaction. The dispossessed princes were calling for aid from their suzerain, the Emperor, and from the King of Prussia. The German writers emphasize the suffering of the Saar people during the Reign of Terror. The French reply that these sufferings were not peculiar to the Saar but occurred all over France as well, that the Germans ignore the welcome given throughout the Rhineland to the ideas of the Revolution, and that the inhabitants not only were freed by it from serfdom and given civil status but were also enriched.26 Feudal and church properties were especially numerous in the Saar, and these the inhabitants were able to buy at a low price. It was then that factories were installed in some of the châteaux and abbeys. When the French armies were defeated, these nouveaux riches had to meet heavy requisitions and indemnities, as in the rest of France, and the region had to support the marches and countermarches of troops, famished and in rags. Nevertheless, the bourgeoisie and the peasants gained materially through the Revolution. In 1797 the German emperor, in secret articles of the Treaty of Campo Formio, ceded provisionally to the French Republic the left bank of the Rhine south of Coblenz, from Basle to Andernach. The Directoire at once organized the region into four Départements du Rhin. Of these the Département de la Sarre, with its capital at Trier, extended north to the Eifel, east to include the former Duchy of Zweibrücken, and south beyond Saarbrücken. An intense propaganda was carried on by the French officials and Rhenish liberals to induce the inhabitants of the Départements du Rhin to demand union with the French Republic. While many communes opposed it, the majority of the heads of families of a considerable number of towns signed addresses according to the models supplied by the commissioners of the Direc20 The following passage from Hermann Oncken, The Historical Rhine Policy of the French (New York, 1923), p. 33, is of interest: "The simple truth is that in the sections of Germany which they occupied the French broke up a backward world of feudal territories with a superannuated class system, a crippled form of public life, and stagnant economic conditions. What they put in place of this decaying order meant, in more than one respect, political progress, for they abolished feudal burdens and promoted equality before the law, material prosperity, individual freedom, and territorial consolidation. That these innovations were gratefully accepted goes without saying, especially as the Rhinelanders of those days were not members of a genuine national commonwealth. For the German Empire as a whole was no whit better or more alive than the antiquated principality to which the individual German was immediately attached."

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toire.27 By the Treaty of Lunéville of February 9, 1801, the cession to France of the left bank was made final, and on September 23,1802, the inhabitants were admitted to the full rights of French citizens. As proof of the sincerity of the attachment of the Saarlanders to France, the French point to the fact that the law of conscription was carried out with the utmost ease and that there were no desertions across the Rhine. As for Sarrelouis, which now ceased to be an outpost and sank to the rank of a third-class fortress, it is said that conscription was never resorted to there, since the boys of the region volunteered as soon as they reached military age, while after Sarrelouis became Prussian in 1815 there is no record, the French say, of one voluntary enlistment from it in the Prussian army. Under Napoleon as consul and emperor the industries of the area developed rapidly. The great demand for war material during the revolutionary wars greatly favored the area so well equipped to supply it.28 At Sarrelouis, besides iron and steel works, there was an arms factory. In 1794 the brothers Gouvy, sons of the Pierre Joseph Gouvy who had founded the steel industry in the Saar in the early eighteenth century, started a forge and arms factory at Wadgassen, and similar ones at Saarbrücken, and furnished arms to the arsenal at Metz. 29 At Dillingen and Bettingen the Gouvy family had foundries for making cannon balls, and at Gofïontaine a factory for swords, which supplied the French armies of the Moselle and the Rhine. In 1806 the founders of the great steel manufacturing family of Stumm came from the Hunsrück in the Rhineland, where they had forges, and set up a forge at Neunkirchen, and two years later, in company with the Röchling family, merchants of Saarbrücken, bought a forge at Halberg, near Saarbrücken, and transformed it into steel works under the name of "Gebrüder Stumm." In 1802 Napoleon had founded the École des Mines at Geislautern, south of Völklingen, to promote the use of coal and coke in the manufacture of iron. 30 The school published an important and exhaustive collection of maps showing where the coal seams came to the surface, for exploitation was still by galleries cut in the hillside. The mines, which since 1797 had been leased to a private company, were again " S e e Lucien Gallois, "Les Variations de la frontière française du nord et du nord-est depuis 1789," Travaux du Comité d'Études, I, 50, and Philippe Sagnac, "L'Esprit public dans les pays rhénans de 1789 à 1 8 1 4 , " ibid., pp. 382 et seq. 28 See Capot-Rey, Quand la Sarre était française, pp. 60 et seq. 29 See above, p. 24, η. 17. 30 Paul Vidal de la Blache and Lucien Gallois, Le Bassin de la Sarre (Paris, 1 9 1 9 ) , p. 20. The present School of Mines at Saarbrücken is its successor.

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taken over by the state, and in 1813 fifteen new mines were opened. There seems little question that enthusiasm for Napoleon was as strong in the valleys of the Saar, Moselle, and Rhine as it was throughout France. Welcomes to traveling monarchs are notoriously misleading, but the delirious joy expressed by even the petty German princes on the Emperor's journeys through Bonn, Coblenz, Mainz, Kaiserslautern, and Trier, while organizing the Confederation of the Rhine, might well have led the French to believe in an underlying love of France. The nobles welcomed Napoleon as their natural protector and recalled the services of their ancestors in the French armies; he was still more popular with the lower ranks of society, which had profited by the sale of the national property, the application of the code civil, freedom of worship, emancipation of the Jews — very numerous in the country — freedom of commerce and of navigation of the Rhine, suppression of internal customs, and a mass of other liberal measures favorable to business. The French historians say, and apparently with truth, that Napoleon had no more intrepid or devoted soldiers than those from the borders of the Saar, Moselle, and Rhine. Not only did Marshal Ney come from Sarrelouis, where he was born, the son of a cooper, in 1769, but a host of other native sons of the town rose to high rank in Napoleon's armies.31 Like the Province de la Sarre, the Département was to be shortlived. The Allies in the spring of 1814 occupied Paris, Napoleon abdicated, and Louis XVIII on May 30, 1814, signed the Peace of Paris. The treaty restored the frontier of France in the main as it had been in 1792, but left to France beyond that frontier the district of Saarbrücken and a part of that of Lebach, which gave her on the east bank a strip which included Sulzbach, Dudweiler, Quierschied, Völklingen, and Püttlingen.32 It is said that in order to increase the prestige of Louis XVIII's government, the Allies had allowed a choice of territory, as compensation, beyond the frontier of 1792, and that Talleyrand chose Saarbrücken and St. Arnual for the reason that the coal mines along the river were necessary to the salt works of Dieuze and Château-Salins.33 In any case France retained about three-quarters of 31 For a list of these, sec' Babelon, pp. 326-330. Sarrelouis, according to Babelon, furnished to the French armies, between 1792 and 1 8 1 5 , more than 400 militaires gradés, among them twelve generals. The Germans say, however, that Marshal Ney was really of German stock, his father having come from Ensdorf, on the right bank of the river. 32 That portion of the Département left to France was united with the Département de la Moselle. M Capot-Rey, Quand la Sarre était française, pp. 259-263. Talleyrand is said to have had an interest in the Compagnie des Salines de l'Est.

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the coal basin under exploitation at the time. She lost the forges of Neunkirchen and St. Ingbert but kept those of Dillingen, Geislautern, and Halberg. The frontier divided forges from their iron mines, which were still yielding ore, and from other forges of the same company. Thus the two forges of Stumm were cut apart, Neunkirchen being divided from Halberg and also from its chief iron mine. According to German writers, all efforts of the French to stimulate French sentiment in Saarbrücken had been without success and the small French party which had been produced by two decades of French administration and penetration of French interests was practically negligible. The Peace of Paris, they say, crushed the hopes of the inhabitants for liberation from France, and meetings were held, delegates and deputations were elected, and petitions drawn up in order that the clear and unmistakable will of the people of Saarbrücken once more to become German might be proclaimed to the Allied Powers and to the public opinion of Germany. 34 Up to this time Prussia, still east of the Elbe, had not entered the Saar picture. Eager to extend to the west, she had succeeded in winning from the Powers in the secret articles of the Treaty of 1814 the promise of a share in the lands to be taken from France. 35 Some days before Waterloo the Powers, wishing to place a check on any future French aggression, decided to allot to Prussia on the west bank of the Rhine a strip the southern edge of which should run from Bingen to the Saar, near its junction with the Moselle. The districts of Wadern, Merzig, Tholey, St. Wendel, Lebach, Ottweiler, and Blieskastel were to be placed under the provisional administration of an Austro-Bavarian commission. The Allies had meant to leave the French frontier as in the Treaty of 1814, and indeed (according to French writers) it was under this express condition that Louis X V I I I had joined the coalition against Napoleon. Deprived of their markets to the east and their position as an administrative center, the inhabitants of Saarbrücken — Protestant, like their former princes — turned at once to the new and powerful Protestant state at their gates. The pro-Prussians in Saarbrücken had gathered about Heinrich Böcking, a representative of Gebrüder Stumm, and himself a newcomer to the area. Böcking and the notary M

Meinicke, in The Region of the Saar, p. 10. Georg Friedrich Von Martens, Nouveaux Supplément au recueil de traités, et d'autres actes remarquables (Göttingen, 1839), I ( 1 7 6 1 - 1 8 2 9 ) , 329. The text of the first treaty of Paris, signed May 30, 1814, is in Martens, Nouveau Recueil . . . de traités, II ( 1 8 1 4 1 8 1 5 ) , ι et seq. 35

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31

Lauckhard, representing the Saarbrücken municipal council, carried to Paris a petition with 345 signatures 3 6 asking that the town be united to the Prussian crown. T o strengthen his case Böcking wrote a memorandum to the Prussian commissioner stressing the importance to Prussia of the river, the coal mines, and the fine forests of Saarbrücken, and of its metallurgical establishments, of which he gave a list. T o the representatives of Würtemberg, Russia, Austria, and others, he wrote memoranda stressing the sufferings of the inhabitants under the great war contributions levied by France. The return of Napoleon from Elba and the battle of Waterloo made it seem to the Allies still more desirable to give France a weak strategic frontier. They determined to require the cession of Saarbrücken, Sarrelouis, and the coal area between them, which would mean also the Warndt and the strip of high ground behind Sarrelouis on the Lorraine plateau. The cession of Sarrelouis, from the French view, was done in order to "open the gates of France," 3 7 and of Saarbrücken in order to ruin French industries by forcing them to buy coal and steel abroad.38 The Germans say that Saarbrücken was ceded in response to the demand of the inhabitants, who wished to escape from a hated alien rule, and that it constitutes one of the few instances of that time in which the political will of a population as to sovereignty expressed itself clearly and consciously and upon the basis of a well-planned organization. N o plebiscite or other consultation of the inhabitants was held. Thus by the second Peace of Paris, signed on November 20, 1815, France lost all of the valley of the Saar below Sarreguemines. On November 30 Prussia, at the behest of the Allies, took possession of Sarrelouis and the Warndt, and incorporated them shortly in the M T h e French assert that this was a very small number out of a town of 5,500 inhabitants, and that many of the signatures were from the same families. Twenty-six of the thirty-six members of the Saarbrücken Municipal Council signed the decision to send the representatives to Paris (Capot-Rey, Quand la Sarre était française, p. 279, citing Schmitz, Mitteilungen, Vili, 260). 87 See study by General Bourgeois, "La Frontière militaire du nord et du nord-est," Travaux du Comité d'Études, I, 3 2 1 . "" Vidal de la Blache gives the following extracts from the Böcking promémoire·. "Les provinces allemandes sont tributaires de la France pour le sel. . . . L'Allemagne paye ainsi des sommes énormes qui lui seraient épargnées si, par la possession des mines de houille, elle était en mesure de régler le prix de sel. "Les aciéries établies à Sarrebrück doivent être aussi prises en considération. . . . Il est actuellement impossible aux métallurgistes prussiens de leur faire concurrence, car le gouvernement a établi un impôt de 49 fr. 50 pour 100 kilogrammes d'acier importé. Si Sarrebrück est donné à la Prusse, la France sera forcée de tirer son acier des États prussiens et de diminuer les droits d'entrée, au grand avantage des fabriques du pays de la Mark et du Bas-Rhin" (Travatiχ du Comité d'Études, I, 95).

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Rheinprovinz as part of the Regierungsbezirk of Trier. By a treaty with Austria signed in Munich on April 14, 1816, Bavaria secured the Bliesgau, or Saarpfalz.39 After the cession to Prussia the brothers Stumm were given the title of baron, moved their headquarters to Neunkirchen, and became the chief personages of the region. Sarrelouis was changed to Saarlouis, and hundreds of the inhabitants of French sympathies in the city and the surrounding region left, some going to Canada, others settling near-by in Metz and Strasbourg.40 The greater part remained, however, in the hope, cherished especially by the former soldiers of Napoleon, that the Emperor would make a second return and the frontier would again be changed. The French stress the fact that before 1815 no one of the cities of Trier, Coblenz, Mainz, Saarbrücken, or Sarrelouis had had any relations with Berlin. The administrative officials appointed by the Prussian government were all sent from outside, and the Prussian domination, they say, was hated as being foreign, the inhabitants calling themselves Musspreussen, or "Prussians by force," to distinguish themselves from the "real Prussians" beyond the Elbe. The Germans point out that Saarbrücken had belonged to France only twenty-three years, and quote the sentiment expressed by the magistrates of Saarlouis after the city had been given to Prussia: "Through fidelity, subordination and love, we shall strive to be worthy of our good fortune in being able to call ourselves Prussians." 41 The French are convinced that for at least a generation after the Treaty of Vienna all of the left bank of the Rhine remained Francophile and, as proof, point to troubles between the inhabitants and the Prussian administration in Cologne, Mainz, and elsewhere, and to desertions to the French army by boys conscripted by Prussia from the Saar, especially during the revolution in France in 1830, and again in 1840, when a general European war seemed imminent over affairs in the Orient. The retention by Prussia until 1900 of the Code Napoléon in the Rhineland was due, they say, to fear of a popular revolt if it were replaced and not, as the Germans say, to the difficulty of working out a uniform code for the whole of Germany. After 1840 French influence declined rapidly, although in 1848 V o n Martens, Nouveau Recueil . . . des traités, III (1808-1818), 11 et seq., Art. II. See Capot-Rey, Quand la Sarre était française, p. 299. Pierre Gouvy, the head of the Gouvy steel industry, committed suicide, signing himself in the letter which he left behind, Gouvy, mort français. " S i d n e y Osborne, The Saar Question, a Disease Spot in Europe (London, 1923). App. Ρ, p. 363. 39

40

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33

there was a considerable Francophile movement, especially in Saarlouis.42 The hope of French assistance was, however, vain. It is said that each year groups of young men from Saarlouis and the vicinity refused to serve in the Prussian army and joined the French Foreign Legion, planning to return in triumph when the frontier should again be changed. During the war of 1866 between Prussia and Austria hope of such change revived through the efforts of Napoleon III to secure the cession of the Saar in exchange for French neutrality, or as compensation for the enlargement of Prussian territory,43 and in spite of his failure hope continued until the Treaty of Frankfurt on Main, which ended the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, moved the Prussian frontier to the west of Metz.44 Many families of Saarlouis moved to France and some to Canada. The Kulturkampf for a time roused anti-Prussian and pro-French feelings, but the later reconciliation of Prussia with the Church and the disestablishment of the Church in France reversed Catholic sympathies. In the local elections political power passed to the Prussian newcomers. The younger generation grew up under Prussian teachers and was absorbed in the Prussian social and economic life. With the incorporation of the Saar area in Prussia and Bavaria the system of state exploitation of the coal had been retained and the mines had become mostly state mines, while the coal reserves were wholly the property of the two states. The frontier of 1815, so the Germans are convinced, united the Saar with its proper economic hinterland. The French contend that it cut the Saar from its natural markets. In any case Saar industry, in a flourishing condition at the end of the eighteenth century and brought to a high development under the Empire, underwent after the change of frontier a grave crisis 45 from which it was saved, so the French 42

Babelon, pp. 264—265. For an address of loyalty sent in that year by the representative assemblies of Saarbrücken and St. Johann to the King of Prussia, see Kloevekorn, pp. 102—103. " Drouyn de Lhuys proposed through Count Benedetti to Bismarck on August 5, 1866, after Sadowa, that, as compensation for the projected enlargement of Prussian territory, Prussia should restore to France her frontier of 1 8 1 4 and should secure for her also the cession of Luxembourg, the Bavarian Palatinate, and Rhenish Hesse. For text see Hermann Oncken, Die Rheinpolitik. Kaiser Napoleons III, von 1863 bis 1870 und der Ursprung des Krieges von 1870-71 (Stuttgart, 1926), II, 2 1 - 2 2 . " The French say that the precautions taken by the Prussian general in command at Saarlouis to cut off all relations of the inhabitants with France when the war of 1870 broke out — the families of French soldiers were given twenty-four hours to cross the frontier — show that the Prussians knew that the town had remained le nid à français.. See "Mémoire" by André Tardieu in La Paix (Paris, 1 9 2 1 ) , p. 281. 46 See Capot-Rey, Quand la Sarre était française, pp. 296-298.

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say, only by the completion of the railway in 1853 from Saarbrücken to Trier and the Kohlenbahn to the Palatinate. These roads incorporated the district in the web of world traffic and opened up new markets. With direct rail communication with South Germany on the one hand and with France on the other, there came a great expansion of the mines. Later, when the Canal des Houillères connected the Saar Basin with the Rhine-Marne Canal, and thereby with the entire French network of artificial waterways, the exports to France increased. In France, however, Saar coal was gradually replaced by that of the Nord and the Pas de Calais, while, owing to the new waterway, the carriage of Saar coal to Nuremberg, Munich, and Salzburg, and even to Geneva and Milan, soon reached a considerable figure. More and more, however, was absorbed by the Saar itself in its growing industries. The Saar iron ore had been exhausted in the early part of the century, but shortly after the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine by Prussia in 1871 the swift development of the Thomas process of dephosphorization made profitable the use of Lorraine iron ore, and the Saar steel industries came to rely increasingly on this Lorraine minette, while at the same time they imported large quantities of Westphalian coal to mix with Saar coal for coking. Thus the Saar, the Ruhr, and Lorraine became more and more closely tied industrially and more closely woven into the industrial fabric of the Reich. With the great development of the Saar industries during the middle of the nineteenth century came a great increase in the number of inhabitants. This was due, the French say, to the constantly increasing numbers of workers, as well as of engineers and other technical experts, who swamped the native population. The Germans insist that the greater part of the increase was due to the natural growth of the native German inhabitants, and that the few immigrants were largely skilled workmen, chiefly from the Palatinate, the Hunsrück and Eifel, and Lorraine. The immigration, which was in any case considerable, together with the rapidly increasing ties of both the industrialists and the laborers of the Saar with similar groups in the rest of the Reich, gave a constantly growing orientation to the east.46 The grievance against the Prussian government and the Westphalian industrialists who were thwarting all efforts to secure the canalization of the lower Saar and the Moselle and thus to reach the cheap water route of the Rhine to the northeast and to the sea, was a heavy one to the Saarlanders, but they looked on the struggle as one between economic areas and not between nationalities. " " T h e increase in the population was undoubtedly greater than would have been the

ROMAN LEGIONS T O T H E WORLD WAR

35

As the cities and towns expanded to hold both the laborers and the great industrial installations, many new buildings were erected, the architecture unmistakably German. T h e employers were united with the great employers of the Reich; the workmen were occupied not with questions of sovereignty but with the affairs of the great German trades unions and the rights of the laborer under German legislation. As the struggle for better labor conditions progressed the Saar workingmen had an increasing sense of unity with the whole body of German labor. T h e Saar mines, in all things relating to labor conditions, were looked on as the model coal mines of Germany. Prussian legislation provided model dwellings, schools, and social insurance for the miners and factory workers to such a degree that they looked down, with a pity tinged with scorn, on the laborers of France and the other neighboring countries. T h e economic unity of the area had no corresponding political organization. T h e Bavarian portion was administered from Speyer, the capital of the Rheinpfalz, the Prussian portion from Trier. T h e administrative officials and the schoolmasters were mostly from across the Rhine, a part of the great administrative machine directed from Berlin. T h e large garrisons kept in the Saar helped to absorb the region into the Prussian order, while the growing prosperity contributed to its integration in the German Reich. T h e great names of the region — Stumm, Röchling, Böcking, Mannesmann — were all German. It is true that even as late as the opening of the World W a r many French names persisted in Saarlouis and the surrounding area, and French inscriptions were to be found on tombstones even of recent date, but case in a non-industrial area. The population of certain Saar industrial ccnters in 1818 and 1934 is as follows: POPULATION IN

Völklingen Dillingen Mettlach Neunkirchen Dudweiler Quierschied

1818 781 736 226 1,845 i,°75 213

POPULATION ON JAN. Ι ,

1934 351824 14,586 8,165 42,082 26,094 13,973

The figures for 1818 are from Metz, in Das Saargebiet (Kloevekorn), p. 51. Those for 1934 are from SaarwirtschaftsstatistilHeft 8, 1934, p. 7. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the density of population was only 35 to the square kilometer. In the middle of the century it had risen to an average of 100, and in 1930 to 400. That the working population was almost entirely native-born in 1918 is attested by both French and American authorities. See Lucien Gallois, "Le Bassin houiller de Saarbruck," Travaux du Comité d'Études, I, 124-125, and Charles Homer Haskins and Robert Howard Lord, Some Problems of the Peace Conference (Cambridge, 1920), p. 140.

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whatever sentiment remained for France did not trouble the Germans. It is noteworthy that, while it touched Lorraine and was so near to Alsace, from which constant demands came from individuals and groups for return to France, no such appeals were heard from the Saar until the arrival of the French troops in 1918. Saar coal and steel served the Reich well in the World War. Its sons fought as faithfully for the German cause as had the boys of a century earlier for Napoleon. A s the Saar had become an integral part of the German industrial network, so it had of the German state. T o the Germans and to the world at large it was ein rein deutsches Land. T o the French, however, it seemed impossible that under the Prussian industrial exterior an attachment to France had not persisted. From the French viewpoint the industrial development of the Basin had come through an historical and natural connection with the west. T h e memories of Marshal Ney, the souvenirs of Louis X I V and Napoleon still preserved in the region, the French names still surviving, the many proofs of affectionate loyalty to France at the separation in 1815 and later, the considerable number of volunteers who came to the French army from Saarlouis and the surrounding region during the World W a r — all these things made the city and its surrounding villages seem to many a Frenchman to be properly a part of France.

III T H E T R E A T Y OF VERSAILLES SHOULD the Allies be victorious in the World War, France was assured of the return of Alsace-Lorraine, for the restoration of the "lost provinces" and the frontier of 1870 — which was that of 1815 — had been included in all the statements of the Allied leaders regarding war aims. As the war went on, however, desire in France increased for the restoration of the frontier not of 1815 but of 1814. Not only did the recovery of Saarlouis appeal to French amour-propre, but the coal mines within the 1814 frontier offered a means of relieving in some degree the annual French coal deficit. Even before the war France had been obliged to import one-third of her coal from England, Germany, and Belgium, and with the additional demands of the industries of Lorraine and Alsace this deficit would be greatly increased. The desirability of the 1814 frontier was made the more extreme by the fact that the German forces in 1914 had immediately invaded the iron and coal basins of the departments of the Nord and the Pas de Calais and the iron basin of Briey, in Lorraine, thus occupying the region from which France drew habitually by far the greater part of her iron ore, her pig iron, and her steel, and where lay most of her blast furnaces. Thus Germany was able to multiply her own war resources while at the same time depriving France of the raw materials most necessary for defense. In Germany there was a strong desire to make this economic and military advantage permanent, as was shown by the petition to the Chancellor of her six great industrial and agricultural associations in May 1915, urging annexation of the coal district of northern France and the iron basin of Briey, together with the fortresses of Longwy and Verdun, without which the mining region could not be protected.1 1 A French translation of this memorandum, which was dated May 20, 1 9 1 5 , was published by the Comité des Forges de France under the title, Mémoire confidentiel des six grands associations industrielles et agricoles de Γ Allemagne à M. de Bethmann-Hollweg, Chancelier de l'Empire sur les conditions de la paix future. The associations signing were the League of Agriculturists, the League of German Peasants, the provisional organization of the Christian Associations of German Peasants (the Association of Westphalian Peasants), the Central Union of German Industrialists, the League of Industrialists, and the Union of the Middle Classes of the Empire.

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O n the French side industrialists were making similar demands for the annexation of their neighbor's natural resources. In October 1915 the Comité des Forges, in a confidential report, urged on the French government the consideration of the question of the Saar Basin and the return to France of the former frontiers of the monarchy and the Revolution, in view of the large increase in the French coal deficit which would be caused by the needs of the Lorraine iron industry when this province should be returned, with Alsace, to France. 2 T h e argument was quickly taken up and repeated in various French books and periodicals. 3 T h e evacuation of northern France after the armistice of November i l , 1918, revealed that the mines through which the battle line had run for four years had not only been destroyed by the constant bombardment but had been deliberately and systematically flooded and damaged in every conceivable fashion by the Germans, and that untold tons of scrapped machinery from the steel works had been left lining the railroad tracks, while other machinery, as well as stocks of raw materials and manufactured goods, had been removed to Germany. A s the French grasped the extent of this destruction there grew the determination to force the Germans to make good the damage. T h e Saar mines, lying as they did on the frontier of Lorraine, seemed to offer an easy source of reparation for rendering the French mines unworkable. N o aspirations for the Saar or for the frontier of 1814 had been voiced in any of the official pronouncements on war aims by the French government leaders or in the various resolutions of the French Parliament. M. Briand, however, while Premier and Foreign Minister, on January 12, 1917, had instructed M. Cambon, French ambassador 2 T h e report was based on studies by a committee appointed by the Commission de Direction of the Comité des Forges to report on the profound changes which would be brought to the French metal industry by the restoration of Alsace-Lorraine. M . Humbert de Wendel was rapporteur. O n October 28, 1915, the report was given to the committee of the French Senate on economic organization during and after the war. A summary is given by the Secretary-General of the Comité des Forges, M . Robert Pinot, in Le Comité des Forges de France au service de la nation, août 1914—novembre IÇI8 (Paris, 1 9 1 9 ) , pp. 228-234. T h e report argued that the return of Alsace and Lorraine would raise the French coal deficit from 22,000,000 to 30,000,000 tons, that with the Saar industries added to those of Lorraine the deficit would again be at the pre-war level, and that, even deprived of Saar coal, Germany would still enjoy a surplus of 32,000,000 tons. 3 See Fernand Engerand, L'Allemagne et le fer: Les frontières lorraines et la force allemande (Paris, 1 9 1 6 ) , and Ce que l'Allemagne voulait, ce que la France aura: Le minerai de Brie y, la houille de la Sarre (Paris, 1 9 1 6 ) . See also Louis de Launay, FranceAllemagne (Paris, 1 9 1 7 ) ; Louis Madelin, " L e Rhin français," Revue des deux mondes, December 1, 1918, pp. 485-523; and Ernest Babelon, Au pays de la Sarre: Sarrelouis et Sarrebruc\.

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at London, that it must be understood that France must have back Alsace-Lorraine "not in the mutilated condition in which they were left by the Treaty of 1815, but with the frontiers as they existed before 1790. We shall thus have the geographic and mineral basin of the Saar, the possession of which is essential to our industries, and the memory of the successive mutilations of our frontier must be obliterated." Further, he said, the status of the left bank of the Rhine must be altered and neutralized.4 Before broaching to the British the French desire regarding an autonomous Rhineland, the French government wished to have a separate understanding with the Russians on the matter. Accordingly, M. Doumergue was sent on mission to St. Petersburg, where, on February 14, 1917, he secured the assent of the Tsar to an autonomous Rhineland state and the restoration of Alsace-Lorraine, "the frontiers to be extended at least up to the limits of the former principality of Lorraine," and to be drawn up "at the discretion of the French Government so as to provide for the strategical needs and for the inclusion in French territory of the entire iron district of Lorraine and of the entire coal district of the Saar Valley." 5 When M. Cambon, however, approached Mr. Balfour in July 1917, he received no encouragement.® In referring to the peace terms regarding Alsace-Lorraine, the British spokesmen continued to speak of reconsideration of "the great wrong of 1871," which implied restoration of the frontier of 1870.7 So also did President Wilson, in his statement of the Fourteen Points as the basis for peace on January 8, 1918. Point V I I I ran: "All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all." 8 Moreover, any claims to territory based on strategic, economic, or historic arguments were rejected by the President in his speech before Congress on February 1 1 , 1918, when he said, "National aspirations must be respected; peoples may now be dominated and governed only by their own consent. 'Self-determination' is not a mere phrase. It is an im4 "Papers Respecting Negotiations for an Anglo-French Pact," C m d . 2 1 6 9 , British Blue Book (London, 1 9 2 4 ) , no. 1, p. 2. ° British Blue Book, no. 1 , pp. 6 - 7 . "British Blue Book, pp. 3 - 4 . ' S e e speech by Mr. Lloyd George on January 5, 1 9 1 8 , before the Trade Union Conference at London (Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1 9 1 8 , Supp. ι , vol. I, p. 8 ) . 8 U. S. Congressional Record, L V I , pt. I, p. 6 8 1 .

4

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o

perative principle of action," and laid it down as the second of four principles "that peoples and provinces are not to be bartered about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if they were mere chattels and pawns in a game. . . . " 9 Later, on July 4, came the further statement insisting on "the settlement of every question, whether of territory, of sovereignty, of economic arrangement, or of political relationship, upon the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement by the people immediately concerned. . . . " 1 0 The German government on October 12, 1918, accepted "the terms laid down by President Wilson in his address of January 8 and in his subsequent addresses as the foundation of a permanent peace of justice." 11 The restoration of Alsace-Lorraine with the frontiers of 1815-70 appears to have been acquiesced in by the French government until, in the discussion of the armistice terms between M. Clemenceau and General Foch on October 26, 1918, and on the initiative, apparently, of General Mordacq, chef de cabinet of M. Clemenceau, it was decided to demand for Alsace-Lorraine the much more solid military frontier of 1814. 12 The French claims, however, were held by the authors of the official American commentary on the Fourteen Points, drawn up during the last days of October and approved by President Wilson, to be a clear violation of Point VIII, which had called for the righting of the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871, and not in 1815. 13 With this American interpretation of the Wilson principles in hand the Allies on November 4, 1918, formally accepted the German proposals of peace based on those principles (with qualifications unimportant here), which thus became the legal bases of the peace with Germany. 14 ° U. S. Congressional Record, LVI, pt. II, p. 1952. ibid., pt. IX, p. 8671. See "Amtliche Urkunden zur Vorgeschichte des Waffenstillstandes, 1 9 1 8 , " German White Book (Berlin, 1924), no. 47, p. 56. 12 Jean Mordacq, Le Ministère Clemenceau: Journal d'un témoin (Paris, 1930—31), II, 293—294. This frontier would have included the Landau salient, a small square of land between the Lauter and the Queich about forty miles from the Saar, which had been ceded to France in 1648, had been fortified by Vauban, and was lost by France in 1 8 1 4 . la T h e official American commentary on the Fourteen Points, drawn up by Mr. Frank Cobb and Mr. Walter Lippmann, under the direction of Colonel House, said regarding Point VIII: "Attention is called to the strong current of French opinion which claims 'the boundaries of 1 8 1 4 ' rather than of 1 8 7 1 . The territory claimed is the valley of the Saar with its coal fields. No claim on the grounds of nationality can be established, but the argument leans on the possibility of taking this territory in lieu of indemnity. It would seem to be a clear violation of the President's proposal" (David Hunter Miller, My Diary at the Conference of Paris, New York, 1924-26, II, Doc. 12, pp. 75-76). " S e e "Allied Memorandum of Nov. 4, 1 9 1 8 , " Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1918, Supp. 1, vol. I, p. 461. 10 11

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41

The French determination to secure the Saar Basin persisted, however, and was supported by not only the extreme Right and the military men but by the Radical Republican and Radical Socialist parties.15 The views of the French Foreign Office were expressed in the Projet de préliminaires de paix avec ΓAllemagne, prepared on November 26 for the preparatory conference with the Allies in early December. This document called for the separation of the Rhineland from Germany and the restitution to France of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine taken from her in 1815 and 1871, "with the slight modifications of frontier" shown by Marshal Foch (valley of the Queich, of the Rhine, to Landau), extended along the watershed forming the northern boundary of the Saar Basin.16 The line on the map accompanying the memorandum ran far to the north and east of the frontier of 1814 and gave France the entire coal field. Studies showing the historic and economic claims of France to the Saar Basin were made by the Comité d'Études, which had been constituted in February 1917 to prepare memoranda for the use of the French government at the Peace Conference, and which was presided over by the distinguished historian, M. Ernest Lavisse. These studies, like those of the Comité des Forges, stressed the fact that the recovery of Alsace and Lorraine with their industries would greatly increase the coal deficit of France, and that the exportation of German coal was controlled by the German steel industry, a rival to the French steel industry which was essential to French security. The Saar people certainly would not now ask, as they did in 1798, for union with France, it was admitted, but, the authors argued, it was incontestable that a great nation had the right to defend itself, the Prussian title was based " The position of the military men and of the extreme Right was stated by Foch in his memorandum of November 27, which demanded that the Rhine be made the frontier of Germany and that the left bank be organized in autonomous states in a customs union with France and under the military organization of the Allied governments. (For text see Mermeix, Le Combat des trois, Paris, 1922, pp. 205 et seq.; see also Jacques Bardoux, Paris à Spa, la bataille diplomatique pour la paix française, Paris, 1 9 2 1 , p. 55.) On November 24 the Executive Committee of the Radical Party adopted as its peace program complete repayment of all the costs of the war, annexation of the Saar, and permanent policing of the Rhineland by an international force (Robert C. Binkley, "New Light on the Paris Peace Conference," Political Science Quarterly, XLVI, 343-344; the author cites the Bulletin du Parti Républicain Radical et Radical Socialiste, December 14, 1 9 1 8 ) . The Committee of Foreign Affairs of the French Chamber, meeting on December 2, demanded the return to France of her frontier of 1 8 1 4 , including the entire basin of the Saar (Louis Barthou, Le Traité de paix, Paris, 1919, p. 142). 1B Miller, II, Doc. 48, p. 206 and map, p. 214a. This document was given out by Paul Cambon at the London Embassy on December 7 as representing only his personal views, but it was certainly approved by the French Foreign Office (Binkley, loc. cit.).

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only on conquest, and those knowing the country best thought that with care and caution the inhabitants could be easily won. 17 On November 21, 1918, French troops had taken over the Saar area as part of the inter-Allied occupation of the Rhineland. On January 24, 1919, the Saar was placed under a military administration and the mines under a French direction militaire. The administrateur militaire, General Andlauer — an Alsatian — at once instituted control over justice and began the provisioning of the population, an activity made necessary by the fact that the Allied blockade was still in force and that the Saar was now suddenly cut off from supplies from the Reich. Although at first the French troops were received with some constraint,18 this was put down to fear of Prussian reprisals should the frontier not be changed. In the eyes of the French military officials, evidences of attachment to France began to multiply. General Andlauer made the teaching of French obligatory in all the Saar schools. Major Richert, also an Alsatian, acted as director of propaganda for the French, and, say the Germans, from his house on the Triller, above the Schloss in Saarbrücken, spun a web over the whole area, proceeding on the thesis that if France possessed the political and economic power and used a strong hand the Saarlanders would quickly disclose their French sympathies.19 Those living in the Saar who owned property in Alsace or Lorraine were given partial relief from the liquidation of German property there and received back some part of their sequestered shipping.20 The argument was advanced that the cutting of Alsace and Lorraine from the Reich would mean economic ruin for the Saar if it did not join France. Lecture halls were opened and " See Gallois, "Le Bassin houiller de Sarrebruck," Travaux du Comité d'Études, I, 1 1 6 - 1 2 9 . The author admitted that Saarbrücken, a Protestant enclave in a Catholic country, was different from Saarlouis, and that the industrial magnates belonging to the old Saar families — Stumm, Böcking, Röchling, Vopelius, and Kramer — had been rewarded lavishly with Prussian distinctions and titles, and, either through conviction, interest, or expediency, were pan-German; but, he reasoned, their economic interests demanded the continuance of their close ties with Lorraine, and, as the Prussian state had sacrificed Saar industry to that of Westphalia, the opening of the larger markets of France and her colonies might win their sympathy for France. The Catholic clergy, as in the rest of the Rhineland, did not love France, he said, and followed the directions of Cologne, but many took no part in politics; the peasants were concerned only with their harvests, and easily accepted authority; and the workers had no love for Prussian discipline and would eventually be more content under the more democratic regime of France. 18 See Jean Revire, Perdrons-nous la Sarre? (Paris, 1930), p. 28, and Hermann Röchling, Wir halten die Saar! (Berlin, 1934), p. 23. On the other hand see Tardieu, La Paix, p. 28. "Röchling, pp. 6 3 - 7 1 . 20 Hermann Savelkouls, Der Franc im Saargebiet (Stuttgart, 1 9 2 1 ) , p. 10.

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decorated with photographs showing the devastation by the Germans in northern France. 21 "In nine months," wrote Revire, "our propaganda in the Saar was carried to its apogee." 22 A Comité des Sarrois de Lorraine was founded at Sarreguemines. The numerous settlers from Alsace and Lorraine in the Saar who had automatically by the Treaty become French citizens formed themselves into an association. Several thousand Saarlanders applied for French citizenship.23 Autonomist pamphlets were circulated. The Saar Kurier, an organ advocating independence, was started with the aid of French money and was soon printing large editions. "Prussian" was synonymous, it was said, with Bolshevism and with bankruptcy. "No longer must Rhinelanders be Musspreussenl Los von Berlin!" In Kreis Saarlouis, in midJanuary, French soldiers helped to distribute leaflets, signed Vertrauensausschuss, which urged the voters of the Kreis to abstain from voting in the elections for the Nationalversammlung to be held at Weimar on January 19, 1919. At the same time lists were opened for signatures for union with France,24 and delegations of local citizens went to Paris to take part in national festivals, like that of Joan of Arc, and urged that Saarlouis be made the capital of the Territory. At the first news of the French move at the Peace Conference to separate the Saar from the Reich, in December 1918, the leaders of the Saar called a meeting of all classes in Saarbrücken, and organized resistance to the French claims. A petition on behalf of thousands of representative citizens of Saarbrücken was sent to President Wilson 21 See "Das Saargebiet unter der Herrschaft des Waffenstillstandsabkommens und des Vertrags von Versailles," German White Book (Berlin, 1 9 2 1 ) , pp. 25-50, for the official German account of the efforts of the French military occupation to influence the people in favor of France. 22 Perdrons-nous la Sarre?, p. 29. Ajames Donnadieu (La Liquidation de la victoire, Paris, 1930, p. 1 7 2 ) gives the number applying as more than 20,000, a figure which the Germans say is one hundred times too large. The residence requirement in French law prevented naturalization, and it was not changed until 1927, a fact advanced by the French as proof that their government was not making propaganda. It is said that of those who actually acquired French citizenship 2,000 later changed back to German citizenship. 24 Herr Röchling says that, during the occupation, in order to prepare bases for a claim at the Peace Conference to the whole or a part of the Saar, the French sought in every way possible to collect signatures, sometimes under the pretext that the food supply would be improved, or that the Saar prisoners of war would be freed, or in some other way, and that often a French text was presented which the signer could not read. But, he says, the frontier folk had so great an intuitive mistrust of such proceedings that the French effort had little success ( Wir halten die Saar!, p. 27). Whatever methods were used — and petitions circulated under military occupation must necessarily be suspect·—it is apparently a fact that about 15,000 signatures were secured, chiefly from the region of Saarlouis.

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stating that they were purely German in race, history, language, and sentiment, and desired "to remain united with our German brethren even in this time of trouble and misfortune." 25 For some weeks after the Peace Conference finally opened at Paris on January 18, 1919, no claim to the Saar was brought formally before it. The French officials, however, took occasion to press the claim privately, supporting it by arguments as to the fundamentally French character of the Saar people and the destruction by the Germans of the coal mines and factories in the north of France, in which it was known that the industrial leaders of Germany, among them several of the most important steel magnates of the Saar, had cooperated with the military. As proof of premeditation by the German General Staff the French pointed to a book of 482 pages, with maps and charts, entitled Industry in Occupied France, printed in Munich by order of the Quartermaster General of the Imperial Armies in February 1916, and circulated confidentially to all the Chambers of Commerce in the Reich. The studies in this book, of which a copy was laid before the Supreme Council in February 1919, described the state of destruction of each of the French industries at the time of publication, covering not only the mines, metal works, and electrical plants, but textile and clothing factories, chemical, paper, sugar, leather, and wood industries, breweries and distilleries.26 The French coal mines, the study reported, were 25 English translation in Osborne, p. 3 6 1 . For original text see German White Book, "Das Saargebiet," pt. Ill, no. 4, p. 22. This was followed in March 1 9 1 9 by a petition from the directorates of various political parties, labor organizations, and other associations of the Land and Stadtkreis of Saarlouis to the German National Assembly at Weimar, announcing their unalterable purpose to remain a part of the German Fatherland (ibid., nos. 9 and 16; see also Röchling, pp. 59—60). Leadership of the German cause was assumed in December 1918 by Dr. Hermann Röchling, the proprietor of the great steel works at Völklingen, who was one of the experts with the German Peace Delegation at Paris. Later Herr Röchling, unable to be present in the area because of a judicial sentence by the French courts, organized at Berlin the Saargebietsschutz. The Heimatschutz, subsidized by the German government to protect German interests in all areas separated from the Fatherland, seems also to have been active to some extent in the area. 28 The French translation — the only text available — is entitled, L'Industrie en France occupée, ouvrage établi par le Grand Quartier Général Allemand en IÇI6. Traduction intégrale (Imprimerie nationale, Paris, 1923). The introduction recited that the activity of the economic relations between France and Germany before the war, the disposition toward industrial independence shown by France for the past dozen years (boycott of German goods, protests against exportation of iron ore, customs difficulties, etc.), and the recent steps undertaken by France to exclude German products after the war, notably in the discussions and economic measures of the quadruple alliance, had given rise to numerous studies in Germany regarding Franco-German economic relations. In order to furnish as dependable bases as possible for these studies, the Supreme Direction of the army had caused studies to be made on the subject of industry in French occupied territory.

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in an appalling state of destruction through bombardment, removal of installation useful for military purposes, and destruction for strategic reasons. For the first year of peace, it calculated, production for the whole Basin would be diminished by 13,000,000 to 15,000,000 tons, and for the second year by at least 10,000,000 tons, while some mines would remain useless for years. The mines had lost so much machinery that if they wished to start work again rapidly they would be forced to import from Germany, because English and American products had not yet been introduced in the region. Even if the rich French deposits of iron and coal now under German occupation should remain in France, Germany could look forward to delivering a percentage of coal to France higher than that hitherto exported to her. As to the metal industry, which had suffered heavily by the taking away of raw materials and machinery, the repercussion on Germany depended, said the study, on whether the factories would be unable to work for a long period, or would be permanently incapacitated. In the latter case Germany would have the double advantage that competition in buying iron ore and in selling in world markets would be reduced, and that the danger of a rapid development of the French steel industry would be lessened. N o establishment had been destroyed permanently, the report stated, but all the high furnaces, steel works, and rolling mills had been set back several years. Many on the Allied side agreed with the French view that the destruction of the French mines and factories had been in great part for no military purpose but in order to give German industry an advantage over its French competitors when the war should be over. 27 Whatever the motive, the fact was that even before the war France had to import one-third of her coal, and that, now that her own mines were useless, if she was to be put back on her feet she must be assured of an 21 T h e Germans admit the systematic destruction of the French mines but insist that it was due wholly to the war. They argue that they were responsible for scarcely half of it, since much was caused by the constant bombardment from both sides. T h e rest, they say, was done because of military necessity — to prevent the Allies from sending spies through by the underground passages, making attacks and blowing up the German trenches by mines, and to deprive the Allies of coal in order to weaken their military strength — such destruction being legal under the international laws of war. Every line of the report, they say emphatically, shows that it does not represent a plan for the destruction of the French industries but, as the preface clearly states, was meant to serve Franco-German trade relations after the war in reference to the economic boycott threatened by the Entente. T h e German contention has always been that the French used the destruction of the French mines as a pretext to cloak their other reasons, which did not harmonize with the bases of the peace. For a statement of the German case see Ferdinand Friedensburg, "Die Zerstörung der französischen Kohlengruben als Vorwand für die Saarbestimmungen des Versailler Vertrages," Berliner Monatshefte, 1 9 3 4 , pp. 875 et seq.

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adequate coal supply to make up the loss which she would otherwise suffer. While not mentioned in the various reports, the interdependence of Lorraine iron and Saar coal and the fear that a customs wall between the Saar, Lorraine, and Luxembourg, which had been in the same customs union since 1871, would prove disastrous to all three no doubt played their part in determining the attitude of the Allied experts at Paris. The French claims to the Saar, set out in an elaborate mémoire prepared by M. Tardieu on the basis of the studies of the Comité d'Études, were made the subject of discussions with the Allied delegations in late January and throughout February. Under the heading Restitution juridique this mémoire called for annexation to France of that part of the Saar area within the frontiers of 1814, and under Réparation économique called for the annexation of the rest of the coal basin and of the Landau salient.28 The region up to the frontier of 1814, the Tardieu mémoire recited, had been united to France for many centuries, and had been torn from her only by force. Landau, which had been ceded to France in 1648, and Saarlouis, which had been built by Louis XIV, had both proclaimed their union with the Republic during the French Revolution. The rest of the Basin had become French between 1792 and 1795, and petitions for annexation had been sent in at the time from the districts of the Queich (in Alsace, near Landau), the Blies, and the Saar, and of Deux-Ponts (Zweibrücken) and Neunkirchen. The system of state operation of the mines had been initiated by France, and the École des Mines had been founded by Napoleon. The cession of the region to Prussia in 1815 was, he said, without reference to the wishes of the population, and had been engineered only in order to hold France under a perpetual menace of invasion; many of the inhabitants had expatriated themselves; others had declared themselves Musspreussen; Wilhelm I had been very coldly received in 1865; Prussian officials in 1870 called Saarlouis the "French nest"; German historians did not attempt to deny the feeling of mésalliance that persisted for half a century after the union; and it was to be gathered from Treitschke that "until 1848 the Rhinelanders had given proof of their German patriotism by vigorous defense of their French institutions against Berlin, and by the display of that unbearable dislike with which their new Prussian compatriots inspired them." 28 Tardieu, La Paix, p. 279. T h e area claimed included the valley of the French Nied to its confluence with the Saar, the boundary to run thence northeast to include Bettingen, Tholey, St. Wendel, Werschweiler, Kuselberg, Homburg, Kirrberg, and Einöd, and thence south to the frontier of 1 8 1 4 - 1 5 .

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continued:

There exists, even to-day, in the Sarre Basin, a strong middle class and peasant element passionately attached to French tradition. In the region of Sarrelouis it forms a large majority. This town welcomed the French troops after the Armistice and addressed a cordial telegram to the President of the Republic. The sentiment has survived. . . . The Municipal Council of Sarrelouis proposed a secret deliberation for the purpose of demanding its reunion with France. It would gladly send a deputation to Paris if this were desired. Even now, we may be sure that Sarrelouis would send to the Chamber a deputy of French sympathies. To sum up, the whole of this country, which was French for a long time and never had any reasons to complain of French sovereignty, was wrested from France by force, without the inhabitants having being consulted. In spite of the Prussian immigration, it has kept its remembrance of the past, and in spite of continual divisions, recalling those of Poland, it remains at least partly French in sentiment.29 T o the possible objection that a hundred years had passed since France had lost the Saar, the Tardieu mémoire replied that the Peace Conference was preparing to revive Poland and Bohemia, the one after more than one century, the other after more than four, and that already in these cases, as in that of Transylvania, the Conference had adopted the principle that systematic colonization of a country conquered by force was not an excuse, but an aggravation of the outrage to which it had been subjected. Under Réparation économique the mémoire said that the Basin was an economic unit, composed of three zones, the mining zone, the industrial zone — which was an outgrowth of the former — and the workers' zone, extending beyond the other two and connected with them by railroads, for which Homburg was the most important center. A frontier cutting in two the Basin and its railroads would place the non-French section at a disadvantage, since it would have to compete with the Westphalian factories on the German side and at the same time would be isolated on the French side from Briey ore, which was the necessary complement of Saar coal. The financial situation would be no less disadvantageous because, the mark falling below the franc, remuneration for the same work would be different in the two sections. France had a special title to reparations in the Saar Basin, the 28

Tardieu, The Truth about the Treaty, pp. 253-254. Such a delegation did in fact go to Paris to demand annexation (Revire, p. 29). On the other hand the Kreistag of Saarlouis on March 3 1 , 1919, pledged unbending fidelity to the German Fatherland (Osborne, p. 364).

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mémoire continued, because of the destruction by Germany of the coal mines and industries in the Nord and the Pas de Calais, which was an integral part of the premeditated economic plan of the German General Staff to eliminate French mines and industries from competition with the Westphalian basin. T h e flooding of the Lens basin and the destruction of the basins of Courrières and Dourges and the Nord meant unemployment to 100,000 workmen, material destruction amounting to at least 2,000,000,000 gold francs, and an annual loss of 20,000,000 tons of coal during the ten years required for reconstruction.30 Should France not be in possession of the Saar Basin at the conclusion of the peace, her economic position would be disastrous. With the added needs of Alsace and Lorraine she would be economically tributary to Germany, who, through her command of coal, would control the prices of all French steel and iron in the east and would thus dominate French policies. 31 Moreover, the cession of the Saar Basin was indispensable, Tardieu said, from the general point of view of reparation for German devastation, as it was doubtful whether Germany, with the means at her disposal, would be able to pay the reparations bill of 1,000,000,000,000 francs owed to the Allies. In the preliminary reports of the technical experts at Paris the Americans recommended that France be given the Lorraine frontier of 1814, but no territory beyond this.32 T h e British recommended that she receive the whole, or at any rate the larger part, of the coal basin. 33 Both acknowledged that the inhabitants were German and had shown no desire to join France, but, the Americans said, "the present desires of these people should not be allowed to prevent a just disposition of this important coal deposit in favor of a country whose limited coal supplies have been much reduced by unlicensed German exploitation and destruction in the present war," and the British experts also held 30 In a footnote to the French text M. Tardieu says that this valuation was 65 per cent lower than if based on the price in 1920 (La Paix, p. 285). The calculations as to the time it would take to restore the French mines varied, but according to some German experts it would take at least eight years. The total property loss was estimated at 80 per cent (Haskins and Lord, p. 142). 31 In 1913 the output of the French mines of the Nord and the Pas de Calais was 27,389,000 tons. Of this 18,652,000 tons came from the destroyed mines (Saarwirtschaftsstatistik,, Heft 6, 1932). The output of the Saar mines in 1913 was only 13,216,000 tons, but the French were convinced that the production had been artificially restricted in the interest of the Westphalian fields and could be greatly increased. Professor Haskins points out that two-thirds of the Saar output was mined between the frontiers of 1814 and 1815, and that all the mines in operation lay within a dozen miles of the new French frontier in Lorraine (op. cit., p. 141). 82 "Outline of Tentative Report and Recommendations prepared by the Intelligence Section, in accordance with Instructions, for the President and the Plenipotentiaries, January 21, 1919" (Miller, IV, Doc. 246, pp. 213-214, and map 1). ^Memorandum dated February 4, 1919 (ibid., V, Doc. 316, pp. 31-32).

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this destruction to be a factor in justifying the French claims. After joint discussions the two groups of experts agreed on February 21, 1919, that "there should be transferred to France full and complete right to the management, administration, exploitation and ownership of the Saar coal-field, this right being expressly granted as compensation for the destruction of the French coal mines." 3 4 They held, however, that the district should have "some special form of regime with the object of avoiding the subjection of considerable German population to French institutions." While it should be in the French customs union and subject to French taxation, full freedom should be guaranteed to the inhabitants as to language, religion, and schools, and they should be exempted from military service in France or Germany. They should send representatives neither to the Chamber of Deputies in Paris, nor to any national assembly which might be established in Germany. A local assembly should be set up for the purpose of local legislation and administration. The boundary suggested started at Oberbrillig on the Luxembourg frontier and ran north of Tholey and St. Wendel and west of Pirmasens to the old southern boundary of lower Alsace and on to the junction of the Lauter and the Rhine, thus including the whole Saar Basin and a considerable area besides. The French claim to the Saar Basin was first brought before the Supreme Council of the Allies on March 17. Mr. Lloyd George and President Wilson, while agreeing to the demilitarization of the Rhineland, had absolutely refused to consider the French demands for the separation of that region from Germany or for inter-Allied occupation. As a substitute, they had offered treaties of guarantee pledging their two countries to give immediate military support to France in case of an unprovoked aggression by Germany. M. Clemenceau agreed in a note dated March 17 to yield on an autonomous left bank in return for these treaties of guarantee, plus inter-Allied occupation of the left bank and the bridgeheads, demilitarization of the Rhineland and of a zone fifty kilometers to the east of the river, and the promise of the British and American governments to consider the violation of this zone as an act of aggression and "to recognize to France her frontier of 1814 and by way of reparation the right of occupation without annexation of that part of the coal basin of the Sarre not included within this frontier." 3 5 The French claims to the Saar brought on a crisis in the Council of Four which was one of the most serious of those arising in the Peace 34 Annotations on pt. Ill, sec. IV, of the Treaty of Versailles (Miller, XIX, 59-60). The account is based on the notes of the meeting. 35 See French memorandum of March 17, par. 6 (text in Tardieu, The Truth about

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Conference. It started when the verbal presentation was made by MM. Tardieu and Loucheur on March 28, and lasted ten days. Mr. Lloyd George was willing to grant to France ownership of the Saar mines as just compensation for the destruction of the French mines by the Germans; fearful, however, of another Alsace-Lorraine, he was opposed to annexation, and proposed that the Saar coal basin be made an independent state under the League of Nations. President Wilson, in total disagreement with the American experts, rejected the French claims to full ownership of the mines, to the frontier of 1814, and to the autonomous regime suggested by Lloyd George. He insisted that in no public document had France demanded the frontier of 1814, and that the bases of peace accepted by her spoke of reparation for the "wrong done in 1871," and not in 1815. The frontier of 1814, he added, had no economic foundation and would ruin the Basin by cutting it in two, while it would not assure coal to France. 36 France, he conceded, might have the use of the mines for a term of years to make up the coal deficit due to the war. Clemenceau replied that economic interests were not everything and that sentiment and memory must be respected. There were, he said, 150,000 Frenchmen in the Saar who had sent petitions to President Poincaré in 1918 and who had a right to justice as well as the Germans. 37 President Wilson replied that he could not agree to the giving of 300,000 Germans to France. 38 the Treaty, p. 1 8 2 ) . For the standard French account of the Paris discussions see Tardieu, La Paix, and The Truth about the Treaty, chap. VIII. The chief German account is Die Verhandlungen über die Saarfrage auf der Pariser Friedenskonferenz, by Dr. E. W. Fischer (Berlin, 1924). See also Viktor Bruns, Die Volksabstimmung im Saargebiet (Berlin, 1934), and Richard von Kühlmann, "The Return of the Saar," Foreign Affairs (New York), April 1934. For accounts by members of the American delegation, see Haskins and Lord, Some Problems of the Peace Conference, pp. 1 3 2 - 1 5 0 ; Charles Seymour, Intimate Papers of Colonel House (Boston, 1928), IV, 394-397 and 404-406; and statement by Dr. Isaiah Bowman in Charles Seymour and Edward Mandell House, What Really Happened at Paris; the Story of the Peace Conference 1918-1919, by American Delegates (New York, 1 9 2 1 ) . 3β Tardieu quotes the President as saying, "Une cession de territoire, sans un plébiscite immédiat, serait, dans ces conditions, inadmissible" (La Paix, p. 2 9 1 ) . In the English edition the reference to a plebiscite is omitted. " T h e words of Clemenceau, as reported by Tardieu, were: "Il y a là 150,000 hommes qui sont des Français . . ." (ibid., p. 293). Tardieu says: " A u lieu de cette réannexion, le traité institue le plébiscite, qui respectera le droit des habitants. À son défaut, de deux choses l'une; ou l'annexion à la France et la population allemande était privé du droit de choisir sa souveraineté; ou le maintien du statu quo et près de 150,000 Sarrois, aussi Français de coeur et de volonté que les Alsaciens et les Lorrains, demeuraient à jamais sous la botte allemande" {ibid., p. 306). See also Mordacq, fournal d'un témoin, III, 195-196. 38 Statement bv Dr. Isaiah Bowman in Seymour and House, What Really Happened at Paris, pp. 464-465.

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The session ended a half hour after midnight. At 2 A.M., MM. Clemenceau, Loucheur, and Tardieu met and agreed on the French course. As neither Wilson nor Lloyd George had been impressed by the historical argument but had both shown some sympathy with the economic claims, the French determined to surrender annexation and to work for ownership of the mines with a special political and economic regime for the whole Basin, safeguards for the rights of the inhabitants, and a form of progressive plebiscite. The French claims were presented in three notes. The first of these, dated March 29, proposed that, while France should be given full ownership of the mines, the question of sovereignty should be left in abeyance to allow time to undo "what was done a century ago by force." During this period the Basin was to be placed under the protection of the League of Nations, which was to give France a mandate to occupy the area with military force, to control the local administration and the schools, and to appoint the mayors and their deputies. The German officials appointed by the central administration were to be withdrawn. While the inhabitants were to retain their German nationality, they were to take no part in the elections for the Reichstag but were to vote only for their local assemblies (district councils and municipalities).39 French nationality was to be conferred individually, after investigation, on those who asked for it. When in each of the principal administrative divisions the majority of the electors should have adopted French nationality, or simply when the district council should ask for annexation to France, this annexation should occur de jure upon its acceptance by the League of Nations. At the end of fifteen years the inhabitants who had not already manifested their choice were to be given an opportunity to do so. No demand for union with Germany should be considered before that date, as the term of fifteen years was fixed precisely to allow events to shape themselves and the population to decide justly and freely as to its sovereignty. Prussia, it recited, had had "one hundred years to consolidate her work of violence." 40 The note stated that it was already known that the majority of the inhabitants living in the Kreis of Saarlouis were ready to demand their reunion with France, and argued that the proposed measures would meet the objection that the principle of self-determination had been disregarded. The proposal of a progressive plebiscite appears to have had no effect ** The French text reads, "Ils voteront pour les assemblées locales (assemblées de cercles, conseils municipaux)" (Tardieu, La Paix, p. 295). 40 The English text quoted here is from Tardieu, The Truth about the Treaty, pp. 266-269. For the French text see Tardieu, La Paix, pp. 294-297.

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on President Wilson. On condition that there should be no question of moving the frontier or of creating an independent state, the President on March 31 read a memorandum agreeing that France should have full ownership of the mines, which should be credited on her reparations account against the Reich, and the fullest economic facilities for exploitation, particularly exemption from taxation by Germany (including import and export dues), full mobility of labor, foreign and native, and freedom for the development of adequate rail and water communications. The memorandum ended with the statement that the political and administrative arrangements necessary to secure the foregoing results should be inquired into. 41 On April 2 the Council of Four appointed a special committee on the Saar, composed of M. Tardieu as chairman, Mr. Headlam-Morley, and Professor Haskins, with the President's points as the terms of reference. As its first step the Committee drew up a set of articles, chiefly economic, which appeared "to contain in substance the just and necessary basis for working these mines, regard being had not only to the greatest efficiency of operation but also to the interests of the workmen, and the general prosperity of the Basin." 42 The draft, handed to the President on April 6, assumed that German sovereignty over the Basin would be maintained, while France should have perpetual ownership of all mineral deposits, mines, subsidiaries and accessories, plant, and equipment. 43 The economic facilities for exploitation which France should enjoy were elaborated in various provisions, a large number of which, including the placing of the Saar in the French customs system and the provision that no prohibition or restriction might be imposed on the circulation of French money in the Basin, were repeated in the final text of the Treaty. The Committee reported that "if these articles, the substance of which appears economically and socially necessary, were to be applied without the establishment of some good special political and administrative regime, a serious friction and conflict would inevitably arise." The proposal of a special regime was still most distasteful to the President. Worn out with the Allied demands — the French for the 41 See Miller, VIII, Doc. 7x6, p. 26, and Tardieu, The Truth about the Treaty, p. 269. These points had been drafted by Professor Haskins, Professor Douglas Johnson, and Mr. Headlam-Morley on March 29. See memorandum of Professor Haskins giving a chronological account of the Saar discussions (Miller, IX, Doc. 901). See also Haskins memorandum on the "Means of Harmonizing the Conflicting Interests of France and Germany" (ibid., VIII, Doc. 7 1 8 ) . "Memorandum by Professor Haskins (Miller, VIII, Doc. 7 1 6 ) . "Ibid.

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Saar, the French and British for reparations, and the Italians for Fiume, all of which he felt to be contrary to the contract with the German government— on April 7 he caused a cable to be sent home asking how soon the George Washington could reach France. 44 On the same day he handed the drafted economic provisions for the Saar, with various corrections, to Mr. Miller for legal scrutiny and advice.45 A t the meeting of the Council of Four on the morning of April 8, M. Clemenceau proposed either to make the Saar an independent state in a customs union with France or to put it under the sovereignty of the League of Nations with a mandate to France and a plebiscite at the end of fifteen years. Mr. Lloyd George advocated an independent Saar state under the League of Nations and a customs union with France as all its economic relations were with Alsace and Lorraine. The country, he said, had been French in its greater part until the beginning of the nineteenth century, when it was taken from France by force, and he was convinced that "if in a few years a plebiscite takes place, this population will not ask to belong again to Germany." 4 6 Apparently the historical argument was gaining with Mr. Lloyd George. Not so with President Wilson. In the afternoon session he expressed himself strongly against any change or suspension of German sovereignty, or any mandate to France. He approved, however, the economic provisions giving to France the ownership of the mines, and presented to the Council for addition to the report of the com44 Seymour, Intimate Papers of Colonel House, IV, 403. This cable has been said to have reduced the French and British to abject submission to American demands, but, as Professor Seymour points out, this is not borne out by the record, as no further important change was made in the Reparations draft, and it was Mr. Wilson and not the French or British who subsequently made concessions regarding the Saar and the Rhineland. " F o r the corrections by the President, see Miller, VIII, Doc. 716, note, and Doc. 7 1 5 , p. 25. 40 Tardieu, The Truth about the Treaty, p. 2 7 1 . On March 29 Mr. Lloyd George had instructed the British legal adviser to draw up alternative schemes for putting into effect the conclusions which the British and American experts had reached in mid-February. These plans, which he had just seen for the first time, he presented to the Council of Four at this session. All three provided for ownership of the mines by France, transfer of the administration of the area from Germany, a local legislative assembly, inclusion in the French customs union, and direction of foreign relations by France. Of the first two drafts the one provided that sovereignty should remain with Germany, the other that it should pass to the League of Nations. Under both drafts France was to receive from the Allies a mandate to administer the Basin. The third draft provided the alternative solution of an independent Saar republic with a constitution drawn up by a constituent assembly. Of the three, Mr. Lloyd George preferred an independent "Saar Republic" (Miller, XIX, 6 1 ) . No one of the three proposals contemplated a plebiscite by which the arrangement might be ended. See also Margaret Lambert, The Saar (London, 1934), p. 47; for her statements regarding the Peace Conference, Miss Lambert has had access to the archives of the British Foreign Office.

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mittee a set of new articles drafted by Mr. Miller providing that German sovereignty should continue; that at the expiration of fifteen years there should be a plebiscite under the supervision of the League of Nations; and that to settle differences between the French and German governments during the intervening period there should be a permanent Commission of Arbitration with power to make any necessary supplementary regulations.47 This commission was to consist of five members, two appointed by the French and German governments respectively and three by the League, these last three to be citizens of countries other than France and Germany. The Council of the League was to determine whether the vote at the end of fifteen years should be taken by communes or districts, as also the qualifications of the voters (the only stipulation being that there should be no discrimination on the ground of sex) and the method and time of the vote, and was to make all regulations which it might deem necessary to ensure a free and secret vote. The League of Nations, in accordance with the wishes of the inhabitants as expressed by the plebiscite, was to decide as to the sovereignty of the Territory. On such of the Territory as should remain German under this decision the property rights of the French government were to be taken over by Germany at a price payable in gold, to be determined by the majority vote of three appraisers, one appointed by Germany, one by France, and the third by the League of Nations. Should the price not be paid within the time fixed, the Territory was to be occupied and administered by France as a permanent and integral part of French territory. As the French had hoped to preserve perpetual ownership of the mines even in any part which might revert to Germany, and considered that the President had accepted this, M. Clemenceau rejected the new Wilson proposal flatly. The President implored him not to make the peace of Europe dependent on the Saar question. M. Clemenceau replied that world peace demanded the establishment of justice among the Allies. The meeting broke up without a decision. The atmosphere was tense. At seven that evening, MM. Clemenceau, Loucheur, and Tardieu again met to discuss policy, and determined not to yield.48 The French reply, drafted by M. Tardieu, argued that the President's proposal would create a court of arbitration to settle conflicts, but would do nothing to prevent them.49 The Saar in the final analysis would be administered by a court. Such a regime of perpetual law47

Miller, VIII, Doc. 7 1 5 . Tardieu, The Truth about the Treaty, p. 272. "Miller, VIII, Doc. 733; Tardieu, p. 272.

18

T H E T R E A T Y OF V E R S A I L L E S

55

suits seemed inacceptable not only in the interests of France and Germany but also of the inhabitants and of world peace. If German sovereignty and administration should remain intact, how could French law be applied regarding labor, employment, wages, and other matters, for only a part of the workers of the Basin? How could France exercise her control over mining, industrial, and social regulations if she had no official or administrative status? If German law should reduce the working day to six hours for an electric plant supplying the mines, how could miners work eight hours according to French law? How could the Saar be placed under the French customs regime if France possessed no administrative personnel, nor any title except ownership of the mines? Il η y a pas de douane sans douaniers. Under the proposed arrangement, the inhabitants would be represented in the Reichstag, where incidents could be artificially provoked; the complete German and Prussian administrative organization which had oppressed the region for one hundred years would be retained; and every economic measure of the French government, no matter how indispensable, could be retarded indefinitely by the German authorities merely by starting proceedings before the Court of Arbitration. The two essential interests of France, Tardieu said, would be defeated. As regarded the sub-soil, in spite of the agreement to perpetual ownership of the mines given by President Wilson in his note of March 31 to Clemenceau, the Wilson note of April 8 contemplated a cession of this right in whole or in part after fifteen years. As regarded the soil, the President of the United States objected that in the territory formerly French in greater part there were too many German immigrants for an immediate union with France to be acceptable. There were, however, too many French persons looking toward France for her to renounce the protection of their future right to be reunited with her. In order to ensure this reunion in fifteen years by the free vote of the population, the territory must at the minimum be removed until then from the pressure of the Prussian administration to which it had been subjected for one hundred years. The French government, concluded M. Tardieu, preferred any one of the three proposals of Mr. Lloyd George (which provided for a mandate to France or a Saar republic) and was ready to complete them, in accordance with the suggestions of President Wilson, by a plebiscite at the end of fifteen years and by a Court of Arbitration charged with settling possible conflicts in the application of one or the other of these three solutions. On the following morning — April 9 — Mr. Lloyd George gave his full approval to the Tardieu note and said that the plebiscite at the end

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

56

of fifteen years answered the objections of President Wilson. 50 The energetic support of the French by Lloyd George caused the President's attitude to change. 51 At the afternoon session he presented a new draft which transformed the Commission of Arbitration into a Governing Commission and provided a plebiscite at the end of fifteen years. M. Tardieu thereupon asked the President three questions: Would German sovereignty be suspended? Would the Commission have full rights, including that of dismissing officials? Would the elections to the Reichstag be suppressed? T o all three questions the President replied "Yes." 5 2 M. Clemenceau then gave his agreement, and the Saar Committee was instructed to draft a set of articles on this basis. The Saar Committee at once set to work on the basis of the British "Heads of Agreement for the Administration of the Saar Valley" and the Miller Additional Articles of April 7, 53 and agreed on a set of articles which, with few changes, were incorporated in the Treaty. 54 On April 10 the Council of Four went over it with the Committee, article by article, and with a few amendments approved the draft. It was at this joint meeting of the Committee with the Supreme Council on April 10 that a vote for the maintenance of the League regime was first proposed. Its author was Mr. Lloyd George, who, with the idea of stimulating the Governing Commission in its work, suggested introducing a third choice into the plebiscite, so that the inhabitants should have the right to remain under the Commission if they wished. He said jokingly that "if he were himself on the Commission, he was sure he could induce the inhabitants to want to continue under it. Besides, with the unsettled state of Germany at that time, it was a great advantage for the inhabitants to have a third choice. Supposing, as appeared not improbable, the Spartacists had triumphed and Germany gone the way of Russia, the Saar people would at least not have been forced to put themselves under France to escape Communism." 5 5 The Council of Four thereupon decided that the third alternative should be included. M

Tardieu, The Truth about the Treaty, p. 276. There is no published record of what actually passed at the meeting, since only the four men were present. The change of attitude on the part of the President is credited by Mordacq to the energetic support by Lloyd George of the French demands (Journal d'un témoin, III, 2 1 7 ) . Miss Lambert says: "They managed to reach a momentous decision, ¡but exactly how and why we do not know" ( T h e Saar, p. 56). 62 Tardieu, The Truth about the Treaty, p. 276. 18 See Miller, I, 2 3 1 . " M i l l e r , VIII, Doc. 7 4 1 ; see also I, p. 2 3 1 . 55 Lambert, p. 58. 51

T H E T R E A T Y OF V E R S A I L L E S

57

It is interesting to reflect that the third alternative, inserted in 1919 to enable the inhabitants to reject union with a Communist Germany, was made use of by the Saar Left in 1934 to avoid union with a Germany under a Fascist regime. On April 13 the Committee's report was accepted by the Council of Four. 56 The proposed boundaries of the new Territory had not only ceased to extend to Luxembourg but had been so drawn as to exclude the Mettlach region which lies on the Saar to the north of Saarlouis. The question of Mettlach was raised before the Council of Four on April 23 by Mr. Lloyd George on the basis of a memorandum by the British and American members of the Committee, who were instructed forthwith to visit the spot. On their return they reported that the economic and other interests of the southern portion of the canton of Mettlach required its incorporation in the Territory. 57 The proposal was adopted, and the draft articles sent to the Drafting Committee, which, on May 4, approved the final proof. The text which had been worked out in this laborious and careful manner had become Section IV of Part III of the Draft Treaty of Peace. 58 Article 45, with which the section began, recited that Germany ceded to France "full and absolute possession" of the coal mines "as compensation for the destruction of the coal mines in the north of France and as part payment towards the total reparation due from Germany for the damage resulting from the war." Article 48 defined the boundaries of the "Territory of the Saar Basin" and provided for their delimitation.59 In Article 49 Germany renounced "in favor of the M

For text of report see Miller, VIII, Doc. 797. " M i l l e r , IX, Doc. 901, Annex H. 58 For text of the Draft Treaty see U. S. Congressional Record, LVIII, pt. I, pp. 802 et seq. According to those writers friendly to the Saar arrangements at Versailles, the boundaries of the little Territory were so drawn that, while following as far as possible the lines of existing administrative divisions, they should include only the coal basin, the industrial region dependent on the coal, and the surrounding area in which the miners and the factory workers lived, and the inclusion of a part of the Palatinate on the east was to bring in the coal mines along the border and the railroad junction of Homburg which links up the railroads of the eastern part of the basin. The Territory was, they claimed, an economic unity, ignored by the previous administrative organization but recognized by those familiar with local conditions. (See Haskins and Lord, pp. 1 4 6 - 1 4 7 . ) German writers, however, argued that the frontier itself clearly revealed that political and strategic, rather than economic considerations were dominant at Paris, for while the boundary of the Saar Territory omitted the Hunsriick, from which many thousands of workmen came habitually every week to work in the Saar mines and factories, it included the purely agricultural Bliesgau. This, they said, was in order to take in the town of Homburg, not because it was a center of workmen's traffic, for the real center was

T H E

58

SAAR

PLEBISCITE

L e a g u e of N a t i o n s , in the capacity of trustee, the g o v e r n m e n t of the territory d e f i n e d a b o v e . " 6 0

A r t i c l e 50 i n t r o d u c e d w h a t is c o m m o n l y

called the " S a a r A n n e x " o r " S t a t u t e . "

T h i s w a s d i v i d e d into

chapters h e a d e d

and

Property,"

respectively:

"Government

"Plebiscite."

of

"Cession

the T e r r i t o r y

Exploitation of

the S a a r

of

three

Mining

Basin,"

and

It h a d been stated in A r t i c l e 46 of the section that the

a g r e e m e n t of G e r m a n y to the first t w o chapters w a s g i v e n " i n o r d e r to assure the rights a n d w e l f a r e of the p o p u l a t i o n a n d to g u a r a n t e e to F r a n c e c o m p l e t e f r e e d o m i n w o r k i n g the m i n e s . . . , " w h i l e Article 47 France and G e r m a n y

under

a g r e e d to C h a p t e r I I I " i n o r d e r to

m a k e i n d u e t i m e p e r m a n e n t p r o v i s i o n f o r the g o v e r n m e n t

of

the

S a a r B a s i n in a c c o r d a n c e w i t h the w i s h e s of the p o p u l a t i o n . . . . " C h a p t e r I of the S a a r A n n e x p r o v i d e d that F r a n c e s h o u l d

receive

the rights of o w n e r s h i p of all the m i n e s a n d coal deposits a n d of all the subsidiaries of the m i n e s , all plants a n d e q u i p m e n t , i n c l u d i n g electric p o w e r plants, m e a n s of c o m m u n i c a t i o n , schools a n d hospitals, d w e l l i n g s of m a n a g e r s , e m p l o y e e s , a n d w o r k m e n , " a n d in g e n e r a l

every-

t h i n g w h i c h those w h o o w n or exploit the m i n e s possess or e n j o y f o r the p u r p o s e of e x p l o i t i n g the m i n e s a n d sidiaries."

their accessories a n d

sub-

T h e v a l u e of the p r o p e r t y thus c e d e d to the F r e n c h state

w a s to be d e t e r m i n e d b y the R e p a r a t i o n C o m m i s s i o n , a n d to b e credited to G e r m a n y

in part p a y m e n t

of

the a m o u n t

due

for

reparation.61

Neunkirchen, but because it commanded the roads to Kaiserslautern, Speyer, Mannheim, and Worms, while the bringing of the Saar Territory up to the very gates of Zweibrücken was in order to give France command of the second strategic road to the Rhine, the Queichstrasse, running by Landau to Germersheim. The Germans say, in fact, that the whole Bavarian part, to which France, according to the German thesis, had no claim, historic or economic, was included in the Saar Territory in order to move the German frontier away from the Lorraine town of Sarreguemines, which is a very important railroad center, especially for military purposes, as it proved in German hands in the mobilization of August 1 9 1 4 . (See Metz, in Kloevekorn, Das Saargebiet, pp. 56 et seq.) 00 This article in the draft of the Saar Committee had read, "Germany, while preserving her sovereignty, renounces in favor of the Allied and Associated Powers as trustees of the League of Nations all her rights of administration. . . ." See Miller, VIII, Doc. 741. 61 At the time of the transfer of the mines, the experts could not agree on their value. In 1920 the Germans made a claim of 1,057,000,000 gold marks and France estimated the value provisionally at 300,000,000. The Reparation Commission in 1921 credited Germany with 400,000,000 gold marks on account of the Saar coal, and in 1922 debited 300,000,000 of this to France in distribution account as a delivery in kind (Reparation Commission, Statement of Germany's Obligations, December ¡1, 1922, London, 1923). See also Arnold J. Toynbee, Survey of International Affairs, / 9 2 0 - 1 9 2 J (London, 1925), pp. 1 5 2 and 164, and World Peace Foundation, League of Nations, V ( 1 9 2 2 ) , 1 2 8 - 1 3 0 . Later France was debited with the whole 400,000,000 (see communiqué of the French Ministry of Finance in Le Temps, February 13, 1932). In 1923 the German government had reduced its valuation to 1,017,570,000 gold marks (Harold Glenn Moulton and Constantine Edward McGuire, Germany's Capacity to Pay: A Study of the Reparation Problem, New York, 1923, p. 327).

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59

France was given the right of working or not working the mines, or of transferring to a third party the right of working them. The amount contributed by the mines and their accessories and subsidiaries, either to the local budget of the Territory or to the communal funds, was to be fixed with due regard to the ratio of the value of the mines to the total taxable wealth of the Basin. 62 N o impediment was to be placed in the way of the employment in the mines and their subsidiaries of workmen from without the Basin. Exploitation was to continue under the regime established by the German laws and regulations in force on November 1 1 , 1918 — excepting those provisions adopted exclusively in view of the state of war — and the rights of the workmen were to be maintained as under the German laws of that date, except for changes by the Governing Commission, which could only be made after consultation with the French state and with the elected representatives of the inhabitants, unless the modifications should result from a general regulation respecting labor adopted by the League of Nations. Chapter II of the Annex provided that the government of the Territory of the Saar Basin should be entrusted to a commission representing the League of Nations. The commission must be composed of five members chosen by the Council of the League, one member to be a citizen of France, one a native inhabitant of the Basin not a citizen of France, 63 and three from countries other than France or Germany. The appointments must be annual but might be renewed, and the commissioners might be removed by the League Council, which body was to appoint the chairman annually from the members of the commission. Within the Territory of the Saar Basin the Governing Commission, as it was called, was to have "all the powers of Government 64 hitherto belonging to the German Empire, Prussia, or Bavaria, including the appointment and dismissal of officials, and the creation of such administrative and representative bodies as it may deem necessary." Decisions were to be by majority vote. The laws and regulations in force on November 1 1 , 1918, in the Territory (except those enacted in con62 In 1924 the Governing Commission, in negotiating regarding the amount to be paid by the Mines Administration into the budget of the Territory, agreed that the value of the mines should be estimated at 346,000,000 gold marks (see "Seventeenth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., August 1924, p. 1 0 5 1 ) . 68 The draft of the Saar Committee had required that the Saar member be a "German subject" (Miller, VIII, Doc. 7 4 1 ) . w T h e Committee's draft had read "administration and police" instead of "government" (ibid.).

6o

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

sequence of the state of war) were to continue to apply. If, for general reasons or to bring these laws and regulations into accord with the provisions of the Treaty, it should be necessary to introduce modifications, these were to be decided on and put into effect by the Governing Commission after consultation with the elected representatives of the inhabitants in such manner as the Commission might determine. The existing civil and criminal courts were to continue, but the Governing Commission was to establish a supreme court to hear appeals from the decisions of these courts and to decide matters for which the latter were not competent. Justice was to be rendered in the name of the Governing Commission. The Commission was to have the sole power of levying taxes and dues in the Territory, but any change in the fiscal system existing on November n , 1918, with the exception of customs duties, might not be imposed without previously consulting the elected representatives of the inhabitants. Specific provisions safeguarded the rights of the inhabitants to retain their nationality, local assemblies, religious liberties, schools, and language. The right of voting was to belong to every inhabitant over twenty years of age, without distinction of sex, but was to be exercised only for local assemblies. The Territory was to be subjected to the French customs regime, the net receipts from the customs duties on goods intended for local consumption being included in the Saar budget. N o export tax was to be placed on metallurgical products or coal exported from the Territory to Germany, or on German exports for the use of the industries of the Territory. For a transition period of five years products which both originated in and passed from the Basin into Germany should be free of import duties, and during the same period articles imported from Germany into the Territory for local consumption should likewise be free of import duties. N o prohibition or restriction was to be imposed upon the circulation of French money in the Territory, and the French state was given the right to use it in all purchases, payments, and contracts connected with the exploitation of the mines or their subsidiaries. The final paragraph of Chapter II provided that "the Governing Commission shall have power to decide all questions arising from the interpretation of the preceding provisions." Chapter III, which dealt with the plebiscite, provided in paragraph 34: At the termination of a period of fifteen years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, the population of the Territory of the Saar Basin will be called upon to indicate their desires in the following manner:

T H E T R E A T Y OF

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61

A vote will take place by communes or districts, on the three following alternatives: (a) maintenance of the regime established by the present Treaty and by this Annex; (b) union with France; (c) union with Germany. All persons without distinction of sex, more than twenty years old at the date of the voting, resident in the territory at the date of the signature of the present Treaty, will have the right to vote.65 The other conditions, methods, and the date of voting shall be fixed by the Council of the League of Nations in such a way as to secure the freedom, secrecy and trustworthiness of the voting. T h e League of Nations was to decide on the sovereignty under which the Territory should be placed, "taking into account the wishes of the inhabitants as expressed by the voting." T h e possibility of the division of the Territory was evident from paragraph 3 5 :

(a) If, for the whole or part of the Territory, the League of Nations decides in favor of the maintenance of the régime established by the present Treaty and this Annex, Germany hereby agrees to make such renunciation of her sovereignty in favor of the League of Nations as the latter shall deem necessary. It will be the duty of the League of Nations to take appropriate steps to adapt the régime definitively adopted to the permanent welfare of the Territory and the general interest. (b) If, for the whole or part of the Territory, the League of Nations decides in favor of union with France, Germany hereby agrees to cede to France in accordance with the decision of the League of Nations, all rights and title over the Territory specified by the League; (c) If, for the whole or part of the Territory, the League of Nations decides in favor of union with Germany, it will be the duty of the League of Nations to cause the German Government to be re-established in the government of the territory specified by the League. If the League of Nations should decide in favor of the union of the whole or part of the Territory of the Saar Basin with Germany, France's rights of ownership in the mines situated in such parts of the Territory would be purchased by Germany at a price, payable in gold, to be fixed by a majority vote of three experts, one nominated by Germany, one by France, and one by the Council of the League of Nations. 66 If œ

T h e original article drafted by Mr. Miller on April 7 (Miller, VII, Doc. 7 1 5 ) had left all the qualifications of the voters to be determined by the League Council. The requirement of residence on the date of the signature of the Treaty was proposed by Tardieu and was due to the French fear of German colonization in the Territory (Miller, I, 2 3 4 ) . "Mr. Lloyd George said that it should be those resident for five years or seven years before voting" (ibid.). The Committee's draft had used the word "domiciled"; this was changed on April 10 to "residence." M The chief difficulty met with by the Saar Committee had concerned this American

62

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

Germany did not buy back the mines in gold within six months of the experts' decision, the Territory would be finally acquired by France regardless of how the inhabitants had voted. France would retain the ownership of the mines in all parts of the Territory awarded to her or remaining under the League regime. The final paragraph of Chapter III provided that, in all matters dealt with in the Annex, the decisions of the Council of the League of Nations should be taken by a majority. The Saar articles, handed to the German delegation on May 7, brought from it a special protest. Anxious to ascertain whether any amelioration of the treaty provisions were possible, the Germans decided to make the Saar the test.67 In notes dated May 13 and 16 they protested strongly against the separation from Germany of the Saar, with its "unalloyed German population," merely for coal, an act which meant for the inhabitants "the bartering about from sovereignty to sovereignty, as if they were mere chattels and pawns in a game." The notes acknowledged that France must be compensated for the devastation of mines in northern France, and that compensation in money alone would not meet her impaired economic position, but compensation in kind should and could, they said, be effected otherwise than by "submitting a territory to foreign rule which, notwithstanding the most humane intentions of those in power, always remains odious." Until the devastated mines should be repaired, the German delegation offered to guarantee to deliver the required amounts of coal and coke from the Ruhr as well as the Saar, and, in addition, to make over to the concerns damaged in northern France shares in the German coal mines charged with the delivery of coal to the regions mentioned, to an extent which would insure considerable influence on the administration of the German concerns in question.68 proposal regarding Germany's right to buy back the mines in such territory as should remain German (Miller, VIII, Doc. 7 1 5 ) . The French draft articles had provided that the mines should be the permanent property of the French state and that if, in consequence of the League's decision, a part of the mines should lie in the territory allotted to Germany, there should be an agreement between France and Germany under the auspices of the League to assure to France the working of the mines, with exemption from German taxes, full mobility of labor, foreign and native, and freedom for adequate means of communication by rail and water (Miller, VIII, Doc. 738). M. Tardieu, on April 9, agreed to accept the American proposal tentatively, provided that it should be permissible for France and Germany to arrive at another agreement as to French property in the territory remaining German (Miller, I, 2 3 1 - 2 3 2 ) . m Röchling, op. cit., pp. 33-34. The author states that he himself met daily in conference on the matter with a representative of the French Foreign Office. 68 Allied and Associated Powers, Notes échangées entre le Président de la Conférence de la Paix et la délégation allemande du 9 mai au 28 juin, 19/9, Notes 7 and 8, and Annex.

T H E T R E A T Y OF

VERSAILLES

63

M . Clemenceau replied for the Allies to the German delegation, on M a y 24, that the "domination" which the latter termed "odious" was the administration of the League of Nations. 69 T h e scheme, he said, had been drawn up with the greatest care so that, while it provided compensation for the destruction of the mines, it also secured the rights and welfare of the population, who were assured their present liberties and were guaranteed a number of special advantages in financial and social matters. "Moreover, definite provision is made, after a period of fifteen years, for a plebiscite which would enable this population, of so complex a character, to determine the final form of government of the territory in which it lives, in full freedom and not necessarily to the advantage of either France or Germany." T h e Allied and Associated Governments, said M . Clemenceau, had chosen this particular form of reparation because it was felt that the destruction of the mines in the north of France was an act of such a nature that a definite and exemplary retribution should be exacted; this object would not be attained by the mere supply of a specified or unspecified amount of coal. This scheme, therefore, in its general provisions must be maintained and to this the Allied and Associated Powers are not prepared to agree to any alternative . . . no arrangement of the kind put forward could give to France the security and certainty which she would receive from the full exploitation and free ownership of the mines of the Saar. Similarly, the contemplated handing over of shares in German coal mines situated in German territory and subject to German exploitation would be of doubtful value to French holders, and would create a confusion of French and German interests which, under present circumstances, could not be accepted. T h e complete and immediate transfer to France of mines adjacent to the French frontier constitutes a more prompt, secure, and business-like method of compensation for the destruction of the French coal mines; at the same time, by securing that the value of the mines should be credited to the reparation account due from Germany, it makes full use of them as a means of payment in the general account of reparation. . . . One point was ceded by the Allies. T o the protest by Germany against the provision that, should she not have paid in full for the mines in the short period designated after the plebiscite, the Territory should pass to France even though it had voted for Germany, M . Clemenceau replied that the German interpretation assumed a result 69 That during the fifteen-year period the Territory would be under the League of Nations appears not to have been understood by the German delegation, for the German note of May 1 3 said that "the draft of the Treaty of Peace provides for a transfer of sovereignty over this partly Prussian, partly Bavarian territory upon France. . . . "

64

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

which the Allied and Associated Powers emphatically had never contemplated. However, to remove any possibility of misunderstanding and to avoid the difficulties apprehended as to Germany's ability to make the payment in gold contemplated in the clause, the Allies proposed that Germany should be allowed by the Reparation Commission, for the purpose of this payment, to create a prior charge on her assets and revenues, and that if, after a period of one year from the date on which the payment became due she should not have made it, the Reparation Commission should do so under instructions from the League of Nations — if necessary, by liquidating that part of the mines in question.70 The German delegation amplified its previous protests in its formal "Comments on the Conditions of Peace," dated May 29, 1919. It again offered to guarantee deliveries of coal and protested against the boundaries of the Territory, which, it pointed out, included far more than the coal area and placed extensive forests, glass factories, and other very profitable industries within the French customs frontiers, with a result far out of proportion to the value of the destroyed French mines. The coal in these mines had not been destroyed, the Germans argued, and they would be restored to full production in ten years. By transferring the ownership of the Saar mines, France would thus obtain a hundredfold that which she herself had described as a maximum of her justified demands. In order to accomplish this, the "Comments" read, the draft of the Peace Treaty formulated a demand which tore from the German Empire a purely German territory, gave France economic control over it, and attempted to annex it politically to France. The "Comments" continued: There is no industrial district in Germany whose population is as homogeneous, as purely German, and as little "complex" as that of the Saar district. A m o n g the 650,000 inhabitants there were in 1 9 1 8 not even 100 French. . . . In a period stretching over 1,048 years, France has possessed the country no longer than sixty-eight years. When, in fixing the frontier in the first Peace of Paris, 1 8 1 4 , a small part of the Territory now claimed was retained by France, the people rose in protest and demanded "reunion with their German Fatherland," with which they were "related" by bonds of "language, customs, and religion." After an occupation of one and onequarter year's duration, this demand was satisfied in the second Peace of Paris, 1 8 1 5 . Since then the country has been attached to Germany uninterruptedly and owes to this connection its economic prosperity. ' " A l l i e d and Associated Powers, Notes échangées, pp. 43 et seq. For the English text, see U. S. Senate Doc., no. 14g, 66 Cong., 1 Sess., "Conditions of Peace with Germ a n y , " pp. 61—63.

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Even to-day the sentiments of the people are as German as they were 100 years ago. The workmen's organizations, the citizens and artisans, the industries and all the political parties are united by one ambition: to remain members of Germany even though she be beaten and impoverished. And because the occupying power prevents them from any free expression of opinion, they have repeatedly and clearly, through deputies elected from the district and through appointed representatives, rendered public evidence of this desire. Such a population is, on account of its connection with coal mines, to be placed under a special form of government provided by the League of Nations, without enjoying any rights under the "Commission of Five" which shall be appointed by the League of Nations. This Commission, whose seat need not even be in the Saar district, is not responsible to the population for its actions. Only one of its members must be a native and a resident of the Saar district, an arrangement which offers no security whatever that he may not be one of the few foreigners living in the country. This member is not to be elected by the people but appointed, subject to recall, by the Council of the League of Nations. Along with four representatives of other States this member shall decide on the fate of the population with a power practically unlimited. A representation of the people with any legislative competence does not exist. The population loses all rights of citizenship; they are politically outside the law. . . . These decisions are aimed at a population who fervently cling to their country because, a considerable part of them being small landowners, they are attached to its soil. . . . The importation of foreign laborers, which endangers the interests of German workmen, is not subject to any restrictions. Facilities are offered for the acquisition of an alien nationality. All this, together wtih undefined prescriptions about customs conditions, coinage, administration, railway traffic, and many other arrangements, offers every possibility to sever completely the connection between the Saar district and the remainder of the Empire. The steps taken during the Armistice have shown what the population of this Saar district will have to endure in the future. From the days of their appearance the authorities of the French Occupation Forces have taken recourse to every possible means in order to prepare the people for annexation to France. Every attempt is made to induce a population who have been exhausted by the hunger blockade and the exertions of the war, to apply already for French citizenship. Many who not only cling in their hearts to the old Fatherland, but make public profession of their attachment, are expelled from the country. . . . The object of the provisions about the Saar district is, according to the note of May 24, an exemplary reparation. The German Government declines to make any reparation as a form of punishment. And it must decline still more emphatically to shift to certain parts of the population punishment in the form of national sufferings which is intended for the whole community. By this annexation of the Saar district to France the same injustice would

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be committed for which reparation was demanded from Germany in the case of Alsace-Lorraine. The population of a district was separated from the mother country in spite of the solemn protest of its representatives. He who recommends such a solution to France and Germany introduces new germs for conflict into the relations between the German and the French people. 71 T h e German delegation's protest ended with a demand that the Allied and Associated Governments submit the proposed solution of the Saar question once more to a searching examination. T o this protest, which had been supported by an appeal to the Peace Conference by the nine representatives from the Saar in the Reichstag, 72 the Allied and Associated Powers replied on June 16 that the new German observations seemed to show "a complete misapprehension of the spirit and purpose of this section of the T r e a t y . " 7 3 T h e y repeated that the destruction of the mines in the north of France was an act of such a nature that a definite and exemplary retribution would not be obtained by a mere supply of a specified or unspecified amount of coal. T h e reply continued: It has been the desire of the Allied and Associated Powers in determining upon the form of reparation to be imposed to choose one which, by its exceptional nature, will be for a limited period a definite and visible symbol. At the same time, they intended by assuring themselves of the immediate possession of a security for reparation to escape the risks to which the German memoir itself has drawn attention. On the other hand, they have exercised the greatest care in order to avoid inflicting on the inhabitants of the district itself any material or moral injury. In every point their interests have been most scrupulously guarded, and, in fact, their condition will be improved. Enumerating the guarantees regarding religion, schools, language, and labor the reply continued: The Allied and Associated Powers have full confidence that the inhabitants of the district will have no reason to regard the new administration under which they will be placed as one more remote than was the administration which was conducted from Berlin and Munich. The German note constantly overlooks the fact that the whole arrangen "Remarques de la délégation allemande sur les conditions de p a i x " (official text). T h e English translation here used is taken from American Association for International Conciliation, Bull. no. 1 4 3 , October 1 9 1 9 . 72 "Das Saargebiet unter der Herrschaft," German White Book, p. 49. ra U. S. Senate Doc., no. 14g, 66 Cong., 1 Sess., "Conditions of Peace with G e r m a n y , " pp. IIO—III.

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ment is temporary, and that at the end of fifteen years the inhabitants will have a full and free right to choose the sovereignty under which they are to live. The provisions of the draft treaty were so amended as to eliminate any possibility of Germany's losing, through inability to pay, the territory which might vote for her, and to require that the Governing Commission should sit in the Territory. 74 The French had lost their claim to the frontier of 1814, and had failed to win either a mandate over the Territory or a certainty of perpetual ownership of the mines. They had, however, secured the special regime which would cut the Territory ofï from the Reich for àt least fifteen years in all matters of political importance and would assure the coal to France for the same period. In so far as the French had won their case their success was due to the German destruction of the French coal mines in the north, which by greatly aggravating their already existing needs had won the sympathy of the British and Americans at Paris. That they were affected also, in a minor degree, by historic and strategic considerations is clear from the record, but it is equally clear that the Americans, at least, remained unmoved by any arguments that the arrangement was according to the wishes of the Saar population.75 From the writing of the plebiscite into the Treaty one may conclude, however, that the French experts at Paris did indeed believe in a latent French sentiment in the Territory which could be effectively awakened during the fifteen years of the League regime. T o awaken such sentiment was the obvious hope of the French military authorities who had been administering the Territory since January 1919. Their policies, however, were ill-suited to success. They had failed to seize the opportunity offered by the demand of the miners' 74

For a comparison of the two texts, see Herbert Kraus and Gustav Rödiger, Urkunden zum Friedensverträge (Berlin, 1 9 2 1 ) , II, 969-971. ' 5 Professor Haskins wrote in 1920: "Stronger than the historic argument was the economic: France, a country poor in coal, had been forcibly despoiled of the Saar mines in 1 8 1 4 ; she needed them back; and her need was now much greater since the wanton and systematic destruction of her mines in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais by the Germans. . . . The people were overwhelmingly German. . . . If they had been consulted, they would doubtless have voted to remain with Germany. But it was at least debatable whether they had a right at the same time to vote to Germany the mines which she had taken in 1 8 1 5 without consulting anybody. The control of key deposits of minerals by a small population which happens to live over them is not a necessary part of the principle of self-determination, particularly when this population forms part of a state which has been destroying the mines of others. The separation of mines from people may sometimes be governed by international considerations" (Haskins and Lord, pp. 1 3 9 - 1 4 1 ) .

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organizations that the eight-hour day, which had become the law of the Reich in November 1918, should be introduced in the Saar also, and had repressed the ensuing strike with great rigor, treating every refusal to work as a hostile act, requisitioning the miners and higher personnel, sentencing by court martial some twenty workmen, and deporting across the Rhine about 400 others, together with various leading citizens, including the Oberbürgermeister of Saarbrücken and the Landrat and Bürgermeister of Saarlouis.76 The situation was greatly worsened by the fall of the mark which had begun in January 1919 and the consequent rise in the cost of living. In October 1919 there spread from Völklingen a general strike; Jewish shops were pillaged and other excesses committed. General Andlauer proclaimed a state of siege, the French autos-mitrailleuses were brought into action, and some casualties occurred on both sides. When the permanent civilian French Mines Administration was set up, the increase in coal production, which was planned for the sake of increasing French supplies, was counted on to win the sympathies of the miners, and the French mining engineers were to be "the best ambassadors of the Republic." 77 In German eyes, however, the propaganda bureau still maintained by the Mines Administration had a sinister aspect, and this conviction was greatly strengthened by the rapid penetration of the Saar industries by French capital. In order to maintain the former unity of the Saar-Lorraine industrial region, and to prevent competition of the Saar industries with those of Lorraine and other parts of France, and doubtless also with an eye to the eventual plebiscite, M. Louis Loucheur, Minister of Industrial Reconstruction in the Liberated Regions, had formed the plan of bringing together under French ownership both the sequestrated German property in Lorraine and that still held by German industrialists in the Saar. For this the economic situation in the Territory was most favorable. Owing to strikes, the sudden cutting off of its former German markets, the fall of the mark and the necessity of paying for Lorraine minette in francs, the increased cost of transportation, and the effects of the Allied blockade of Germany, which " " D a s Saargebiet unter der Herrschaft," German White Book, no. 2 1 . See also Röchling, p. 63, and Dr. A. Hofrichter, "The Saar Region and the German Workman," in The Region of the Saar, pp. 4 1 - 4 2 · Revire says that the number of those expelled was 234 and that later some 150 were allowed to return (Perdrons-nous la Sarre?, p. 29). In June 1919 the eight-hour day was introduced, and in July it was reduced to seven and a half hours (Savelkouls, Der Franc im Saargebiet, p. 38). "Statement by M. Engerand in the Chamber of Deputies on October 20, 1920, in presenting a bill creating a Saar Mines Administration (Revire, p. 38).

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remained in effect until July 1919, the Saar was suffering from a severe economic depression.

T h e production of coal fell abruptly, and for

lack of coal the steel works shut down. 7 8 A t the same time, whether or not under pressure from their government, active efforts were made by French groups to buy majority shares in Saar industrial establishments. 79 In this they were supported by the Service industriel of the troops of occupation through its control of Saar coal, Lorraine ore, and other means of pressure at hand by which to force the Saar industrialists to terms. T h e Treaty provision for the inclusion of the Saar in the French customs regime and the uncertainty

regarding

its political future aided the French purpose. In spite of the agreement of the leading German steel companies to present a united front by refusing to negotiate with French capitalists all the chief metallurgical firms in the Saar except that of the Röchlingschen Eisen-und Stahlwerke were forced to yield and to accept a 60 per cent French participation in the ownership of their businesses. T h e French were enabled to gain a majority interest not only in all the other steel works but in many of the finishing works manufacturing steel articles and in various minor Saar industries.80

This early success in economic penetration

greatly increased the conviction of the Saar leaders that the League régime would amount in reality to absorption by France. 78 The French say that the fall in production was caused by the eight-hour day, by the carelessness of the Prussian engineers who were so soon to lose the mines, and by the undernourishment from which the miners had been suffering. TO With the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine in 1 8 7 1 the great Saar steel interests acquired in Lorraine large concessions of minette and, to cut transportation costs, brought Saar coal to the blast furnaces which they set up near the iron mines to manufacture the pig iron which they shipped to the Saar to be made into steel. After the Armistice of 1918 the French government sequestrated these subsidiary Lorraine iron works and iron concessions, and later sold them to French companies. It is said that the French government, in offering the Lorraine properties for sale, made it a condition that the buyer of a former German metallurgical or other industrial holding in Lorraine must also acquire a controlling interest in the corresponding Saar concern. 80 This account of the penetration of French capital in the Saar is based largely on "Private Investments and International Politics in the Saar, 1 9 1 9 - 2 0 ; A Study of PoliticoEconomic Penetration in a Post-War Plebiscite Area," by Professor Eugene Staley, in Journal of Political Economy, XLI, no. 5 (October 1 9 3 3 ) . The paper by M. Charles Drouard entitled "Les Intérêts français en Sarre," delivered on May 18, 1930, before the Société Industriel de l'Est, has been consulted for the French side. For the German side, see Fritz Schleifenbaum, Die wirtschaftliche Überfremdung der eisenschaffenden Industrie des Saargebietes (Berlin, 1928).

PART II THE LEAGUE REGIME

IV VERSAILLES TO LOCARNO THE League of Nations did not enter formally into existence until the coming into effect of the Treaty of Versailles on January 10, 1920. Late in 1919, however, the body of international civil servants called the Secretariat had been established in embryo under the first SecretaryGeneral, Sir Eric Drummond, and the work on the Saar, together with that on the Free City of Danzig, had been consigned to the Administrative Commissions and Minorities Section, the chief of which was a Norwegian, Mr. Erik Colban, and the expert on the Saar an American, Mr. Huntington Gilchrist. In February 1920 the Council of the League, in fulfillment of its duties under paragraph 17 of the Saar Annex, appointed the five members of the Governing Commission of the Territory of the Saar Basin. M. Victor Rault, conseiller d'état, had been designated by the French government as the citizen of France on the Commission; Herr Alfred von Boch, member of the firm of Villeroy and Boch and Landrat of Saarlouis, was appointed by the Council as the native inhabitant of the Saar; and, as the three citizens of countries other than France and Germany, the Council had chosen M. Lambert of Belgium, Comte de Moltke-Huitfeldt of Denmark, and Mr. R. D. Waugh of Canada. 1 It had been expected at the Peace Conference that the chairmanship of the Commission would be given to Professor Charles Homer Haskins, the American member of the Saar Committee of the Conference, but as the United States had not entered the League the plan was abandoned and the chairmanship given to the French member on the ground that the welfare of the population and the necessity of maintaining order required a close collaboration between the French 1 S e e L.N.O.J., no. 2, March 1 9 2 0 , pp. 45 et seq. T h e salaries of the members of the Governing Commission were fixed by the Council of the League in February 1 9 2 0 at 100,000 francs annually, with an additional 50,000 francs to the chairman as entertainment allowance. T h e total was charged against the local revenues, as were the expenses incurred in execution of the official duties of the Commission, office accommodations, traveling expenses, wages of staff, and the like. On March 1 5 , 1 9 2 4 , the salaries and entertainment allowance were increased 25 per cent ( L . N . O . J . , April 1 9 2 4 , p. 5 4 5 ) . From April 1 9 3 2 on, the members of the Governing Commission, owing to the depression, turned back 1 0 per cent of their salaries into the treasury.

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government, which by the Treaty controlled a very important part of the economic life of the Basin, and the Governing Commission, to which the Council was entrusting its administration. 2 On February 13, 1920, the Council of the League adopted a set of directions to guide the new Governing Commission in its work. 3 T h e Treaty had stipulated that the Governing Commission should represent the League of Nations; it had not, however, defined the manner in which the responsibility should be regulated, beyond providing that the League Council should have full power to appoint and dismiss its members. T h e directions reaffirmed the responsibility of the Governing Commission to the League for the execution of its duties in accordance with the Saar Annex, and required that the Governing Commission should have "no occupation and no interest except the welfare of the people of the Territory of the Saar Basin." T h e Commission was to take no decisions of particular importance except in the presence of all of its members, and was to keep the League informed on all questions of interest to the Council through the Secretary-General. 4 T h e report of the representative of Greece, M . Caclamanos, which was adopted at the same time by the Council as the basis of future procedure, recited that the authors of the Treaty had admitted that the Governing Commission should have the maximum power of appeal and judgment, and recommended that the Council should not go deeply into details, for "it would run the risk of becoming too material and of compromising the lofty moral authority 2 It is said that Mr. Balfour had hoped that the chairman would be British and, when M. Clemenceau insisted that it had already been arranged that he should be French, decided that the British member should be from a Dominion (Röchling, p. 53). Mr. Waugh did not enter into office until April 10, 1920. 8 L.N.O.J., no. 2, March 1920, pp. 50 et seq. * In May 1920 it was stipulated that the reports should be accompanied by authentic texts of the resolutions of the Commission referring to the political, economic, financial, social, and other facts of interest to the League of Nations, as well as of all official publications of the Governing Commission (L.N.O.J., no. 4, June 1920, pp. 205—207). The reports, while signed only by the Chairman, were the joint act of all the members of the Governing Commission. They were made quarterly and were published in the Official Journal of the League, and covered the economic, social, and political situation, the administration of the departments of the Interior, Finance, Economic Questions, Mines Administration, Air Traffic, Public Works, Railways, Posts, Telegraph and Telephone, Justice, Education and Public Worship, Public Relief and Health, Agriculture and Forestry, Labor and Social Insurance, Statistics of Accidents, the output of the mines, unemployment, the ordinances issued by the Commission, and any other matters of importance. The reports were considered only by the League Council. Although each annual report of the Secretary-General of the League to the Assembly on the work of the Council contained a section regarding Saar affairs, this never occasioned any discussion in the Assembly, even during the years when Germany was a member of the League.

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which it should preserve as the Supreme Court of Appeal." 5 In line with this policy the Council shortly established the principle that it should not intervene in the administration of the Territory except for reasons of the highest importance.® In view of its duty under the Treaty to provide in all cases for the protection of persons and property in the Saar Basin, M. Caclamanos reported that until the establishment of a Saar gendarmerie the Commission would have the power to demand the maintenance or return of all or a part of the French troops in the area.7 On February 25, 1920, the Governing Commission assumed power in Saarbrücken, which had been chosen as the capital, and issued a proclamation announcing that it would administer the Territory under the Treaty of Versailles and in the name of the League of Nations; that it regarded the maintenance of peace and order as its first duty; and that with the loyal collaboration of the inhabitants it intended to maintain it, together with liberty and justice, and to assure to the population respect for its rights together with its material welfare and prosperity.8 The Chairman of the Commission took up his residence in the former mansion of the Landrat of Saarbrücken Landkreis, and the Secretary-General was established in the old Schloss. The Commission at once set up a civil regime, abolished the military police courts, restored civil liberties, and promulgated an amnesty.9 While the period of military occupation was thus at an end, the Governing Commission exercised the right recognized in the Caclamanos report to retain the French troops. They remained not as troops of occupation of the army of the Rhine but as "garrison troops" under the orders of the President of the Governing Commission. Besides these, to keep order there were only the few communal and municipal police. Having been given by the Treaty the powers of the German, Prussian, and Bavarian governments, the Governing Commission itself took the place of the Prussian and Bavarian ministers of the Interior, the Oberpräsidenten, and the Regierungspräsidenten, under whose control and direct orders the administrative services — including those of the railroads, posts, and finances — had lain. The Chairman of the 5 L.N.O.J., no. 2, March 1920, p. 48. " ' C a c l a m a n o s Report," L.N.O.J., October 1920, p. 403. ' L.N.O.J., March 1 9 2 0 , p. 47. 8 L.N.O.J., no. 3, 1 9 2 0 , pp. 1 0 7 - 1 0 8 . For German text see Amtsblatt der Regierungskpmmission ¿es Saargebietes, no. ι , April 1 7 , 1 9 2 0 , Doc. 1 (hereafter referred to as Amtsblatt). " "First Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., no. 3 , April-May 1 9 2 0 , p. 104.

7

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Commission took over the departments of the Interior and Foreign Affiairs, Commerce, Industry, Labor, and Control of the Mines; the Saar member administered those of Agriculture, Health, Charity and Social Insurance; the Canadian member, Finances and Economic Questions; the Belgian, Public Works, Railroads, Post, Telephone and Telegraph; and the Danish, Education, Justice, and Religious Matters. All the ministries other than that of finance had their offices in the Neues Landgericht on the banks of the Saar. The general organization of the administration already existing in the area was left unchanged except for the central administration which the Governing Commission set up for each department. T o serve as directors of these departments under the respective commissioners and in other high offices, the Commission brought in seventy-three men from other countries, forty-three being Frenchmen, mostly from Lorraine and Alsace. The great majority of officials in the control of administration, however, remained German throughout the fifteen years of the League administration. The Saar Committee of the Peace Conference had no doubt intended that most if not all of the officials not inhabitants of the area should be removed. The Governing Commission, however, faced by the utter impossibility of finding enough trained men resident in the Territory to replace all these officials, had at the outset decided to retain those in office and to replace them gradually by inhabitants of the Territory. At the request of the Commission those who had been appointed by the German, Prussian, or Bavarian governments were placed at its disposal, their former governments regarding them as "on leave." 10 Over each of the seven Landkreise was a Landrat who held the key position in local government and, under the Governing Commission, controlled the police.11 The seven Landräte and the other Kreis officials who controlled the other civil services con10 An agreement between the German government and the Governing Commission, signed at Baden-Baden on December 2 1 , 1925, settled the various questions arising from the dual nature of the situation. (See League of Nations Treaty Series, LV, 349 et seq.) The German government agreed that those state officials who remained in the service of the Saar Governing Commission should suffer no prejudice thereby and that the period of such service should be counted toward promotions, pay, and pensions, while the Governing Commission, in order that conditions of nomination, service, and pensions should not be less favorable than in the Reich, agreed as far as possible to introduce in the Saar any changes in the laws of the Reich regarding officials. Salaries were to be the same, as far as possible, on both sides of the boundary. Toward the pensions of the former officials the German administrations paid an amount in proportion to the period of service before 1920. The status of the communal officials was assimilated to that of the territorial officials. 11 Saarbrücken, a Stadtkreis, had not a Landrat but an Oberbürgermeister. Each Landrat was assisted by a Kreisausschuss, composed of himself as chairman and

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tinued in most instances to be the men who were in office when the Treaty of Versailles was signed. The system of local administration also remained practically as it had been under Prussian and Bavarian rule. As the services became permanently organized and the communal administration developed, the number of public officials and employees increased from the original 8,500, and the Commission gradually introduced "inhabitants of the Saar" l l a into the services, but most of the employees of the former regime were retained. In 1934, of the more than 12,000 officials and employees about half were new ones appointed by the Governing Commission. About seventy-five of these were of non-German nationality, sixty-three being French and the others mostly from Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg. While the Germans of the Territory and of the Reich unanimously condemned the Commission for employing any non-German officials whatever, various French writers criticized the Commission severely for not having progressively replaced all the officials who had been appointed by the German administrations. Saarlouis, which had been the seat of the chief court of the region during the French regime, the Governing Commission designated as the seat of the Supreme Court of the Saar provided for by the Treaty. This court, which took the place of the Prussian Landesgericht in Cologne and the Bavarian Oberlandesgericht in Zweibrücken, and which also possessed some original jurisdiction, had an international character, three of its eleven judges being from Switzerland, two from the Saar, two from France, one from Belgium, one from the Netherlands, one from Czechoslovakia, and one from Luxembourg. Throughout the fifteen years of the League regime the position of chief justice six others elected by the Kreistag (the local assembly elected by the inhabitants of the Kreis) from its own members. The Kreisausschuss had competence over communal administration and, in addition, must carry out the decisions of the administrative courts and the disciplinary measures ordered for the lower officials. The Stadtkreis of Saarbrücken had a Stadtausschuss, composed of the Oberbürgermeister and four members elected by the city assembly. Within the Kreis the important centers of local administration were the Bürgermeistereien, of which there were eighty-three. The towns of Saarbrücken, Neunkirchen, Merzig, and St. Wendel were Stadtbürgermeistereien. In the Prussian Kreise the 289 rural communes (Landesgemeinde) were grouped in Landbürgermeistereien, which were legal entities. At the head of each was a Landbürgermeister who, among other duties, controlled the police (Ortspolizei) of the Bürgermeisterei. Like the Landrat, the Landbürgermeister was appointed for life by the President of the Governing Commission. In the Bavarian part most of the communes, in order to share the expense of a Bürgermeister, were united in unions also called Bürgermeistereien. These were purely personal and did not constitute a legal entity. AH the Bürgermeister in the Bavarian part were elected by the commune or union of communes. 111 See below, note 39.

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was held by a Swiss. The Court heard appeals from the lower civil and criminal courts of the area which had been retained, as the Treaty provided, and decided all matters for which these courts were not competent.12 Justice was administered in the name of the Governing Commission. A foreign government imposed on an unwilling population, its task was made the more difficult by the action of the League Council in making the French member the first chairman of the Commission. This, though never the subject of protest by the German government, was a serious grievance, made intolerable by the Treaty provision that decisions of the Commission were to be taken by majority vote and by the fact that the French Chairman could count on support from the Danish and Belgian commissioners. Behind the campaign of attacks on President Rault lay the political background of an indirect offensive against the French policy in the Rhineland and the Ruhr. President Rault was most certainly an excellent administrator, as proof of which he managed to set up a working administration for the Territory in circumstances of extreme difficulty.13 He was one of the most distinguished of the French prefects, with a special experience in dealing with industrial disputes and genuinely desirous of making his government popular with the Saarlanders. As for his partisan attitude, it should be pointed out that as Minister of the Interior he might well have replaced the Landräte by neutrals, and did not do it. Some of the more nationalistic French writers complain that he looked on himself much more as the representative of the League of Nations than of France, and that therefore the appointment of the French member as chairman deprived France of the representation contemplated by the Treaty.14 The Germans, however, were convinced that President Rault, who unfortunately could speak no German, was collaborating with the French troops and the Mines Administration in order to treat the Territory as a French colony. In view of the approaching plebiscite it is doubtful whether, even if the Governing Commission had been actually neutral in member12 See "Verordnung betreffend die Errichtung von Verwaltungsgerichten für das Saargebiet, July 28, 1920," Amtsblatt, no. 8, 1920, p. 47. For the Treaty provisions, see Saar Annex, paragraph 25. There was also in Saarlouis an Oberverwaltungsgericht which took the place of the corresponding Prussian and Bavarian courts. 13 The English text of the Treaty refers to the head of the Governing Commission as "chairman." In the French text the word used is "président." As the Chairman was so designated in the Territory, this expression will be used hereafter. 14 Revire, p. 42. See also "Le Sabotage de la Sarre," by X X X , in La Revue des vivants (February 1929), p. 216. For a German criticism of the Commission and its Chairman, see Levin L. Schiicking, in the New Statesman, XIX (May 27, 1922), 203-204.

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ship, its excellent administrative and economic measures would have secured support from the inhabitants. As early as March 13, 1920, the Saar leaders had begun to put into effect plans to organize all classes in the Territory in opposition to French annexation efforts and to the dictatorial powers conferred on the Governing Commission. On that day the Saar leaders held four great mass meetings in Saarbrücken at which resolutions were passed demanding the replacement of the French garrison by an adequate Saar gendarmerie, a Saar parliament, retention of the mark as currency, retention of the Reichsgericht at Leipzig as the high court of appeals for the Territory, and the employment only of Germans as public officials. On March 26 the Kreistag of Saarbrücken Landkreis demanded in addition that only German officials be employed, and protested against new administrative measures.15 To unite all Saarlanders living throughout Germany in the effort to secure the return of the Saar at the earliest possible moment, the Saarverein was founded early in 1920, with headquarters in Berlin. The organization, which later became the Bund der Saarvereine, was affiliated with the Deutscher Schutzbund which was active in all the plebiscite areas. By means of its local chapters throughout Germany, and its bi-weekly magazine, the Saar-Freund, the organization quickly became the focus for criticism of the Governing Commission and the Mines Administration. In setting up the autonomous regime required by the Treaty of Versailles the Governing Commission felt itself under obligations completely to sever the Saar Territory politically and administratively from the Reich for the fifteen years of the League regime.16 Each step — the designation of Saarlander instead of Deutsch, or Preussen, on the identity card, the entry of the Territory into the International Postal and Telegraphic Union, and the Berne Railway Convention — was opposed by the German government on the ground that the Saar was not an independent state and that Germany had not renounced sovereignty over the Territory but merely the right to govern.17 Each step 15

Röchling, pp. 59-60. For a summary of the general principles guiding the Governing Commission and of its difficulties, as stated by President Rault, see its tenth report, December 1 9 2 1 (L.N.O.J., March 1 9 2 2 , p. 2 3 4 ) . " S e e German White Book, "Das Saargebiet unter der Herrschaft," nos. 6 1 - 7 1 . T h e Governing Commission held that while the Reich still possessed sovereignty, it had surrendered the exercise thereof for fifteen years to the League which the Governing Commission represented, and that as the Commission had been granted by the Treaty all the governmental powers hitherto possessed by the German government, it possessed all the rights to make such treaties or agreements as the German government had formerly possessed. 18

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was opposed also by the leaders in the Reich and in the Saar, determined to defeat every effort to make the Saar independent of Germany and to demonstrate that the League regime was impossible, inefficient, and partisan. In this they were supported by many of the Saar officials, teachers, and clergy, as well as the higher industrial and commercial classes and the whole Saar press. The most important of these papers were three dailies of Saarbrücken, the Saarbrücher Zeitung, which was the pan-German organ, the Saarbrüc\er Landeszeitung of the Catholic Zentrumspartei, and the Volksstimme, the paper of the Sozialdemokraten. All were aided by large government subsidies from Berlin. Supported thus by the government, press, and people of the Reich, the leaders and the press of the Territory were prepared to contest every inch of the way and to frown on any cooperation with the League or with the French. 18 While the political parties declared their willingness, in principle, to cooperate loyally with the Governing Commission on the basis of the Treaty for the welfare of the Saar people,19 their distrust of the Commission as having a pro-French majority intensified their tendency to regard every question, no matter how important its bearing on the economic welfare of the Territory, as primarily a political question —as, indeed, in view of the plebiscite, it often was. Nor were they reassured by the course of the Commission in entrusting the protection abroad of Saar inhabitants to the French government, a measure legal under the Treaty, but ill-advised.20 Regarding almost every important action of the Governing Commission they invoked the right of the Saar inhabitants to address petitions to the League 18 Hermann Savelkouls says that in 1 9 1 9 a number of Persönlichkeiten of the democratic groups in the Territory, especially members of the Zentrumspartei, approached the French authorities in order to secure certain posts under the Governing Commission, and continues: "Das Bemühen zeitigte wenig Erfolg, drang aber an die Öffentlichkeit, und die Belasteten suchten sich rein zu waschen. Wäre es nicht besser gewesen, diese Männer hätten ihr Ziel erreicht, und sie sässen auf den meisten Beamtenposten statt der Franzosen? Und ich glaube, dass dieses der Gedanke einiger von ihnen war. Aber auch auf deutscher Seite verwirklichte man an der Saar sehr wenig Machiavell" (Der Franc im Saargebiet, p. 107 of 1921 ed., p. 1 1 6 of 1922 ed.). 19 "Memorial of the Political Parties of the Saar Basin to the League of Nations," Osborne, App. S, p. 367. 20 See "Fifth Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., no. 8, NovemberDecember 1920, p. 67. It is said that Switzerland was first approached, but declined (Frank M. Russell, The International Government of the Saar, Berkeley, Cal., 1926, p. 153, n. 1 2 ) . The German government refused to recognize the arrangement as regarded the protection of the interests of Saar inhabitants in Germany on the ground that the Saar was not "abroad," since the Territory was still part of the Reichsgebiet and the inhabitants still possessed German nationality (German White Book, "Das Saargebiet unter der Herrschaft," nos. 48—52 ind.).

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Council through the Commission, a right which had been affirmed by the League Council in a resolution of March 17, 1920.21 T h e Governing Commission forwarded these petitions with or without comment to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, who thereupon transmitted them to the members of the Council for their information. Unless a member of the Council should formally request it, the petitions were not entered on the Council agenda or dealt with at its formal sessions. T h e delegations of Saar leaders which began to go regularly to Geneva in 1921, however, were able to place their case before members of the Council individually, and came into close touch with the Secretariat officials. T h e first organized opposition to the Governing Commission came in connection with the introduction of foreigners as heads of the administrative services and the method of selection, discipline, and dismissal provided in the statut des fonctionnaires signed by the Governing Commission on July 29·22 O n August 6 all the Saar officials and employees went on strike and were supported by all labor in the Territoiy in a general sympathetic strike of twenty-four hours. T h e Governing Commission immediately declared martial law, and to insure maintenance of the railway services the general commanding the French troops brought in a detachment from the French army of occupation on the Rhine, and expelled about a hundred "notorious Pan-Germans," mostly foreign to the Territory, whom he considered potential agitators. T h e strike ended on August 14, and the officials accepted the decree and took the oath of loyalty to the Commission. 23 21 League of Nations, Procés-verbal of the Fifth Session of the Council, pp. 25-29. For a list of the 100 petitions presented by the Saar leaders between 1920 and 1927, see Dr. Curt Groten, Die Kontrolle des Völkerbundes über die Tätigkeit der Regierungs\ommission des Saargebietes (Saarbrücken, 1929), pp. 65-75. 22 Amtsblatt, no. 9, August 14, 1920, p. 51. The statute provided that officials on duty in the Territory should be responsible only to the Governing Commission, to whom they owed loyalty and fidelity. This affirmation was made because of renewed interference by German authorities in the Saar administration, so President Rault reported, such as the appointment of officials in the Palatinate Saar by the Bavarian government, interference by the civil authorities of Speyer with the administration of the Catholic churches, the issue by the prefect of Trier to officials of the Territory of a circular from the Imperial Commissioner for Occupied Territories, and instructions to Saar officials to disregard any orders other than those from their superiors in the Reich (L.N.O.J., November—December 1920, p. 71). 28 The oath ran: "I pledge my fidelity to the Governing Commission, representing the League of Nations, my obedience to the laws and my conscientious fulfilment of the duties of my office ("First Report of the Saar Basin Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., April-May 1920, p. 104). For the decree of March 16, 1920, see Amtsblatt, April 17, 1920, p. 3, and L.N.OJ., April-May 1920, pp. 109-110.

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Calm was restored, and the President of the Commission revised the list of expulsions and allowed those born in the Territory to return.24 The strike had synchronized with the advance of the Soviet troops in Poland and a railroad strike in the Ruhr. President Rault reported to the League that it was in the nature of an offensive, prepared long beforehand by instigators for the most part outside the Territory, with the object of destroying the authority of the Governing Commission and of proving that the regime provided by the Treaty could not be established, and he added that the great majority of the population seemed to realize that the whole movement was merely a political maneuver.25 The Germans accused President Rault and the French general in command of having planned to use the strike to bring the Saar to its knees through a military dictatorship. The tension in the area was increased by the fact that the Mines Administration began to pay wages in francs. This was expressly permitted by paragraph 32 of the Saar Annex. It was greatly to the advantage of the miners because of the position of the mark and was, in fact, favored by the Freiegewerkschaften, which meant a majority of the miners. It had, however, political implications which brought protests from officials, press, and public in the Reich and was met in the Territory by a "united front" of the press, political parties, and labor leaders. Those who favored the franc were called Landesverräter, or traitors to the Fatherland.26 Owing to the rapid fall of the mark the miners were now in a privileged position, for the shops were still selling in marks and the miners were able with their francs to buy furniture, pianos, and even houses, gardens, and land. The increase in buying power of one-third of the population had, however, raised prices for the rest, and the mark was still falling. Strikes broke out among the metal workers, and the steel works, largely under French control, were shortly paying wages in francs also. Other industries followed, and by the end of 1920 the 24 Ια consequence of its attitude during the strike, the Saarbrücker Zeitung was suspended and most of its staff expelled. The paper was published temporarily at Mannheim. Subsequently some, though not all, of the sentences were revised. (Röchling, pp. 67-68.) 25 See "Fifth Report of the Saar Basin Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., NovemberDecember 1920, pp. 6 9 - 7 1 . For the German side see German White Book, "Das Saargebiet unter der Herrschaft," pt. XI. See "Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., September 1920, p. 370; Savelkouls (ist ed.), pp. 14 et seq., 3 5 - 4 7 ; and Robert Herly, L'Introduction du franc dans la Sarre (Nancy, 1925). The election in May of Sicherheitsmänner, which gave the representatives of the Freiegewerkschaften 270 mandates, and those of the Christliche Union only 67, is taken by both authors as constituting a referendum on the franc.

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greater part of the Saar population was being paid in francs. Whether the majority of the inhabitants were eager for the substitution of the franc for the mark, as the French say, or were bitterly opposed to it, as the German thesis runs, the measure seemed to the Saar leaders to threaten an enormous increase of French influence. In spite of this opposition, however, the Governing Commission, feeling that a stable currency was imperative in budgeting for the railroad and telephone, introduced the franc for these services on March 16, 1921, and, in response to a demand from various groups of public officials and employees, agreed to pay their salaries in francs also. This brought from the German government a protest that under the Treaty the mark must remain the only official currency and that the franc might only be used in exceptional cases, as by the French state in connection with the mines.27 At the beginning of 1923 the mark commenced to fall at rapid speed, and in order to put an end to the difficulties caused thereby, the Governing Commission in the summer made the franc the sole legal currency of the Territory. The Governing Commission had succeeded in separating the Saar officially from the Reich in a political sense. It had not, however, won for itself popularity. The handsome stamps carrying the inscription Saargebiet were hated symbols of the separation from the Reich. The flag inaugurated for the Territory, combining the Prussian and Bavarian colors, and the coat of arms quartering the escutcheons of the four towns of Saarbrücken, Saarlouis, St. Ingbert, and Ottweiler, were seen only on public buildings. Successful as it was in its efforts to make the Territory formally autonomous in its political relations, in that of church hierarchy, a most important matter in a plebiscite, the Governing Commission suffered complete failure. In 1921 it attempted to secure the assent of the Holy See to the establishment of a separate bishopric for the Saar Territory, so that the influence of the bishops of Trier and Speyer should be eliminated. This effort — repeated, it is said, by the French in 1923 — was unsuccessful. The two bishops in the Reich continued to 21 See German White Book, "Das Saargebiet unter der Herrsschaft," no. 78. For the views of the Governing Commission, see fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, thirteenth, and fourteenth reports, published in the Official Journal of the League of Nations. The Germans objected that the matter had not been submitted to the elected representatives of the people and that 71 per cent of the railroad employees had voted against it, as also the Saar Economic Council. For the German side, see "Memorial of the Political Parties of the Saar to the League of Nations," App. S in Osborne, The Saar Question; also Savelkouls, Der Franc im Saargebiet (2nd ed.). For the French thesis, see Herly, L'Introduction du franc dans la Sarre.

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exercise their jurisdiction in the Saar and took an active part, as did the local priests, in Saar political affairs.28 From the first the chief of all the grievances of the German government and the Saar leaders against the League régime was the retention of the French troops as "garrison troops." Their presence was the more hated because of the fact that until 1923 part were North African tirailleurs. Recruiting for the local gendarmerie, or Saarlandjäger, was begun in July 1920 but proceeded very slowly. The Commission felt that before the troops could be dispensed with the Landjäger must number from 3,000 to 4,000, which would mean far too great a burden on the budget of the tiny Territory.29 The fact that the mines were owned by France, while the Landjäger must necessarily be German, gave rise to fear that the purely local force would not be sufficient, especially as the participation of the Saar police in the sympathetic strike in August 1920 had indicated how little reliance could be placed on any force locally recruited. The German government and the Saar political leaders, however, were convinced that the presence of the troops was intended to support intensive French propaganda, if not to intimidate the inhabitants into voting for France in the plebiscite. They made repeated protests to the League Council against the retention of the troops, on the ground that the Treaty had not provided for a military occupation, and that under paragraph 30 no forces might be maintained in the Saar for the preservation of order except the local gendarmerie therein provided. While disagreeing with the German government's interpretation of paragraph 30, the League Council itself felt strongly the desirability of an early removal of the troops from what was to be a plebiscite area, and, from the first, exerted pressure on the Governing Commission to proceed more rapidly with the recruiting of the Landjäger,30 Repeatedly the Council resolved 28 It is said that in 1 9 2 3 a great political demonstration was held in Saarbrücken on the occasion of a visit of the bishops of Trier and Speyer, when 70,000 Catholics marched past them and swore unalterable attachment to Prussia and Bavaria. It is said also that, in a pastoral letter of February 2, 1 9 2 3 , the Bishop of Trier forbade parents to send their children to the French schools on the ground that they were anti-religious, that some clergy refused to admit children attending these schools to first communion, and that others refused absolution to their parents. T h e clergy were especially active at election time and preached political sermons. (See Donnadieu, pp. 1 4 8 - 1 5 4 . ) 28 Letter of President Rault of April 1 4 , 1 9 2 1 , cited in Report of Wellington K o o to the League Council on June 20, 1 9 2 1 , L.N.O.J., 1 9 2 1 , no. 7, p. 684. 30 T h e first protests of the German government were dated February 1 5 , and April 7 and 2 3 , 1 9 2 1 . See German White Book, " D a s Saargebiet unter der Herrschaft," nos. 95—105, inclusive; see also the report by M. Wellington Koo, L.N.O.J., September 1 9 2 1 . For the report by M. T a n g Tsai-Fou summarizing the protests of the German government of August 1 8 and December 6, 1 9 2 2 , and the memorandum of representatives of political

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that it was desirable that the foreign garrison be withdrawn as soon as possible, and demanded the Commission's program for increasing the local gendarmerie,31 but by 1925 the strength of the force had been raised only to 570. On March 14 of that year the Council asked the Governing Commission to submit to it for consideration a report on the manner in which it would be possible, in the absence of troops, to carry into effect the obligations laid upon the Governing Commission by the Treaty to provide in all cases for the protection of persons and property, taking into account the possibility of obtaining the assistance of troops stationed outside the Territory.32 Early in 1926 the Commission reported that the local gendarmerie had been raised to 1,005 men, a number which seemed to be its full development and, with the 221 police in Saarbrücken and 338 in other towns, was amply sufficient to provide for the maintenance of order in normal circumstances, but that in order to provide "in all cases for the protection of persons and property" it was essential that it should be entitled to call upon the troops stationed outside the Territory and in the vicinity of its frontiers. This report was accepted by the Council on March 18, 1926.33 The French troops were reduced to two regiments, and the French government announced that these also would be gradually withdrawn. The Council asked the Governing Commission to ensure freedom of transport over the Saar railways by means of the Railway Committee of 100 officers, men, and technical officials, plus a Defense Force composed of 100 British, 68 Belgian, and 630 French soldiers.34 parties in the Landesrat dated December 29, 1922, against the slowness in recruiting the local gendarmerie, and observations of the Governing Commission of September 22, 1922, and the resolution to the Council, see L.N.O.J., no. 3, 1923, pp. 361—364. 31 For a history of the question up to 1930, see report by M. Dino Grandi to the Council (L.N.O.J., November 1930, pp. 1 3 1 4 - 1 3 1 5 ) . 32 L.N.O.J., April 1925, p. 484. 33 L.N.O.J., April 1926, pp. 527-528. 34 See report by M. Scialoja on March 12, 1927, and debate in the Council (L.N.O.J., April 1927, pp. 403—417). Also see report of the Saar Governing Commission of February 18, 1927 (ibid., pp. 599-600). The Scialoja report repeated the statements of the Governing Commission that the Defense Force would ensure the protection of the station at Saarbrücken and the Saarbrücken-Mainz line via Neunkirchen, and recalled to the Council that the Railway Committee would also have at its direct disposal two French battalions with motor transport, the one stationed at Forbach and the other at Sarreguemines, which would protect the Saar-Trier line via Merzig, the Saar-Homburg line, and the line in the valley of the Blies. Dr. Stresemann, who was presiding over the Council — the first representative of the German government to take part in any discussion in that body regarding the Saar — accepted the use of the Saar Territory for lines of communication for the inter-Allied armies and the maintenance of a special Railways Committee only on condition that a date be fixed for withdrawal of the troops, that the force be international in character

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The second demand of the Saar leaders was for a Saar parliament. The Saar Annex had provided that the laws and regulations of the Territory should be the German ones in force on November n , 1918, except those enacted in consequence of the state of war. To modify these laws the Governing Commission must first consult "with the elected representatives of the inhabitants in such a manner as the Committee may determine."35 As the Treaty merely required the Commission to consult these representatives, and did not require it to act in accordance with their will, the Commission was legally free to legislate as it saw fit, and thus, in addition to the executive functions, it had the powers of the German Reichstag and of the Prussian and Bavarian Diets. As the Germans contended, this combination of legislative and executive powers amounted to a dictatorship. The Treaty had left the Commission free to consult the representatives of the local inhabitants in such manner as it pleased. From the beginning the Saar leaders insisted that a territorial assembly must be set up for this purpose. Owing to the attitude of the leaders of the political parties and the openly expressed determination of some of their spokesmen not to agree to any collaboration with the government, the Commission did not consider it opportune to institute a general assembly and for some years confined itself to consulting the eight existing local assemblies or Kreistage, which had been newly elected in July 1920,36 This was far from satisfying to the German leaders, who complained not only that the views of the elected representatives of the people were ignored but that, as the eight separate bodies conferred separately, it was impossible for the Commission to judge the situation with understanding.37 The Commission, for its part, found that the district assemblies were too numerous, that their members were not qualified to consider to any advantage the draft decree submitted to them, and that as a general rule they either refused to conand not merely inter-Allied, that it be kept down to a few hundred men, and that it be called into action only in exceptional cases. He also made a reservation regarding any recourse to neighboring garrisons in cases of emergency. (L.N.O.f., April 1927, pp. 436-437·) 35 Saar Annex, paragraph 23. In fixing the conditions and hours of labor, the Commission was to "take into consideration the wishes expressed by the local labor organizations, as well as the principles adopted by the League of Nations" {ibid., par. 34). 86 "Fifth Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.OJ., November-December 1920, pp. 67-69. See also "Tenth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., March 1922, pp. 231 et seq. 87 "Memorial of the Political Parties of the Saar Basin to the League of Nations," Osborne, App. S., p. 370.

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sider draft decrees of the Governing Commission or rejected them.38 Accordingly, by a decree dated March 24, 1922, the Commission, with the approval of the League Council, established a Landesrat, or Advisory Council, of thirty members, to be elected for a three-year term, the suffrage for the election to be given to all persons more than twenty years of age who enjoyed the status of "inhabitant of the Saar." 3 9 T o be eligible to the Landesrat a candidate must be over twenty-five, and a native inhabitant of the Saar who did not fill any elective or public post outside it. The competence of the new body was limited to the expression of views on all proposals which the Governing Commission should submit to it for advice under paragraphs 23 and 26 of the Saar Annex. Any discussion on other subjects and "in particular, all discussions, motions or resolutions tending either directly or in38

See "Eleventh Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.OJ., May 1 9 2 2 , pp. 459-461. 89 T h e definition given by the Governing Commission to the term "Saar inhabitant" was in itself a special source of friction. While the Treaty had provided that the existing nationality of the inhabitants of the Territory should not be affected by the new regime and had given various rights to the "inhabitants of the S a a r " without respect to nationality, the word "inhabitants" had been left undefined. B y a decree signed June 1 5 , 1 9 2 1 , the Commission had provided that the status of inhabitant of the Territory of the Saar Basin should apply by right to all persons, irrespective of sex or nationality, w h o should have resided in the Territory for six months, if born in the Territory of a father legally resident there, or, if not native-born, then whose father had been born there and been legally resident there for ten years, and to all who, on November 1 1 , 1 9 1 8 , had had legal residence in the Territory. T h e decree further allowed acquisition of the status by all persons, irrespective of nationality and sex, who f o r three years had been legally resident in the Territory and subject to direct taxation, the term being reduced to one year in the case of persons holding public office in the Territory or forced to have their main residence there because of employment. Those w h o did not possess the status of "inhabitant of the S a a r " were henceforth to be considered aliens. A n y inhabitant moving away f r o m the Territory lost his status after an absence of one year. T h e decree provided that in future an inhabitant of the Territory might not be expelled f r o m it. (Amtsblatt, no. 9, June 25, 1 9 2 1 , pp. 9 2 - 9 3 ; for translation see L.N.O.J., October 1 9 2 1 , p. 859. See also "Eighth General Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., October 1 9 2 1 , pp. 840—842.) For a summary of the protest of the German government of August 2 3 , 1 9 2 1 , and of the reply of the Governing Commission, see L.N.O.J., February 1 9 2 2 , pp. 126-127. T h e draft decree had been rejected by the local assemblies. T h e chief German objections were that, while it would allow newcomers f r o m France to take part in the political life of the Territory after a short residence, German nationals w h o had not acquired the status of Saar inhabitants would be considered alien, and thus leaders coming from the Reich to strengthen the Saarlanders in their struggle could and would be expelled by the Governing Commission (Röchling, p. 7 7 ) . There was also the fear that the qualifications, would eventually be held to apply to the vote for the plebiscite. T h e Governing C o m mission repeatedly affirmed that the decree had nothing to do with the plebiscite, in which the right to vote was determined by the Treaty of Versailles. Eventually German writers ceased to be disquieted on this point. For the English text of the decree, see L.N.O.J., May 1 9 3 3 , pp. 4 1 4 t/ seq.

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directly to affect the legal situation created in the Saar Territory by the Treaty of Peace of Versailles or by the subsequent decrees of the Governing Commission" were to be null and void. The elections were to be held by the method of scrutin de liste in accordance with the principle of proportional representation. Thus the voting was not by districts but for the whole Territory as a unit, which was an innovation for the area. The first elections were held on June 25,1922.40 When the new assembly was opened on July 19 under the presidency of Herr Bartholomäus Kossmann,41 a member of the Center Party, the representatives of each of the Saar parties declared that the Saarland and people had always been German, that even the Versailles Treaty recognized this, and that they would always remain so.42 The new institution had no right of initiative or interpellation. It was consulted regarding the budget only after it had been drawn up, and its decisions were not binding on the Commission. If the authority of the Governing Commission was to be maintained these weaknesses were obligatory, according to the report by Mr. Wellington Koo to the Council of the League.43 The Saar leaders, however, were far from satisfied. They dubbed the Landesrat a Scheinparlament and insisted that it must be given the rights of interpellation, of participation in the drawing up of the agenda, and of an effective vote on laws and taxes, and must have the right to elect the Saar member of the Governing Commission. While there was no provision in the Treaty for the 40

The result by parties was as follows: Zentrum Sozialdemokraten Volkspartei Haus- und Grundbesitz Kommunisten Demokraten Total

16 seats 5 4 2 2 1 30 seats

("Twelfth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., August 1922, p. 769). 41 The chairman was appointed by the Governing Commission on the motion of the Landesrat. Herr Kossmann had risen from the ranks of labor and had for many years been the representative of the Center Party in the Reichstag. He had also been a delegate to the Weimar Constituent Assembly in 1919. 42 Röchling, p. 80. a Mr. Koo said, "It is the duty of the League to see that the Governing Commission is always in a position to carry out its duties in accordance with the Treaty. The Governing Commission could not be permitted, therefore, to set up, in contradiction to the Treaty, a Saar Parliament to which the Commission would be responsible and which could prevent the Commission appointed by the Council of the League from carrying out its duties" (L.N.O.J., May 1922, p. 4 1 3 ) .

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satisfaction of these demands, continued disregard of them was one of the great grievances of the Germans against the League regime, which they referred to customarily as a Kolonialsystem, a Knechtung, and a Ν egerregieru ng. In spite of its lack of parliamentary powers the Landesrat proved important as a vehicle of expression of the attitude of the Saar political parties to the measures of the Commission, and as such served to strengthen the German cause in the Territory. By the same decree the Governing Commission had established a Studienausschuss, or technical committee, of eight or more members, appointed from among distinguished native inhabitants over thirty years of age, to assist the Governing Commission with their experience in economic, administrative, and financial matters. This technical committee was never popular in the Saar, the people feeling that its method of selection made it too subservient to the Commission. The Landesrat, like the local assemblies, rejected practically all the draft decrees of any importance submitted to it, especially those dealing with political or economic matters. This, however, had no legal effect on the procedure of the Governing Commission, which had the right to disregard all unfavorable votes. It did, however, endeavor to keep its legislation in harmony with that of the Reich as far as was consonant with its views regarding the special situation of the Territory. Even before the Treaty of Versailles had come into force, the political leaders in the Saar had demanded that the lists of those qualified to vote in the plebiscite in 1935 should be drawn up, as this could be done more completely and accurately then than after the lapse of some years. The French objected that to establish the actual list of voters would amount to a premature plebiscite and insisted that the lists should not be drawn up until 1935. The demand of the Saar leaders became acute in 1922.44 The Governing Commission in its Tenth Report pointed out that it was not in itself a plebiscite commission and that the duty of drawing up the lists of voters would be effected only in accordance with instructions of the League Council.45 In March 1922 the Council asked Mr. Wellington Koo to recommend measures to be taken for the preservation of information in connection with the drawing up of the lists. On August 31 the Council adopted a report, presented by M. Tang ""Memorandum of the Political Parties of the Saar Basin," L.N.O.J., March 1922, p. 239. a L.N.O.J., March 1922, pp. 227-228.

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Tsai-Fou, which recommended that no decision should be taken at that time on the question whether any individual would or would not be entitled to vote under the Treaty, but that measures should be taken for the safekeeping of such local records as might be useful when the time had arrived to draw up the voting lists. The Council consequently, on September 26, 1922, appointed a "Provisional Records Commissioner for the Saar Basin Plebiscite" to examine and classify local records and report on the documents which should be placed under the special protection of the League, as also on the method of preservation.46 For this office the Council chose Dr. Alfred Bonzon, a Swiss citizen who had already served the League in the establishment of Greek refugees. Early in November Dr. Bonzon opened an office in the Saar. After detailed study and consultations with the Landräte and Bürgermeister, as well as with the Governing Commission, Dr. Bonzon on February 1, 1923, submitted his first report to the Council. In this he enumerated the documents which should be preserved as the bases for the future lists, and outlined the proper methods for safeguarding them from change or destruction. The documents, listed in order of importance, were: census returns and lists of taxpayers, state, communal, and church, for 1918-19; police registers of arrivals and departures and card indices for all inhabitants; Registry Office {état civil) documents; voters' lists for the elections for the Constituent Assembly at Weimar in 1919, for the Prussian and Bavarian constituent assemblies of the same year, and for the local elections in 1920 and the Landesrat in 1922; census returns of 1910, 1916, 1917, 1919, and 1922; records used for rationing of food and coal; recruiting registers, and the like.47 On April 23, 1923, the Council approved a decree of the Governing Commission prepared by Dr. Bonzon listing these documents and establishing direct responsibility of the state and local authorities to the League of Nations for the preservation of those in their possession under the methods carefully prescribed.48 Every infraction or attempted infraction of the decree must be reported to the Governing Commission and the Secretary-General of the League under pain of fine or imprisonment. No document might be destroyed, and none might be altered except those in use. Documents no longer in use must be deposited in the local archives under a special seal devised by Dr. Bonzon and safeguarded against damp, fire, and theft. A form was pro" F o r the report see L.N.O.J., November 1 9 2 2 , pp. 1 2 1 3 - 1 2 1 4 and 1 1 6 1 . See L.N.O-I., March 1 9 2 3 , pp. 3 7 0 - 3 7 6 . ,s For text and commentary see L.N.O.J., June 1 9 2 3 , pp. 687 et seq.

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vided in which the officials must enter the number and kind of documents in their possession and the place of deposit.49 A copy of this form was given to the Secretary-General, and one to the Governing Commission. Any change in the situation must be notified within one month to the Secretary-General of the League and to the Governing Commission. Various of the documents had to be obtained from the authorities in the Reich. Dr. Bonzon unfortunately died before he could make a final examination of the documents and report on their preservation. His successor, Colonel de Reynier, also a Swiss, and a former president of the Danzig Harbor Board, made his final report in March 1926.50 So well was the work done that the Saar leaders had no fear regarding the voters' lists, and the issue was allowed to drop. Nor were the French fearful, for not only were heavy penalties provided but the documents were so numerous and the information appeared in so many forms that any attempt to forge or change them would be speedily discovered. With the French occupation of the Ruhr in January 1923 the FrancoGerman conflict spread to the Saar, where, as a result, the press carried even more violent attacks than before against President Rault and the Governing Commission. The frequent demonstrations against the Ruhr occupation culminated in a strike in the Saar mines on February 5, 1923, ostensibly over wages but actually over the Franco-Belgian occupation of the Ruhr. 51 The strike quickly spread throughout the Territory and lasted one hundred days. When the railway personnel joined in, the railways were run by French and Belgian soldiers, and were boycotted by the inhabitants for both freight and passenger traffic. Behind this agitation the Governing Commission saw the organization of the "Heimatdienst," heavily subsidized from the "Ruhrhilfe." To meet the situation it declared martial law and on March 7, 1923, issued a Notverordnung for the maintenance of order and security. This decree, adapted, as its title recited, from the law of the Reich of July 21, 1922, for the protection of the German Republic, provided a penalty of imprisonment for from three months to five years and a possible fine of 50,000 francs for attack, or incitement to attack, on the person of a member of the Governing Commission, for taking part in secret meetings or associations, or those directed against the Governing Commission with intent to prejudice the regime set up by the Treaty, for the possession of bombs, machine guns, and other weapons, for public "Ibid., p. 692. 50 For the final report by Colonel de Reynier, see L.N.O.J., 51 See Röchling, p. 88.

1926, pp. 626-628.

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utterances contemptuous of the Treaty of Versailles, the Saar government, or its members, or for insults to, or slander against its officials, and provided for restrictions of public meetings and of the press.62 These decrees brought an atmosphere of acute tension in the Saar and were considered not only by the Germans but in Britain and in the Scandinavian countries to constitute a dictatorial regime only justifiable in time of war. 53 On pressure by M. Branting, the Swedish member of the League Council, who entered the matter of the Notverordnung on the agenda of the Council meeting on April 17, 1923, and by Sir Edward Wood, the British representative, the Notverordnung was replaced by a milder one on May 20,1923, and an amnesty was declared. On the initiative of Lord Robert Cecil, with the strong support of M. Branting, all the members of the Governing Commission were summoned to Geneva, where they appeared before the Council in private session on July 6, 1923, and underwent a long and searching examination. At the end of this the Council adopted a resolution which in diplomatic language made it plain that the President of the Governing Commission was merely the executive organ of the whole Commission, and repeated the previous statements that it was desirable to increase the local gendarmerie and withdraw the French troops as soon as possible.54 More important than the text was the fact that the Governing Commission had undergone the examination and criticism expressed by the various Council members. The publication of the full minutes of the meeting in Geneva made a very great impression both in the Saar and in the Reich.55 The action of the Council relieved the fear that the apparent efforts of the Governing Commission to establish itself as an autonomous body would meet with no effective check from the League. The Germans felt that they had won a great moral victory over the Commission, whose prestige was now at a low ebb indeed in the world at large, although the less wise of its measures had already been abandoned.56 52

For the text of the decree, see L.N.O.J., April 1923, pp. 421 et seq. For remarks by Sir John Simon, Mr. Asquith, Lord Robert Cecil, and others in the House of Commons on May 10, 1923, see Great Britain, Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, 5th ser., vol. CLXIII, cols. 2623-2666. 54 65 L.N.O.J., August 1923, pp. 930-932. Röchling, p. 97. Ee During the debate in the House of Commons on May 10, 1923, Mr. Herbert A. L. Fisher, who had represented Britain on the League Council, condemned the decree of the Governing Commission, but said: "It is only fair to those who have borne the burden of administering the Saar district to remember that many of the complaints brought against the administration by the Germans, have proved, on examination, to be utterly unfounded. The British Delegation on several occasions has examined the complaints and has found that they are extravagant and flimsy. The administrators of the Saar have some ground for complaint of the manner in which their administration has been criticised by agencies 53

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While the tension regarding the Governing Commission was now somewhat eased, other factors were causing apprehension among the Saar leaders. The further depreciation of the mark through the Ruhr occupation and the approach of the moment set by the Treaty for the tariff wall to be imposed between the Saar and the Reich were bringing in a new wave of French capital. Until the franc itself began to depreciate, at the end of 1923, the French star seemed in the ascendent, and French propaganda carried on through the Mines Administration was on the increase. In France, as early as 1922, hope of winning the plebiscite for France had died. Among certain nationalist groups, however, the higher standard of living of the Saar worker in contrast with the economic situation in the Reich was awakening the hope of a vote for the maintenance of the League regime in some form. In the Saar, as in the Rhineland, the French were encouraging a separatist movement. An organization was started called the Saarbund, with the motto "The Saar for the Saarlanders," which in the elections of 1924 to the Landesrat cast almost 7,000 votes, though it did not win a single seat.57 The Bund and the propaganda paper entitled Le Nouveau Courrier de la Sarre, which was started as an adjunct, brought violent opposition from the German parties, and the German government threatened to stop the pensions of the officials and miners participating in the movement.68 The Germans alleged, as capping the climax, the setting up of an elaborate spy system under the police administration. The most acute grievance was that of the schools established by the French Mines Administration, which the Germans regarded as a menace to Deutschtum. Paragraph 14 of the Saar Annex had read: T h e French State shall always have the right of establishing and maintaining, as incidental to the mines, primary or technical schools for its employexternal to the area, with very little interest in the area except the interest of making the task of government difficult and impracticable." The German critics, he said, had had several very sound grounds for criticizing the administration in the earlier stages of its history; there had been far too many French troops in the area, among them a "black regiment," which gave great offense, and many civilians were tried by court martial in defiance of every sound principle of justice and equity, but the British delegates had more than once raised the question in the Council and these evils had been redressed (House of Commons, Debates, CLXIII, cols. 26602661). 57 The number of qualified voters was 380,000. In the elections to the Landesrat the French and others who had come to the Saar after the ratification of the Treaty might vote, if they had the necessary residence qualifications. 58 "Le gouvernement allemand alla jusqu'à menacer les fonctionnaires et les mineurs participant au mouvement de leur supprimer leur pension; il est même depuis passé aux actes" (Ligue des Droits de l'Homme, Les Cahiers des Droits de l'Homme, September 20, 1929, p. 560).

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE 94 ees and their children, and of causing instruction therein to be given in the French language, in accordance with such curriculum and by such teachers as it may select.59 Acting under this provision, the French Mines Administration in 1920 had opened free primary and technical schools of its own, with instruction carried on in the German and French languages, the majority of the teachers being German.60 In response, as it reported, to numerous requests from persons of German nationality who wanted their children to know both languages, the Governing Commission permitted children of employees of the Mines Administration, regardless of nationality, to attend these schools, and, on the application of their parents, allowed the same privilege to children of persons not employed in the mines.61 The Germans looked on these French schools as a most dangerous effort at propaganda for France, and consequently highly improper in a plebiscite area. They argued that, under the Treaty, such schools were to be "incidental to the mines" and so could be only for children of the Mines Administration's employees, and that the word "employees" did not include miners. The Mines Administration, they charged, was bringing pressure on the miners by Zuckerbrot und Peitsche (sugar plums and blows) to send their children to these schools. All sorts of inducements, they said, were used, including less severe discipline, free school outfits and presents, preference in appointments and promotions to the man sending his children to the French school, and dismissal at the first opportunity or some other penalty for those refusing. Much of the pressure, they felt, was through the apportionment of dwellings, the Mines Administration in some villages owning about half of those available.62 Beginning in April 1922 countless manifestations were made against these French schools by the Saar political parties, trade unions, clergy, teachers, and press. The matter was brought to a head by the French occupation of the Ruhr and the separatist movement fostered by France 69 The words, "for its employees and their children," had been inserted by President Wilson in the draft of the Committee on Saar Affairs on April 6, 1919. See above, p. 53, and Miller, VII, Doc. 7 1 5 , p. 25. 80 These "were driven by their necessitous position to offer their services in 1920 and 1921 and had no hesitation in doing so, as the language in which the instruction was given was German" (legal opinion by Professor Josef Partsch, forwarded by the German government to the League on August 28, 1924, L.N.O.J., February 1925, Annex 718a; see also opinion by Professor Edwin M. Borchard, ibid., Annex 718b). 81 For the ordinances, see Amtsblatt, no. 7, July 24, 1920, p. 40, Docs. 104, 105. For the English texts see L.N.O.J., February 1925, p. 256. w Taking the miners as a whole, however, less than 8 per cent lived in lodgings owned by the Mines Administration (Capot-Rey, La Région industrielle, p. 2 9 1 ) .

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in the Rhineland. In notes dated January 18, and February 16, 1923, 63 the German Foreign Minister argued that the schools were in violation of paragraph 28 of the Saar Annex in the Treaty of Versailles, which guaranteed to the inhabitants retention of their schools and their language, and charged the Governing Commission with gradually transferring the school administration of the Territory to the French state. By means of rewards and privileges such as the national schools could not offer, the ordinary schools of the Territory, he said, had become positively deserted and in various places the teaching staff had had to be discharged. The German government wished all French schools other than primary or technical to be closed, and instruction in these to be given only in the French language and only to French children.64 Monsieur Rault, replying for the Governing Commission, said that the inhabitants had in fact retained their schools "under the control of the Governing Commission," and that if paragraph 14 of the Saar Annex applied only to French children there would have been no need of providing the right to give instruction in the French language. The Governing Commission considered that parents "should be free to choose a school for their children and that anxiety for their children's future might often lead the parents to send them to a school maintained by the Mines, having regard to the proximity of the French frontier, and the important part played by France in the economic life of the Territory through the Mines, the customs, and certain industries which she possesses. . . . " A special notice was printed on the application forms, reminding parents that, in all probability, a former pupil of a school maintained by the Mines Administration would not be allowed to pursue higher studies in Germany or obtain employment in any German public administrative office. The figures, he said, showed that the number of parents desiring to have their children educated at the schools maintained by the French Mines Administration was by no means negligible, for on January 15, 1923, the total number of children on the registers of the twenty Mines schools was 4,408, of whom 3,798 were of German nationality, including 2,126 children of 63 L.N.O.]., April 1923, pp. 4 1 4 - 4 1 7 . The first organized protest came from the Saar political parties on April 6, 1922, in a memorandum to the League Council. This was followed by further memoranda in January, February, and June, 1923. In February and March of the same year the Bishop of Trier and the United Evangelical Kreis Synods came out against the French Mines Schools. See Röchling, pp. 1 2 4 - 1 2 5 . See also Germany, Auswärtiges Amt, Correspondence concerning the French Schools in the Saar Territory (Berlin, 1924), and Gottfried Fittbogen, Die französischen Schulen im Saargebiet, eine Studie (Berlin, 1925). " N o t e of August 8, 1924 (L.N.O.J., 1924, pp. 1 6 9 3 - 1 6 9 5 ) .

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employees of the mines. But as the total number of pupils attending the national schools was 123,000 they also showed that the existence of the national schools in the Territory was in no way endangered and that the German government's assertion that "the national schools of the Territory have become positively deserted" was unfounded. 65 The Governing Commission, he said, had never received any complaints regarding the exercise of pressure to induce parents to send children to the French Mines Administration schools; the school supplies given the children were the same as those given under the Prussian administration, and the charges of other special inducements were of trifling importance. The Commission had not encouraged the development of the French schools or given them any subsidy, though it had appropriated large sums for the state schools. T o check up on the German charges that the schools were inferior the Governing Commission in 1923 had engaged a professor of the Athénée Grand Ducal at Luxembourg, where instruction was also bilingual, to make a thorough inspection of both the state schools and the Mines Administration schools. He had reported that the books used for the subjects taught in German were those in use in the German schools, that the spirit of the Mines Administration schools was that of neutrality, and that they were on a level with the German schools in the Saar. 66 As for coercion to recruit pupils, the Governing Commission declared categorically that any acts of coercion brought to its knowledge would be punished, and stated that any complaints made in due form would be thoroughly investigated and the necessary penalties enforced. If recruiting for the Mines Administration schools were carried out by coercion, it said, it would be difficult to understand how these schools could include pupils whose parents were unconnected with the Mines staff and who would " L e t t e r of March 8, 1923, from the Chairman of the Governing Commission to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations (LM.O.J., April 1923, pp. 4 1 7 - 4 1 9 ) . 66 "Note from the Governing Commission to the League Council, of September 1 , 1924," L.N.O.J., November 1924, p. 1700. In a memorandum to the League Council, M. Branting reported that, from the impartial inspection carried out in the summer of 1923, the teaching in the French schools was equal in value to that in the German schools (L.N.O.J., February 1925, Annex 7 1 8 g ) . While of the opinion that paragraph 14 of the Saar Annex owed its origin solely to the desire to exempt the French and other foreign elements attached to the Mines Administration from the compulsory school attendance imposed by German law and to furnish them with the equivalent of the compulsory primary and technical education provided in their own countries, he considered that so long as attendance at the French schools was not made compulsory for the Germans there could be no necessity, in virtue either of paragraph 14 or any other article in the Treaty, of modifying the existing national legislation. Branting held that the term "employees" covered miners and that the schools had the right to give instruction in German.

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appear to be out of reach of the coercive methods denounced by the German government. Pressure had, however, often been brought to bear to prevent parents from sending their children to these schools. The Governing Commission, said M. Rault, refused to take sides in the dispute and suggested that persons concerned should bring their cases before the courts of the Territory.67 In a letter dated December 1, 1924, the German government stated that it had abundant documentary evidence of strong pressure being put on the population but could not submit the material because the persons concerned — for the most part miners or mining employees — had urgently requested that their names should not be made public, since they feared the loss of their livelihood, a fear which sufficiently explained why the Governing Commission had received no complaints.68 The German government attached seven statements, without signatures, as examples of pressure, and offered to supply names and other details to a representative of the League of Nations who, it urged, should be sent to the Territory. The League Council, which had considered the question of the schools on April 23, 1923,69 took up the matter once more on December i l , 1924. As rapporteur, the Italian member, Signor Salandra, said that the importance which public opinion in the Territory attached to this problem gave to the question a wider bearing than would result from a mere comparison between the inconsiderable number of pupils which frequented these schools and those frequenting the ordinary schools of the Territory. "Personally," he concluded, "I rely on the wisdom of the Governing Commission, and I am fully confident that it will find the means of allaying the anxiety which this matter seems to have aroused in certain sections of the Saar population." 70 After taking cognizance of the Council's resolution approving the report, the Governing Commission on February 23, 1925, published in the Amtsblatt71 a statement saying that it had not been made aware of any cases of pressure by the French State Mines and was therefore unable to examine the justice of these complaints, and that, furthermore, the German parents of children attending the French Mines schools had complained that they had been forced by threats or other " L.N.O.J., 1924, pp. 1 7 0 2 - 1 7 0 3 . Herr Kossmann, the Saar member of the Governing Commission, dissented from the opinion of the majority of the Commission and suggested that the matter should be examined by impartial jurists. 68 L.N.O.J., February 1 9 2 5 , p. 267. m L.N.O.J., June 1 9 2 3 , p. 687. 70 L.N.O.J., February 1 9 2 5 , pp. 247 et seq. 11 Amtsblatt, no. 5, February 23, 1 9 2 5 , p. 2 3 ; L.N.O.J., March 7925, p. 3 1 5 .

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means either not to send their children to the French Mines schools or to withdraw them and send them to the state schools. "The existence of these complaints," it continued, has led the Governing Commission to state publicly that every employee or salaried official belonging to the State Mines is free according to established law to send his children either to the State school or to the Mines schools, and that he must not thereby be put to any disadvantage by anyone whatever. The Governing Commission will safeguard this liberty and will grant its protection to all those who may be subjected to unlawful pressure by reason of their choice of school. The Governing Commission declared, however, that, although it had the legal right to do so, it would not henceforth grant permission to parents not employed in the mines to send their children to the Mines Administration primary schools instead of to the state schools except when important reasons could be adduced. This statement that children of others than miners would be allowed in the Mines Administration schools only for important reasons was reassuring to the German leaders, who looked on the result of their efforts at the League Council meeting as a political if not a legal triumph.72 During 1924 the atmosphere, greatly lightened by the victory over the Governing Commission at Geneva, had been aided by changes in the Commission itself. In March Herr Land was replaced by Herr Bartholomäus Kossmann, who had been appointed by the Governing Commission as first president of the Landesrat, and had, so the Saar leaders felt, done all that was possible to protect the interests of the inhabitants. At the same time M. von Moltke-Huitfeld was replaced by Señor Espinosa de los Monteros, a Spaniard who, while the candidate of the French government, proved most acceptable to the Saar people. On his sudden death in August 1924, which was mourned by the whole Saar, his place was taken by M. Vezensky, a Czech. During the year the political changes in France had also done much to lessen the tension in the Saar. After the fall of the bloc national on May 11, 1924, and the coming to power of the Left under Herriot, French propaganda in the area became less. The separatist Saarbund disappeared and attendance at the French schools fell to as low as 1,500. The current, which had seemed to be setting strong for France, was now reversed. The Saar celebrated with frenzied enthusiasm in June 1925 the Rhenish Jahrtausendfeier, a festival held throughout the "Röchling, p. 127.

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Reich to commemorate the union of the Rhineland with the Empire by Henry the Fowler in 925 A.D. The Saar leaders had taken the festival as an opportunity for a pre-plebiscitary demonstration. In defiance of the orders of the Governing Commission every dwelling in the Territory was beflagged in the old imperial colors, and the festival processions marched under them; the forbidden torchlight parade was held with more than 50,000 people taking part — a number so great that the Commission and the police could do nothing to prevent it — while the order prohibiting Landräte and Bürgermeister from aiding in the arrangements did not keep their deputies from illuminating the Rathaus and other public buildings with special lights from the city electric system. Everywhere those taking part in the processions, sports, and patriotic performances sang the Saarlied,73 and great crowds attended the special religious services held under the text: Herr, mach' uns frei! The Saar leaders claimed that the demonstration amounted to a plebiscite, and many in France also took the Rhineland festival as conclusive proof that the plebiscite in 1935 would go overwhelmingly for return to the Reich.74 Even the economic balance seemed to be ra The Saarlied, which was set to the music of the folk song of the Bergmannslied, ran as follows:

D E U T S C H IST D I E S A A R

1. Deutsch ist die Saar, deutsch immerdar Und deutsch ist unseres flusses Strand Und ewig deutsch mein Heimatland, Mein Heimatland, mein Heimatland. 2. Deutsch bis zum Grab, Mägdlein und Knab' Und deutsch das Lied und deutsch das Wort Und deutsch der Berge schwarzer Hort, Der Berge schwarzer, schwarzer Hort. 3. Deutsch schlägt das Herz stets himmelwärts Deutsch schlugs als uns das Glück gelacht Deutsch schlägt es auch in Leid und Nacht, In Leid und Nacht, in Leid und Nacht. 4. Reicht euch die Hand, schlinget ein Band Um junges Volk, das deutsch sich nennt, In dem die heisse Sehnsucht brennt Nach dir o Mutter, nach dir, nach dir. 5. Ihr Himmel hört, ganz Saarvolk schwört Lasset uns es in den Himmel schrei'n, Wir wollen niemals Knechte sein, Wir wollen ewig Deutsche sein! 71

Donnadieu says that certain influential persons opposed to the celebrations were threatened with being placed on the Reich black lists and with worse reprisals. "Qu'on ne pretende point, après cela, que la célébration du millénaire rhénan ait exprimé les sentiments réels et spontanés des Sarrois!" (La Liquidation de la victoire, pp. 1 4 4 - 1 4 5 ) .

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settled in favor of Germany when the fall of the franc in 1926, which coincided with the success of the new gold mark, caused a recession of the French capital invested in the Saar and many of the firms, including the Stumm works at Neunkirchen and the Ehrhardt and Sehmer machine factory in Saarbrücken, again came under German majority control. In 1925 the atmosphere was still more calmed by the Treaty of Mutual Guarantee of the Franco-German frontier by Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Belgium, drawn up and initialed at Locarno on October 16 and signed in London in December of the same year. The entry of Germany into the League of Nations on September 8, 1926, and her accession to a permanent seat on the Council, gave the Saar people a champion in the Council itself. While "the bitter days of the antechamber" were now ended, it is an interesting fact that during the membership of the Reich in the League of Nations the German government brought no complaints whatever before the Council regarding the Saar, and no petitions of importance were forwarded by the Saar political leaders. In March 1926 President Rault had left the Governing Commission and had been replaced as president by the Canadian member, Mr. George Washington Stephens, who in 1923 had succeeded Mr. Waugh, so beloved by the Saarlanders. Mr. Stephens had become as popular as his predecessor, for he mixed freely with the inhabitants and in his gray Halb-Zylinder, which was called affectionately the Krone des Saargebietes, was often to be seen drinking a glass of beer with the Saar burghers. President Stephens took over the Interior and Foreign Affairs. M. Morize, who had been secretary-general of the Commission since 1920, and who now succeeded M. Rault as the French member of the Commission, became Minister of Finance, Economic Matters, and the Mines. Although jubilant over the withdrawal of M. Rault, the Germans still felt that the French had a preponderance on the Commission, as the French member, with the Belgian and Czech ministers, could outvote President Stephens and Herr Kossmann. When on June 20, 1927, President Stephens resigned, he was succeeded by Sir Ernest Wilton of the British diplomatic service. Such preponderance as the French had enjoyed was permanently over when in March 1928 M. Lambert of Belgium, the last of the original Governing Commission, was replaced by a citizen of Finland, M. von Ehrenrooth, who took over from his predecessor the Post, Telegraph, Telephone, and Railroads. While the composition of the Governing Commission was now far

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more satisfactory to the Saar leaders, new grievances had arisen. These concerned the Warndt, the thickly wooded and thinly settled bay jutting into Lorraine to the west of Völklingen, near Forbach, and containing the most valuable of the Saar coal deposits, which had been reserved by the Prussian state for future exploitation. As the soil was sandy and unfruitful, the increasing population had found work on the other side of the Saar boundary in Lorraine, where two French companies — the Petite Rosselle (De Wendel), and the Sarre et Moselle —had held mining concessions for many years before the war, 75 the De Wendel firm at Forbach and at Petite Rosselle on the Rosselbach, which here marks the border of the Saar, and the Sarre et Moselle at Carling (Karlingen), L'Hôpital (Spittai), and Carlsbrunn, all on the frontier. T o these two companies the French state in 1924 had given ninety-nine year leases to work the Saar deposits immediately across in the Warndt. 76 When in 1927 the leases were made public these two companies had sunk their shafts on the Lorraine side of the frontier and tunneled under it into the Warndt, removing the coal at their old works in Lorraine, but paying on it the regular pithead tax levied on all Saar coal. Before the world depression some 4,000 men, presumably qualified voters in the plebiscite, were crossing the frontier daily by electric tram and bus from Lauterbach and other settlements in the Warndt to work in these French mines, while others were remaining in Lorraine during the work-week, and sleeping in workmen's barracks.77 The Germans, always fearful that the French would attempt to break off pieces of the Saarlouis region and the Warndt, were certain that the new arrangements had been made to secure the miners' vote through fear of loss of employment if France should lose the mines. The French denied that the leases had any political significance whatever, but some at least hoped that it would mean a vote by the miners for the maintenance of the League regime, if not for France. 78 The Germans saw in the arrangement an attempt 75

The firm of Les Petits Fils de François de Wendel had obtained the concession of La Petite Rosselle about 1845 (François de Wendel had owned iron mines in Lorraine as early as 1 8 1 1 ), and had continued to hold it, the concessions made to French companies in Lorraine not having been sequestrated by the Prussians after 1870. " T h e leases were approved by the Governing Commission on December 20, 1924, by a protocol signed with the French state. 77 Grossrosseln, in the Warndt, and Klein Rösseln or Petite Rosselle, across the brook, were in reality one unit gathered around the De Wendel mines. So, too, the Sarre et Moselle Company had built miners' houses on the Saar side of the frontier. 78 See remarks of M. Pierre Taittinger (below, p. 108), head of the Jeunesses Patriotes, in the Chambre des Députés on November 8, 1929, concerning negotiations with Germany (Journal officiel, Chambre des Députés, Débats, November 8, 1929, pp. 3042—3046).

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also to exhaust as much as possible of the coal reserves before 1935, as well as to bind the Saar to France so closely that a special agreement after that date would be imperative. They held that the French state had no right to give a ninety-nine year lease to a property the fate of which was to be decided shortly by plebiscite, and termed the whole affair "a robbery." 79 The French argued that until 1935 the coal clearly belonged to the French state and that the leases contained clauses providing for termination in case French title to the coal should cease, and that the tunneling under the frontier was due only to the desire to retain the buildings and other equipment of their mines in the event of losing the plebiscite in the Warndt. As it was not yet certain whether the plebiscite was to be by communes or districts the situation might become a matter of importance. For this reason the Germans were putting a special effort into tying the Warndt up more closely with the Saar valley, while officials of the Mines Administration had apparently exerted a special effort to develop the French schools and parents' associations in the region. On January 10, 1925, ended the transition period of five years during which trade between the Saar and Germany was to be free, while trade between the Saar and France was gradually becoming so.80 The cordon douanier between the Saar and France was now raised, and across every road entering the Territory from the Reich was stretched the regulation wooden boom, with a shelter for the French customs officer beside it, facing the German customs station a few yards beyond.81 While for various reasons the Saar was turning more and more toward the French market to sell her coal,82 she was still very de™ The eminent German international lawyer, Dr. Walther Schiicking, held that the leases were illegal on the ground that an arrangement to disregard the national frontier could be valid only if made by treaty between the states possessing sovereignty, i.e., France and Germany (Frankfurter Zeitung, May 15, 1930). The legality of the working of Saar subsoil from Lorraine pitheads was incontestable, in the opinion of the Governing Commission. It proved a godsend to the Territory during the worst of the depression by providing employment to between 3,000 and 4,000 Saar miners and is now enshrined in the Franco-German agreement of December 3, 1934. 80 Saar Annex, paragraph 3 1 . 81 The French customs personnel with their families numbered about 3,000 persons. 82 This was due in part at least to the high price fixed by the French Mines Administration for Saar coal. See "Fifth Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., NovemberDecember 1920, p. 74. Although inferior in quality, Saar coal was 20 to 25 per cent higher in price than that of the Ruhr. French authorities held that the high price was due to the high transportation cost compared with that from other basins more favorably placed. The Germans charged that the French Mines Administration systematically neglected the German markets in order to make the Saar tributary to France. The French denied this and

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pendent on the Reich for the absorption of the products of her steel mills, metal-finishing works, and ceramic and glass industries — precisely those products regarding which French industrialists had no wish to suffer competition in the French market. T h e French government, accordingly, negotiated agreements with the Reich in August and November 1926 which opened a free market in Germany for Saar iron, steel, glass, and pottery up to the amounts consumed in the Reich before the war and, under a quota system, allowed the free entry of some German products into the Saar for local use, while other products were put under a low tariff. 83 Thus the Saar could obtain freely from either France or Germany the implements and raw materials necessary for its industry, and possessed in both countries an almost unrestricted market. explained that, as immediately after the war France was deprived of her own coal in the north, the first effort of the French Mines Administration had been to satisfy the French demand, and as the Saar mines had been neglected during the war the output had not been sufficient to satisfy the German market also; that later, when production had increased, German inflation and passive resistance at the time of the Ruhr occupation prevented recovery of the German markets and that, when Germany later fixed a maximum contingent of 100,000 tons a month on the importation of Saar coal, in spite of Ruhr competition the Saar often reached this maximum (Henri Chiny, Le Retour éventuel de la Sarre à l'Allemagne vu par les Allemands, Paris, 1932, pp. 5 - 2 4 ) . 83 See L. N. Treaty Series, LXXIII, 105 et seq., and LXII, 155 et seq. After a treaty of commerce was concluded between France and Germany on August 17, 1927, the agreements regarding the Saar, which had been renewed with adaptations from time to time, were replaced by comprehensive agreements signed February 23, 1928 (ibid., L X X I X , 247 et seq.).

ν LOCARNO —HITLER E N J O Y I N G as it did free trade with France and her African possessions, and retaining comparative free trade with the Reich as well, the Saar was in a peculiarly favorable position to profit by the world prosperity of the late 1920's. The stocks in the windows of the shops and the crowds pouring in through their doors testified, as did the unemployment figures, to the economic well-being of the Territory. Saar political leaders, however, continued to deny it, and to repeat their criticisms of the League regime. The wages of the miners, they said, were insufficient, money was scarce, and political liberties nonexistent. The Saarlanders, they reiterated, like their brothers in the Rhineland, were oppressed by a foreign yoke. The early return of the Saar to the Reich was demanded repeatedly in resolutions adopted by the numerous meetings organized by the Bund der Saarvereine in the principal towns and universities throughout the Reich. This ambition received strong support from the German Foreign Minister, Dr. Gustav Stresemann, whose chief interest centered in the freeing of all German territory from alien control.

Meanwhile in France, where the destroyed mines in the Nord and the Pas de Calais had been fully restored and new mines developed in Lorraine, the government for years past had apparently accepted the certainty of the return of the Saar to Germany by plebiscite in 1935. The public in general had long since surrendered whatever hope it may have had of winning the vote for France or for the status quo, as the League régime was called in the area, and, its craving for security relieved by Locarno, had lost all interest in the Saar, while the French liberals, and particularly the Socialists, regarded it primarily as an obstacle to Franco-German reconciliation and were frankly regretful that the Versailles arrangement existed. Convinced that the plebiscite would go for Germany, increasing numbers of Frenchmen wished both to save France humiliation and to promote German friendship by avoiding the vote, and desired in exchange for the return of the Saar to Germany to secure an agreement favorable to French interests regarding the customs, the mines, and the steel industry. The

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French Prime Minister, M. Briand, who was Foreign Minister as well, was anxious for the liquidation of the Saar question as the last step in his Locarno policy. Already, during the interview at Thoiry with Stresemann in September 1926, Briand had proposed the return of the Saar and the end of the occupation of the Rhineland in exchange for economic concessions.1 T h e discussion had come to nothing, owing to the storm raised in France against premature evacuation of the occupied territory and the change in the situation caused by the stabilization of the franc. Nevertheless, in both countries the desire had persisted. In France there was apparently strong pressure for it not only from the Socialists but from economic groups. French steel manufacturers who had no investments in the Saar were more than willing to be rid of Saar competition; the coal interests in the North were eager to be rid of the competition of Saar coal; and various other less important French industrialists were anxious to have the customs bond severed.2 There were, however, other groups in France eager to retain the status quo. Although Saar coal had ceased to be of such prime importance to France as it had been in earlier years, the Territory had, if anything, increased in economic value to its western neighbor, for it had acquired such importance as a market for French products as to be the sixth customer of France, ranking above Italy and Spain and almost as high as the United States. N o t only was it buying dairy cattle and food from Lorraine and Alsace, and increasing quantities of furniture, cloth, and clothing from Alsace and from Paris, but the mines themselves had become an important consumer of French merchandise. Thus a premature return of the Saar to Germany was extremely unpalatable not only to the agricultural interests in Lorraine but to a great number of manufacturers in all parts of France. Finally, there were the French patriotic associations which looked on the Saar as a last protection against the Germans after the Rhineland should be evacuated and were well aware of the importance of Saar steel in any future war. The increasing prosperity in the Territory was encouraging Gustav Stresemann, Vermächtniss (Berlin, 1932), III, 1 5 - 1 8 . T h e opposition of these groups of French industrialists was sufficiently important in 1930 to bring from French writers concerned in maintaining the status quo the reply that more than 100,000 producers, merchants, workers, and others in France were afforded employment by the Saar market, besides the 10,000 Frenchmen who, on the invitation of their government, had installed themselves in the Territory itself (Donnadieu, p. 204). T h e competition of Saar products had become so severe by 1932 that French producers demanded that they be excluded under the regulations and contingents regarding foreign goods. T h e French government ruled, however, that for legal purposes Saar enterprises should be considered as French and entitled to the same advantages. 1

2

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T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

these several groups to hope for an ultimate vote for maintaining the League regime. To work against any change in the status of the Saar before 1935, and to secure the permanence of the League regime after that date, the Association Française de la Sarre was formed in February 1928, with headquarters at Paris.3 Articles by the secretary, under the pen name of "Jean Revire," and by others, appeared in the Coty papers, Figaro and the Ami du Peuple, as well as other great Paris dailies, the Echo de Paris, the Journal, and the Paris-Midi, in the Royalist organ, L'Action française, and in some of the provincial papers, notably those of Lorraine. These articles, as also the book entitled Perdrons-nous la Sarre?, by the secretary, M. Herly, argued that the treaty rights of France in the Saar were of the greatest importance; that the Territory was flourishing; and that, far from being necessarily a source of discord between France and Germany, the Franco-German collaboration already taking place in the Territory could be made into a tie which would lead to a united Europe.4 Most of them recognized the profoundly German character of Saar culture but held that this was not an insurmountable obstacle and warned that the Saar could not join Germany and hope to retain the benefits of the French customs regime. These publications commanded little attention in France itself, where knowledge of the Saar remained vague and interest quiescent. Even French veterans of the World War, questioned on their ocean journey home from the Chicago Exposition in 1933, had no clear idea of the geographic position of this little territory on their own frontier and no conception of its strategic value. In Germany, however, these frequent articles in the French press greatly increased the fear of annexationist desires in France. 3 The honorary president was M. Jacques Bardou, a distinguished member of the Institut de France; the president was the president general of the Union Nationale des Combattants. Later the president was M. Maurice Ordinaire, vice-president of the French Senate and leader of the Union Républicaine, the second largest group in that body. The secretary was Dr. Robert Herly, who was attached to the Bureau des Mines de la Sarre, Boulevard Raspail, Paris. Various patriotic organizations adhered to the association, among them the Ligue des Patriotes, the Ligue Française, the Comité de la Rive Gauche du Rhin, the Comité Dupleix, and the Société Commerciale de Paris. According to the bulletin of the Ligue des Droits de l'Homme, cited above, the movement was directed by the vice-president of the Comité des Forges de la Sarre. See Les Cahiers des Droits de l'Homme, n.s., no. 24, September 20, 1929, p. 565. * "Nous avons en Sarre un embryon de gouvernement intereuropéen. Pourquoi ne pas consolider cette expérience précieuse?" ("Le Sabotage de la Sarre, une belle partie gâchée," La Revue des vivants, February 1929, pp. 2 1 1 et seq.) For the reply of the distinguished German jurist, Judge Walther Schiicking, see the same, July 1929, pp. 1024-1031.

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While the Saar leaders continued to express absolute confidence that the vote in 1935 would give between 95 to 99 per cent for return to the Reich, their demand for immediate return never wavered. In the Landesrat all parties except the Communists frequently adopted resolutions of loyalty to the Reich and demanded that world opinion should facilitate the immediate return to the Fatherland. At the great protest demonstration in Saarbrücken on June 28, 1929 — the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles — orators of all parties except the Communist demanded immediate return. To show the German character of the area, in the same year, in collaboration with the party leaders, the editors of the three principal local papers, the Saarbrüc\er Zeitung, the Saarbrüc\er Landeszeitung, and the Volbjstimme — representing the three chief political parties of the area — published under the management of the Saarbrüc\er Zeitung a compendious collection of carefully documented chapters by authorities on Saar geography, political and economic history, coal, iron, glass, and pottery industries, and cultural life.5 In June 1929, during the meeting of the League Council in Madrid, Stresemann again broached the Saar question privately to Briand, but without immediate result. In consequence, however, of private conversations between the two Foreign Ministers at the conference at The Hague in August of the same year to discuss the settlement of reparations and the evacuation of the Rhineland, it was decided to open negotiations at Paris regarding the details of the Saar question — "the rights of the inhabitants being safeguarded," 6 an obscure phrase which probably meant that the inhabitants would be consulted as to the final arrangement after it had been agreed on by the two governments. The French government, in preparation for the negotiations, at once set up an interministerial commission at Paris to study the various aspects of the problem and to draw up the program. Before its three subcommittees7 appeared in opposition a number of senators and 6 6

Kloevekorn, Das Saargebiet. On August 30, 1929, the two ministers exchanged the following letter: "LA

"MONSIEUR LE

HAYE,

30 août, 1929

PRÉSIDENT,

"Me référant à nos conversations relatives à la solution prochaine de la question de la Sarre, j'ai l'honneur de confirmer à Votre Excellence notre accord réciproque: le droit de la population sarroise étant sauvegardé, les questions de détail devront faire l'objet de négociations franco-allemandes qui commenceront à bref délai à Paris et devront autant que possible être menées à bien sans interruption" (Donnadieu, p. 179, n.; Charles Drouard, address of May 18, 1930, before La Société Industrielle de l'Est). 7 These were commerce and customs; future régime of the mines, valuation and

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deputies from various departments, several political groups, and numerous chambers of commerce of French cities. These protested vigorously against any termination of treaty rights in the Saar before 1935.8 When, on November 21, 1929, the negotiations opened at Paris, the political atmosphere had changed vitally. On October 3 Stresemann had died. On October 22 the Briand Cabinet had fallen and Tardieu had become Prime Minister, Briand remaining as Foreign Minister. To discuss even the eventual abandonment of the mines meant to a powerful group in France not merely the beginning of liquidation of the war but of victory, and to touch a territorial clause of the Treaty meant the crumbling of the whole edifice.9 For this reason the actual question of the early return of the Saar to Germany was not explicitly on the agenda, although, with that of economic compensations to France, it formed the basis of the negotiations.10 The French delegation insisted on the continuance of the existing customs regime until 1935 and for fifteen years thereafter, some form of participation in the administration of the mines, a guarantee regarding the delivery of coal for the Lorraine steel industry, and continuation of the leases in the Warndt to the De Wendel and other companies. The Germans refused any economic compensations whatever for the return of the Saar without a plebiscite. The French, accordingly, chose to retain their economic and strategic advantages under the Treaty until 1935, some hoping that the economic situation in Germany and the growing strife of the Nazis with the Communists and Catholics might favor a vote for the continuance of the League regime if the inhabitants were assured that their political rights would be enlarged. apportionment of coal; and the political problem, private interests as a whole, and Saar ofHcials. 8 Donnadieu, pp. 1 8 1 - 1 8 5 . 9 See remarks by MM. Franklin-Bouillon and the leader of the Jeunesses Patriotes, Pierre Taittinger, in the Chamber on November 8, 1929. On the strategic arguments, see also Donnadieu, pp. 1 9 6 - 1 9 7 . 10 M. Tardieu made a ministerial declaration on November 7, 1929, before the Chambre des Députés, indicating that the discussions by the French government at The Hague and at Paris concerned only the economic regime of the Saar, without touching on the political rights of the population, and were limited to a study of the possibility of a durable arrangement advantageous to the contracting parties (Journal officiel, Chambre des Députés, Débats, November 7, 1929, p. 2999). In answer to apprehensions expressed in the Chamber regarding any change in the political provisions of the Treaty, M. Briand pointed out that he was trying to gain economic advantages for France before all chance was lost, and while not explicitly denying to the satisfaction of the extreme nationalists that the political question was being considered, he nevertheless carefully indicated that the negotiations concerned only economic matters, and that the right of the inhabitants under the Treaty to settle their own fate could not be changed by a bilateral conférence (ibid., November 8, 1929, pp. 3056-3057).

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On June 30, 1930 — five years before the date contemplated in the Treaty of Versailles — the evacuation of the Rhineland was finally completed without any agreement having been reached regarding the Saar. The negotiations dragged on until July, when they finally broke down, never to be revived. 11 Each side considered the other responsible. The French Socialists blamed the Comité des Forges for the failure of negotiations. The Association Française de la Sarre claimed the credit for preventing any agreement doing away with the plebiscite and thus for securing to the inhabitants "time to reflect and liberty to decide." On September 12, as a consequence of the evacuation of the Rhineland, the League Council voted to disband the International Railways Defense Force, and with its removal on December 12 the Saar was freed from all trace of foreign troops. With the failure of the Franco-German negotiations, victory in the plebiscite again became the goal of the Saar leaders. Of an overwhelming majority for Germany throughout the area they were already confident. This, however, would not content them; they insisted on a vote of at least 99 per cent for return to the Reich. Clearly any vote for France would be negligible. The only danger to an overwhelming vote for Germany was a possible, though improbable, support for the League regime. To make this impossible they organized all the Saar political parties, Catholic, Liberal, and Socialist, in a "United Front" under the leadership of Herr Röchling, who was backed by subsidies from Berlin. 12 The women had for years been active in the Vaterländische Frauenverein des Roten Kreuzes, itself a part of the great Deutscher Schutzbund, subsidized by the German government. 13 Groups "Chancellor Brüning in 1932 was carrying on private negotiations to secure an international conference under the patronage of King Albert of Belgium to effect a complete revision of the Treaty provisions, including immediate return of the Saar, with compensation to France and an agreement between the French and German industrialists. The replacement of Brüning by von Papen as Chancellor, due, it is said to the intrigues of von Schleicher, put an end to all prospect of success for this, as it did for the German proposals for reduction of armaments at Geneva. See John Wheeler-Bennett, Hindenburg, the Wooden Titan (London, 1936), pp. 379—394. 12 The French said that, while their own government did little in the way of propaganda in the Saar, the Reich spent there 10,000,000 gold marks a year in subsidies and Betreuungsgeld — or rewards for fidelity — to public officials, and to every kind of association — sport, musical, veteran, labor, and student — and that Herr Röchling had at his disposal 37,000,000 marks annually for propaganda. The Germans, for their part, said that there had been and was still an enormous amount of organized French propaganda in the Territory and that the Mines Administration was spending millions of francs a year for the schools and for the Saarbund, while Germany in her impoverished condition could do little. Like the French they reproached their own government for passivity and urged it to adopt an active Saarpoliti\. 13 The cooking and sewing classes of the Red Cross children's organizations had long

no

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

of Saar women were taken on excursions to points of interest throughout Germany, where Bürgermeister received the miners' wives as heroic victims of a despotic rule, and festivals and military parades were held in their honor. Throughout the Reich every effort was being made to organize the whole energy of the German nation to win the plebiscite. The Heimatdienst, the Schutzbund, and the Bund der Saarvereine, all subsidized by government funds, were publishing pamphlets and arranging meetings to awaken the interest of the whole German people in the return of the Saar. Speakers went from the Saar to address meetings in the Reich, while speakers from the Reich came to the Saar to take part in lectures, gatherings, and celebrations to promote a common devotion to Deutschtum. On all sides the attacks on the League regime were redoubled. To the neutral observer it was clear that the Governing Commission had given to the area a skillful and honest administration. Of this the fact that the German government during its membership in the League did not propose any change of an important nature, and made no complaint as to the efficiency of the administration, gives sufficient proof. While the words of Lord Robert Cecil at the time of the examination of the Commission by the League Council at Geneva in 1923, recognizing "the very great difficulties with which the Governing Commission of the Saar is faced, both by the nature of the circumstances and by the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles itself" and praising "the administrative work which has been done with remarkable success,"14 were uttered partly, no doubt, with diplomatic intent, they were, and remained, a true judgment. The leaders in the Saar and the Reich, however, felt otherwise, as was perhaps inevitable in view of the third alternative in the plebiscite. Not only did the achievements of the Governing Commission bring no praise from the press and the leaders of the Territory, but they were often made the starting point for attack. That the Governing Commission had kept the Territory out of debt won for it only criticism; that it at the same time had built many new roads, new churches, and new schools and had shown very been centers for propaganda for the plebiscite, and the articles made there, bearing the words Deutsch ist die Saar, were being sold widely in Germany. Through the Warndt, one of the chief leaders of the Frauenverein, Frau Helene von Vopelius, had established milk stations where Saar milk was sold at prices to compete with milk from Lorraine, and had erected a cross with the words Herr mach uns frei! Baroness Sierstorpf, born von Stumm, directed the erection of workers' communities for the unemployed in the Saar, only those showing devotion to Deutschtum being admitted. 14 L.N.O.J., August 1923, p. 9 3 1 .

LOCARNO-HITLER

III

real interest in the advancement of education reaped no praise from the Saar leaders, who spoke only of its failure to deal with the French Mines schools. Finally the Commission received no credit for the fact that the Saar, although a great industrial area, was escaping the worst of the depression which had begun in the outer world in 1929. The world depression caused many grievances against the Governing Commission. While because of its trade relations with both its neighbors the Territory felt the effects of the world economic crisis later and less acutely than other industrial areas, by the summer of 1930 the depression, even in the Saar, had become serious. The number of unemployed, which had stood at about 2,000 in 1928, by January 1931 reached 18,900, and by March 1932 stood at 44,815. Blast furnaces were being shut down, and many mines were being closed or worked on short shifts. Though the production of steel held up far better than in Germany or the United States 1 5 and the percentage of unemployment was far lower than in the Ruhr, the increase was held by the Saar leaders to be the fault of the League regime. The world aspect of the depression was lost sight of in resentment against the Treaty of Versailles. The leaders and the press blamed the economic troubles of the area wholly on the cutting off of the Territory from its former and, to the Germans, its natural markets, and on the policies of the Mines Administration and of the Governing Commission. Things were really no better in the Saar, they said, than in Germany, and would be far worse if it were not for the payment from Germany of the large contributions to pensions, which would end should the Saar elect not to return to the Reich. 16 15 For certain months in 1932, the lowest point in the depression for steel production, the average daily output of ingot steel in the United States fell to below 16 per cent of its maximum of 1929, in Germany to 27 per cent, and in the Saar to only 49 per cent. In the United States the average daily output for 1932 was 21 per cent, in Germany 33 per cent, and in the Saar 63 per cent. (Statistisches Rahrbach für die Eisen- und Stahlindustrie, 1 9 2 7 - 3 1 . ) 19 The Treaty had provided that the rights regarding pensions or insurance acquired, or in process of acquisition, by the mines employees or other inhabitants of the Saar at the date of the coming into force of the Treaty were not to be affected by the setting up of the League régime, that Germany must pay over to the French state a sum representing the actuarial amounts to which the mines employees were entitled, and that Germany and the Governing Commission must preserve and continue all these rights. The entire field of pensions was covered by two agreements between the Governing Commission and the German government. That of Frankfurt-am-Main of November 1 3 , 1922, provided that all disabled ex-soldiers belonging to the Saar Territory should receive the same pensions and other grants as were given to disabled ex-soldiers in Germany and that the German government should repay to the Governing Commission three-fourths of the sums disbursed, the Governing Commission being responsible for

112

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Ignoring the fall in demand for coal throughout the world, the Saar leaders and the Saar-Freund, speaking with one voice, blamed the decrease in the consumption of Saar coal by French industries on a French policy of selfishness, accused the Mines Administration of taking advantage of the depression for political purposes, asserted that it would not have been difficult for the Governing Commission to secure for Saar coal a larger market in France, and held the League of Nations itself responsible for these conditions. With the lessening demand for coal both from France and from the Saar itself, the State Mines Administration was faced with a difficult problem. Well aware that restriction of output and turning off of labor was not good propaganda for France, it yet could not afford to continue to extract coal at the usual rate in the face of dwindling markets. It did, however, show energy and enterprise in extending markets in spite of heavy loss. According to the French, even in the good years of 1920-26 the French state had scarcely recovered 1.25 per cent on its capital from the Saar mines, while the Moselle mines had paid 9 per cent.17 According to the Germans the French state had made great profits in former years and could afford to keep up employment. When the Mines Administration announced that the coal market was so low that it must lay off more miners, the Saar press advocated an appeal to Geneva against the whole French economic policy in the Saar, which was directed, it said, to achieve selfish ends, economic and political. In November 1930 the Governing Commission, alarmed at the increase in unemployment to 11,000, had attempted to arrange with the German government to limit the influx of the 13,000 Saargänger, who were coming in to work from neighboring areas in the Reich, their traveling expenses paid to their places of employment by the German government. Although the number of the Saargänger had the other fourth and for the cost of administration. (See "Thirteenth Periodical Report of the Saar Basin Governing Commission, July-December 1922," L.N.O.J., January 1923, p. 107.) The Governing Commission also gave relief in various forms to necessitous disabled ex-soldiers and surviving dependents of war victims. Social insurance (accident, disability, employee, maternity, etc.) was covered by the Heidelberg Agreement of October 1 3 , 1927 (see L. N. Treaty Series, L X X , 1 2 1 et seq.). Of the total amount of 438,000,000 francs paid out annually, 120,000,000 francs, representing the actuarial amount to which the insured were entitled, was paid by the German insurance organizations, which were subventioned by the German government. Sick insurance, which amounted to 102,000,000 francs annually, was borne entirely by the Saar Territory, as was that for medical care, which came to 42,000,000 francs a year. " F o r the financial statement of the Saar mines from 1920 to 1928, see "Finanzielle Ergebnisse," Bilanzen der französischen Saargrubenverwaltung, 1920-1928, Heft 4, pp. 1 8 - 1 9 ; reprinted in Saarwirtsschajtsstatisti\, Heft 7, 1933, p. 2 1 .

LOCARNO — HITLER

"3

fallen in much smaller proportion than had that of the Saar workers, 1 ® the refusal of the German government to limit the numbers of those coming in from outside aroused a sense of grievance not against Germany but against the Governing Commission for excluding them. T o the outside world the achievement of the Governing Commission in weathering the depression without a deficit appeared a remarkable feat. T o be sure, when the Territory was created it found itself in a very favorable financial position, for it had no military expenses, nothing to pay for reparations and war debts, and no obligation to pay a part of any state debt. Until the world depression struck the Saar, the revenues of the Territory were more than sufficient to meet its expenses, and in 1928 the Commission had a surplus of almost 75,000,000 francs. In the succeeding years, however, the extraordinary increase necessary for unemployment relief and for subsidies for the railroads, which were running at a loss, absorbed this surplus and necessitated new taxes as well as an increase of the old. The Saar leaders complained that the inhabitants, although relieved of reparations, had higher taxes to bear than in Germany — contrary to the findings of neutral investigators— and blamed this on the Governing Commission, which, they said, had allowed the French state mines to pay something like 8 per cent less than their proper share under paragraph 13 of the Saar Annex. In the French view the tax burden on the French Mines Administration was far heavier than that borne formerly by Prussia. 19 Far from praising the Governing Commission for its financial arrangements, the Saar leaders constantly criticized it and the League of Nations for not reducing the wages of the foreign officials who, they said, held sinecures, and for not reducing the salaries of the Governing Commission. When the Commission in the spring of 1931, in reducing the salaries of public officials of all grades by 6 per cent, agreed to turn ,8 See above, Chap. I, p. 1 3 . The German government paid their traveling expenses from their homes not only to the frontier but to their places of work, thus giving the Saargänger an advantage over the Saar workers themselves. In addition, the German government gave a direct grant monthly to each of these workers ("Forty-fourth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., March 1 9 3 1 , p. 560). 19 For the German view consult Hermann Röchling, "Wirtschaftsfragen des Saargebietes," Saar-Freund, November 1, 1932, pp. 344-346. See also "Denkschrift über die Steuerleistung der französischen Grubenverwaltung zum örtlichen Haushalt des Saargebietes und zu den Gemeindeabgaben" (Saarbrücken, 1927), memorandum to the President of the Governing Commission by the Chamber of Commerce and other economic organizations in Saarbrücken; also "The Draining of the Resources of the Saar Territory by France," memorandum dated August 9, 1934, from the heads of the Zentrumspartei, the Sozialdemokratische Partei, and the Deutsch-Saarländische Volkspartei in the Landesrat.

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back 6 per cent of their own salaries into the treasury of the Territory, this brought no cessation of criticism.20 Owing to swift action by the Governing Commission and cooperation by the French and German governments in extending credit, the Territory had weathered with extraordinary ease the crisis caused by the blocking of marks by the German government in consequence of the closing of the Darmstaedter und National Bank (the Danat Bank) in Berlin on July 13, 1931. The Saar leaders complained, however, that the Governing Commission had not been diligent in raising a loan approved in 1931 by the League Council for the relief of the communal finances and, through them, of the savings banks of the Territory, which were gravely embarrassed by the closing of the banks in Germany, and ignored the fact that when the Governing Commission asked permission of the League Council in 1929 to raise a loan of £2,000,000 for public works (a loan approved by the Landesrat and the Chamber of Commerce) it was Dr. Stresemann himself who said that the matter should be adjourned, as the moment was inopportune21— doubtless because of the negotiations in progress at the time between the French and German governments. While the fact that during the fifteen years of the administration of the Saar mines by an alien state there were only two strikes, both political, would seem to indicate that labor conditions were satisfactory,22 Saar labor, far from being won over by the French Mines Administration, felt merely that this had taken the place of the Prussian and Bavarian states as the capitalist antagonist. 20

"Forty-sixth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission, April ι to June 30, 1 9 3 1 , " L.N.O.J., September 1 9 3 1 , p. 1784. 21 See L.N.O.J., April 1929, p. 563, and July 1929, p. 1 0 1 2 . For the report of the League Financial Committee approving the loan, see L.N.O.J., November 1929, p. 1477. Had the Governing Commission been allowed to proceed at that time the loan could have been floated in England. When, however, the loan of 150,000,000 francs was approved by the League Council in September 1 9 3 1 , the Commission was unable to place it, owing to the fall of the pound (ibid., December 1 9 3 1 , pp. 2249—2250). 22 That this corps of foreign engineers established over a great number of miners who were worked up by incessant political propaganda against their employer was able to do what it did with so little friction was an extraordinary accomplishment creditable to both the engineers and the miners. It is said that French mining engineers are trained to pay more attention to the psychology of the workers and to keep in closer contact with them than are those of other countries. For testimony as to the good relations between the miners and the French Mines Administration by an American who has worked in the Saar mines, see Whiting Williams, "Europe at Work: III, Germany the Saar, and the League," Scribner's Magazine, April 1922, pp. 451 et seq., and Horny Hands and Hampered Elbows: The Worker's Mind in Western Europe (New York, 1922). For a later study see Waelbroeck, "Les Relations industrielles dans les mines domaniales françaises de la Sarre" Extraits de la Revue internationale du travail (Geneva, 1930), XXI, no. 6, and XXII, no. 1.

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While the position of labor in the Territory had been made a matter of special treatment in the Treaty 2 3 and the Saar labor unions had greatly increased their influence under the League regime, the unions felt defrauded because in the Saar they were still living under the system of Arbeiterausschüsse or committees of workers. In the Reich, by the ordinances of November 15 and December 23, 1918, unionization of labor was required and collective bargaining recognized. In the Saar, unions were not recognized as the legally necessary representation of the workers, and there was no ordinance regarding collective bargaining. There was a tendency, however, on the part of both employers and workers to follow the laws in force in the Reich and to adhere tacitly to the principle of collective agreement. The French Mines Administration and the representatives of the four great German unions on October 1, 1921, had signed an agreement recognizing the unions as the authorized representatives of the workers.24 Real wages were the same as those before the war or higher, and were higher than in Germany,25 and the working day had been reduced. Nevertheless, the Saar union leaders felt that the legal position of labor in the Saar was more backward than in the Reich, and that their place was with their German brothers in the fight against reaction. They argued that both the mines and the miners would be better off under German engineers,26 and that the miners would have better wages, more advanced labor conditions, and higher social insurance. They counted also on taking a more important part in the direction of the mines through their elected representatives in the Reichstag. The chief grievance, however, was the French Mines schools, where the number of German children was again increasing. In April 1930 the Zentrum group in the Landesrat had complained to the Governing Commission that, contrary to its declaration of February 23, 1925,27 23

See paragraphs 1 1 and 23 of the Saar Annex. For a summary of this and supplementary agreements see Waelbroeck, pp. 24—32. 25 This statement regarding real wages in the Saar and in Germany is on the authority of a study made by Mr. Whiting Williams in the summer of 1933. See Waelbroeck for tables showing the variations in wages and cost of living in the Saar from 1920 to 1929 (p. 54) and for a comparison between wages in the mines of the Saar and the Ruhr (P- 59)· 28 The Germans accused the French engineers of gutting the mines and said that the French allowed too many accidents, as witness the disaster in the Maybach Mine in 1930. The French could point to the terrible explosion in 1933 in the Neunkirchen steel works under German management. That the post-war figures of fatal accidents in the mines were kept almost constantly below the pre-war figures appears from the Bericht des Statistischen Amtes des Saargebietes, Heft 6, 1928, p. 2 1 8 . (See also Waelbroeck, p. 47.) Et is interesting that in a place where firedamp was prevalent the Saar accident statistics 27 were the best in the world. See above, p. 97. 24

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pressure through threats of loss of dwellings or of employment had been brought by teachers or mines officials on miners and mines employees in various places to force them to enroll their children in the Mines schools. The Mines Administration had countered with similar complaints against certain teachers, clergymen, and municipal administrators, who were said to be bringing pressure to bear in various ways upon the parents to force them to withdraw their children attending the Mines schools. After an extensive inquiry by M. Vezensky, the Minister of Education, the Governing Commission reported that the Mines Administration had faithfully observed the Governing Commission's declaration and that, at the most, certain subordinate officials or Mines schoolmasters might have acted contrary to it. Nor, it reported, had the charges by the Mines Administration against the teachers in the state schools as to pressure on parents of children in Mines schools been established in most cases, although it drew attention to the great activity by the teaching profession and by many priests to dissuade schoolmasters from serving in them. The report stated that propaganda for and against the Mines schools was being carried on but that the Commission had neither the right nor the power to forbid this by either party if no unlawful means were used. The Commission, however, asked all persons concerned to refrain from any acts or words which might appear to involve compulsion, to avoid even any appearance of such compulsion, and to leave the matter for the free decision of the parents.28 The failure of the Vezensky report to recognize a Schulterror in the Territory was most unsatisfactory to the Saar leaders. That individual mines officials had exerted pressure seems clear.29 It is equally clear, 28

See "Forty-fifth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission, January ι to March 3 1 , 1 9 3 1 , App. I," L.N.O.J., June 1 9 3 1 , pp. 994-997. 29 In 1934 the Saar leaders secured what they regarded as corroboration of their charges. Criminal proceedings had been instituted in December 1933 against Herr Hermann Röchling and four other native inhabitants of the Saar before the Landgericht of Saarbrücken for distributing a leaflet warning any parent sending children to the Mines schools against being called a Vaterlandesverräter, and against being ostracized and forced to emigrate. For contents see Saar-Freund, December 15, 1 9 3 3 ; and also the petition of January 6, 1934, of the Saarländische Freiheitsfront and the representatives of the Social Democratic Party in the Landesrat (L.N.O.J., March 1934, p. 3 3 2 ) . During the proceedings thirteen Saar miners and workers testified before the court that pressure to induce them to send their children to the Mines schools had been exerted on them through promises of employment, better wages, better housing or financial aid, threats of dismissal, eviction, or transfer to more difficult work. The threats, they said, were made for the most part in the works or on the premises of the Mines Administration by members of the supervisory staff of the mines or of the teaching staff of the schools, and the proposals were addressed to them "on the instructions of the Administration" or written on paper with heading "French State Mines of the Saar." See petition of the Saar Deutsche

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however, that this had been unavailing, for even after fourteen years, out of 124,000 Saar-German children, fewer than 3,000 were attending the French schools, and this at a time of serious unemployment, when it would be only too natural for miners to regard sending their children to the French schools as a measure of security. The fact that out of the 510 schools in the Territory, 486 were the regular German primary, secondary, and higher schools retained by the Governing Commission, and only 24 belonged to the French Mines Administration, shows that the fear of driving out the German schools was greatly exaggerated.30 By 1931 French circles eager to retain the League regime were led to hope that the Saarlanders would see that it had sheltered them from the worst of the depression in the Reich, and would prefer its peaceful atmosphere to the troubled one in Germany, where the National Socialist movement was growing more and more oppressive. While the tone of the Saar political leaders had not changed, it was hoped that the Saar people themselves did not at all points share the views of their leaders, and that a plebiscite taken at that moment would give a considerable number of votes for an independent state.31 French efforts to build up an organization of the inhabitants for autonomy were revived in June 1931, and a paper called the Saar Chronik was founded. The nucleus of this second Saarbund was apparently a number of the former Rhineland Separatists who had fled to the Saar to take refuge with the Mines Administration, and, according to the Germans, the Bund was recruited from the miners on whom the French, taking advantage of the economic situation, brought pressure to join the organization.32 The French government Front Party and the Deutsche Gewerksschaftsfront Saar, dated December 30, 1933 (L.N. O.J., March 1934, pp. 3 2 0 - 3 2 5 ) . The Landgericht in acquitting the defendants declared that the evidence proved the allegations regarding pressure. The public prosecutor and the two co-plaintiffs appealed the case. The Supreme Court, presided over by a French-Alsatian judge, assisted by two Swiss judges and one German judge, while acquitting the accused on the charge of threat, held that the charges of pressure by the Mines Administration had not been proved either. The Saar lenders and the Reich press, however, held that the trial revealed the truth about the methods used by the officials of the Mines Administration against German miners. 30 In the Warndt the nine German schools in October 1933 had 2,235 pupils, while the two schools of the Mines Administration had only 230 pupils. During the fifteen years of the League regime the number of children attending the French schools in the Territory never exceeded 5,300 (in 1924) and at times fell as low as 1,500. 31 See article entitled "Die Saar und der Völkerbund" by the representative in Paris of the Neuer Zürcher Zeitung, September 15, 1 9 3 1 . Mittagsausgabe. 32 Saarbrücker Landeszeitung, December 3 1 , 1 9 3 1 . In November 1931 the Association Française de la Sarre started publication in Paris of a bi-monthly bulletin entitled Journal de la Sarre.

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had shown no signs of interest beyond insisting that the terms of the Treaty must be observed and the plebiscite held, and the French nationalists blamed the government bitterly for not having adopted a definite Saar policy and for not having started any organized efforts in the Territory to win a favorable vote. While, they said, the Reich government had been able, without obstacle, to bring pressure by every kind of intimidation and inducement, there had been no organized French propaganda whatever in the Saar; had they had one they would have had newspapers in the area capable of fighting the powerful German press there, as well as French libraries and lecture halls, and they would have been able to support candidates in the elections, to have held more meetings and to have distributed more pamphlets. 33 Any efforts to stimulate a movement for maintenance of the status quo were apparently meeting with small success. T o the neutral observer the economic argument lay with maintenance of the League regime. The situation was beclouded in the area, however, not only by propaganda but by a real uncertainty. Throughout the industrial development of the nineteenth century the economic ties of the Saar had been closest with Lorraine, but they had been close also with the rest of Germany. The Saar had lost a great part of her former coal markets in Germany, 34 and the French market had become invaluable. This market she would lose on return to Germany, but it was in any case sustained partially for political reasons which would disappear with a vote for the League regime. Moreover, the German leaders promised that the Saar would regain her German coal market and that cheap transportation would be afforded by a canal from Saarbrücken to the Upper Rhine at Ludwigshafen, which would enable Saar products to reach the Main-Danube canal. 35 There was also the Saar steel industry which, although controlled by French capital, had, except for the metal finishing works, remained dependent on the German market. Return to Germany, said the Germans, would give 33

Donnadieu (pp. 1 7 0 - 1 7 2 ) says, "Nous avons travaillé sans relâche à la prospérité du territoire, mais nous l'avons fait dans l'ombre. Nous avons attendu dans notre naïveté, que la lumière se fît d'elle-même sur nos mérités. . . ." 34 See the tables in Chiny, p. 7. The Germans blamed the shift in markets on the customs union with France, the substitution of the franc for the mark, and the deliberate policy of the French state. The French argued that far more important had been the electrification of the German railways, which had formerly consumed large quantities of Saar coal, the modernization of the Ruhr mines, the reduction in water freight costs in the Reich from which Saar coal could not benefit, restrictive regulations by the German government on the entry of Saar coal into Germany, and finally the fact that the production of coal in Germany was now ample for her needs. 35 See Der Saar-Pjalz-Canal; Denkschrift über die Ver\ehrs-Wunsche des Saargebietes (Saarbrücken, 1927).

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not only the full advantage of the great German internal market for their steel but also a reduction in the price of Saar coal, which, the Germans felt sure, would be granted them by the Prussian and Bavarian states on their again becoming the owners of the Saar mines. To the threat that Saar steel manufacturers would be cut off from the supply of Lorraine minette, or be forced to buy it at prices fixed by their Lorraine competitors, the Germans replied that iron ore could be brought from Sweden, Spain, North Africa, or from new mines in Baden. To this the French retorted that the cost of transportation to the Saar made any other ore impossible, and to the German argument that Lorraine ore needed the Saar market they replied that the iron deposits, at the present rate of consumption, would not last over a century, that it would be well to conserve them for purposes of French security, and that in any case the whole output of Lorraine iron could easily be consumed by the French steel industry. Wherever might lie the advantage in economic arguments, certainly the political strength lay with those working for return to the Reich. France, to be sure, through ownership of the mines, was the largest employer of labor in the Territory and, with French majority control of the metallurgical industry, had a powerful weapon at hand with which to bring pressure on the miners and factory workers and their families, and on many others not directly dependent on the good will of French enterprises.36 This power, of which the Germans had a consuming fear, was indeed tremendous. There was, however, little or no evidence that it was being used. On the other hand the Germans themselves had great political advantages which they were using to the full. Not only did the Saarlanders have a common nationality with the Reich and a common language, but there were countless other bonds reaching back through the centuries. That three-quarters of the people were devout Catholics meant a close tie with the Rhineland. The clergy, who, owing to the obedient attitude of the inhabitants to their priests, were the most powerful group in the area, were all German, had studied at Bonn or Munich, and were under the orders of the Bishop of Trier or of Speyer, who had already taken an important part in the political struggle. The Germans, moreover, controlled the church relief associations. Nor were political ties with the Reich completely broken under the League regime. One-half of M Some French firms in the Saar had branches over the border in Lorraine. Thus the Saarlanders employed by these firms in the Saar were certain of employment in Lorraine if the Saar returned to Germany. Revire said in 1930 that through ownership of the mines alone 250,000 persons would depend on the French state (Perdrons-nous la Sarre? pp. 25—26).

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the active officials in the Saar were former Prussian and Bavarian officials, not only eager for advancement by their former governments when the Saar should return to the Reich but also naturally impregnated with the German spirit. The labor unions were part of the great German unions, and the countless Vereine for song, sport, and other purposes, which had absorbed the children even of those Saarlanders who themselves kept some antagonism to the Prussian rule, were part of the great German organizations and met constantly with them in national conventions in Germany. The Germans also had an advantage in the possession of the great majority of the schools in the Territory. The training of the teachers had been left by the Governing Commission to the Reich, and the textbooks were those used in Germany. No matter how much propaganda may actually have been carried on in the French schools, the fact remained that the German teachers had had an infinitely greater opportunity to affect the minds of the children and of their parents, for they had in their hands the education of the great mass of the Saar children. In spite of the confidence expressed by some Frenchmen,37 the prophecy of the Saar leaders that 99 per cent would vote in the plebiscite for return to Germany seemed certain to be fulfilled. It was certainly well supported by the elections to the Landesrat on March 13, 1932 — the last to be held before the plebiscite. Although the Saarbund had announced that it would take no part in the vote and that the great number of abstentions would show the desire of the inhabitants for the status quo, a larger percentage of qualified voters cast their ballots than ever before. After this there could be little doubt of the overwhelming desire of the Saar for return to Germany.38 The elections showed, however, that important political changes were taking place in the Territory. The Center Party was still the largest and had kept its fourteen seats, but, largely at the expense of the Social Democrats, who lost two seats, the Communists had inNever before, wrote M. Ordinaire in February 1932, had the situation been so favorable to the maintenance of Saar autonomy. Only two conditions were necessary for success: the plebiscite must be freely held, and France must practise a generous economic policy and not throw the Saar back to the Reich by mésures maladroites (Le Capital, Paris, February 20, 1932, p. 86). 38 This conclusion was strengthened by the communal elections on November 1 3 , 1932, in which the Saarbund took part for the first time since 1924, under the name of Unabhängige Arbeiter und Bürgerpartei, and announced its platform as protection of the interests of all classes, religious impartiality, and cooperation with all parties. In spite of a special effort made by the Bund in the Warndt, Saarlouis, and its surrounding region, out of a total vote of 236,867 the party won only 1,423 votes, and out of a total number of 1,289 seats it secured merely one in each of seven communes, two of which were in the Warndt and three in Kreis Saarlouis.

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creased their strength from five seats to eight, and the National Socialist German Workers Party —the "N.S.D.A.P." of the Reich — running in the Saar for the first time, had won two seats.39 The National Socialist Party had rapidly established headquarters throughout the Territory and was organizing the para-military Sturm Abteilung ("S.A.") and Schutz Staffeln ("S.S."), and marching and drilling by night. Their great increase in political power and their feverish activities apparently caused little alarm to the leaders of the other parties. These were convinced that the Nazis could never win a majority in either the Saar or Germany, and that any fears of a Hitler regime in the Reich were not to be taken seriously. When asked in the autumn of 1932 how they would feel if in 1935 Germany were under a National Socialist or a Communist government, the heads of the Catholic organizations replied: " N o matter what comes in Germany, it will be temporary. The choice in the plebiscite is for always — we shall vote 100 per cent for Germany." The leaders of the labor organizations, whether Catholic or Socialist, when asked whether the presence of a Nazi regime in Germany would affect their decision, all answered with practically the same words: "Such a change in the Reich is impossible, but, should it happen, we should nevertheless wish to rejoin our poor German brothers." The Socialist leader, Herr Max Braun, who as editor of the Volfestimme had for years hurled polemics against the Nazis, said emphatically that the people were German and wanted to vote for Germany, and to persistent questioning replied that the only thing which could prevent such a vote would be Berlin itself.40 The actual advance of Hitler to control of the German government in March 1933 destroyed this unanimity at one blow. The Third Reich, welcomed joyously by the Saar Nazi Party, was viewed with acute apprehension by all the other groups in the Territory. The Catholics, who formed 72 per cent of the population, could not but remember that the Nazis had attacked the "Blacks" almost as bitterly as they had the "Reds" and the Jews. The Socialists and Communists felt, perhaps, still more agitation. The absorption of all the Reich 38 See "Forty-ninth Report of the Governing Commission, January i-March i , 1932," L.N.O.J., June 1932, p. 1 1 1 8 . 40 Herr Braun, to whom the final chapter on "Hoffnungen und Ziele," in Das Saargebiet, seine Strukture, etc., had been entrusted, in 1927 had said that the Saar provisions in the Treaty were a sacrifice to atavism and a mockery of the right of self-determination. The economic life of the Saar depended, he wrote, on the east, and to escape the fate of a barren borderland it must recover its market in southwest Germany; even in spite of the efforts of the International Labor Office the position of labor in the Saar had lagged behind that in Germany; the League must promote European reconciliation; the Rhineland must be evacuated; and the Saar must immediately after be united with Germany.

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political parties by the National Socialists was, of course, as disquieting to these Left parties in the Saar as it was to the Center Party, while the obliteration of the Reich labor unions and the confiscation of their funds brought consternation to the Saar workers, not only because their unions were affiliated with those in the Reich but because their funds, the proceeds of subscriptions, were deposited with those of the Reich unions. For the first time in thirteen years the "United Front" of all the Saar parties and their daily journals was broken. The Saarbrüc\er Zeitung, closely controlled by the Reich government, at once, under a change of editors, came out in support of the Third Reich. The Saarbrüc\er Landeszeitung, the organ of the Center Party, at first so warmly supported the Reich Catholics in their struggle against Hitler that circulation of the paper was prohibited in Germany, but its opposition to the Nazi regime was short-lived, for by the end of March it too had swung over to support the Hitler government. The Socialist Volksstimme, on the other hand, under its editor, Max Braun, continued to denounce the "reign of terror" of the Hitler regime and stood out as the one opposition paper in the Territory. In May 1933 all the Saar parties except the Center, the Socialists, and the Communists made a truce and formed a united front to work for return to Hitler Germany. The Communist and Socialist parties, extinguished in Germany, became the more active in the Saar, the latter with Max Braun at its head. Called by the National Socialists Landesverräter and "Judas Iscariot," Herr Braun incurred still greater disfavor from his opponents as the editor-in-chief of another daily, the Deutsche Freiheit, which was established in Saarbrücken in July 1933 for the German refugees scattered throughout Europe. These journals, with the Communist Arbeiter-Zeitung, were now the only papers of the Left to appear anywhere on German soil. That this liberty was still to be enjoyed placed the League regime for the first time in a favorable light with these groups in the Saar. To the National Socialists, however, it was intolerable that, owing to foreign rule, the Territory was unable to surrender this liberty at the call of the Third Reich. In their view every true German must welcome the new Germany: those of an opposite view were traitors and must be made to suffer as such, while the doubtful must be brought into line. The fact that for years a 99 per cent vote for return to Germany had seemed certain made their resentment all the greater against any propaganda for the status quo. Any persons carrying on such activity they termed "Separatists," identifying them with the Rhineland "Separatists" on whom such drastic punishment had been meted by their fellow-Germans. That Pirmasens,

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where the "Separatists" had been burned to death in the town hall in 1923, is only a short distance from the Saar made the identification the more poignant. The National Socialists were especially angry at the fact that the Governing Commission was allowing German refugees, Jewish, Socialist, and Communist, to take refuge in the Saar in their flight from the Reich. The Territory was in fact becoming a center for conspiracy, the refugees by means of their active but invisible machinery keeping in touch with their own groups in Germany, the Nazis sending Storm troopers across the frontier to watch the refugees and to recruit secretly for the "S.A." or for the Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst (voluntary labor organization), which was also semi-military. To coordinate and direct the efforts of the organizations and individuals working for return to Germany and to bring into line every inhabitant of the Saar, in July 1933 there was formally set up under the dominance of the Saar National Socialist Party the Deutsche Front, which had existed in fact since the truce between the parties in May. The German National Peoples' Party, the Saar-German Peoples' Party, and the Saar Economic Party now dissolved and merged in the new Front, and in October 1933 the Catholic Party, which had been torn by dissension, reluctantly, it is said, followed their example.41 The Saar National Socialist Party alone preserved its identity and under its leader, Spaniol, was the directing force in the organization. Under this leadership the Saar Deutsche Front was organized as a Gau on the same lines as those of the National Socialist Party in Germany, where the Gau was the chief subdivision of the party. The unit on which the Gau was built was the Bloc\, all the people of each Bloc\ being under the personal surveillance of a Bloc\wart. These Blocks were grouped in cells under a Zellenwart, the cells being brought together in local groups under Ortsgruppenleiter, and these local groups being united in each Kreis under a Kreisleitung. At the head of the whole organization in the Saar was a regional council, or Landesleitung, under the Landesleiter. In effecting the hierarchy, any suitable organization was utilized so that no block of houses or farms and no persons could fail to be drawn in, and so that the organization would be ramified in such a way as to make its branches penetrate everywhere in a 41 It was said that large sections of the Center Party, and particularly the clergy, had energetically opposed the assimilation and dissolution of the party, and that shortly before assimilation this portion of the Center had adopted a majority resolution rejecting it, but that as a result of severe financial pressure and threats of what would happen when the day of reckoning came in 1 9 3 5 the assimilation was effected. See petition of the Freiheitsfront and the Social Democratic Section of the Landesrat (L.N.O.J., March 1934,

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gigantic network covering the whole country. The system, modeled on that of the Russian Communist Party, was admirably fitted to reach, oversee, and bring into line every inhabitant of the Saar. All these various grades of leaders were appointed by their respective superiors, and each had dictatorial powers within his area. The Bloc\warte, who were the key officials in the organization, were carefully selected from the influential members of the community, among them being, for instance, a judge of the district court of Saarbrücken. They had the duty of securing members and of seeing that the orders of the Landesleitung to "hoist flags," or to engage in other activities were obeyed by those in their Bloc\. Following the organization of the National Socialist Party in the Reich, the Deutsche Front had at its disposal a kind of secret police, constantly alert and ready to intervene in the streets, called the Ordnungsdienst. The announced aims of the Ordnungsdienst were to keep order in the party, to insure that proper discipline was observed and instructions obeyed, and to prevent excess of zeal on the part of members of the party and interference with their political opponents. In close connection with the Deutsche Front were organizations such as the Gewerkschaftsfront (Workers' Union Front), 42 the Trutzbund für Wirtschaftliche Gerechtigkeit, the Wireless Association, the Colonization Service, etc., some, if not all, being branches of the National Socialist Party in the Reich. Opposed to the Deutsche Front there was no organization whatever, but merely separate groups of Catholics, Socialists, Communists, and Jews, and there was no doubt that the Nazis had been making headway among all of these, except perhaps the Jews. A docile proletariat, trained for thirteen years to think of themselves as persecuted and in chains, to denounce the Governing Commission and all its works, and to regard a vote for the League regime as a vote for France, offered to the National Socialist propaganda every advantage. It was impossible to know how many were resisting, for under the threats of "vengeance in 1935" it was obvious that conformity might appear to be the better part of valor. Thus the scarcity of critics of the Nazi regime was not convincing proof to the foreign journalists that more did not exist.43 They found, however, that many of the critics were themselves eager to return to the Fatherland at once, while the others, even though for 42

See below, p. 214. The author of "The Problem of the Saar," New Statesman and Nation, January 13, 1934, reported, "All but brave men are busy qualifying for rewards from Hitler when the time shall come" (p. 3 3 ) . 43

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the status quo, wished also to return to the Reich as soon as the National Socialist government should be terminated. There was no party and, apparently, no group for union with France. Some of the leaders of the Saarländische Wirtschaftsvereinigung were thought to be hoping for such a union as a final solution. Its slogan, however, was "The Saar for the Saarlanders!" Certainly no one of the other groups working for maintenance of the status quo looked on it as a permanent solution. The Catholics, it was reported, were saying: "We German Catholics want to reenter the family house, even if the inmates are stricken with the terrible fever which is raging there today. At least we may be able to help cure the disease when we have joined the others." The leaders of the Socialist workers, when they dared speak at all against immediate return to Germany, were saying that the plebiscite must be postponed until they could vote without fear of return to a Germany in which Socialism was persecuted. Max Braun, who was endeavoring to organize the Socialists to work for the continuation of the status quo by postponing the plebiscite, or by voting for the League regime, constantly accented the German character of the Saar people. Even the Communists, confident that Hitler would pass and Germany become a Communist state, were phrasing their platform as one for return of a "Saar Soviet" to a "Soviet Germany," and although many Communist workers were coming to Braun's meetings and were expected in the end to vote for the League regime, it was not until June 1932 that they came out for the status quo as a provisional solution. The funds available for propaganda to the two sides were as unequal as their organization. It was obvious that all the resources of the German government and its subsidized propaganda organs were supporting the Deutsche Front. The amount at the disposal of the status quo groups was apparently very small. The League of Nations was, of course, carrying on no propaganda whatever for its own regime. While it was legitimate under the Treaty for France as well as Germany to be spending money in the Saar for plebiscite propaganda, very little actually appeared to be so expended. Government and public together had ignored the demands of the Action française, Figaro, and other journals and of the Association Française de la Sarre that the Territory, or at least the mines, should be held as a security for reparations.44 The coming of Hitler to power had converted the " T h e Association Française de la Sarre on June 4, 1 9 3 2 , adopted a resolution calling on the French government to demand at the approaching Lausanne Conference that a new moratorium be contingent on a lien on German state property in the Territory,

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French Left to the view of the Right that there would be great advantages in a buffer state under a League regime, and had raised hopes that the political situation in the Reich made a success for the status quo possible. Even if the Saarlanders wished to become German again, would they wish to become Nazi? Would not the Saar Left see that maintenance of the League régime would be greatly to its advantage? Would not the Catholics appreciate the protection from attacks by the Nazis on their co-religionists in Germany? The correspondent of the Petit Parisien wrote in April 1933 that in the Saarlouis region he had been told that if the plebiscite were held then, 60 per cent of the vote would go for the status quo and 10 per cent for France. While he considered a majority for the status quo in the whole Territory too optimistic, he was convinced that the Saarlanders would prefer to have the plebiscite indefinitely postponed.45 Another French visitor to the Territory wrote in May 1933 48 that everything he heard and read convinced him that for the moment, at least, there was a divorce between the mentality of the Saarlanders and that of the dominant party in the Reich. "They are content, for an instant, to find themselves under the protection of a strong umbrella while the rain is falling on the heads of their co-nationalists." The attachment to France of the whole of the Saar was, naturally, completely impossible and undesirable, he felt, but perhaps the idea of the status quo would today appear not to be at all chimerical. The decision of the Saar in 1935 would depend on the state of affairs in the Reich, the economic conditions in the Saar, and the attitude of France, which up to the present had remained in a "majestic impassibility, letting no one divine her intentions." France, he found, had partisans in all classes, but those who dared to make themselves known all said the same thing: "Does France wish to prepare the plebiscite, or is she not interested? If she wishes to prepare it she must do it openly, as is her right; she must so act that no doubt can be raised as to her intentions. It must be made known that if the vote is for the status quo, she is ready to protect this with all her forces, as well as the people who may be threatened with revenge. France must do nothing here by halves. If the Saarlanders are left obsessed by fear, they will not dare to risk their future security for the benefit of a candidate irresolute and

especially the railroads, and that any reductions or suspensions of payments should mean the automatic renunciation by Germany of the right to buy back the Saar mines {Journal de la Sarre, July 1932, p. 6). ä5 M. Lucien Bourguès, Le Petit Parisien, April 5, 10, and 15, 1933. " M . Ludovic Naudeau, L'Illustration, May 20, 1933, p. 90.

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vacillating." 47 Neutral observers also felt that a majority for the status quo seemed now a possibility. The French government, however, continued to show extreme prudence and to maintain silence, confining itself to insistence that the vote must be free and fair and that adequate protection and equal opportunities must be given to the adherents of the status quo as well as to their opponents. As the plebiscite campaign progressed it became apparent that money was being supplied from French sources for the status quo papers and organizations. There was no evidence, however, that it came from the French government, and presumably the French funds were contributed by Catholic, Jewish, or Socialist groups, or by French industrialists who did not fear Saar competition. The moment so favorable to a victory for the status quo quickly passed. Neutral journalists reported in May 1933 that since February, owing not only to threats but also to patriotic enthusiasm, there had been a great increase of Nazi strength in the middle and lower classes. The young, attracted by the vigor and self-confident tone of Hitlerism, were rallying to the Nazis at the expense of the Center and the Communists, and the efforts in the Reich to make friends among labor for the new regime were bearing fruit. The salute of Heil Hitler was heard everywhere in the Saar streets. The permission of the Governing Commission to fly the swastika, which it had banned until the German government had notified it that the symbol had become the national emblem, had given a fresh impetus to the National Socialist movement, and on the occasion of the great national demonstration of May ι, 1933, the swastika banners appeared in the Saar, as in the Reich, by the side of the imperial flag of black-white-red, and were displayed, whether through enthusiasm or fear, even on the shops of Jewish merchants. After the signing of the Concordat with the Papacy in June 1933 by the Hitler government,48 the neutral journalists put "Naudeau, L'Illustration, June 17, 1933. Some were convinced, the author reported, that the result by communes would be impossible to interpret en bloc, and that it might prove necessary to attribute one part of the Territory to Germany, and to keep the status quo in the other part, which would comprise the left bank of the Saar and the town of Saarlouis. Naudeau himself entertained the hypothesis that in any case the Warndt with its coal deposits, surrounded as it was on three sides by French territory and with its inhabitants largely working in Lorraine, should be allotted to France as compensation for the losses which she would suffer if she must renounce the mines. 48 In June 1933 Cardinal Pacelli signed with Vice-Chancellor von Papen a Concordat between the Holy See and the Third Reich, in which the Church promised to prohibit clergy and members of conventual orders from joining political parties and from working on their behalf, and in return was promised protection of Catholic interests, including the right to worship, to maintain congregational associations, conventual orders, religious fraternities, and theological and philosophical schools, and to continue to give Catholic in-

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the maximum vote possible for the status quo at 40 per cent. German leaders in the Territory estimated the number for the status quo as at most 10 per cent. In Germany itself there was the conviction that the Saar was overwhelmingly devoted to the Third Reich and impatient to join it. German opinion was expressed by the words of Hitler himself at the great Saarfyindgebung of the Bund der Saarvereine at the monument to Germania in the Niederwald near Rüdesheim, on August 27, 1933: "The Saar people shall forge their own destiny, and I know that each will give his vote for Germany. We want to live with France in all understanding, but never will Germany renounce the Saar nor the Saar Germany." At the meeting, at which, it was claimed, 80,000 Saarlanders were present, a solemn oath was taken of fidelity to Mutter Germania, to the German Fo/^, and to Hitler.49 On the same day at a great meeting of the Saar Social Democratic Party called at Neunkirchen by Max Braun, some 12,000 to 15,000 people of the Territory, so the Socialists claimed, took an oath to preserve the freedom of the Saar against Hitler, while at a simultaneous meeting at Saarbrücken some 15,000 Communists, it was calculated,50 held a demonstration against "Hitlerian Fascism." For the first time in the fourteen years of the League regime a contest in the plebiscite was foreshadowed. struction in grammar, high, trade, and continuation schools. While the Concordat gave the Catholic Church infinitely more freedom of movement than the Protestant Churches enjoyed, it was taken to mean not an abandonment by the Nazis of their original antiCatholic policy, but merely an expression of Hitler's reluctance to start a new Kulturkampf. *"Kölnische Volhjzeitung, August 28, 1933. The opposition said that the Saarlanders amounted only to 42,000, of whom some 20,000 were too young to vote in the plebiscite, and that, as transportation was free, the meeting was looked on as a pleasure outing and attendance was no indication of party affiliation. 60 These figures were said by the opposition to be much exaggerated.

PART III PREPARATIONS FOR THE PLEBISCITE

VI THE GOVERNING

COMMISSION

WHEN in 1933 the plebiscite campaign opened in the Saar, the Governing Commission was under a British chairman, Mr. Geoffrey Knox, appointed in April 1932, who held the position of Minister of the Interior and of Foreign Affairs. Finance and Economic Questions were under the French member, M. Jean Morize, who had been with the Commission in various capacities since 1920. Labor, Social Insurance, Charity, Hygiene, and Agriculture were under the Saar member, Herr Bartholomäus Kossmann, who had served on the Commission since 1923. Dr. Milovan Zoricic,1 a Yugoslav, was Minister of Justice, Religion, and Educational Affairs; and Public Works, Railroads, Post and Telephone and Telegraph were in the hands of Dr. von Ehrenrooth, of Finland. The rising tide of nationalism in the Reich had caused the Saar question, in the minds of the world, to be engulfed in that of world peace. T o the Saar Governing Commission, however, engaged in administering a future plebiscite area, it meant a very real and pressing local problem. Since 1928 the Governing Commission had been troubled by the danger to the maintenance of order in the Territory caused by the increasing activities of the nationalist organizations in the Reich which had established branches in the Saar. In September of that year the Commission had issued an ordinance dissolving all organizations which concerned themselves with military or semi-military activities, ordering their weapons seized, and prohibiting the wearing in public of uniforms or emblems of a military character. This was extended 1 M r . Geoffrey Knox, now Sir Geoffrey Knox, K.C.M.G., had served with distinction as secretary of the Embassy in Berlin, and counselor in Ankara and Madrid. Dr. Zoricic, who had also been appointed to the Commission in April 1932, had been president of the Administrative Tribunal of the Province of Agram, Yugoslavia, to which post he has returned. M. Morize had been secretary-general and director of the Department of the Interior from 1920 until 1926, when he became member for France. On January 17, 1934, the League Council reappointed all the members of the Governing Commission for one year from March 1, 1934, dependent on the provisions of the final agreement in regard to the disposition of the Territory. Thus all the members of the Commission served throughout the plebiscite and until the handing over of the Territory to the Reich on March 1, 1935.

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early in 1931 to cover uniforms of the Nazional-Sozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist Party), the Werwolf, the Stahlhelm, which was active in the Saar under the name of Bund der Frontsoldaten, the Communist Rot-Front-Kämpferbund, and the Republican Reichsbanner.2 In December 1931 the Commission had issued ordinances regulating the possession and carrying of weapons.3 In July 1932 it had found it necessary to forbid military marching and drilling by night, and the manufacture and possession of explosives.4 In November 1932 it had proof, through a search of the party offices by the police, that contrary to the decree of September 12, 1928, the special formations of the Nazis were carrying on activities in the Territory and that the "S.A." (Sturm Abteilung: storm troops) and the "S.S." (Schutz Staffeln: defense troops) were organized on definitely military lines, with scouts and reserves, motor corps, motorcyclists, medical orderlies and ambulances, training schools, barracks, and depots, and were carrying on night marches and field drills. The Governing Commission thereupon ordered the immediate dissolution of all these National Socialist organizations and the seizure of their weapons.® The activity of the political organizations caused intense feeling in the Territory. It did not, however, raise the question of a fair hearing for opposite sides in the plebiscite, for until the coming of Hitler to power there had been no break in the unanimity of all political parties in the Saar for return to Germany at the earliest opportunity. With the sudden division into separate camps of what had previously been a united population, the Governing Commission was for the first time faced with the problem of protecting minorities and of securing equality of opportunity for all sections of the public regarding the approaching vote. Already in March 1933 the Saar nationalist press had begun an anti-Semitic movement which was felt by the Jewish population to menace their security as well as their economic and social existence. The press shortly became so violent that the Governing Commission in April suspended for two weeks the chief organ of the party, the Saar-Front, for inciting the population against the Saar inhabitants of Jewish origin,6 and banned permanently the anti-Jewish weekly, Der 2

No. 501, Amtsblatt, 1928, p. 7 4 1 , and no. 36, Verordnungen, 1 9 3 1 , p. 20. (In 1931 the title of the Amtsblatt was changed to Verordnungen, Erlasse, Verfügungen, und Bekanntmachungen der Regierungs Kommission des Saargebietes verbunden mit "öffentlichem Anzeiger.") 8 Nos. 578 and 579, Verordnungen, 1 9 3 1 , p. 492. 4 Nos. 367 and 368, Verordnungen, 1932, pp. 283, 284. ' N o . 584, Verordnungen, 1932, p. 579. See "Fifty-second Periodical Report of the Governing Commission, October 1—December 3 1 , 1 9 3 2 , " L.N.O.J., March 1933, p. 408. 6 See letters of July 19 and August 24, 1933, from the Chairman of the Governing

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Stürmer, published in Nuremberg. The radio broadcasts from the Reich, as well as the press, were full of anti-Jewish talk. A boycott of Jewish stores, doctors, and lawyers was preached, personal libel was frequently indulged in, and threats of "vengeance in 1935" were numerous. Many of the anti-Jewish measures, which were legal in the Reich but illegal in the Saar, were surreptitiously imposed in the Territory by the party organizations.7 In consequence of persecution the Jews themselves asked for a special school for Jewish children, which the Governing Commission was eventually constrained to give them. With each day the problem of maintaining the neutralization necessary for a plebiscite area grew more difficult. In every plebiscite the party with the tradition of power, always the better organized, refuses to recognize the necessity of any special measures to secure equal opportunity to the other to carry on a free campaign. In the Saar the new wine of National Socialism made the situation doubly difficult. Ignoring the fact that it was a plebiscite area, the Nazi Party in the Saar, under the leadership of a young and intransigent Prussian Staats\ommisar, Alois Spaniol, was determined to extend the new political and social system of the Reich into every phase of Saar life, and this by every means, including the boycott, cries of "traitor," and threats of "1935." Against this the Governing Commission, in order to secure an atmosphere for the Territory which would make possible the holding of a free and convincing plebiscite, was forced to take stern measures. In the process it incurred the bitter resentment of the nationalist leaders, who were unwilling, or unable, to recognize the peculiar duty and problems facing the Commission. This resentment rapidly directed itself, in particular, against the President of the Commission, who, according to custom, signed the reports and letters sent by the Commission to the League Council and, as head of the Department of the Interior, and thus of the police and officials, was in the most immediate contact with the problem. In the Saar and in the Reich President Knox was accused, in consequence, of listening to French advisers, of having no contact with the inhabitants except with Social Democrats, and of showing gross partisanship. The problem facing President Knox was complicated by the fact that of the 12,299 s t a t e officials in the service of the Commission, all Commission to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations forwarding a petition of the Saar Press Union ( L . N . O . J . , October 1 9 3 3 , p. 1 1 3 8 ) . * Memorandum of the Comité des Délégations Juives in Paris, transmitted by the British Foreign Office to the League of Nations, April 7, 1 9 3 4 (author's collection).

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but 66 were German, and all, whether originally lent "on leave" by the governments of the Reich, the Reich Railway Company, or Prussia, or Bavaria, as about 6,000 had been, or appointed directly by the Commission, counted on their employment continuing after the Territory had returned to the Reich, as seemed to them certain. 8 Their rights as to promotion and pensions had been safeguarded at the time of their appointment by the Governing Commission, but their anxiety had already been awakened by the new German law of April 7, 1933, regarding the civil service, for, although temporary, it seemed to threaten with dismissal, should the Saar revert to the Reich, officials who were of "non-Aryan extraction," or Communist, or "politically unreliable." 9 Their apprehensions were increased by threats, covert and open, that after the return to Germany all the Saar judges, as well as the other officials and police who had served the League of Nations' Commission would be dismissed unless they should have joined the Nationalist Party and aided in assimilating the Territory to the N a z i regime. Moreover, propagandist action, so the President of the Commission reported to the Council, 1 0 was disturbing the officials' minds by endeavoring to prove to them that the instructions they receive and the measures they are required to carry out are incompatible with their personal convictions, or are even contrary to a certain conception of the general interest; the danger then is that they may consider this conflict of duties sufficient justification for refusing to obey orders. What is worse, threats are used to the effect that the rights acquired by the officials may be swept away and that direct or indirect reprisals may one day be taken against those who have loyally served the Governing Commission. In the strictly administrative sphere, pressure of this kind may have the most serious consequences, and it is in any case inadmissible in a Territory, the future fate of which is still uncertain. On the request of the Governing Commission the League Council on May 27, 1933, adopted a resolution affirming the principle that the rights of the officials of the Saar Territory would, in all circumstances, be safeguarded. T h e details of application of this principle, including the fixing of equitable pecuniary compensation to be granted to those 8 These figures do not include the communal officials, who were all German (L.JV.O./., July 1933, p. 928). The sixty-six non-German officials included the judges of the Supreme Court at Saarlouis. Among the officials counted as German were a small number of former German officials born in Alsace or Lorraine who had been reinstated as French nationals by the Treaty of Versailles (L.N.O.J., March 1934, p. 306). 9 Gesetz sur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums promulgated by the German government on April 7, 1933 (Reichgesetzblatt, I, 1 7 5 ) . " L e t t e r of May 4, 1933, from the President of the Governing Commission to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations (L.N.O.J., July 1933, pp. 928-929).

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of the officials who could not be taken over by the successor governments, would be decided later, taking as bases any agreements concluded between the Governing Commission and the governments concerned. 11 At the end of June 1933 the Governing Commission reported that this resolution had done much to reassure the persons concerned and to allay their uneasiness.12 By September, however, it found that in spite of the Council's action the policy of intimidation pursued by the National Socialist Party was bearing fruit. The Saar labor unions presented another and most important aspect of the Commission's problem. The measures taken in the Reich against the union organizations, with which the Saar unions were affiliated, placed the latter in an uncertain legal position with respect to their economic and financial interests. Moreover, under the impetus of the Reichsarbeitsfront, which was set up in Germany after the dissolution of the unions there, politics were entering into the Saar associations, and these were excluding some of their members on account of their political or religious views. T o preserve the liberty of opinion of the people, and to enable the Saar unions to retain and dispose freely of their own funds and to be free from the effects of measures taken by authorities or managing boards outside the Territory, the Governing Commission on June 1, 1933, promulgated an ordinance providing that all local groups of trade unions, or professional or political associations with headquarters or centers of management outside the Saar, should in future be regarded as legally autonomous organizations; that no measures from outside should be enforced in the Saar without the previous authorization of the Governing Commission; and that no person not an "inhabitant of the Saar" might be president or member of a managing board of a Saar political organization. The Governing Commission assumed the right to dissolve all organizations if their activities should endanger public order and security; or if by their resolutions they should infringe the principle of equality of all inhabitants of the Territory for political or religious reasons; or if the object of their activities was manifestly incompatible with the regime created in the Territory by the Treaty of Versailles. 13 Anxious to put a stop to the disorder which was increasing in the Territory, and to avoid excitement from political activities and the consequent strain on the Landjäger until the plebiscite campaign should have commenced, the Commission required that all meetings of 11

L.N.O.}.,

July 1 9 3 3 , p. 836. "Fifty-fourth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission," 1 9 3 3 , p. 1 1 2 6 . 13 See Appendix, Doc. 2. 12

L.N.O.J.,

October

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political parties should be open only to those showing cards of membership in the organization. As a result of numerous incidents even these "closed meetings" were prohibited to the two extreme parties, the National Socialists and the Communists. The Commission made exceptions in favor of many athletic, child-welfare, and charitable associations affiliated with the two parties, exceptions which proved almost always to be in favor of the National Socialists.14 The latter, moreover, ingeniously endeavored to evade the prohibition by organizing meetings under the name of Heimatabende or Elternabende, or under cover of the Hitler Jugend, and later, of the Winterhilfswerk, at which influential members of the party, under cultural or charitable titles, made political speeches. Many of these speakers came in from the Reich for the purpose, in spite of the regulations of the Governing Commission forbidding aliens to the Territory to make political speeches without permission of the proper Saar authority. The administrative measures by which the Governing Commission had at first tried to end the growing disorder soon proved inadequate. In the short period from April ι to May 3 the public prosecutor had had to proceed against 258 persons for various offenses committed in connection with political incidents.15 In view of this state of affairs, which political developments were daily rendering more dangerous, the Governing Commission on May 20, 1933, issued a decree concerning the maintenance of public order. This ordinance required twentyfour hours notice to the local police authorities for all political meetings and all outdoor demonstrations and processions, and empowered the authorities to prohibit them if there were reason to fear that there would be incitement to disobedience against the decrees or orders of the Governing Commission or its authorities, or that there would be insults against organs or officials of the Commission, or against the institutions, customs, or objects of worship of any legally recognized religious community, or that public order would be menaced in some other way. 16 Anyone taking part in an unannounced or prohibited meeting or procession was to be liable to imprisonment or fine, and any organization whose members had frequently disobeyed this ordi14

Letter from the President of the Governing Commission forwarding petition of the Deutsche Front section of the Landesrat (L.N.O./., March 1934, p. 305). 15 "Fifty-fourth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission, April i-June 30, 1933," L.N.O.J., 1933, pp. 1 1 2 6 - 1 1 2 8 . 16 See Appendix, Doc. 1. The Commission stated that, generally speaking, the ordinance reproduced various German decrees issued by the Brüning government in 1 9 3 1 , with the exception of two chapters drawn up with special reference to the particular circumstances of the Saar.

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nance or that against the abuse of arms might be dissolved. The wearing of uniform clothing or emblems at political meetings or on a specific occasion might be forbidden and punished by imprisonment or fine.17 The decree further provided fine or imprisonment for anyone who by violence or threat of a punishable act or of boycott or black-listing, should prevent or attempt to prevent anyone from exercising his civil rights or those guaranteed to the inhabitants by the Treaty of Versailles. Political posters and leaflets were to be communicated to the police authorities before publication, and any of a nature to threaten public order or security were forbidden. To cope with "the organized propaganda conducted in a spirit definitely hostile to the regime established in the Saar by the Versailles Peace Treaty" and with the "inadmissible campaign of pressure exercised on certain sections of the population," 18 the Governing Commission included in the ordinance provisions authorizing it to suspend temporarily daily papers and periodicals for incitement to disobedience to the laws and regulations in force; for abusive or derisive attacks on the authorities, institutions, and services of the Governing Commission, or on the responsible heads of those services, or on any recognized religion, its institutions and practices; for menaces to public order and security; and for attempts by threats or black-listing to hinder the free exercise of their rights by the Saar population. It also provided that the Governing Commission might compel newspapers to publish free of charge certain official announcements and corrections. Provision was made for summary proceedings for offenses punishable under the decree. In two further ordinances, promulgated on May 20, the Commission provided that, in the interest of public safety, it might provisionally withdraw police power from the Bürgermeister in the communes and vest it entirely or partially in a government official, and reserved to itself the power, subject to appeal, to order the immediate dismissal, without preliminary disciplinary inquiry, of any executive official of the police or Landjäger convicted of a serious and deliberate breach of his official duty.19 17

U n d e r this provision President K n o x , as head of the D e p a r t m e n t of the Interior,

on the same day f o r b a d e the w e a r i n g of u n i f o r m s or a n y part of o n e by any political o r g a n i z a t i o n at a n y t i m e . 18

L e t t e r f r o m C h a i r m a n of the G o v e r n i n g C o m m i s s i o n to the Secretary-General

for-

w a r d i n g a petition f r o m the S a a r B r a n c h of the U n i o n of G e r m a n N e w s p a p e r Publishers a n d the S a a r Press U n i o n , A u g u s t 2 4 , 1 9 3 3

( L . N . O . J . , January

1934, p. 46).

Thirty-

one a n n e x e s w e r e attached. " T h i s w a s p r o m u l g a t e d f o l l o w i n g the escape of t w o of the S a a r municipal police to the Reich after liberating a person arrested in a political scuffle.

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With the exception of the Social Democratic members, the Landesrat voted against all the decrees. The representatives of the "middle-class" parties made the following joint statement: "We shall employ every means to defend ourselves against these new decrees, not in order to combat the Governing Commission, but to combat the Treaty of Versailles, which it is that Commission's duty to apply." 20 The Saar Press Union sent a series of petitions to the League Council reciting that the provisions regarding the press were "uncalled for and oppressive," and exposed them in their publishing and journalistic work to intolerable uncertainty as to their legal position; 2 1 that the Governing Commission, in its "intolerable interference" with the press, was going beyond its legal powers; and that it was active only against those papers of the Territory which stood for the national idea, while it allowed Marxist and autonomist papers in the Saar, together with French propagandist organs, "to emit a flow of shameful and continuous abuse against the leading figures of the constitutional government of the Reich." "These papers," the protest ran, "are even allowed to attack President von Hindenburg in a manner which profoundly offends the feelings of the population. And yet the Saar Territory is still subject to the sovereignty of the German Reich, and has a purely German indigenous population." In forwarding these protests to the Council, the Governing Commission said that since the repeal of the emergency ordinance of 1923, against which the Saar Press Union had at the time protested, the Saar press had been free to use and abuse its liberty and that the Governing Commission, however it might disapprove of personal attacks by the press on politicians, could not after ten years reintroduce a measure which was at the time unfavorably regarded by the Council.22 In a later document the Saar Press Union retorted that on September 22, 1933, the Governing Commission "in the absence of the President" had suspended the Deutsche Freiheit for a further "disgraceful insult" to the person of President von Hindenburg, which showed that the Commission had means at its disposal to intervene in such cases.23 As the situation in the Territory failed to improve, the Governing Commission on July 18, 1933, issued a proclamation calling attention to the fact that the Saar was a plebiscite territory, that all parties had 20

L.N.O.]., October 1 9 3 3 , p. 1 1 3 7 . L.N.O.J., October 1 9 3 3 , p. 1 1 3 7 . T h e Saar Press Union was a regional group of the Rhenish-Westphalian Press Association affiliated with the German Press Association. 22 L.N.O.J., January 1 9 3 4 , pp. 4 6 - 5 2 . 23 L.N.O.J., January 1 9 3 4 , p. 50. 21

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an equal right to freedom of political activity, that boycotts and threats were inadmissible, and that all officials, judges and others, must maintain the strictest neutrality.24 True to the German genius for organization, every effort was being expended to bring every association in the Saar into line to work for return to Hitler Germany. The Saarbrücken Chamber of Commerce, the most important of all these local organizations and always in the forefront in the numerous protests to Geneva during the fifteen years of the League régime, had conceived it to be its duty to work actively for return to the Reich as essential to the economic interests of the Territory. At a plenary meeting of the Chamber on July 10, 1933, its president said: In view of the coming plebiscite, this duty is the more imperative, as the measures taken by the Governing Commission during the last f e w weeks have had a very disturbing effect and have given the impression of a tendency to restrict the free expression of opinion. T h e statement of the reasons w h y , fully conscious of our responsibility, w e consider reincorporation in the German Reich of vital importance must not be hampered by any restrictive provisions.

W e therefore demand from the Governing Commission full

freedom openly to discuss these questions which concern the work of the Chamber of Commerce. 24

Proclamation "Having regard to various incidents, the Governing Commission desires to draw public attention to the following considerations: "The Saar Territory is a plebiscite territory. In due course the inhabitants of the Saar will be called upon to take part in a plebiscite and to pronounce upon three questions specified in the Treaty of Peace. The plebiscite is to be conducted freely, without the least constraint, which means that everyone is entitled to stand up for his own convictions and to work for their acceptance. It is, therefore, self-evident that any political activity in the Saar Territory which is directed within the limits laid down by law to the promotion of one or other of the solutions provided for in the Treaty of Peace is permitted to all alike and is placed under the protection of the public authorities. "Such being the case, recourse to inadmissible weapons such as incitements to boycotting or ostracism, defamation and, above all, threats cannot be allowed. It is not permissible, for example, that anyone should be branded as a traitor merely because, for the purposes of the plebiscite, he has declared himself in favor of one political conception or another. As the representative of the League of Nations, the Governing Commission interferes in the political campaign on behalf neither of one party nor of the other; similarly, all judges and other public officials, whether their responsibility be direct or indirect, are bound to observe the same scrupulous neutrality in the performance of their official duties. It is the Governing Commission's duty, therefore, to intervene whenever the rights guaranteed by the Treaty of Peace appear to be threatened, and it is resolved to take any measures that may appear necessary in this connection. S A A R B R U C K , July 18, 1933. "For and on behalf of the Governing Commission "(signed) G. G. K N O X , President." (LJV.O./., October 1933, p. 1 1 3 8 ; Verordnungen, 1933, p. 379.)

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He ended by criticizing the "prohibitions of newspapers and flags, especially in the galling form of threatened penalties," which, he said, "are not calculated to further the peaceful proceedings which we desire and advocate. The fewer attempts are made to restrict freedom of opinion among those primarily interested in the plebiscite, the less acute will be the struggle." On being reminded by President Knox that the Chamber must not forget that it was a public authority, that as such it must refrain from all political demonstrations, and that criticism of measures of the Governing Commission lay outside its competence, the president of the Chamber replied by claiming complete independence from the Governing Commission for himself and for the Chamber, and asserting that, as the Chamber of Commerce was called upon to watch over the economic interests of the Saar Territory not only until the plebiscite but also in the more distant future, it was his duty to express an objective opinion also on the questions connected with the plebiscite.25 The Chamber continued to follow this policy openly until November, when more drastic measures were taken by the Governing Commission. During the summer of 1933 the Commission informed the League Council that it was being troubled not only by the frequent arrest of Saar inhabitants visiting the Reich but by German police officials entering the Territory. On May 1, it reported, the superintendent of the Political Section of the German Criminal Police of Recklinghausen had entered the Saar in a motorcar accompanied by German policemen with the purpose, on his own statement, of carrying out searches and arrests in regard to a Communist leaflet confiscated in the Ruhr. On July 22 three inhabitants of the Saar, two of them French citizens living at Homburg, were seized in the Territory by a group from Germany among whom were said to have been a German police superintendent and a German customs official of the station opposite Homburg. T o the several notes of the Governing Commission concerning these occurrences the German Foreign Office replied that the police superintendent had not interfered in political affairs in the Territory and that there was no reason to believe that German officials had taken any part in the abductions. The Reich did, indeed, release the prisoners and bring them back to the Saar, and it initiated measures against the authors of the abductions, but the situation remained most unsatisfactory.26 • 25 "Appendices to Fifty-fifth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.f., January 1 9 3 4 , pp. 4 4 - 4 5 . 29 For the text of the notes-verbaux of the President of the Governing Commission of May 5, July 8 and 27, 1 9 3 3 , and the replies of the German government, see L.N.O.J., August 1 9 3 3 , pp. 1046—1051.

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Pressure on the Saar public officials continued to be the chief difficulty. In spite of the various interdictions placed by the Governing Commission on Nazi formations, the strength of the organization in the Territory increased so rapidly in the summer and fall of 1933 and gained control over so many of the Saar officials as to amount, in effect, to a state within a state. Police officials, even of the highest ranks, met secretly under the command of Spaniol, and the public services, posts, telegraph and telephone, tax collectors, muncipal authorities, Bürgermeister, priests, pastors, and even judges and magistrates, were largely subservient to the Nazi leader. The complaint of a reign of terror made by non-Nazi inhabitants was echoed in the foreign press, the charges including intimidation and espionage, secret denunciations, kidnappings across the German frontier, threats of dismissal and loss of pensions to officials disregarding orders of the unofficial government, interception of letters and telegrams, listening-in to telephone conversations, leniency of police to Nazi offenders and severity to anti-Nazis. The Saar Social Democratic Party on September 16, 1933, appealed to the League Council against the "campaign of intimidation unexpected in its extent." Because of the political attitude of the Voli^sstimme, it said, the Oberbürgermeister of Saarbrücken and the Bürgermeister of other communes had withdrawn from the paper all municipal notices and orders for printed matter, and in consequence everyone was alarmed and only a very few private firms dared to advertise in it or in the Deutsche Freiheit. Subscribers had been intimidated and in countless cases threatened with "vengeance in 1935," and the newspaper messengers and sellers were molested and insulted, while the German wireless stations at Stuttgart and Frankfurt "extol these acts and those responsible for them." Either because of fear of further injury or of lack of confidence in the lower courts, many of those attacked and injured lodged no complaints. Terrorism in the small villages in the Saar was constantly increasing, it warned, and soon would become intolerable.27 These charges were largely corroborated by the Governing Commission in its periodical report to the Council at the end of September 1933. The political situation, it said, had become steadily worse. Indeed, any impartial observer of Saar political life during the last quarter will have noticed that the National Socialist Party has been making every effort to gain control of the whole public life of the Saar. It has endeavored to attain its object of setting up a de facto government side by side with the legal government by consistently giving a political colour to all the activities 27

L.N.O.I;

January 1934, pp. 5 3 - 5 6 .

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of the population of whatever kind, even the most trivial. . . . The National Socialist Party is carrying on more or less unscrupulous activities in all spheres of public and private life in the Saar, waging an incessant campaign of threats, denunciations and disguised boycotting against inhabitants of the Territory suspected of not sharing its political ideas. Reckless in its choice of the methods of imposing its will, the National Socialist Party never hesitates to make it clear that any persons who oppose it will be made to pay heavily for their present attitude after the plebiscite, and has succeeded in creating an atmosphere of intense excitement in the Saar, which has aroused the opposition of other political parties that refused to submit: the result has been an increase in acts of violence and terrorism. . . . Pressure of this kind is brought to bear not only on individuals, but also on trade unions, political parties, sporting and artistic associations, and even the Church. It constitutes a particular danger when applied to officials. The Governing Commission . . . was entided to hope that the undertakings given to the officials during the discussions of the Council and embodied in the Council's resolution of May 27, 1933, would help to allay uneasiness. Unfortunately, its hopes have been disappointed, and it has had to face the fact that the policy of intimidation pursued by the National Socialist Party was apparently bearing fruit: there have been regrettable cases of dereliction of duty and other significant cases where the seal of official secrecy has been deliberately broken and instructions and internal regulations have been prematurely communicated to the Press. In the circumstances, the Governing Commission is likely to be placed in an intolerable position if this state of affairs is not remedied without delay. In order to carry out its mission, it must preserve its authority intact without the latter being weakened by illegal pressure brought to bear on Saar opinion by a political party. The Governing Commission, for its part, cannot engage in party politics; it is fully conscious that it owes protection to all inhabitants of the Territory without distinction of origin, opinion, religion or nationality; and it does not forget that the plebiscite provided for at the termination of the present regime must be held under conditions of perfect independence. It therefore considers that the present position calls for the adoption of exceptional measures without delay, and this view is borne out by all the symptoms cited above.28 The first of the series of exceptional measures to secure the freedom of the plebiscite concerned collections for the Notring, a fund ostensibly for charitable purposes but actually used to further party ends. The Governing Commission ordered that the Notring be dissolved,29 and, 28 "Fifty-fifth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission, July i-September 30, 1933," L.N.O.J., January 1934, pp. 34 et seq. This part of the report was adopted by the Governing Commission against the vote of the Saar member. M See letter of the Chairman of the Governing Commission, January 5, 1933, transmitting petition of the Deutsche Front section of the Landesrat to the League Council, L.N.O.J., March 1934, p. 306.

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feeling the need of effective supervision over such welfare societies, shortly gave the Interior Department effective supervision over all collections, fêtes for charitable purposes, and the like. The next ordinance concerned the Chamber of Commerce, which the Governing Commission felt could not be allowed to transform itself into a center of political agitation, for, since it exercised official functions and levied compulsory contributions collected as a tax, all the inhabitants of the Territory must feel that they could apply to it with every confidence in its impartiality. The Commission accordingly drafted an ordinance giving itself the necessary powers to forbid the Chambers of Commerce to concern themselves with political questions and requiring them to observe strict neutrality in religious matters. In case of contravention the administrative board of the Chamber was to be replaced by a higher administrative tribunal (Oberverwaltung!gericht) and the Chamber subjected to the supervision of the member of the Governing Commission in charge of economic matters, who had the power to attach to the Chamber a commissioner with the right to attend all meetings, see all documents, raise questions for discussion, suspend decisions overstepping the proper functions of the Chamber, and call new elections.30 The third measure taken by the Governing Commission concerned the entrance into the Saar Territory of other than Saar inhabitants. Hitherto no special permission had been required for this, and a simple pass or identity card from the traveler's home government had 30 Appendix, Doc. 3. For English translation, see L.N.O.f., March 1934, p. 294. The ordinance secured only the votes of the three Social Democratic members of the Landesrat. On December 1 5 the Chamber of Commerce appealed to the League Council "to review the measures of the Governing Commission in a spirit of freedom and fairness, and to induce the Governing Commission to take steps for the suspension of the decree, for which there is neither legal nor material justification, and for the restoration in their entirety of the rights and liberties appertaining to the Chamber of Commerce and to the population of the Saar which it represents." The decree, it said, was unnecessary, unjust, and contrary to the Saar Statute, paragraph 28 of which provided that the inhabitants should retain their local assemblies. The accusation brought by the Governing Commission that the Chamber of Commerce had prejudiced the result of the plebiscite by failing to observe the necessary objectivity "goes to the root of the whole controversy which has broken out, not only between the Governing Commission and the Chamber of Commerce, but also between the Governing Commission and practically the entire population of the Saar." The Governing Commission in a communiqué had maintained that it was the hitherto accepted interpretation of paragraph 28 of the Saar Annex that it referred to political assemblies such as the Kreis and town and rural district councils, and that in any case the paragraph had provided that the inhabitants should retain their local assemblies "under the control of the Governing Commission" (LJV.O./., March 1934, p. 299). That the "local assemblies" referred to in the Treaty were political is clear from the history of the provision. See above, pp. 5 1 - 5 6 .

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sufficed. The Governing Commission had found on repeated occasions that persons alien to the Territory had abused the right of sojourn in the Saar to speak at public meetings, and had infringed the regulations in force by making political speeches without permission and by interfering in the management of political associations, trade unions, and professional associations.32 To meet these abuses the Commission on October 25, 1933, issued an ordinance requiring a special entrance permit from the Saar Department of the Interior in the case of any person coming to take part in any meeting, public or private, or as a member of an association, or to carry on activities in political associations or trade unions in the Saar as the delegate of an authority or an organization outside the Territory. 33 On November 28 the Governing Commission issued a series of decrees concerning public order and safety, which for the most part closely reflected measures taken by the several plebiscite commissions in the international plebiscites of 1920 and 1921. The most important of these ordinances was that reinforcing the decree of May 20 regarding the maintenance of public order and security. Notice of all public meetings and demonstrations was to be given six days in advance instead of twenty-four hours, as previously stipulated. Imprisonment for from two weeks to two months was provided for any person organizing, leading, or speaking at unauthorized meetings or processions; for anyone who, without the required entrance visa, should speak in the Territory at any meeting, public or private, or should engage in any activity in political, trade union, or professional associations on behalf of a country other than the Saar, or of the governing body of an association, federation, or organization of a country other than the Saar; and for anyone inciting publicly to an act of violence. The wearing by any associations, political or not, of uniform dress, or parts of such, was prohibited without official permission from the member of the Governing Commission in charge of internal affairs, as was the wearing in public of distinctive marks denoting membership in a political association, or distinctive marks or badges of a political character.34 31 By the ordinance of April 16, 1925, a newcomer was required to report to the police officials within three days of arrival, and for a visit of longer than two weeks must report periodically (no. 1 9 1 , Amtsblatt, 1925). 32 "Fifty-sixth Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., April 1934, pp. 3 9 5 33 398. Appendix, Doc. 4. 31 Authorization was given on December 12, 1933, to wear the uniforms or emblems of the church and religious orders, the uniforms of the Red Cross, of deaconesses working for the sick, firemen, associations of veterans and wounded, miners' and steel workers' unions (Knappenvereine), French and German Boy Scouts, sport associations and musical clubs, and the like (no. 636, Verordnungen, 1933, p. 536).

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Except for excursions of schools and religious associations, all drills, marching in ranks, and sports and games of a military character in the open were prohibited by day as well as by night, unless special permission was obtained. More severe action was provided against secret membership in associations and leagues prohibited in the Territory, and against all maneuvers intended to maintain or promote the secret existence of such associations. The same rule applied to the participation of inhabitants of the Saar in outside organizations prohibited in the Territory. T o end, as far as possible, the campaign of systematic intimidation and threats of reprisals after the plebiscite, existing legislation was strengthened by explicit reference to such acts. Any person who by force, or by threats of a criminal action or of loss of legal rights after the plebiscite, or by boycott or outlawry, should obstruct or endeavor to obstruct an inhabitant of the Saar in the exercise of his civic rights or those guaranteed by the Treaty of Peace, or should force or try to force him to join a political association or to participate in a political demonstration or in specific activities, was subject to imprisonment of not less than two or more than six months. If the offense was committed by an official or directed against one, the penalty was to be penal servitude for three months to two years. Any person endeavoring to injure a Saar inhabitant by reason of his nationality, religion, political activities or opinions, or attempting by violence, or threats of a punishable act or of reprisals after the plebiscite, to interfere with his economic liberty, or, among other things, to prevent a compulsory sale under writ of execution, was subject to imprisonment. 35 A restaurant- or inn-keeper might be deprived of his license for six months if he permitted clients to be annoyed or molested on the premises for no other reason than their nationality, religion, or political attitude and activities, or refused them admittance or attendance for such reasons, or if such actions should take place on the premises as clients were leaving them. The collection of contributions in money or kind for political purposes or for use by political organizations, whether from house to house or in the street or in open places, or in restaurants or places of entertainment, was forbidden under penalty of imprisonment for three months or a fine of 1,000 francs. Article 15 extended the provisions of the decree of May 20, 1933, to cover all printed matter divulging an official secret without authorization; or inciting an official or employee to a breach of official secrecy or of his duty of obedience or fidelity; or denouncing to an outside authority a Saar inhabitant for 35

Appendix, Doc. 5.

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an act not punishable in the Territory or of a Saar official in order that steps might be taken against him; or containing threats of black-listing or of reprisals after the plebiscite; or containing manifestly false or misleading news concerning general administration of the Territory, when such publications were liable to endanger public order; or inciting to a general strike, or to a strike in an enterprise of vital importance. Penalties were provided for the sale, printing, or circulation of any printed matter prohibited on grounds of public security, and any advertisements of banned publications or of films or stage plays not authorized in the Territory. By a further ordinance amending the Criminal Code and the Code of Judicial Procedure any public official or employee, whether in active service or retired, who should publish official secrets or divulge official documents illicitly, or who, in the discharge of his duties, should directly or indirectly participate in demonstrations in connection with the plebiscite or should fail to observe an impartial attitude toward all the inhabitants of the Territory, was liable to imprisonment and fine.36 Anyone inciting or endeavoring to incite a public official or employee to violate official secrecy or to commit a dereliction of his duty of loyalty or obedience was to be subject to severe penalty. Anyone giving to an authority of a country other than the Saar or of an association within or without the Saar information inculpating a Saar inhabitant of an act within the Territory not punishable under its laws, or casting suspicion on a Saar official of violation of his official or other conduct, with the intent to cause proceedings, official or otherwise, against him, was to be subject to imprisonment for three years and to loss of civil rights. Any person who for political reasons should threaten another with injury or loss of rights after the plebiscite should be liable to imprisonment without the person threatened being obliged to make formal application for prosecution as hitherto. As the lower courts were prone to give too light sentences, all Saar officials were removed from the jurisdiction of the criminal courts and the International Saar Supreme Court at Saarlouis was given exclusive jurisdiction over all the above-mentioned offenses. By its proclamation of July 18, 1933, the Governing Commission had already emphasized the obligation of Saar officials to maintain neutrality in the performance of their official duties.37 The third ordinance of 36

Appendix, Doc. 7. In March 1933 Saar officials had been forbidden to make unauthorized speeches which would be broadcast by radio; in October they had been forbidden to attend public meetings of officials outside the Territory (nos. 160 and 520, Verordnungen, 1933, pp. 1 1 5 and 4 5 1 ) . 37

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November 28, 1933, stated that, as legal corollary to the duty incumbent upon the Governing Commission to observe neutrality, all officials of the Territory, when performing their functions, were forbidden to take any part, directly or indirectly, in the discussions relating to the plebiscite.38 A further ordinance amended the Reich law regarding associations so as to give effect to the previous decree of the Governing Commission whereby political associations in the Territory were forbidden to maintain relations with foreign associations of such a nature as to render them subject to their decisions. The new ordinance prohibited, under penalty of fine or imprisonment, any member of a government organ not of the Saar, or any one discharging public duties outside the Territory, from acting as president or member of a governing body or leader of a political organization within the Territory. Political associations in the Saar were not permitted to establish relations with associations having headquarters outside the Territory of such a nature that the one would be subject to the decisions of the other, or that a number of such associations would be united in a single constituent whole under a common organ. Political associations or their leaders or other representatives were forbidden to make decisions or to publish proclamations or other statements by which, because of tenor or form, an association or its leaders would appear to claim legislative or executive authority.39 The final ordinance forbade the flying of flags on public buildings or thoroughfares without permission of the Chairman of the Governing Commission.40 So long as public order was not disturbed the Deutsche Front apparently felt that the activities carried on by it were legitimate. The leaders of the organization considered all these decrees not only uncalled for but unfair, and felt that the sole purpose behind them was to combat and penalize any expression of German feeling. The recently founded "Deutsche Front Section" of the Landesrat petitioned the League Council, in view of the constant serious conflicts between the Commission and the bulk of the population, to undertake an inquiry into the series of measures adopted by the Commission.41 The group 38

Appendix, Doc. 6. Appendix, Doc. 8. " N o . 604, Verordnungen, 1933, p. 506. 41 The Deutsche Front Section of the Landesrai, which was a union of the bourgeois parties under the direction of the National Socialist Party, represented the National Socialists (two seats), the Saar-German Peoples Party (two seats), the Center Party (fourteen seats), and the Middle-Class Economic Party (one seat). 39

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accused the Governing Commission, and particularly the Chairman, of a gross lack of objectivity. T h e Commission's report of September 30, 1933, they said, did not give an accurate picture of the real conditions. T h e far-reaching events in the remainder of Germany could not fail to have a profound effect on the Saar Territory also. 42 In our opinion, it would have been better to leave this development of internal policy and the attitude of the Saar population thereto to the Saar population itself, as required by the constitutional structure of the Saar Territory, and only to interfere to the extent rendered necessary by the maintenance of public order and security. Instead of this, the Governing Commission is attempting to go much further, and to influence the course of events by direct intervention, taking up a hostile attitude to the portion of the population which supports the Reich Government, and favoring their opponents.... It was impossible, they said, in view of the way in which National Socialism, in a short space of time and without any means of coercion at its disposal, had permeated the whole public and private life of the Territory, to call it a mere party movement, as the Governing Commission had done. The great external calm and discipline with which, generally speaking, the movement is daily spreading, corresponds to its inward nature. Voluntary accessions, even from the ranks of the Social Democrats and Communists, are continually growing in number. If, in individual cases, use has been made of inadmissible methods, not by the party authorities but by unauthorized persons, some of them agents provocateurs, we condemn this no less than the Governing Commission does. We are continually emphasizing that any form of violence can only be injurious to the population as a whole. . . . In no case have any serious disturbances of public order and security been caused by the National Socialists, as has indeed been recognized by foreign visitors to the Saar Territory. Full understanding of this movement of internal German policy could not be expected of the foreign members of the Governing Commission, and no doubt could be entertained, they said, as to the good faith of the Chairman, who was primarily responsible for the quarterly report, the biased nature of which might be attributed to "obvious unfamiliarity with conditions in the Saar," but, they added, public opinion, while laying the most of the blame on the Marxist press for stirring up political passions, blamed also "the tolerance and even favoritism" which the Chairman showed that press and his failure to take action against it, while forbidding both public and private National Socialist assemblies. 42

L.N.O.J., March 1934, p. 307.

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The Chairman also regards as inadmissible political activity, mere expressions of national feeling which the population of the Saar considers itself entided to manifest, like any other population. In the place of a German with national sentiments, he wishes to put a neutral creature of a kind that exists in no country in the world. Among other things, the Chairman regards as inadmissible political activities the uttering of cries of "Sieg Heil" in honor of the President and Chancellor of the Reich, although the Saar constitutes a part of the German Reich, and the German population of the Saar only wishes to pay due honor to the Government to which it owes natural allegiance. . . . The Chairman is accustomed to base his judgments to a large extent on information received from Social-Democratic and Communist sources. . . . The political activities of German emigrants in the Saar amount, with the toleration and encouragement of the Chairman, to a misuse of the right of asylum. Not only can they without hindrance direct attacks against the German Government through the Saar press to which they have access, but the Chairman goes so far as to give them posts in his administration in the political supervision service and secret service. They accused the Commission of failure to investigate and punish the alleged violation of the frontier by two French gendarmes who were accused by a Saar inhabitant of having tried to kidnap him, and would consider it clear proof that the Chairman was subservient to French influences if a completely satisfactory statement were not shortly made.43 The Deutsche Front section took occasion to enter a solemn protest against any possible proposal of the Chairman of the Governing Commission to introduce foreign police which, they said, would be contrary to paragraph 30 of the Saar Statute, as well as wholly unnecessary. In transmitting the petition, President Knox observed that the petitioners would seem to admit that excesses had actually occurred which might be imputed to the National Socialist Party, but that these excesses were either passed over in silence or else attributed to "irresponsible elements." The acts of terrorism and informing committed by the party members, he reported, had increased in number since the date of the Governing Commission's last quarterly report. " In its letter of transmittal the Governing Commission reported that the incident had been thoroughly investigated and proved to be a hoax, that the French gendarmes did not leave French soil, and that the complainant — an old offender who had been expelled from both France and Germany — had put his head through a gate of the French gendarmerie station on the frontier. According to the Commission he had done it to annoy the gendarmes, but according to the New York, Times correspondent he had invented the incident to account to his family for the disappearance of his wages, which he had spent at Lauterbach inns (L.N.O.J., March 1934, p. 306; New York Times, January 24, 1934).

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The insidious boycotting and the persecution of Jews and political opponents of the National-Socialist Party have assumed such proportions that the Governing Commission has been receiving almost every day complaints from the most diverse sections of the population. It has even been obliged, at the request of the Jewish community, to found a special school for Jewish children. The very fact that that community has resigned itself, after centuries of freedom, to seeking for its children the segregation of the ghetto will suffice in itself to show the full extent of this persecution. Since the last report of the Governing Commission, which had referred to the clandestine administration set up by the Nazi Party side by side with the legal government, President Knox reported that the party had continued this policy, for example, by placing on the door of the head of the party (Landesführer) a plate with the inscription "Preussiscker Staatsrat: Verwaltung," by launching appeals to the communal authorities, . . . by addressing applications for naturalization direct to the German authorities, by issuing certificates for the forwarding of parcels duty-free, and by affixing the party's visa side by side with that of the police on the cards of persons collecting for charitable organizations which are entirely unconnected with it. These and similar acts must be attributed no doubt very largely to the total inexperience of the leaders of the party and to the megalomania which, to quote only one example, has urged its head to address a proclamation to "his people." One might regard these facts with the indulgence due to mere childishness were it not that these same facts are unfortunately intimately connected with others of a much more serious character. Domiciliary searches of the premises of the National Socialist Party in Neunkirchen and other places by the criminal police had revealed, the Chairman reported, the continued existence in a disguised form of the military organizations of the National Socialist Party, the "S.A.," "S.S.," Motorstafieln, etc., despite the prohibition of these in the Saar, and also the systematic practice of military drill by these organizations. To show the importance of these secret National Socialist organizations, the Chairman of the Commission quoted a letter in which an official of the party in Neunkirchen assured the district head of the party that in case of danger he could supply in a few hours 1,500 men with motorcars and motorcycles. Activities of the prohibited formations were continuing under the friendly eye of the leaders and, far more serious, "under the eye of various officials of the Governing

T H E G O V E R N I N G COMMISSION Commission who do not consider it prudent to inform their administrative superiors of the facts, as they ought to do." Documents seized from the archives of the head of the party for the Kreise of Ottweiler and St. Wendel, who was responsible for two of its most important services in the Territory, showed members of these organizations grouped in Abteilung io, a branch of the German SS. Standarte io of Neustadt-Haardt, the parts of the Reich bordering on the Saar to the north and east. A collection of cards was found giving details — "often in the most offensive terms" — of the career and administrative and political attitude of communal officials and police officers, much of the information being supplied by subordinates. To these cards, "which must have been prepared with the sole object of bringing pressure to bear on the persons to whom they refer," the Commission drew attention as being "the acts neither of 'provocateurs' nor of 'irresponsible elements'." The first of March 1934 marked the beginning of a new phase in the campaign for the return of the Saar to the Reich. On orders from Reichskanzler Hitler himself,44 two important changes were made in the Deutsche Front, in order to facilitate the entrance of members of the Center Party, as well as Socialists and Communists, into the organization. The Saar National Socialist Party, which had been a separate and controlling unit, was now merged in the Deutsche Front. Further, the young Prussian State Councillor Spaniol, who had openly employed threats against his adversaries4" and prophesied the extinction of the Church, was removed as head of the Saar Deutsche Front and made leader of the Deutsche Front in the Reich, a position which meant control of all the eligible Saar voters resident there. As titular head of the reorganized Saar Deutsche Front there had been appointed a quiet young man named Pirro who, until December 1933, had been an official under the Governing Commission in the Homburg district. The real heads of the organization were now supposed to be members of the Führerrat of the Deutsche Front — the " See letter of the Landesgeschäftsjührer of the " N . S . D . A . P . " and of the Deutsche Front of July 9, 1 9 3 4 , found in the Deutsche Front headquarters ( L . N . O . J . , December 1 9 3 4 , p. 1 6 5 6 ) . 48 Spaniol was reported to have said at the Saar demonstration at Niederwald on August 27, 1 9 3 3 : " T h e day will come when we will call these criminals to account, when we will slay these torturers of the soul of German children like mad dogs." T h e quotation is given as from the Wolff Bureau by the Regional Committee of the Saar Social Democratic Party, September 16, 1 9 3 3 (L.N.O.J., January 1 9 3 4 , p. 5 5 ) . T h e Journal de Geneve of May 8, 1 9 3 4 , said that Spaniol had called Hitler " a new Christ, greater and more formidable" and had prophesied that the Roman Church in thirty years would no longer exist in its present f o r m .

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steel magnate Dr. Hermann Röchling, and Herr Schmelzer, both leaders of the Saarländische Volkspartei and the latter a deputy in the Landesrat; and Peter Kiefer, a former miner, deputy of the Center Party in the Landesrat, leader of the Christian Miners' Union and of the Deutsche Gewerkschaftfront, and later Landespropagandaleiter of the Deutsche Front.46 The actual power behind Herr Pirro was, however, Gauleiter Josef Biirckel, a Prussian, who had his headquarters in the Palatinate and who on August 15, 1934, was made Saarbevollmächtigter des Reichskanzlers. With the reorganization it was announced that all party strife would cease, all religious, class, and professional distinctions were abolished, and the foremost duty of all was henceforth to be German. The new arrangement, said Herr Rudolph Hess, Herr Hitler's deputy, meant, "a single folk-community which is freed from all party feeling," and he intimated that membership in the National Socialist Party of the Reich would be refused to all "who, during the plebiscite, have discussed party or philosophical questions in a form which could in any way endanger the solidarity of Germans," while all those, whatever their policy, who worked sincerely for such solidarity during the plebiscite period would be welcomed with open arms. This was an offer of great political potency for those wishing posts, relief, or other advantages later under the Reich.47 The Governing Commission had desired that there should be no conspicuous activity which might arouse public feeling until the Plebiscite Commission should be established in the Territory and could decide as to what forms of propaganda should be allowed. In February, however, the Deutsche Front had opened an energetic campaign in which its agents canvassed from house to house for signatures to declarations of membership whereby the signatory undertook "to do all in his power to promote the development of the Deutsche Front, the aim of which was to unite all classes of the Saar population to ""The Deutsche Gewerkschaftfront was organized in October 1933 by the Christian Trade Unions with the purpose of placing the Saar Trade Unions on a completely autonomous basis. To it belonged thirteen trade unions, representing all local industries, seven associations of employees in private enterprises, and three unions of government employees. In 1934 it was estimated to have 80,000 members. The Socialist unions remained outside. As the campaign progressed, Kiefer became increasingly prominent, although it is said that his joining the National Socialist Party greatly endangered his leadership until the last few months of the campaign. "London Times, February 1 2 and March 3, 1934. A statement came simultaneously from the Saar plenipotentiary, Herr von Papen, that the law for the dismissal of untrustworthy officials would expire on March 3 1 , 1934, and would not apply to the Saar administration.

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work together for the restoration of the Saar Territory to the Reich." 48 The employees of a number of large industrial concerns were invited by their employers to sign similar undertakings. The system obviously favored the drawing up of black lists of those not signing, and the Commission received numerous complaints of pressure. The Chairman wrote to the head of the Deutsche Front on March 3, 1934, pointing out that "a method of propaganda by which people were obliged to state openly, at the present stage, how they would vote at the plebiscite, was incompatible with the principle of freedom, secrecy, and trustworthiness of the voting." The head of the Deutsche Front replied that, in order to ensure that membership in the organization should be voluntary, all attempt at pressure would be prevented and that no propaganda in favor of membership would be carried on. The Governing Commission reported to the Council that this assurance considerably exceeded what it had asked for but that it had not been observed, for, while the wording of the membership forms had been amended and the collection of signatures in factories had practically ceased (having most probably already produced its full effect) and house-to-house canvassing had been largely discontinued, nevertheless strong propaganda was still being carried on. The Deutsche Front had had membership forms delivered free with newspapers, placed in letter-boxes throughout the Territory, and offered for signature in cafés and public places. A great number of registration offices had been opened (on March 17, 1934, there were no fewer than 827 in the city of Saarbrücken), from which people in the neighborhood were being invited by telephone to join the movement. What was more serious, a considerable number of these registration offices were run by state or municipal officials, and officials of the Governing Commission (including police officers) were being asked to sign the forms; and a very large proportion of the constabulary and gendarmerie had already joined, while the head of the Deutsche Front himself, a former government official, had supplied a town clerk in Homburg with a quantity of Deutsche Front membership forms which the clerk filled out at his office with the names of residents of the commune and then, announced by the official communal bell, took from house to house for signature. The aim of this activity appeared to be to enable the speakers at the meeting planned for May 6 for Reichspropagandami18 "Report by the Chairman of of the League of Nations, March Annex I. The document, C. 135. For reference, see L.N.O.J., August

the Governing Commission to the Secretary-General 28, 1934." The text of the declaration is given in 1934. VII, is not published in the Official Journal. 1934, p. 978.

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nister Goebbels at Zweibrücken, in the Palatinate on the edge of the Saar, to announce a large membership for the Deutsche Front, and thus to force the opposite party to announce its membership, with the result that then, to quote a broadcast by Bürckel, "France and the world will learn where we are going and what hour has struck." The Governing Commission, realizing "that this is a problem connected with the plebiscite, and hence largely beyond its province," felt bound to call the Council's serious attention to "a form of activity which already is gravely endangering the freedom, secrecy, and trustworthiness of any voting which may take place." At the meeting, to which the crowds, variously estimated by the press as between 100,000 and 200,000, were being brought from the Saar and the Reich by special trains and escorted to the field by Storm Troopers, it was announced that the registered members of the Deutsche Front entitled to vote in the plebiscite numbered 445,174, or 92 per cent of the qualified voters resident in the Saar Territory.49 Dr. Goebbels, the principal speaker, accused the Governing Commission of "terrorism," and of efforts by "petty chicanery," suppression of journals, and the like, to uproot the political life of the Saar, and said that the Emigranten, as the refugees from the Reich were termed, were traitors selling their own flesh and blood for money.50 For many months the question of an effective policing of the Territory during the plebiscite campaign had been a serious concern of the Governing Commission. Since it was not only an industrial but a frontier area as well, with 430 inhabitants per square kilometer, the danger of trouble was not to be neglected. The inhabitants were by nature peaceful, it was true. Such strikes as had occurred had been free from violence, and for fifteen years order had been kept by an alien government by means of a very small local force which at no time numbered more than 1,005 men. With the necessary subtractions for relief, absence on leave, illness, passport and frontier inspection, guarding prisons, and policing the communes, this meant that the Commission had at its disposal for sudden emergency at any one time a mobile force of barely 100 men to ensure order and security for a population of over 800,000. Experience had shown abundantly that a plebiscite, even among a peaceable people, raises to fever heat the spirit of political 48 On May n , 1 9 3 4 , Herr Pirro informed the Council that the number had increased to over 455,000, and that the members of the Deutsche Front entitled to vote in the plebiscite made up more than 93 per cent of the total voting population of the Territory (L.N.O.J., August 1 9 3 4 , pp. 9 7 9 - 9 8 1 ) . M Author's collection. T h e speech was recorded mechanically for the archives of the Governing Commission. For extracts, see L.N.O.J., May 1 9 3 4 , p. 458.

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groups, and even had the atmosphere in the Saar not become recently surcharged by the Nazi formations of the "S.A." and the "S.S.," and by the opposing Communist bodies, it was obvious that something other than a local force, whatever its numbers, must be introduced in order to give both sides confidence in adequate protection during the campaign. It was true that, according to the understanding with the Council in 1925 and 1926, the Governing Commission could, in case of necessity, call on the French troops at the frontier, but no one, and least of all the French, wished for this eventuality. The obvious solution was an international police force such as had been present in the plebiscites in Schleswig, Upper Silesia, and East and West Prussia, and as had been arranged by the League Council for the abortive plebiscite in Vilna. In the case of the Saar, however, the Treaty had not specifically provided for an international force for the plebiscite, and the entire German press had long since taken the stand that such a force would be illegal under paragraph 30 of the Saar Annex, which read: "Only a local gendarmerie for the maintenance of order may be established." It was, however, possible to argue that paragraph 30 must be read in conjunction with the first paragraph of the same section, which prohibited military service, compulsory or voluntary, in the Territory; that paragraph 30 also required the Governing Commission "to provide in all cases for the protection of persons and property in the Saar Basin"; and that, in any case, paragraph 30 lay in Chapter II of the Annex, whereas the plebiscite came under Chapter III, and that under the "doctrine of implied powers," so familiar in American as well as European law, the obligation on the Council under paragraph 34 of that chapter so to fix the conditions as to secure the "freedom, secrecy, and trustworthiness of the voting" superseded any restrictions in Chapter II, and gave the Council not only the right but the duty to take any measures to secure such freedom and secrecy as might in its estimation be required. In the Territory rumors of a threatening Putsch were increasing. Those wishing for the immediate return to the Reich were fearful that the Saar Communists, with outside aid, were preparing a display of force. The Freiheitsfront was convinced that there was indeed a Saar legion in the Reich receiving military training there like the Austrian legion, and that the "associations of former regimental comrades" which were increasing in the Territory were intended to supplement and complete this Saar legion in preparation for its entrance in a Putsch. Whether or not there was any truth in these rumors, the majority of the Commission were convinced that there should be a

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neutral police force in the Saar, as in the other post-war plebiscites, and in an aide-mémoire, dated January 29, set the necessary strength at from 2,000 to 3,000 men. 51 The proposal was reinforced by a report on the Saar gendarmerie and police, dated March 12, 1934, in which all the members of the Governing Commission agreed that the existing police forces were totally inadequate.52 The approach of the plebiscite, ran the report, would give vital importance to the frontier supervision service, at present carried out by seventeen Landjäger. The 158 kilometers of frontier with Germany and 132 kilometers of frontier with France had hitherto been controlled only by flying detachments. During the plebiscite period, control would have to be effected and protection of the isolated French customs posts secured by fixed posts in the stations and on the roads, and by flying brigades. The 200 effectives necessary for this purpose would have to be drawn from the Landjäger corps in barracks at Saarbrücken, which would have to be reduced in proportion. Moreover, as the gendarmerie and police were recruited exclusively in the Saar, they presented all the drawbacks and dangers inherent in local recruitment. The gendarmes and constables were finding it difficult to refrain from taking sides in political strife. They were nearly all former German soldiers, and it was to be feared that this early training created in many of them a conflict of conscience which would render difficult the strictly impartial performance of duties which would be assigned to them at the time of the plebiscite. In the past year the excitement in the Saar had been continually increasing, despite the stringent measures of the Governing Commission. The hatred between political adversaries was already exceptionally acute. Despite the prohibitions pronounced, the para-military organizations were still considerable, comprising a large part of the Saar youth and a considerable number of ex-service men. Apart from these organizations, about 15,000 young men between eighteen and twentythree had been recruited in the Saar to undergo prolonged periods of training in voluntary labor camps in Germany. The Governing Commission, the report read, had hitherto been able to maintain order in the Territory chiefly because of the moral effect of the Council's resolution of March 18, 1926,53 allowing it in case of need, on its own responsibility, to call in the French troops stationed near the frontiers, " P r e s i d e n t Rault, in his letter of July 6, 1 9 2 4 , to the Secretary-General had set the minimum number of Landjäger necessary to insure maintenance of order in the Territory at 3,000, it being understood that in case of crisis troops would be available from outside (L.N.O.J., August 1924, p. 1 0 5 9 ) . S2 L.N.O.J., September 1 9 3 4 , pp. 1 1 4 0 et seq. 03 See above, p. 85.

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but the Commission could not envisage "without the gravest apprehension the consequences of such intervention if it were obliged to resort thereto." It was impossible, the majority of the Commission reported, to increase the existing forces by means of further local recruitment, as there was no military service in the Territory and so it was not possible to find on the spot men having sufficient preliminary training in drill, discipline, and the handling of arms. It would be imprudent to add to the present gendarmerie, already much agitated by political influences, men who had already undergone the same influences. Any attempt to reinforce the gendarmerie with the idea of securing equilibrium between the political doctrines in that body would, in principle, be inadmissible and would lead in practice to the disruption of the corps. The Chairman of the Commission, with the Yugoslav and Finnish members, agreed in the conclusion that: "The present police forces being inadequate, local recruitment being impossible, and the Governing Commission wishing to avoid the risk which would be involved by calling in troops stationed outside the Territory, the only solution is to have recourse to neutral police." The Saar Member of the Commission, though agreeing that the existing forces were inadequate, declared in a separate statement that he could not concur in the conclusion that a foreign police force of 2,000 would be necessary, and was convinced that the means of maintaining order during the plebiscite existed in the Territory itself, through comprehensive cooperation between the Administration and the population, the admission of the competent political leaders to a certain share in responsibility, the debarring from active participation in the plebiscite campaign of persons who had no natural right to intervene with regard to the future fate of the Territory, and the increase of the local gendarmerie. Whatever success the Governing Commission might eventually have in securing from the League Council an international force to preserve order, it was obvious that neutral officers from outside must be introduced into the local gendarmerie, as had been done in all the other plebiscites under the Treaty of Versailles. The Governing Commission was anxious to bring in a number of foreign police officials from neutral countries as criminal investigation officers in the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department at Saarbrücken. For this purpose the Commission was taking steps to engage four or five Luxembourgeois when, obviously under the inspiration of the German government, the Berlin as well as the local press began an organized offensive against the introduction of any foreigners into the police on the ground that this also would be an intolerable violation of the Saar Statute.

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Alarmed at the attitude of the Reich authorities, the Luxembourg government was reluctant to make the arrangement final. The Governing Commission, therefore, engaged instead four German police officers — Socialists who had not only had an excellent record of service in the Reich police but had also served with distinction in the German army, three of them having been awarded the Iron Cross, while the fourth had enlisted voluntarily at the outbreak of the war. The employment of these Emigranten, as they were called, and especially of Herr Machts, who was made head of the Saarbrücken city police, and of Herr Ritzel, who was made chief of the police section responsible for dealing with cases of customs frauds, at once became an issue of first importance which lasted throughout the plebiscite period. The record of Machts especially was attacked from every angle, including that of cowardice in the war, although he had been promoted officer on the field of battle and had received the Iron Cross of the first and second class and the silver medal for three wounds. 54 After an uninterrupted campaign by the German radio stations and local journals against the new police officials the president of the Association of State Police Officials, who was also the commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Territory, secured the adoption by his association on April 19, 1934, of a resolution protesting against the recruiting of police officers of German nationality and against any appeal to foreign assistance for the maintenance of order. This collective demonstration of the state police officials greatly disturbed the Governing Commission. 55 President Knox, in reporting the incident to the Council on April 30, said that it was "symptomatic" and could not but increase the apprehension which the Governing Commission had already expressed on many occasions. He continued: T h e Commission is of opinion that the consequences to which it may lead call for the Council's special attention, more especially since talk of a 54 The records of the Governing Commission showed that Machts had not been forced to leave the Reich but had done so in order to take the position offered him in the Saar by the Department of the Interior. Machts was a Social Democrat who had been appointed by Prussian Minister Severing as police commissioner of one of the quarters of Berlin. While in the Thuringian police he had become an opponent of Frick. After the fall of Severing, who was replaced by Frick, Machts was removed but placed on leave. Machts wrote from Berlin to the Governing Commission expressing a desire to serve in the Saar, arrived in the Territory in November 1933, and took up his duties on December 1 . (See covering letters of the Chairman of the Governing Commission of July 17 and September 20, 1934, transmitting petitions of the Deutsche Front, L.N.O./., 1934, pp. 979 and 1226.) It appears that Ritzel and Lenhart were really Emigranten. " L.N.O.]., May 1934, p. 455. The letter of President Knox was transmitted by the Secretary-General to the Council on May 4, 1934.

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possible coup de main on the present governmental system in the Saar has been current in the Territory for some time past. Rumour attributes such intentions to extremists belonging sometimes to one and sometimes to another school of political thought. Hitherto, the Governing Commission has not attached undue importance to such rumours, and has confined itself to attempting to discover their origin with the inadequate means at its disposal. Now, however, it is bound to pay them closer attention; for they are growing daily more insistent, reach the Commission's ears through the most varied channels, and are becoming increasingly circumstantial — so much so that they are now taking the form of schemes which, however extravagant, may not in the conditions now prevailing lie entirely beyond the bounds of possibility. The constant agitation for the dismissal of certain sections of its police force, moreover, inevitably increases the Commission's anxiety in this respect. The Council will realize that schemes for a coup de main, if such are really on foot, can be worked out only in the greatest secrecy and with infinite precaution. The Governing Commission has no absolute proof of their existence. But, however that may be, if such schemes have really been envisaged, the Commission is of opinion that one of the most effective means of preventing their execution or of putting an end to rumours which only add to the existing tenseness of public opinion is openly to inform the Council, whose representative in the Saar Territory it is. This warning of a possible Putsch brought from the Deutsche Front on May 1 1 a petition to the League Council saying that it was "well aware that Mr. Knox is seeking every means of proving the need for an international auxiliary police force, and terrorist acts would be the very best way of helping him to do so. The Deutsche Front repudiates all acts of terrorism, . . . exacts the severest discipline from its members and, in particular, the strictest observance of the laws of the Saar." But such, they said, could not be said for the other side. During the last fifteen years, under the most difficult circumstances, the people of the Saar, the petitioners argued, had given sufficient proof of their peaceful spirit, as also of the exemplary character of the local gendarmerie. The members of the Deutsche Front were "not so foolish as to jeopardize their certain return to the German Reich in 1935 by indulging in a ridiculous coup de main only a few months before that date. They have waited patiently for fifteen years and can wait a few more months." The only duty resting on the Governing Commission was, they said, to keep order among that part of the population not belonging to the Deutsche Front. 56 The campaign against Machts had brought to a head the whole 56

L.N.O.J.,

1934, PP· 978-981.

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subject of the German refugees. The Governing Commission had accorded the right of asylum to all persons who had left their country of origin for political or religious reasons and had elected residence in the Territory, on condition that they would refrain from political activities inconsistent with such asylum under international law. 57 The Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs, Baron von Neurath, on February 27, 1934, protested that all political refugees should be prohibited residence in the Saar, temporary or permanent. The presence and activities there of the German political refugees was leading increasingly to conditions regarding which, he said, the German government could no longer maintain silence; a not inconsiderable number of these persons, including some wanted by the police in Germany for ordinary offenses, were engaged in activities in the Saar against Germany, several being employed on journals calumniating her, others in organizations as officials or speakers, or in other capacities. "It must particularly be emphasized, however, that the Governing Commission itself has engaged several of these persons in the public administration, and has entrusted some of them with important duties." In this way the Territory has become "simply a base for political operations against Germany." The situation was, he said, contrary to international law, to the duty of the Governing Commission as the trustee administering the Territory, and to the character of the Saar as a plebiscite area, and by entrusting public political offices to refugees the Governing Commission was itself infringing on the principle of neutrality laid down by the Treaty. 58 The Governing Commission replied that the Saar authorities had already dealt with any cases where emigrants had adopted a political attitude in the Territory incompatible with the laws and regulations in force, and was ready to examine any other concrete cases. It could not undertake to prohibit the residence of all German refugees in the Saar without infringing the spirit of the resolution adopted by the Assembly of the League on October 1 1 , 1933. 59 Further, the Governing Commission could not regard as refugees officials who were obliged to leave the German service in virtue of section 4 of the law of April 7, 1933, regarding officials, and who, 57

No. 109, Verordnungen, 1934. Letter from the German Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Chairman of the Governing Commission (LJV.O./., May 1934, p. 459)· "" Resolution regarding the organization on an international basis of assistance to refugees from Germany — Israelites and others (League of Nations Assembly, 1933, Res., p. 1 3 ) . This called for the cooperation of all governments to meet the problem. Only a trifling number of the refugees had been prosecuted in the Reich for nonpolitical offenses. Several had been deprived of their status as political refugees and handed over to the Reich authorities, and a number of expulsions were ordered.

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without being proceeded against in Germany, came to the Saar of their own accord to seek employment, nor could it regard as an obstacle to their employment the fact that they had formerly carried on in Germany political activities which, according to the laws then in force, were not illegal. The Governing Commission found it "the more difficult to understand the German Government's attitude . . . inasmuch as it is aware that two former Saar police officials of Neunkirchen against whom proceedings had been taken in the Saar, and in regard to whom the German authorities knew that a warrant of arrest had been issued, for a serious common law offense, and had taken refuge in Germany in April, 1933, have been entrusted with public duties in the Reich," and another, "dismissed for a serious disciplinary offense, is at present employed in the Birkenfeld police." The Commission then drew attention to the interference of German officials in purely Saar questions and made an energetic protest against "the violent and unjustified attacks on the administration of the Territory, the Governing Commission, its members and its officials, which are broadcast almost daily by services under the German Government's authority." It mentioned especially the arrest and detention in Germany of numerous inhabitants of the Saar and the seizure of property of Saar trades unions and the unsatisfactory reply of the German government to its protests, and ended: "The Governing Commission considers that it would be a great advantage if the relations between Germany and the Saar were based on the principles of international law generally recognized in dealings between two States. It believes that it has never departed from these principles. . . ." Second only to the problem of adequate policing of the Territory was that of the local courts. The judges, all German and for the most part originally appointed by the Prussian and Bavarian governments, were under constant pressure from German public opinion and organizations. While many had maintained an objective spirit under most difficult circumstances, the leniency of others toward illegal acts of Nazi sympathizers had long been an embarrassment to the Governing Commission. The proposal of courts of neutral judges for political cases, as most desirable not only in the interests of justice but of the judges themselves in the conflict between conscience and political pressure, was formally made by the French member in a memorandum drawing attention to the lack of confidence of a part of the population in the courts and to the difficult position of the judges.60 The Saar mem60 "Fifty-seventh Periodical Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., 1 9 3 4 , pp. 4 5 0 - 4 5 3 . For the remarks of the Saar member, see pp. 4 5 4 - 4 5 5 .

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ber, however, not only differed as to the bias of the courts but argued that any change would be contrary to the Saar Statute, which required that "the civil and criminal courts existing in the Territory of the Saar Basin shall continue." The diplomatic situation made impossible any further effort to introduce neutrals, and the courts were left untouched. The majority of the Commission recommended to the League Council, however, that the plebiscite tribunal to be set up for the period of the plebiscite should have jurisdiction as a court of first instance over all offenses or crimes directly connected with the plebiscite.61 In order to hold the plebiscite at the termination of the period of fifteen years after the coming into effect of the Treaty of Versailles, the League Council must shortly consider the necessary preparations. It was understood that the matter would be brought before the Council meeting fixed for the following January. At the end of November 1933 rumors became current of a wish on the part of the Reich government to make another attempt to come to an agreement with France for the return of the Saar without a plebiscite in order to improve the relations between France and Germany. 62 Before any formal advances were made to the French government, the Foreign Minister, M. PaulBoncour, on November 14 declared in the Chamber that France had not the right "to go contrary to an international regime which had given to the inhabitants of the Saar themselves the right to decide their own fate," a declaration which won applause from the Left and the extreme Left. 6 3 Nevertheless, the French Cabinet was handed the German proposals, which included the immediate concession to Germany of equal rights regarding armaments, the return of the Saar without a plebiscite, and a special agreement concerning the division of the Saar coal and the imports into the area from the frontier regions of France. The French Cabinet refused to discuss the Saar question until the major problems of armament and security had been settled, and the negotiations were voted down in the Chamber on December 6 in a debate throughout which insistence was placed on the need to secure adequate guarantees for a free and trustworthy plebiscite. Once more a German effort to avoid the plebiscite had been made and had failed. It was evident that the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles would be carried out, and preparatory measures for the n

Ibid., p. 454. The wish was attributed by the foreign press to uncertainty as to how large would be the minority voting against return to Nazi Germany and to fear of a division of the Territory through a large adverse vote in the Saarlouis region. It appears, however, that the initiative for the proposal came from outside the Reich. 63 Journal officiel, Chambre des Deputes, Débats, November 14, 1933, pp. 4 1 0 4 - 4 1 0 5 . 62

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plebiscite were entered on the agenda of the Council of the League at its regular meeting in January 1934. In anticipation of the Council meeting, the several L e f t groups in the Saar prepared petitions to the League. T h a t of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur W a h r u n g Saarländischer Interessen and the Saarländische Wirtschaftsvereinigung, made jointly, argued that o w i n g to the intolerable pressure of the Saar National Socialist Party there could no longer be any question of freedom of opinion in the plebiscite without immediate and drastic steps, and asked that the Council confer on the Governing Commission extraordinary powers enabling it to suspend the irremovability of judges, to weed out undesirable individuals among the local authorities and police, to exercise supervision over the teaching staff in order to secure neutrality of instruction, and to accord effective protection to the inhabitants of the Territory arrested and imprisoned in Germany. 6 4 T h e Saarländische Freiheitsfront (later the Antifaschistische Einheitsfront) and the representatives of the Social Democratic Party in the Landesrat addressed a petition to the Council protesting against pressure, libel, boycott, and violence. 65 T h e new decrees of the Governing Commission, "thoroughgoing and firm," had at first promised to be effective, they said, but it was becoming increasingly evident that under the surface terrorism and boycott were increasing. The present intolerable pressure and devastating terrorism make a free and trustworthy expression of opinion impossible and the public opinion of the freedom-loving population of the Saar is completely stifled. . . . As long as terrorism and boycotting are given free rein in the manner we have already described, the plebiscite is impossible. W e presume that it will not be authorized until the conditions prescribed in the Treaty of Versailles can be regarded as fulfilled. A s the Council meeting drew near two delegations from the Landesrat left the Saar for Geneva: the spokesmen for the Deutsche Front 64 L.N.O.J., March 1934, p. 317. The Governing Commission, in its covering letter, observed that since April 1933 it had had to intervene in twenty-seven cases of arrests of Saar inhabitants in Germany, and that, while fourteen of these persons had been released and had returned to the Territory, the others appeared still to be detained in the Reich. e° L.N.O.f., March 1934, pp. 325 et seq. T h e petitioners quoted one of the deputy leaders of the N a z i Party at Illingen as saying: "After the plebiscite in 1935, the National Socialist Party of the Saar will be granted twenty-four hours for the day of reckoning and the night of the long knives. During these twenty-four hours the houses of the Jews and Marxists will be burned. Staatsrat Spaniol asked Hitler to allow forty-eight hours for this lynch rule. His request was refused, however, and only twenty-four hours were granted. W e shall have to work hard during these twenty-four hours."

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section to protest against the measures of the Governing Commission and to urge that the plebiscite be held as early as was possible under the Treaty; and the leaders of the Social Democratic section to urge that the Council must either assure a fair and secret plebiscite or adjourn it for five to ten years. Meanwhile Jewish organizations in Britain in petitions to the League Council were asserting that freedom of the vote could be secured only if the final allocation of the Territory were made conditional by the Council on guarantees of life, liberty, and equality before the law, and of civil and political rights to all inhabitants of whatever birth, religion, race, or language. 66 For the outer world, the Saar Plebiscite, which had seemed for years to represent an artificial issue, had suddenly assumed reality. The little Territory had become the battlefield not of a struggle between two nationalities, as in the other post-war plebiscites, but between two political concepts — democratic liberalism and the authoritarian state — which were rapidly dividing Europe. The organized forces behind these concepts spread far beyond the Saar and brought into the struggle not merely Berlin and Paris but Rome and Moscow, prelates of the Catholic Church, the Socialist International, and organizations of the Jews. All eyes were looking anxiously to the League Council to allay what appeared to be the most dangerous situation on the European horizon. 66 Letter f r o m the Joint Foreign Committee of the Board of Deputies of British Jews and of the Anglo-Jewish Association to the British Foreign Office, transmitted to the League by the Foreign Office, together with the attached memorandum of the Comité des Délégations Juives in Paris, on April 7, 1 9 3 4 .

VII T H E L E A G U E COUNCIL AFTER the acceptance by the League Council, in 1926, of the final report of Colonel de Reynier, the successor of M. Bonzon as Provisional Records Commissioner for the Saar plebiscite,1 no further discussion of preparatory measures for the vote was held by that body until January 1934. By that time Germany, which had become a member of the League in 1926, had notified it of her intention to withdraw, and, though still legally a member, had ceased to send a representative to the Council or to allow her nationals to serve in the Secretariat. During the eight years of her membership in the League she had spoken no word in the Council or the Assembly regarding the conditions under which the plebiscite should be held, although the Treaty of Versailles had left undetermined many points of a puzzling nature. By paragraph 34 of the Saar Annex only the alternatives to be presented on the ballot had been stated with finality. The date when the vote must be held had been fixed only approximately, the Treaty merely providing that it should be held at the termination of fifteen years from the coming into force of that instrument. For electoral qualifications twenty years of age and residence in the Territory at the date of the signature of the Treaty had been required, but the word "resident" (in the French text habitant) was open to various interpretations and had to be carefully defined.2 As the right to vote of various categories of persons — residents expelled by the French military authorities before the date stipulated, French citizens who had been living in the Saar at that date with the army of occupation, Germans who had been quartered in the Territory for military service, and lastly the large number of Saargänger and their families — was at stake, the definition of the word was of major importance. There was also the question, specifically raised in the Treaty, of whether the vote should take place by communes or by districts, the latter a term of vague import. All these questions and any others which might arise 1

See above, p. 9 1 . Unlike the other plebiscites under the Versailles Treaty, birth in the area did not in itself confer the right to vote, nor was there any stipulation as to length of residence. 2

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had been left by the Treaty to the League Council for decision under the final part of paragraph 34, which ran: The other conditions, methods, and the date of the voting shall be fixed by the Council of the League of Nations in such a way as to secure the freedom, secrecy and trustworthiness of the voting. The first duty of the Council was to erect the necessary organization to hold the vote, and to outline the technical procedure. Regarding the organization to be set up, there was complete agreement. In the previous post-war plebiscites the administration of the territory as well as of the vote had been placed in the hands of an international plebiscite commission. In the Saar the government was already under a Governing Commission appointed by the League of Nations, and the majority of the members of this Commission were from neutral countries. Under the Treaty it would have been possible to entrust the Governing Commission with the administration of the plebiscite also. There was, however, no desire whatever to do so. Not only was the Commission theoretically, if not actually, an interested party, but it considered itself to be physically unable to undertake extra duties during a period when its ordinary duties were certain to be most difficult. It was the accepted idea that the Governing Commission should continue to govern the Territory and that a special Plebiscite Commission should be constituted which, under the authority of the Council, should organize, direct, and supervise the plebiscite, and which should be assisted, like the previous plebiscite commissions, by a neutral staff. The question of the voting unit, it was feared, would be a difficult one, for it involved the significance of the word "districts," as neither that word nor the corresponding word, cercle, in the French text of paragraph 34 had any specific meaning in the Territory. 3 It also raised the question whether the phrase, " A vote will take place by . . . ," meant the mere process of voting, or applied also to the method of determining the result. If the latter, then the question of the unit to be chosen for consultation might take on a political as well as a legal aspect, for it seemed probable that France would prefer the smallest 3 To the French, cercle apparently stood for the Kreis. The first mention of the vote by cercle in the discussions at Paris occurred in the note written by MM. Clemenceau, Loucheur, and Tardieu on March 29, 1 9 1 9 : "Le jour ou, dans chacune des principales divisions administratives, la majorité des électeurs aura acquis la nationalité française, ou simplement le jour ou l'Assemblée du cercle demandera l'annexion à la France, cette annexion deviendra le droit après acceptation de la Société des Nations" (Tardieu, La Paix, p. 296. See above p. 5 1 ) . L'assemblée du cercle unquestionably refers to the Kreistag.

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unit possible, while Germany would wish the largest, since this would reduce any danger that in the Warndt economic dependence on Lorraine might induce the inhabitants to vote for the status quo, and thus cause the loss of that region to the Reich. 4 It was conceivable that the Council might decide to use one unit in one part of the Territory and another in the other, or might set up a new district altogether. Lastly, there were other and still more difficult questions implied in the duty to fix "conditions" in such a way "as to secure the freedom, secrecy and trustworthiness of the voting." Of these it was evident that the maintenance of order during the plebiscite period would be the most puzzling, for owing to the attitude of the German government it had become not a technical but a political question and as such must be approached with caution. The question of "The Preparatory Measures to be taken with a View to the Plebiscite in the Saar Territory" was entered as item 26 on the agenda of the seventy-eighth session of the League Council which opened on January 15, 1934, under the presidency of M. Joseph Beck, Foreign Minister of Poland. In discussing the agenda the opening day, the representative of France, M. Massigli, pointed out that the seat of the German representative on the Council was at present empty. As Germany would continue for two years to be a member of the League, he went on, the Council documents were still sent to her regularly, and the German government was no doubt aware that a discussion on the plebiscite was to take place. In view, however, of the importance of this and the other discussions to follow, the French government, out of a feeling of loyalty and fair play, desired that the attention of the German government should be drawn to the placing of the item on the agenda and proposed that the matter should not be discussed until the last days of the session in order that the German government might still have time to send a representative, should it so desire.5 This proposal, which had the merit not only of being a conciliatory gesture but also of guarding against any later complaint from Germany that the plebiscite had been arranged behind her back, was immediately adopted by the Council. The telegram of notification was forwarded to the German government by the Secretary-General, and the item was adjourned until the end of the week. On January 16, however, Freiherr von Neurath replied to the telegram of invitation: 4 While some German authorities held that to divide the Territory was clearly contrary to the Treaty, most of them agreed that division was possible under that instrument. For this reason they had a decided fear of "gerrymandering." See Saar-Freund, March

15. 1932. E " L e a g u e of Nations Council Minutes, Seventy-eighth Session,"

L.N.O.I.,

1 9 3 4 , p. 1 0 2 .

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In acknowledging with thanks the receipt of your communication of January 15th, I have the honour to inform you that, while fully appreciating the opinions expressed at the Council's meeting of January 15th, the German Government regrets that, for reasons of principle, it must decline to take part in the discussions at the session of the Council regarding point 26 on the agenda.6 Friendly enough in tone, the reply was a categorical refusal. The Council was thus forced to proceed in the absence of any representative of the German government at the council table. In the secret sessions M. Paul Boncour, anxious to relieve France from the danger of a call for troops by the Governing Commission, proposed an international police force as the only certain way of avoiding such a danger. The question was not discussed, however, the Council generally feeling, and the French representative concurring in the opinion, that paragraph 34 of the Saar Statute could not be invoked as giving the power to introduce such a force and that if such duty rested on the Council it must find justification elsewhere.7 Against a diplomatic situation so full of strain the doctrine of implied powers was of little use. Indeed, opinion in the Council was divided as to whether it should recognize publicly the gravity of affairs in the Saar as revealed by the reports of the Governing Commission and the petitions of both factions. While France and others favored a report denouncing the Nazi policy, the British delegation, and especially its head, Sir John Simon, anxious, it is said, because of the disarmament question to spare German feelings at all costs, wished to limit the Council's action to the simple appointment of a committee of three neutral members of the Council to deal with Saar affairs. This course was agreed to, and at the public session on January 20, the Council asked Baron Aloisi, as rapporteur on Saar matters, to request the assistance of two other members of the Council in order to prepare a report for its May session on the various problems raised by the provisions concerning the plebiscite, with any recommendations that might be required for their execution. The Council further adopted a resolution affirming its intention "to fulfill all the duties incumbent upon it as regards the preparation for and the carrying-out of the plebiscite in the Saar Territory in 1935 in such a way as to secure the freedom, secrecy and trustworthiness of the voting" and in particular invited its committee, with a view to its report, 0 7

L.N.O.I., 1934, Annex 1480, p. 166. Doc. no. 10 in Société des Nations, Archives, Sarre, 1934, I.

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(a) T o study measures calculated to ensure by all appropriate means the regularity of the electoral proceedings; (b) To take particularly into consideration the study of the appropriate means of safeguarding the population against pressure of any kind and the execution of any threats likely to affect the trustworthiness of the voting; (c) T o study any suggestions that may be submitted to it by the Governing Commission as regards the maintenance of order during the period of the plebiscite.8 M . Cantilo (Argentine) and M . Madariaga (Spain) — later replaced by M . Lopez Oliván — were requested to act as the other members of the Committee of Three of the Council. A s the governments at Rome and Berlin were at the time on excellent terms, the fact that the Italian representative was the chairman of the Committee gave the Council good hope of success in spite of the absence of the German government from Geneva. 9 T o investigate questions of a special nature connected with the preparations for the plebiscite, the Council, in its resolution of January 20, authorized its committee to secure the assistance of technical experts, the expenditure entailed by such consultation, up to an amount not exceeding 20,000 Swiss francs, to be charged to the budget for 1934 under "Unforeseen expenditure (subject to special vote of Council) : Political expenditure." T h e resolution of the Council was apparently received with satisfaction by the German government and by the several sections of opinion in the Saar itself. 10 A s for the French, M . Paul Boncour in a statement at the public meeting terminating the Council session warmly endorsed the Council's decisions. H e emphasized the fact, however, that a free vote required the guarantee of the population against pressure and threats of reprisals, and the maintenance of strict order during the plebiscite. T h e Committee of Three of the Council started at once on its labors, and by June it had held fifty-four meetings. T h e Committee had considered that the enquiry should constantly have in view: ι. The Treaty under which the plebiscite would take place — that was to say, the provisions of the Treaty, and, in the absence of concrete provisions, its spirit; 8

L.N.O.J., February 1934, p. 1 6 1 . The rapprochement of the German and Italian governments lasted until the Nazi coup in Vienna and the murder of Chancellor Englebert Dollfuss on July 25, 1934. 10 The Manchester Guardian Weekly, a paper well qualified to express the anti-Nazi sentiment in the Saar, said on January 26, 1934, that this section had found it satisfactory. 9

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2. T h e duty incumbent upon the League Council, under the terms of the Treaty, to see that the plebiscite took place in conditions ensuring the freedom, secrecy and trustworthiness of the voting; 3· T h e desirability of obtaining the co-operation of the two States signatories of the Treaty specially concerned in the matter. 1 1 A v a i l i n g itself of the authorization by the Council to consult technical experts, the Committee requested three jurists, B a r o n E . M a r k s v o n W u r t e m b e r g , f o r m e r president of the C o u r t of A p p e a l s in Stockholm, M . E u g è n e Borei, professor emeritus of international l a w at the U n i versity of G e n e v a , and J u d g e J . Kösters, vice-president of the C o u r t of Appeals at T h e H a g u e , to act as a committee to report on the interpretation of the T r e a t y regarding the f o l l o w i n g questions: ι . What should be understood by the phrase "resident in the Territory at the date of the signature of the present Treaty" in paragraph 34 of the Saar Statute? 2. Should the word "district" in paragraph 34 be considered as requiring such administrative subdivisions as were actually in existence in the Saar, and which? 3. Did the phrase "a vote will take place by communes or districts" mean only a method of dividing the electors in order to facilitate the essential voting operations, or a method by which the result of the vote could be calculated separately in each commune or district? 4. Might the vote be taken by communes in certain parts of the Territory and by districts in others? 5. In view of the fact that under paragraph 34 the Council must secure the freedom and the sincerity of the vote, and that under paragraph 39 it must take the provisions necessary for the establishment of the régime after the decisions mentioned in paragraph 35, was it possible to conclude that, should the Territory be attributed in whole or in part to France or to Germany, the Council would have the power to impose on the state concerned obligations tending to protect the inhabitants of the Territory against discriminatory measures or reprisals because of facts connected with the plebiscite operations? T h e report of the C o m m i t t e e of Jurists w a s handed in on M a r c h 26, 1934. V a r i o u s parts, and especially those w h i c h concerned the electoral qualifications and the voting unit, were m a d e the basis f o r the preliminary report of the C o m m i t t e e of T h r e e to the Council on M a y 1 5 . O n the termination of its meeting at R o m e f r o m A p r i l 16 to A p r i l 20 the Committee of T h r e e of the C o u n c i l invited three experts, J u d g e n "Report of Baron Aloisi to the League Council, June 4th," L.N.O.J., p. 644.

June

1934,

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Bindo Galli, president of the Court of Appeals at Genoa, Judge Leopold August Nypels, justice of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, and Miss Sarah Wambaugh of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to meet at Geneva to make a study, based on existing precedents in plebiscite legislation, of the electoral law to be promulgated; in particular: (a) the establishment of lists of persons entitled to vote, and disputes regarding entries in such lists; (b) the election campaign, the right of assembly, the system of propaganda, the displaying of posters, the right of participation in the election campaign, measures relating to public halls, to establishments for the sale of liquor, etc.; and (c) measures to guarantee the impartiality of the officials.12 The Committee of Experts began its meetings on May 4, with the report of the Committee of Jurists to guide it, as well as with other memoranda. The Committee of Jurists had reported and the Committee of Three of the Council was in agreement that the phrase "a vote shall take place by communes or districts" referred to areas already existing in the Territory, and that it would not be admissible to create special areas for the purpose of the plebiscite. Thus the vote must take place by one or the other of the three kinds of administrative or electoral divisions already existing in the area, the Kreise (in Bavaria, Amtsbezirke), the municipal areas and unions of communes (Bürgermeistereien), or the communes (Gemeinden). 13 The two committees were also in agreement regarding the method of determining the results of the vote, holding the clause, "a vote will take place by communes or districts," to signify a method enabling the results of the plebiscite to be determined in the sense that the votes in each commune or in each district must be counted separately. The Committee of Experts felt that the Kreise were obviously too large to be used as the units for the vote. On the other hand, many of the 285 communes of the Territory had so small a number of inhabitants that it would be most difficult to prevent neighbors from deducing from the results of the ballot how their individual fellow-citizens had voted. Fortunately all of the parties in interest objected for this reason to taking the communes as the units, and preferred in their place the eighty-three municipal areas and unions of communes, called Bürgermeistereien.14 As these seemed the most convenient of the exist12

L.N.O.f., June 1934, pp. 644-645. For elections to the Reichstag and the Prussian Landtag the region had been divided among three districts, only one of which was entirely within the Territory. " While in the Bavarian part of the Territory a number of small communes constituted each a separate Bürgermeisterei, in the Prussian part this was true only of some five or six of the largest towns. The Prussian Bürgermeisterei was a legal entity, the 13

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ing administrative divisions and were at the same time acceptable to all parties, the Committee adopted them as the voting units and began its preparation of the regulations on this basis. The Draft Regulations presented after some three weeks of intensive work by the Committee of Experts to the Committee of Three of the Council, and amended to some extent by the latter, consisted of sixty articles divided into three parts which covered registration, voting, and penalties. 15 The final draft of the fourth part, which concerned the closing of the "voting urns," 1 6 the counting of the vote, and the proclamation of the result, was left to be drafted by the Plebiscite Commission after various necessary decisions should have been arrived at by the Council. The Draft Regulations first defined the Territory to be consulted and stated the three alternatives to be voted on as given in the Treaty of Peace. They then repeated the provisions of the Treaty whereby all persons, without distinction of sex or nationality, should have the right to vote who had completed their twentieth year at the date of the voting and possessed the status of resident in the Territory on June 28, 1919, and provided that this status of "resident" 1 7 should be attributed to anyone who had had his or her habitual residence in the Territory on the date mentioned and had settled there with the intention of remaining. If the intention was not expressed, it might be deduced from records and documents in public offices, or from other kinds of evidence. If habitual residence were proved, the intent to remain must be presumed in the absence of reasons to suppose the contrary. Neither temporary presence on the date stipulated in the Treaty, nor temporary absence on that date, as for example, for military service, for study, or because of imprisonment or expulsion, would affect the status of the resident, nor would the mere fact of having performed military service in the Territory confer the status, nor residence there on military or Bavarian merely an informal union of communes grouped for convenience and economy under one Bär germeister. 1,1 L.N.O.J., June 1934, pp. 669 et seq. For the final text, as published in the Territory on July 8, 1934, and amended on August 8 and December 1 3 , see Appendix, Doc. 10. 18 In most European countries the ballot box is called a "voting urn," a term doubtless inherited from Roman times. 17 Care was taken in making the German translation to use the word Einwohnereigenschajt and not Wohnsitz — the word for "domicile" — because the Council of Four had substituted the word "resident" for "domiciled" in the draft text on April 10, 1 9 1 9 (Miller, VIII, Doc. 7 5 1 ) . In framing the articles regarding voting qualifications as well as in choosing the voting unit, the Committee of Experts had the report of the Committee of Three of the Council, which was based largely on the findings of the Committee of Jurists.

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civilian service purely in connection with the military occupation. The residence of minors and of persons under legal disability on the date stipulated must be considered to be that of the parent or guardian, except for a minor living apart and earning his own living. The residence of a married woman would be that of the husband, unless the two were legally separated or the wife had established her own separate habitual residence. Those under legal disability were excluded from the vote, as were those committed to an asylum for the insane and those who, in consequence of a sentence which had acquired the force of res adjudicata, had lost their civil rights, unless it were for a political offense. Under the heading of "voting divisions" it was provided that the vote should be cast and the result determined by unions of communes (.Bürgermeistereien), where these existed, and by communes for those not forming part of such a union. Chapter II concerned the organs to be established for the plebiscite. In each voting division there was to be a communal committee (Gemeindeausschuss) composed of a chairman, who was to be a delegate of the district bureau,18 and two regular and two deputy members appointed by the Plebiscite Commission, which might at any time dismiss and replace them. This communal committee, deciding by majority vote, was to be responsible for compiling the registers of persons entitled to vote in the voting division. Three members were to form a quorum. It was to work under the supervision of the Kreis bureau, a device which followed the precedent set by the plebiscite commissions of the earlier post-war plebiscites where in each Kreis they had set up a neutral board composed of one or more of their own officials. These officials, who in this case were to be appointed by the Plebiscite Commission with the concurrence of the Committee of Three of the Council, were not to be natives of the Territory or belong to either of the two nations interested in the plebiscite. Under the authority of the Plebiscite Commission the Kreis bureau was to take general measures to secure the freedom, secrecy, and trustworthiness of the voting. It would be responsible for superintending the compilation of the voting lists by the communal committees of its Kreis, and would decide in the first instance on claims regarding them. A plebiscite tribunal was to be set up which would give final decisions on claims. Chapter III of the Draft Regulations dealt with the compilation of 18 As the word "district" is a general term and refers here always to a Kreis, the district bureau will be hereafter called Kreis bureau, as it was in the Territory.

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the voters' lists. The communal committees were to register without application the names of all qualified voters who were now resident in the Territory, while those who no longer lived there were to make application. These applications, which were to be addressed to the communal committee of the division in which the applicant possessed the status of resident on June 28,1919, were to give the full name; date and place of birth; profession or occupation both at the time and on June 28, 1919; the Christian names of father and, in the case of a married woman, the full name of her husband as well as the name she bore on June 28, 1919, if there had been a change in family status; the commune in which the applicant possessed the status of resident on June 28, 1919; 1 9 and the address in the Territory to which communications were to be sent. The provisional lists for each voting division were to be published, together with instructions as to claims, for thirty days on the communal notice board of the head office of the voting division. Names in regard to which no claims had been submitted within the thirty-day period would remain on the final voting list. Within that period anyone residing in the Territory could submit to the Kreis bureau a claim either for the purpose of striking off an entry or for ratification, or for the entry of the name of a person residing in the Territory. Anyone residing outside might in the same period submit a claim to be placed on the list. The Kreis bureau, after arriving at its decision, was to notify the parties concerned by registered letter, stating that an appeal might be lodged with the Plebiscite Tribunal within fifteen days. In default of such an appeal the decision of the Kreis bureau became final.20 Part II, Chapter IV, of the Draft Regulations dealt with the procedure for voting. This was to take place throughout the Territory on a Sunday, the date to be decided later. Each voter was to vote in the voting district (Bürgermeisterei) where he had resided on June 28, 1919. A voting bureau was provided for each voting section into which the voting districts might be divided, the number of registered voters per section not to exceed 1,000. Each communal committee was to make a proposal to the Kreis bureau as to voting places. The Bürgermeisterei were required to furnish the premises, furniture, office equipment, and everything needed for the voting bureaus except the ballot 18 Subsequently the requirement of habitual residence at the time of application was inserted. 20 T h e communal committees were to make out for each voter a voting certificate and deliver it, against receipt, to the address given in the Territory.

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boxes, envelopes, ballots, seals and the like, which were to be furnished by the Plebiscite Commission. The voting bureaus were to consist of a chairman and secretary, two regular tellers, and two deputies. The chairman was not to be a native of the Territory or to belong to either of the two nations interested in the plebiscite.21 No one might enter the polling place without a voting certificate, and in order to be allowed to vote the voter was also to present an identity card with photograph attached, or, if resident outside the Territory, his passport, duly endorsed by the police authority of the Territory. The Kreis bureau had the right to supervise the voting and to take any steps that might be necessary to ensure the proper working of the voting bureaus. Before entering on their duties each person invested with public functions in connection with the plebiscite was to take an oath to observe faithfully the laws of the Territory and to exercise upon his honor and conscience the powers entrusted to him. Article 60 of the Draft Regulations laid down penalties of fine or imprisonment for neglect of duty by anyone invested with public functions in connection with the plebiscite, for falsification or suppression of documents, hindrance of plebiscite organs by force, threats, fraud, corruption, false reports, insults or any other unlawful means; or prevention or hindrance of the free exercise of the right to vote, or attempts to induce any person to reveal how he or she intended to vote or had voted, or to influence another's vote, or to prevent him from exercising his right to vote. Further penalties were provided for plural voting. The Committee of Experts drew up also a draft decree for the establishment of the Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal (later called Court), and eight Kreis tribunals. The judges of the Plebiscite Tribunal were to be appointed by the President of the Council on consultation with his colleagues and on the proposal of the Committee of the Council; the judges of the Kreis tribunals by the Governing Commission in accordance with the directions of the Plebiscite Commission. The Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal was to consist of a president, a vice-president and six judges, with an examining magistrate attached.22 Five members 21 The secretary was later omitted, the Plebiscite Commission deciding that one of the members could act in this capacity. In the Draft Regulations the Kreis bureau was to appoint all the members of the voting bureau. In the final text this was amended so that the chairman of each voting bureau should be appointed by the Plebiscite Commission. 22 L.N.O.J., June 1934, pp. 677 et seq. In its preliminary report the Committee of

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of the Tribunal were necessary to constitute a court, which should decide by a majority vote. The eight Kreis courts were to consist of one judge each, though others might be attached. The functions of the public prosecutor attached to the Plebiscite Tribunal were to be exercised by the Prosecutions Department attached to the existing Supreme Court at Saarlouis, but with a special section consisting of a prosecutor and deputy prosecutor to be set up for the purpose. All of the abovementioned officials were to be familiar with the German language and were not to be natives of the Territory or belong to either of the two nations interested in the plebiscite. The Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal and the Kreis tribunals were given exclusive jurisdiction over all offenses against the members of the Governing and Plebiscite Commissions; the officials and employees attached to the organs set up for the plebiscite, or their families or servants; the property belonging to the organs set up for the plebiscite or of the persons above-mentioned; and all offenses defined in the Plebiscite Regulations and such as might be indicated by special decrees. The public prosecutor was to decide when a case should be sent to the Plebiscite Tribunal, the Kreis tribunal, or the ordinary judicial authority. In every case where the public prosecutor should consider that an offense had a political character and was of a nature to endanger public order or to hinder the preparation or carrying out of the plebiscite, or to interfere with the freedom and integrity of citizens before, during, and after the plebiscite, or with the freedom, secrecy and trustworthiness of the voting, he was entitled at any stage of the proceedings to bring it before the Plebiscite Tribunal.23 No final recommendations were made by the Committee of Experts in reply to the questions raised by the Committee of the Council regarding the election campaign. A memorandum based on experience in previous plebiscites had, however, been prepared by one of the Committee, containing recommendations covering the right of assembly, guarantees of the impartiality of the officials, system of propaganda, display of posters, right of participation in the campaign, and measures relating to public halls and to establishments for the sale of liquor. The Committee of Three of the Council was prepared to submit the the Council had proposed a Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal having a total of only five judges (ibid., 23

p. 6 4 5 ) .

In its preliminary report the Committee of the Council had enumerated as falling under the jurisdiction of the Plebiscite Tribunal only disputes concerning registration, the validity of the voting operations, and infractions covered by the plebiscite regulations (L.N.O.J., June 1934, p. 645).

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two documents to the Council at its extraordinary session set for the end of May. T o accompany them the Council Committee had prepared a recommendation for "the appointment of a Plebiscite Committee of three members, assisted by a certain number of officials, chosen from outside the Saar Territory and not belonging to either of the interested countries, who will be entrusted more particularly with organizing and supervising the operations of the plebiscite." 24 The Council was held up in its consideration of the Plebiscite Regulations and appointment of the Plebiscite Commission by the problem of the maintenance of order in the Territory during the plebiscite period. All the members of the Governing Commission were of the opinion that the Saar police were insufficient, and it was obvious that local recruiting was open to grave objection.25 The French government was willing to surrender its insistence on an international police only if the other members of the Council would agree that, should local recruiting fail, the Committee of Three of the Council would give its aid, with the members of the League, to secure German-speaking police from outside the Territory, and if the German government would give guarantees for complete freedom of the vote from all pressure, moral or physical, and a pledge that after the plebiscite no reprisals would be tolerated and no discriminations allowed by reason of previous political attitude. T o secure these guarantees from the Reich was the difficult task now undertaken by Baron Aloisi for the Committee of the Council. The German government hesitated to make the required pledges, since it not only looked on them in general as a limitation of national sovereignty but objected especially to giving guarantees to cover the Jews, Communists, Socialists, and other dissidents who had taken refuge in the Saar to escape their own government and the laws of the Reich. T o win consent from Berlin the League Council had but one means of bargaining — the date of the plebiscite. The Germans were insisting that this should be fixed at once for January 10, 1935, or for January 13, that being the first Sunday thereafter. At Geneva agreement was unanimous that the language of the Treaty which provided that the population would be called upon to indicate their desires "at the termination of a period of fifteen years" was categorical and clear, and ** L.N.O.J., June 1934. On May 16 all of the Governing Commission except the Finnish member were examined individually by the League Council in secret session. Three questions were asked: ( 1 ) Are special guarantees necessary for the plebiscite? (2) Are more police needed? (3) Are special courts required? All four agreed that guarantees were needed and that the police force was too small. 25

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that the provision that "the date of the voting" was to be fixed by the Council meant only that the Council had a certain reasonable latitude in fixing the exact day. The Council members commonly assumed that the vote should be held on January 13, as voting on the Continent is habitually on a Sunday. That there was no disposition to postpone the vote nor any hesitation as to the interpretation of the Treaty is shown by the fact that no such question was given to the Committee of Jurists to consider. Formal agreement on the date was withheld, however, until the required guarantees should be received from Berlin. M. Barthou, who was representing France on the Council, insisted that the date and the guarantees must be tied together. To Germany this refusal to fix the date at once was one more item in what they considered the French policy of holding off a decision on any major Franco-German questions in the hope that within a few months the National Socialist structure would collapse. The negotiations with the German government regarding guarantees were made the more difficult by the fact that at Geneva there was no representative of the Reich except the German consul-general. The latter took part in the discussions with the French and Italian representatives, but final word had to come from Berlin. Awaiting results from the negotiations in Geneva, and those by telephone with Berlin, the Council meeting which should hear the report of the Aloisi Committee was postponed from day to day. Finally it was fixed for the afternoon of May 19. But though Baron Aloisi had been so certain of agreement from Berlin that the draft resolution to be laid before the Council providing for the creation of a Plebiscite Commission had already been distributed to the delegations, he was forced to announce that the report was not ready, and to ask that the matter be adjourned to the extraordinary meeting of the Council at the end of the month. The negotiations continued, and at last, on June 1, an agreement with the German government was effected and the texts of the letters by which it had been secured were made public. The identic letters from Baron Aloisi to the ministers of Foreign Affairs of France and Germany recited that the Treaty of Versailles had intended to secure "the freedom, secrecy and trustworthiness of the voting"; that freedom and trustworthiness "would be compromised if the persons taking part therein might have reason to fear subsequent harsh treatment as a result of their political attitude in connection with the purpose of the plebiscite during the administration of the Territory by the League of Nations"; that "the mere possibility of such treatment would be likely to affect the freedom and trustworthiness of the voting"; and

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"that the powers signatories of the Treaty, in stipulating that the plebiscite should take place under conditions securing the freedom, secrecy and trustworthiness of the voting, thereby assumed the obligations which the execution of this stipulation implies." T h e Council Committee, therefore, invited the two governments to declare formally to the Council — "without prejudice to such obligations as may arise for each of them from any arrangements which the Council may make on the basis of Paragraph 39 of the A n n e x " — their firm resolve to fulfill the obligations arising under the Treaty, and to specify the practical steps and special procedure which they were prepared to accept with a view to guaranteeing the fulfillment of these obligations. 26 In the reply of Freiherr von Neurath, dated June 2, 1934, the German government undertook: (a) T o abstain from pressure of any kind, whether direct or indirect, likely to affect the freedom and trustworthiness of the voting; (b) Likewise to abstain from taking any proceedings or making any reprisals or discrimination against persons having the right to vote, as a result of their political attitude in connection with the purpose of the plebiscite during the administration of the League of Nations; (c) T o take the necessary steps to prevent or punish any action by their nationals contrary to these undertakings. Should a difference arise between Germany and "a Member of the Council of the League of Nations" concerning the application or interpretation of the undertakings in this declaration, it would be brought before the Permanent Court of Arbitration, under the H a g u e Convention of October 18, 1907, for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes. T h e German government further agreed that for a transitional period of one year from the establishment of the final régime the Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal should be maintained, and that any person having the right to vote in the Saar might bring before it a complaint "in respect of pressure, prosecution, reprisals or discrimination as a result of his political attitude in connection with the purpose of the plebiscite during the administration of the Territory by the League of Nations." 2 7 In order to be admissible the complaint must relate to an act performed in the Saar Territory, or to a decision by the authorities in the Territory or in the territorial areas to which parts of the Territory might be attached. T h e Supreme Plebiscite 20

L.N.O.J., June 1 9 3 4 , p. 6 5 1 . T h e understanding that the Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal should remain for the year in the Saar Territory is clear from M. Barthou's words at the Council meeting (L.W.O./., June 1 9 3 4 , p. 6 5 3 ) . 27

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Tribunal was to be competent to give final decision on such complaints and to order any appropriate reparation, whether of a pecuniary or other description. Moreover, anyone qualified to vote in the plebiscite against whom penal or administrative proceedings were taken outside the Territory might, under the same conditions, request the Plebiscite Tribunal to state whether the proceedings were contrary to the undertakings given in the declaration and the proceedings would be suspended pending the decision of the Plebiscite Tribunal, and abandoned if required by its decision. The same pledges were given by M. Barthou in the name of the French government. 28 News of agreement by Berlin to the guarantees was received with the utmost relief by Geneva, where pessimism had seemed justified by the precarious situation of the disarmament negotiations. The moderation and good will of both parties, as well as the diplomatic skill of Baron Aloisi, were given the highest praise. On June 4 Baron Aloisi read before the Council the final report of its Committee of Three on the questions referred to it by the Council resolution of January 20, 1934, and presented a draft resolution which was adopted by the Council. By this resolution the Council formally noted the declarations made by the German and French governments concerning the execution of the obligations resulting from paragraph 34 of the Saar Annex; reserved the right to examine in due course, on the basis of paragraph 39 of the Annex, the conditions under which the benefit of the undertakings given by the two governments in those declarations as regarded voters could be extended to the inhabitants of the Saar not possessing the right to vote; stated that it would see that these undertakings were fulfilled, as an essential condition of the plebiscite; and fixed Sunday, January 13, 1935, as the date of the voting. 29 After the report of Baron Aloisi had been approved, various members of the Council, M. Barthou, Mr. Eden, M. Beck, M. Castillo Najera, M. Benes, M. Munch, and President Knox, who was present at the council table, all stated that the guarantees which had been limited to the voters should be extended to cover all inhabitants, whether or not they were entitled to vote. The Council approved also a resolution to constitute, under its own authority, a plebiscite commission of three members and an expert attached to the commission as technical adviser and deputy member. The Plebiscite Commission was to have powers of organization, direction, and super"L.N.O.I., 29 L.N.O.J.,

June 1934, pp. 652-654. June 1934, pp. 647-648.

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vision in regard to the plebiscite. In particular it was to discharge such functions and duties as the Council might entrust to it in accordance with the Treaty provisions, and was to have the right to prepare, for submission to the Council, or in urgent cases to the Committee of the Council, all relevant ordinances and provisions relating to the plebiscite and not coming within its prescribed functions.30 The Plebiscite Commission, which was to take its decisions by majority vote of the members present, was to have power to appoint and dismiss the staff, local or foreign, necessary for the performance of its duties. The Governing Commission was to lend its assistance to the Plebiscite Commission, and was, in particular, to take steps to ensure that the Plebiscite Commission should receive from the public authorities such aid and resources as it might find necessary. It was understood that in the division of powers between the two commissions which were shortly to be present together in the Saar the Governing Commission would continue to have complete jurisdiction over the maintenance of order and the employment of the police and gendarmerie, and that while the Plebiscite Commission had the duty of preparing regulations regarding the electoral campaign, the right of meetings, participation in propaganda, measures regarding public halls, and guarantees of impartiality of public officials, it must leave to the Governing Commission the promulgation and enforcement of such regulations. The Council on June 4, 1934, approved the draft regulations prepared by the Committee of Experts as amended by the Committee of Three, and requested the Governing Commission to promulgate the decrees necessary to put them into force as soon as it should have received a request to that effect from the Plebiscite Commission. It also authorized the Plebiscite Commission, before addressing such a request, to fix the dates and periods provided in the Regulations, and to introduce such further details, modifications, and supplementary provisions as it might think necessary, after having notified the Committee of the Council. July 1, 1934, was fixed as the date on which the Plebiscite Commission would enter on its duties. As the Council was adjourning immediately, the three members of the Plebiscite Com30 In practice this requirement that all measures regarding the plebiscite be submitted previously to the Committee of Three proved impractical because of the delay involved, and the Council on September 28, 1 9 3 4 , changed it, inviting the Governing Commission to promulgate, directly on request by the Plebiscite Commission, all necessary orders for the enforcement of the ordinances and dispositions relating to the plebiscite which had been unanimously adopted by the Plebiscite Commission and had given rise to no objection by the Governing Commission.

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mission and the technical adviser were to be appointed, on proposal by the Committee of Three, by the President of the Council after previous consultation with his colleagues. The Council also approved the provisions of the draft decree setting up the Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal and the eight Kreis tribunals, with jurisdiction not only over disputes concerning entries in the registers of persons entitled to vote, the validity of the voting, and offenses covered by the Plebiscite Regulations, but also over breaches of ordinary criminal law in so far as they were connected with the purpose of the plebiscite, whether committed before, during, or after the plebiscite proceedings. The date for the entry of the tribunals on their duties was to be fixed by the Plebiscite Commission in agreement with the Committee of the Council. Regarding the maintenance of order the Council authorized the Governing Commission, should it deem it desirable, to increase the local police and gendarmerie during the plebiscite period, recruiting these additional effectives as far as possible from among the inhabitants of the Territory. Should the Governing Commission consider it necessary, however, to recruit outside the Territory, the Council, through its Committee, would lend its full support and would approach the states members of the League "with a view to facilitating, as may be required, such requests as the Governing Commission may find it necessary to make with a view to individual recruiting for the needs of the local police and gendarmerie." 31 It was understood that the reinforcement of the police could be only by men of German tongue. The extra expense was to be charged to the plebiscite fund. To take care of the financing of the plebiscite, for which no specific indications were given in the Treaty of Peace, the Committee of the Council suggested that the Saar Governing Commission and the French and German governments be invited to advance immediately sufficient funds to cover the expenses. In view of its small treasury resources, the Governing Commission should be asked to advance only i,000,000 French francs but, in addition, to provide free of charge the offices and premises required for the Plebiscite Commission, the Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal, and their staffs, and to arrange for free railway transport for the members and staffs of the different organizations and the material required for their work. The French and German governments were to be invited to advance each 5,000,000 francs, it being understood that should the total sum of 11,000,000 francs prove insufficient, the Committee of the Council would invite them to make 31

L.N.O.J., June 1934, pp. 649-650.

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further advances. The payments were to be made in French francs to the Secretary-General of the League at Geneva, at fixed intervals, beginning on July 1. The Council was to examine later how the cost of the plebiscite should finally be met, but in no case did the above proposal involve any responsibility on the part of the League to refund the advances made, except any eventual unspent balance.32 In France and Germany, and in the Territory itself, great satisfaction was expressed over the proceedings at Geneva. The news that the date for the plebiscite was fixed and the Plebiscite Commission about to be appointed was greeted with great joy at Saarbrücken, where the delegation of the Deutsche Front was given a warm reception on its return. On June 16 the President of the Council, on the proposal of the Council Committee and after consulting his colleagues, appointed as members of the Plebiscite Commission M. Victor Henry of Switzerland, prefect of the District of Porrentruy in the Canton of Berne; M. Daniel de Iongh of the Netherlands, a railway engineer, former burgomaster of the town of Semarang in Java and head of the state enterprises in the Netherlands Indies; M. Alan E. Rodhe of Sweden, former head of the legal department at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and governor of the Province of Gotland; and, as technical adviser and deputy member of the Commission, Miss Sarah Wambaugh of the United States, former technical adviser to the Peruvian government for the Tacna-Arica plebiscite and author of several publications on plebiscites. The members of the Plebiscite Commission were to receive a salary of 16,900 French francs a month, plus a monthly rent allowance of 2,000 French francs, the president to have an entertainment allowance of 4,000 French francs in addition. The technical adviser and deputy member of the Commission was to receive a monthly salary of 10,000 French francs, plus a monthly rent allowance of 2,000 francs. 33 The Plebiscite Commission was to fix the scale of salaries of its staff in agreement with the Committee of the Council and the Secretariat officials. The president and vice-president of the Tribunal were each to receive 16,900 French francs a month, plus a rent allowance of 2,000 32

L.N.O.J., June 1934, p. 650. L.N.O.J., June 1934, p. 666. On the report of Baron Aloisi that the technical adviser had been called upon to act as deputy member more frequently than had been anticipated, the Council on September 1 9 raised the salary of this official from 10,000 to 1 1 , 5 0 0 French francs a month (ibid., November 1934, p. 1 4 2 6 ) . m

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francs. The salaries of the other judges and of the registrar were to be fixed by the Plebiscite Commission in agreement with the Commission of the Council and the Governing Commission. The members of the Plebiscite Commission and its technical adviser, and the judges of the Tribunal and the registrar, were all to enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities.34 The Plebiscite Commission met at Geneva with the League Secretariat from June 28 to June 30 in order to make a preliminary study of the Council's resolutions and the reports of the Council Committee, the details of the Regulations, and the amendments to be introduced in virtue of the Council's resolution of June 4. In collaboration with the Secretariat it drafted the final text of the Regulations and the proclamation to be published by the Commission on its arrival at Saarbrücken, both of which documents were submitted to the Committee of Three of the Council. It also examined the constats of M. Bonzon kept at Geneva.35 During these sessions it was decided that the office of president of the Commission should be held by the respective members in order of seniority for successive periods of two months. Accordingly, M. Rodhe of Sweden became the first president, his office extending through July and August; M. de Iongh was president for September and October, except for his short period of absence in September for the Council meeting; M. Henry, who during these few days was acting president, became full president for November and December; and M. Rodhe was again president from January 1, 1935, until the Commission's duties were terminated at the end of that month. On June 30, 1934, the Plebiscite Commission left Geneva to take up its duties in the Saar Territory. It was bound for a plebiscite area where below the surface the atmosphere was far from tranquil. The agitation over the presence of German refugees from the Reich in the Saar was growing more and more acute. The Reich radio stations, under the authority of the Reichpropagandaminister, were broadcasting almost daily violent attacks against the administration of the Territory, the Governing Commission, and its members and officials. The inadequacy of the Saar police was being demonstrated by a series of 34 A t the request of the Plebiscite Commission, on August 1 5 , 1 9 3 4 , diplomatic privileges and immunities were extended to the officials under the Plebiscite Commission — the secretary-general, deputy secretary-general, Kreis inspectors, and assistant Kreis inspectors — and to the examining magistrates and the prosecutors attached to the Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal, to the prosecutor's deputies, to the district judges, and to the registrar of the prosecutor's department and the deputy registrar. 33 See above, p. 9 1 .

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T H E L E A G U E COUNCIL

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disquieting incidents apparently engineered by the National Socialists and the Ordnungsdienst of the Deutsche Front,36 while members of an anti-fascist front were also indulging in violent acts of a political nature. Feeling that it would be a pacificatory action proper to the opening of the plebiscite period, the Governing Commission, on the day preceding the arrival of the Plebiscite Commission at Saarbrücken, issued an amnesty with effect as from June 11 covering all persons who for political reasons had infringed existing laws and regulations and those whose offenses were attributable to poverty or unemployment.37 Instead of the atmosphere being improved, however, the Deutsche Front attacked the amnesty as showing the partisanship of the Governing Commission, while on the other side the Communist Freiheitsaktion an der Saar accused the Governing Commission of prohibiting its meetings while allowing those of the Deutsche Front.38 Into this atmosphere came the Plebiscite Commission. Appointed from countries totally disinterested as to the outcome, bearing regulations recognized by all the parties as absolutely fair, and with, behind it, the Council of the League and its Committee of Three which had given evidence of great diplomatic skill, it was universally welcomed. 36 See "Fifty-eighth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., September 1934, pp. 1 1 2 8 - 1 1 2 9 . F ° r denial by the Deutsche Front of the charges, see L.N.O.J., October 1934, p. 1224. For the protest of the Saarländische Wirtschaftvereinigung of June 26, 1934, regarding the pillaging and ransacking of its office in Saarlouis, see L.N.O.J., September 1934, p. 1 1 7 0 . 37 No. 3 3 1 , Verordnungen, 1934. See also "Fifty-eighth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., September 1934, pp. 1 1 3 4 - 1 1 3 5 . 38 Petition of June 15, 1934 (L.N.O.J., September 1934, p. 1 1 6 9 ) .

Vili T H E PLEBISCITE

COMMISSION

ON July i, 1934, the Plebiscite Commission arrived at Saarbrücken, where it was formally received at the railway station by all the members of the Governing Commission. Outside the station stood a large but silent crowd of inhabitants. On its arrival, the Plebiscite Commission at once issued a proclamation announcing that it had entered on its functions, that the plebiscitary period had begun, and that the League Council had fixed January 13, 1935, as the date for the vote on the three alternatives provided by the Treaty of Peace. After quoting the solemn pledges given by the French and German governments to fulfill the obligations arising from the Peace Treaty, the Commission announced that it would do all it should deem necessary to secure a free, secret, and trustworthy vote; that to achieve this it relied upon the voluntary cooperation of the inhabitants of the Territory; and that it expected all officials to afford it the most wholehearted support and to abstain from any action, direct or indirect, calculated to influence the plebiscite. The inhabitants were urged to remain calm and not to disturb public order during the plebiscitary period. 1 The Plebiscite Commission was given temporary quarters in the Eisenbahndirektion (Railway Administration) and on July 12 was permanently installed in offices placed at its disposal by the Governing Commission in the Neues Landgericht (New L a w Courts), the building which housed the principal administrative departments of the Governing Commission. In its first days in Saarbrücken the Plebiscite Commission organized its secretariat, appointing as its secretary-general M. Svante Hellstedt, assistant chief of section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sweden, and, as deputy secretary-general, Dr. Antoine Velleman of Switzerland, professor at the University of Geneva and master of many languages. As treasurer, the Commission was lent the services of M. Pierre Welps of Latvia, an official of the League Treasury. 2 During the first weeks of organization the Plebiscite Com1

Appendix, Doc. 9 (English text in L.N.O.J., September 1 9 3 4 ) . During the first month the Plebiscite Commission had on its secretariat six secretaries and stenographers — one Italian, one Dutchwoman, one Belgian, two Swiss, and one inhabitant of the Territory. T h e number later was increased. T h e archivist was 2

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mission enjoyed the assistance of M. de Krabbe of Denmark, the member of the League Secretariat in charge of Saar questions. Unlike the Plebiscite Commissions of Schleswig, Upper Silesia, Klagenfurt, and other post-war plebiscite commissions, the Saar Plebiscite Commission did not have the advantage of constant collaboration with representatives of the two governments but had to depend for this on negotiations by the Committee of Three of the Council. From November 1933 until the murder of Chancellor Dollfuss of Austria and the sending on mission to Vienna of ex-Chancellor von Papen, the latter, who lived near Saarlouis, held the position of Saarbevollmächtigter der Reichsregierung. Later Gauleiter Josef Biirckel of Neustadt, in the Palatinate, was appointed to replace him, but neither one was stationed in Saarbrücken, nor did either maintain relations with the Plebiscite Commission beyond a formal official call and a few communications. Neither did the French government appoint a special official representative to the Plebiscite Commission, though M. Morize, the Minister of Finance of the Governing Commission, acted as such when necessary. The Plebiscite Commission, after fixing the several time-limits prescribed in the Regulations for registration and voting, and notifying the Committee of Three of the Council of these arrangements, requested the Governing Commission to promulgate the Regulations. These accordingly appeared in the Verordnungen, or official journal, of the Governing Commission on July 8, 1934.3 The first duty of the Plebiscite Commission was to set up, in agreement with the Committee of the Council, the eight Kreis bureaus and the eighty-three communal committees through which, under the Regulations, the Plebiscite Commission was to administer the plebiscite. The Regulations had provided that the members of each Kreis bureau must be foreign to the Territory and must not belong to either of the two nations interested in the plebiscite. Accordingly, the Committee of the Council had invited the foreign offices of various European countries whose interests were not affected by the plebiscite to supply lists of men qualified for the work and possessing an excellent command of German. Immediately on its arrival in Saarbrücken, the Plebiscite Commission set about selecting from these lists the eight Kreis inspectors and assistants, who together should make up the Kreis Mlle. Laura Brunetti (Italian), L L . D . tached to the office. 3 Appendix, Doc. 1 0 .

Later M. Robert Metz of Luxembourg was at-

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bureaus. The final list of Kreis inspectors appointed by the Plebiscite Commission was as follows: KREIS

Saarbrücken Stadt Saarbrücken Land Saarlouis Homburg Merzig Ottweiler St. Wendel St. Ingbert

KREIS

INSPECTOR

Count Horace de Pourtalès M. Johannes Cornells Brinks Dr. Frédéric Robert Luescher Major-General Adrianus Hendricus Bennewitz Col. Carl Olof Frey Rydeberg M. William Sliben Signor André Zanchi Mr. John Hartigan

COUNTRY

Switzerland Netherlands Switzerland Netherlands Sweden Denmark Italy U. S. A.

Two additional Kreis inspectors were appointed — Dr. Eivind Blehr of Norway and M. Henri Charles Glaude Jacob van der Mandere of the Netherlands — to be attached to headquarters en liaison as Verbindungsinspektoren to travel around the Kreise in the name of the Commission and to confer with the eight Kreis inspectors in the field, or with their assistants, and to give them all necessary aid and cooperation.4 While the Plebiscite Commission issued its instructions to the Kreis inspectors through circular letters and kept in constant touch through the telephone and through occasional plenary meetings at Saarbrücken, experience proved the device of Kreis inspectors en liaison to be not only admirable but indispensable. Another Kreis inspector, Signor Alberto Francesco Labriola, LL.D., of Italy, was appointed to make up a daily synopsis of the press which was multigraphed and circulated to the Kreis bureaus as well as to the Commission itself. It had been planned at Geneva that the eight Kreis inspectors in the field should have one or perhaps two assistants. When the question of the composition of the communal committees to draw up the voters' lists was taken up, it was seen, however, that the number of assistants must be increased in order to afford a very necessary element of neutrality. In all the European plebiscites it had been the custom to 4 M. Blehr, a Doctor of Laws, was former chief of division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Oslo; M. van der Mandere was director of the Popular University at The Hague and secretary-general of the Netherlands League of Nations Association; General Bennewitz was a retired officer of the Royal Army of the Netherlands Indies; M. Brinks was a retired resident of the Netherlands Indies; Mr. Hartigan was a banker from San Francisco who had had wide experience in Europe; M. Luescher was master at the Collège of Porrentruy; Count de Pourtalès had served twice as secretary-general for League commissions; Colonel Rydeberg was a member of the General Staff at Stockholm; M. Sliben was a consul in the Danish diplomatic service; and Signor Zanchi was economic and financial expert in the École de Haute Études Commerciales in Berlin.

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appoint all the members of these communal committees, including the chairman, from lists of local inhabitants supplied by the two party organizations, all public officials being excluded. The chairmen had thus been partisans, but in theory, at least, both parties had been represented on each committee, and care had been taken by the neutral Kreis inspectors that in the area as a whole the number of chairmen from one party should balance as far as possible the number from the other. The situation in the Saar, however, was much more complex than in the other plebiscite areas, in that here there were not two but three alternatives on the ballot, and yet there were not three parties organized for the plebiscite, but only one. Moreover, with the inadequate condition of the police, should individuals representing the other two parties be appointed to the local committees, they might find themselves in a dangerous position. Because of these difficulties as well as the need of saving time and expense, both matters of grave importance, the prevailing idea at Geneva had been that the local Bürgermeister should act as the chairmen of the communal committees and that the other members of the committees should be chosen from among the communal officials or employees who would afford technical assistance in the work, which, in view of the shortness of time and the number of names to be registered, would obviously be arduous. As all the members of the communal committees of each Kreis were to be under the supervision of the neutral Kreis bureau, and might be dismissed and replaced at any time, the plan would have been practicable had the two parties actually contending been represented on each local committee. This was fairly certain not to be the case, however, and, as there would then have been no efficient check on possible fraud practiced by the officials on the committees, it would have been a sacrifice of principle at a most important step in the plebiscite procedure. The plan was possible under the final text of the Regulations, for Article 11, as edited in the joint sessions of the Plebiscite Commission with members of the Secretariat at Geneva at the end of June," provided merely that each communal committee should "be composed of a chairman and two regular and two deputy members appointed by the Plebiscite Commission." According to the French view, however, the text of the Regulations as formally adopted by the Council at Geneva on June 4 had represented an abandonment of this plan, for it had provided that each communal committee should be composed of "a delegate of the District Bureau who shall act as chairman. . . ." The Plebiscite Commission decided that the Regulations must be in5

See above, p. 184.

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terpreted to mean that no chairman of a communal committee should be a native of the Territory or belong to either of the nations interested in the plebiscite, and that the most suitable means for accomplishing this was to make use of the assistant Kreis inspectors who, with the inspectors, were to constitute the Kreis bureaus.6 The Plebiscite Commission accordingly appointed not the eight assistants originally contemplated in the budget but thirty-two, a number which made it possible, by judicious geographical grouping of the eighty-three voting districts, to have every communal committee presided over by one of these neutral assistants. Twenty-eight assistant Kreis inspectors were so employed, each presiding over one or more communal committees, one even having fourteen.7 The choice of these forty-three officials, who arrived by rail, motor, and plane, and their allocation and instruction in their duties, absorbed the Commission for the first two weeks of its work. The Kreis inspectors and assistants, as eventually appointed, were from the following countries : 8 Great Britain

ι

New

Denmark

5

Norway

Zealand

ι

Italy

4

Sweden

5

Luxembourg

1

Switzerland

8

Netherlands

10

United States

3

6

In a document entitled Directives et instructions pour les fonctionnaires, which formed an integral part of the official contract of employment, the Plebiscite Commission made clear the duties of the Kreis bureaus and the line of conduct to be adopted toward the population, and emphasized the importance of the task entrusted to them. It explained that the Council, by its resolutions of June 4, had confided to the Plebiscite Commission the organization, direction, and control of the plebiscite, and the preparation of all ordinances relating to it, while it had left to the Governing Commission all executive functions. Thus the Governing Commission was alone responsible for the promulgation of all ordinances and for their execution, as also for the maintenance of public order. In case of need the Kreis bureaus were not to 6

"First Monthly Report of the Plebiscite Commission, July ist-3ist, 1934," L.JV.O./., September 1934, pp. 1147 et seq. 7 It was originally thought that after the preliminary lists were ready the Commission could do with fewer of these assistants. As time went on, however, it was found necessary to increase the number. 8 For the list of the members of the Kreis bureaus as finally constituted, see Appendix, Doc. 28.

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appeal directly to the public force, therefore, but were to address themselves to the competent public authorities of the region, the Landräte, Bürgermeister, etc. If the request should not be complied with, the Kreis inspectors were immediately to inform the Plebiscite Commission, which could make the necessary application to the Governing Commission. As presidents of the communal committees, the assistant Kreis inspectors had the special duty of supervising the drawing up of the lists of voters. The Kreis inspector was also to supervise the work in his turn, especially by impromptu visits, during which he would make soundings in order to be certain that names had not been omitted or improperly registered. Serious study was to be given to the documents which had been preserved and guarded since 1923 in the Saar archives as the bases for the registration lists under the plan of M. Bonzon, to his report to the Council of October 31, 1923, and to the decree regarding their preservation issued by the Governing Commission on May 16, 1923.9 The political duties of the Kreis bureaus required that each should see that the ordinances of the Plebiscite Commission were strictly observed in its Kreis. Each inspector was to send a regular weekly report to the Plebiscite Commission and a special report on every incident which might disturb the proper working of the plebiscite preparations. All the members of the Kreis bureaus were invited to observe strictly the following rules: ι.

In the exercise of their functions they were to take orders only from the Plebiscite Commission.

2. T h e y were not to leave the Territory

without permission of the

president of the Plebiscite Commission. 1 0 3.

T h e y were to refrain from all journalistic activity and from giving

4.

T h e y were to attend the public meetings and manifestations in their

any interviews, even on subjects unrelated to the plebiscite. Kreis

as far as possible, or as they thought opportune, but only as

observers representing the Plebiscite Commission. 1 1 "See above, pp. 89-91. The decree is no. 3 1 5 in the Amtsblatt, 1923. The documents were left to be preserved in the eighty-two Bürgermeisters offices, eight Standesämter or public registrar's offices, the seven Landrateämter, the state police administration for Saarbrücken, twelve Finanzämter or revenue offices, three Kreis\assen or district revenue offices, one Landgericht or district court, thirteen Amtsgerichte, and the statistical office of Saarbrücken. 10 By Lettre circulaire, no. 9, an assistant Kreis inspector must first obtain the consent of his Kreis inspector. 11 By Lettre circulaire, no. 8, neither Kreis inspectors nor assistants might be present at meetings or manifestations outside their respective jurisdictions without express authorization from the Plebiscite Commission or the Kreis inspector concerned.

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5. In their relations with the population or its representatives they were to maintain an attitude of dignity, tact, and discretion, and, above all, of the most complete neutrality. 6. In conversation with the population they were to abstain from expressing a personal opinion on political subjects, or from gestures or attitudes which could be interpreted as taking sides for or against any political opinion. In case of a breach of these rules the Plebiscite Commission would be obliged to dismiss the offending official. The members of the Kreis bureaus were reminded finally that they had been called by the League of Nations from different countries to work on one of the most difficult and delicate problems of contemporary history and were exhorted to collaborate with mutual understanding, to be ever ready to find common ground under what might at times be difficult conditions, and to give loyal support in all circumstances to the Plebiscite Commission. While showing authority and firmness in their decisions, the Kreis inspectors were to attempt to establish as close a collaboration with the local authorities as effective supervision permitted, and to create an atmosphere of respect and confidence among the people, "who, by the fact that they are called on to decide the fate of their land under such difficult conditions, merit the sincere aid and sympathy of the international officials of the League of Nations." As an aid to an understanding of the political situation in the Territory, copies of the petitions sent to the League Council during the past half-year were given to the Kreis bureaus for study. A few weeks after starting on their work a badge with the inscription Vol\erbund-Abstimmungskommissioη, 1934/35 was given to each of the Kreis inspectors and assistants. This was to be worn visibly whenever a public meeting or demonstration was attended, and was to be in readiness at any moment when it might be useful. 12 At a solemn meeting on July 16, 1934, the Plebiscite Commission administered to those members of the Kreis bureaus who had already arrived the oath required under Article 57 of the Regulations. It read : "I swear (promise solemnly) to observe faithfully the laws of the Territory, and to exercise upon my honor and conscience the powers entrusted to me." The other nine inspectors and assistants were sworn in as they arrived, the last on July 24. Each Kreis inspector was to live and have his office in the chief town 12

Lettre crculaire, no. 20.

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of his Kreis. The assistants were to live in some one of the communes where they were to preside over a communal committee. Under Article 14 of the Regulations the Landrat was to furnish the premises and personnel necessary for the work of the bureau. Neither the inspectors nor their assistants were supplied with automobiles but were instructed to rent cars, when necessary, from local garages. After the presidents of the communal committees had been appointed there remained the selection of the two ordinary members and two alternates, which, for the eighty-three voting divisions, would mean 332 in all. To follow the precedent set by the other European plebiscites of selecting the members of these committees from lists of local inhabitants presented by the two party organizations was, in the Saar, most difficult. While there was no party for union with France, and no propaganda for such a union, the Plebiscite Commission was embarrassed by the desire not to ignore the rights of such a possible party. Of the other two alternatives — maintenance of the League regime and union with Germany — only the adherents of the latter were fully organized. On the first of June the leaders of the Communists, whose platform had been "a red Saar in a Soviet Germany" had announced themselves for the status quo as a temporary measure, and during the month had made an alliance with the Socialists in the Antifaschistische Einheitsfront, often referred to as the "Freiheitsfront"; 13 but the Catholics had neither joined them nor formed an organization of their own, though for months there had been rumors that such an organization was about to be launched. Except for the editors of the Neue Saar Post, which had been started the preceding May under Herr Johann Hoffmann, the former editor of the Saarbrüc\er Landeszeitung, and which had assumed the leadership of the Saar Catholics who were for the status quo, the names of only a few who supported such a movement were known. 14 Besides the Einheitsfront the only organizations yet in existence working for the status quo were two — neither of great significance — the Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Wahrung Saarländischer Interessen, a Left organization, and the supposedly pro-French Saar13 See L.N.O.J., September 1934, pp. 1 1 6 2 et seq. The Communist group which called itself the "Freiheitsaktion an der Saar" was not registered as a political association. The signers, a miner, a steel worker, and a writer, the latter (Dr. Gustav Regler) active later in the civil war in Spain, described themselves as representing the anti-Fascist intellectuals of the Saar, and as speaking on behalf of the Committee of Freedom Congress held on April 8 at Saarbrücken, which was attended by 600 delegates representing 50,000 Saar workers, and on behalf of 300 Committees of Unity elected in the factories and districts. 14 Herr Hoffmann was a native of the Saar and, like so many other prominent figures there, was the son of a miner.

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ländische Wirtschaftsvereinigung under Dr. Hector.15 There was, therefore, no one address to which to apply for representatives of the status quo side, and as the Regulations required the communal committees to begin the drawing up of the lists on July 25 (Article 19), the time was exceedingly short for finding representative members of the several groups. While this is true, it would seem that an invitation to the Deutsche Front and, on the other side, to the Saarländische Freiheitsfront, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Wahrung Saarländischer Interressen, and the Saarländische Wirtschaftsvereinigung to submit lists of candidates would have been possible, had the Plebiscite Commission set about it on its entrance into the Territory.16 In seeking nominations, however, another method was followed. At a meeting arranged by the Plebiscite Commission for July 13 with the Landräte and the Oberbürgermeister these German officials were invited by President Rodhe to supply lists of men from their Kreise who were qualified to serve on the communal committees and who had taken no active part in politics. With the idea not of securing representatives of the two sides but of finding men in whom both would have confidence, M. de Iongh, who had been placed in charge of the Kreis bureaus and of the communal committees, emphasized that the nominees should be of different occupations and religious beliefs. The Landräte were asked to supply two names for each post, so that there might be a choice. When these lists were received from the Landräte they were forwarded, on July 18, to the respective Kreis inspectors, each of whom was instructed to investigate and interview the nominees for his Kreis, and report to the Commission, giving details as to age, occupation, and religion, and making recommendations. As the Kreis inspectors and their assistants had been ordered only on July 17 to proceed to their respective towns to set up their offices, they had, of course, little knowledge of how to find the right persons to check the lists and had to rely almost entirely on information given by the German officials. When it became apparent that the nominees of the Landräte, although for the most part moderate men not actively engaged in politics, were almost all enrolled in the Deutsche Front, 13 This organization had no open support in France. T h e Association Française de la Sarre had disavowed any desire for annexation and was declaring for " L a Sarre libre, sous la garantie de la S. d. Ν . pour la paix de l'Europe, pour notre sécurité, dans l'intérêt des Sarrois." 18 Immediately on publication of the Regulations, the Saar Social Democratic Party had put itself in touch with the Plebiscite Commission with a view to securing equal representation on the committees on the basis of one representative of the supporters of each of the three questions to be voted on.

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the Kreis inspectors made an effort to find candidates of the other side, but, handicapped as they were by ignorance of the area and by lack of time, this proved possible only in a few instances, and they were forced to limit their recommendations almost entirely to names from the lists handed in by the Landräte. In the end some men were found who were for the status quo, but of the eighty-three communal committees appointed by the Plebiscite Commission there were only eight not completely made up of members of the Deutsche Front. It should be said that some of the candidates proposed by the Landräte, while enrolled in the Deutsche Front, were apparently not for that party at heart, as their names were proposed also by some of the Catholic leaders in a last-minute consultation. Eventually members of the status quo groups became members of a considerable number of communal committees, for, as time passed, individual members of the communal committees were forced by personal reasons to resign, and in replacing them the effort was made to see that the two sides were represented on each committee. This was done also when two extra sub-committees were set up for Saarbrücken. The selection of the original members of the committees on nomination of the former Reich officials, and the Deutsche Front complexion of the great majority of the communal committees were, naturally, hotly protested by the status quo leaders and caused a lack of confidence in the integrity of the provisional registration lists which might well have been avoided. Because of the intention at Geneva to make use of the local officials, there was no provision in the Saar Regulations, as there had been in the other post-war plebiscites, for paying the members of the communal committees,17 and when the plan was discarded no provisions for pay had been inserted. It was obvious, however, that to expect miners and others dependent on their wages to engage in such long and arduous work, unpaid, would be unreasonable, and on August 21 the Plebiscite Commission decided that in cases of need it would contribute from its own budget three-quarters of the pay for certain categories of members of the communal committees, the local authorities paying the other quarter. In the Verordnungen of July 22, 1934, the Plebiscite Commission announced, as required by Article 17 of the Regulations, that all persons who considered that they had the right to vote might apply for 17 In the Klagenfurt plebiscite the remuneration of the communal committees was left to the Austrian and Yugoslav party organizations. In the other plebiscites it was provided by the plebiscite commissions.

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registration to the proper communal committee and that those living outside the Territory must do so if they would vote. It added that, while all those living in the Territory who were qualified to be registered ex officio need not apply, those who had changed their address in the Territory since June 28, 1919, would do well to make application. With the proclamation the Commission published a list of the members of each Kreis bureau and of the various communal committees, by Kreise.ls This proclamation was not only posted in all the communes but was also forwarded to the Foreign Offices of France and Germany so that they might take such steps as they saw fit to inform the persons concerned. Each assistant Kreis inspector, as president of a communal committee, was supplied with bound registers for the entry of all names to be considered for the provisional list of voters in each of his voting districts, forms for the minutes of each communal committee, forms for application for registration, and a special set of directions and instructions regarding the details of the registration procedure.19 On July 25 the members of the communal committees were sworn in by the respective assistant Kreis inspectors and at once set to work on the preliminary lists, which during August and September remained the chief concern of the Plebiscite Commission. When the Plebiscite Commission arrived in the Saar, it found to its surprise that in the majority of the communes of the area, including Saarbrücken, Völklingen, and other large towns, the mayors in May "Appendix, Doc. 1 1 . 18 The special set of directions and instructions given by the Plebiscite Commission to the communal committees laid down the following procedure for drawing up the preliminary lists: ( i ) All preliminary work on entries with or without application must be done by the local authorities. (2) These were to enter on the preliminary register all those who were so entitled, without application, and, after investigation, those also from whom application was received. All entries were to have a serial number. (3) For both classes of entries a majority vote of the communal committee was necessary, the committee having previously collected the necessary bases of information in order to make certain that the person in question really fulfilled the requirements stipulated. The Kreis inspectors en liaison as well as the regular Kreis inspectors had the right of supervision through impromptu visits and "soundings." The Regulations had provided that all public officials must aid the communal committees and afford all necessary assistance, as well as all the personnel necessary for the drawing up of the lists, and all necessary documents and information. In case of failure to do this, the chairman of the communal committee was to notify the Kreis inspector. The communal committee was forbidden to correspond directly with the authorities outside the Territory, and was to do so through the Plebiscite Commission. In determining the status of a resident the German law regarding Wohnsitz was not to influence the committee; it was to follow the Plebiscite Regulations. The only qualifications for voting were those laid down in the Regulations, which were explained in detail. No application was to be rejected merely because it was not accompanied by proofs.

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1934, as soon as the Regulations were approved by the League Council, had started card catalogues of all those qualified to vote who were still resident in the Territory, using as the chief basis for these the register of newcomers, or Meldekartei, kept regularly by the police and listed by M. Bonzon in 1923 as one of the chief sources to be used for the lists. In Saarbrücken a force of sixty communal employees and others engaged for the purpose by the Oberbürgermeister were finishing at the rate of 2,500 a day the cards for those to be registered without application. As far as the Plebiscite Commission was concerned, these cards were completely unofficial. Nevertheless, pressed as it was for time, the Commission decided to allow them to be used as the basis for the preliminary lists, each name to be submitted to the communal committee for verification by comparison with the other Bonzon documents, especially the police registers, registers of inhabitants, electoral lists, and census material. In some communal committees the neutral presidents were able to check the information regarding every name registered without application. In others, for lack of time, they had to limit themselves to "soundings." This was the course followed in Saarbrücken itself, where the list was naturally the longest of all. It was calculated that on the Saarbrücken list there would be about 80,000 qualified voters, and that to complete its work in the allotted time the single communal committee which the Regulations had provided must pass on 3,000 names a day. This meant that it was impossible to examine every name entered on the cards prepared by the city employees and that the communal committee must be content with "soundings." The danger of this course was recognized, but experience brought reassurance, for out of 2,000 cards taken at random and compared with the Bonzon documents the neutral president of the Saarbrücken communal committee found only 2 per cent of mistakes, a result which seemed to justify confidence that the cards had been made out in good faith. Throughout the plebiscite period there was no evidence to the contrary.20 Even making use of the device of "soundings," the Kreis inspector 20 In its second monthly report the Plebiscite Commission said that the cards in general had been found to be very accurate, and had greatly facilitated the work of the communal committees, and that without this preparatory measure the drawing up of the provisional lists by September 2 3 , as was required in the Regulations, would have presented very great difficulties. T h e Commission paid a tribute also to the "genuine zeal and assiduity" with which the members and staffs of the communal committees had performed their duties, and said that it was clear from the reports of the neutral chairmen of the committees that the members had regarded their work as being of a purely technical character ( L . N . O . J . , September 1 9 3 4 , pp. 1 1 6 0 - 1 1 6 1 ) .

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of Saarbrücken Stadt quickly realized that it would be impossible for one communal committee to finish the work on time, and on July 31 asked the Plebiscite Commission to provide two more communal committees. On consultation with the Committee of Three of the Council, these were appointed as sub-committees, Article 1 1 of the Regulations being amended to allow of this addition. For the two new sub-committees a half of the members and deputies were selected from among the groups supporting the status quo. T h e Bonzon documents were in all cases found to be in conformity with the records established through the previous years, and to be in good order. 21 In most of the communal committees every application for registration, after the information given had been verified by the communal employees assisting them, was examined personally by the neutral president and compared with the Bonzon documents. In some cases, however, the lack of time made it necessary to resort to "soundings" also for those names registered on application by the communal committee. Where the unofficial cards called for sufficiently complete information regarding names which were to be registered without application, the Plebiscite Commission decided to use these instead of the bound registers it had prepared. 22 For the names registered on application, the use of the bound registers continued to be required until August 23, when the Plebiscite Commission ordered that for the entry of applications from outside the Territory a day book giving merely the address and date might be substituted. 23 T h e Socialist and Communist associations and their journals had from the first objected to the fact that their supporters were scarcely represented at all on the communal committees, and that the members and deputy members were almost entirely adherents of the Deutsche Front. In reply to these criticisms the Plebiscite Commission published in the local press on August 8 a statement that the task of the communal committees was purely technical, as it consisted of drawing up lists of persons entitled to vote in the division; that in the nominations of members and deputy members of the communal committees the Commission had been at pains to choose persons who had not been politi21 "Second Monthly Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., September 1934, p. 1 1 6 1 . Some of the seals had been broken, but there was no indication of any effort at falsification. 22 Lettre circulaire, no. 14, August 8, 1934. The cards, once filled out and passed on, were to be tied together and sealed. 23 Lettre circulaire, no. 2 1 .

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cally prominent; and that the accuracy of the entries in the lists was guaranteed not merely by the fact that the chairman of each communal committee was a neutral foreigner and member of the Kreis bureau set up by the Plebiscite Commission, but also by the period provided in the Regulations for publication of the provisional lists and for claims, and by the severe penalties to which members of the committees were liable who should be guilty of incorrect action in connection with the entries. At the same time the Plebiscite Commission sent a circular letter to its Kreis inspectors instructing them to inform the Commission of everything said and written regarding the members of the committees and their conduct, whether connected directly or indirectly with the plebiscite.24 It also ordered that the deputy members, even if not taking the place of full members, might be present at all meetings, without vote, and that other suitable persons as well, whose cooperation with the work might be useful, might be invited by the president of the communal committee to be present.25 This measure, while it did not wholly satisfy the critics, greatly improved the situation. The Vol\sstimme on August 9 recognized and, in fact, claimed some credit for the greater care being exercised by the Plebiscite Commission over the lists, and said that there was no doubt as to its objectivity and sincerity of purpose. The journal still objected, however, and with reason, to calling the drawing up of voters' lists "a purely technical work." The political background, it said, was ever-present, the Deutsche Front members of the communal committees were only human, and neither oaths nor penalties could change the fact of Nazi pressure. On the same day the Socialist Party again asked that membership on the communal committees be equally divided between the Deutsche Front and the status quo movement, and said that in the present situation many feared to ask for registration for fear of blackmail and persecution. A formal protest was made by Herr Max Braun that the Socialist Party could not sufficiently check (contrôler) the lists, and that at one place the Deutsche Front had registered thirty unqualified persons. The Plebiscite Commission on August 13, accordingly, instructed the Kreis inspectors and assistants that there was no reason why the proceedings of the communal committees should be secret nor why any interested party or political organization wishing to inspect the drawing up of the provisional lists in his own electoral district should be prevented " Lettre circulaire, no. i i , August 8, 1934. See also "Second Monthly Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., September 1934, p. 1160. 25 Lettre circulaire, no. 1 3 , August 8, 1934.

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from so doing, in so far as this did not retard the work of the committee.28 Further, it announced, the period up to September 23, when the provisional lists were to be completed, was to be devoted to a second verification of the information serving as a basis for the entries made without application, as well as of all applications received. Nevertheless, in spite of the measures taken by the Commission and the reassurances given by it, the lack of anything like equal representation by the two sides on the communal committees had spread a most unfortunate suspicion of the preliminary lists, which threatened to defeat the success of the plebiscite. During the preparation of the preliminary lists both sides attempted to make sure that all their adherents no longer resident in the Saar should send in applications for registration. In organizing for this the Germans had the advantage of the experience gained in the plebiscites in Schleswig, East and West Prussia, Upper Silesia, and Klagenfurt in 1920 and 1921, and the aid of the veteran organizers of those earlier days. By a decree of March 27, 1934, the head of the Department of the Interior of Germany had ordered the communal authorities in the Reich to list all the persons residing there who were entitled to vote in the Saar plebiscite, and a similar activity had been carried on by the Saar officials in the Territory itself. On July 14, 1934, Reichsminister Frick issued a circular to all the Reich officials directing that all persons who considered themselves qualified voters should be told to report to their communal authorities; that every application should be accepted unless it was certain that the person was not qualified; and that in case of doubt the Ministry of the Interior should be informed without delay.27 In August the task of recruiting the voters outside the Territory was taken over by the Reichspropagandaministerium, which promptly required all movie houses to display a summons to those who had the necessary qualifications. The radio was utilized, and throughout Germany signs and banners carrying the motto, Deutsch ist die Saar, reminded voters of their duty. The Bund der Saarvereine in the Reich started preparations to assure the smooth working of the transportation of Saarlanders returning from all quarters of the globe to vote, and government subsidies enabled the German steamship com28

Lettre circulaire, no. 15, August 13, 1934. L.N.O.J., October 1934, pp. 1206-1207. As documents to be submitted to prove the necessary residence the Reichsminister enumerated declarations of arrival and departure made to the police, tax schedules, pay sheets, certificates given by former employers, certificates of sickness insurance funds, etc., labor and service books, light and water supply bills, and a certificate obtained from the competent communal Saar authority establishing the residence there of the applicant on June 28, 1919. 27

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panies to offer free return passages from North and South America, China, and doubtless other places overseas, the necessary railway fares being paid by the voters themselves or from funds raised by the German associations abroad.28 The Deutsche Front on July 29 had opened an office in the Kaiserstrasse in Saarbrücken to furnish information and assistance regarding registration, and had established branch offices throughout the Territory. Two weeks later the Einheitsfront opened a similar information office in the Hohenzollernstrasse, also with branch offices. Shortly, to enroll those for the status quo in Alsace and Lorraine, the Association Franco-Sarroise opened in Metz a Bureau Central Plébiscitaire which sent out circulars urging everyone with a shadow of claim to the necessary electoral qualifications to send in his name and the necessary information, and Major Lanrezac, who had had for fifteen years an office for propaganda in the Direction des Mines, opened an advisory bureau there. The opening of these offices, proper in itself, created a difficult problem for the Plebiscite Commission. Under Article 18 of the Regulations, an applicant for registration living outside the Saar was to supply an address within the Territory to which the electoral certificates and other communications might be sent by the communal committees. Minister Frick's circular recommended that the voter give as his address Beratungsstelle [Consulting Office] der "Deutschen Front" für Abstimmungsberechtigte, Saarbr. ΠΙ, Kaiserstra. 9. Instructions had obviously been issued by the Einheitsfront and by Major Lanrezac to give their respective offices as the address in the Territory. The Plebiscite Commission felt that this recommendation gave "ground for suspicions that certain pressure was exercised on the freedom of voting." 2 9 It concluded, however, that the advice was legitimate under the Regulations, and so instructed the Kreis inspectors and assistants.30 The majority of the Plebiscite Commission had decided, however, that in publishing the lists it was advisable that for the address in the Territory which was required by Article 20 of the Regulations there should be substituted the habitual residence, which was a legitimate 28

It is said that in most cases the voter paid his fare to Germany and received there the price of the return ticket. 29 Letter from the President of the Plebiscite Commission to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, dated September 5, 1934 (L.N.O.J., October 1934, pp. 1 2 0 4 1205). 30 Lettre circulaire, no. 19, August 17, 1934. This informed them that the applicants might also give as address the offices of Bürgermeister or other public officials who were prepared to receive and forward communications.

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aid to identification. It so advised the Committee of the Council, stating that it had reached the conclusion that to publish the address in the Territory "might have serious drawbacks for certain voters and even violate the secrecy and impair the freedom of the voting. 31 That the Plebiscite Commission meant to retain the address in the Territory on the two copies of the lists to be sent to the Kreis bureaus, was, perhaps, not understood by the Committee of the Council, which, after delay, refused to consent to the change. Consequently the address in the Territory was posted in every case. The Plebiscite Commission did what it could to lessen the effect by ordering that the address of political parties should be abbreviated, but many thousands of names so appeared. Although palpably undesirable, this apparently had no unfortunate results.32 To one passage in the circular of Minister Frick the Plebiscite Commission felt it must call the attention of the League Council. This read : Persons entitled to vote will be looked after [betreut werden] until the date of the plebiscite by agents of the Federation of Saar Associations [Bund der Saarvereine]. These agents, who will be provided with an identity card issued by the Federation, must be assisted in every way in the execution of their task by the official Saar Registration Offices.

The Plebiscite Commission informed the Council that it doubted whether such a procedure was in keeping with the undertaking entered into by the German government in its letter of June 2, 1934, in virtue of which the Reich undertook to refrain from any pressure, direct or indirect, likely to affect the freedom and trustworthiness of the voting.33 From the first there came from both sides to the Plebiscite Commission demands and requests for changes in the Regulations. At its meeting with the Landräte and the Oberbürgermeister on July 13, President Rodhe had invited an exchange of views on the interpretation to be given to the various provisions of the Regulations, as well as on a number of other practical questions. The Oberbürgermeister had at once read a memorandum containing mordant criticisms not only of the German translation of the Regulations but also of its provisions as being impossible to carry out, or as not coinciding with German law, or with measures habitual in ordinary elections. He objected to the 31 "Second Monthly Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., September 1 9 3 4 , p. 1 1 6 1 . 32 Eventually the Plebiscite Commission ordered that, in posting, only the initials of the political party bureau should be given and that f o r those voters residing in the Territory the customary residence must be posted. 33 L.N.O.J., September 1 9 3 4 , pp. 1 2 0 5 , 1 2 0 7 .

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requirement of the Christian name of the father for registration on the lists as not necessary for identification, not required for registration in ordinary elections, and not having been entered on the cards which had already been prepared by the communal officials for the preliminary lists. It would mean, he said, that they must write anew to all the qualified voters. Moreover, he asserted, because of the length of the voters' lists the plan to post these on the communal notice boards must be abandoned, and they must be opened to inspection, as in ordinary elections, within the Bürgermeisteramt. The Plebiscite Commission had no intention of changing these provisions in the Regulations, and they were retained. In order to facilitate the drawing up of the lists in the short time allowed, it did, however, rule that lack of information regarding the Christian name of the father should not prevent persons whose identification could be otherwise established with certainty from being placed on the preliminary lists. On the Kreis inspectors' echoing some of the Oberbiirgermeister's words, they were reminded that in the plebiscite the question was not that of procedure in an ordinary election, where all the voters were residents of their voting divisions, but one of the identification of an applicant with a person who had resided in the Territory fifteen years before.34 Constant collaboration between the Plebiscite Commission and the Governing Commission was, of course, essential. This was effected not so much by joint plenary meetings, of which there were only three altogether, but by informal consultation between the members of the respective Commissions and, more particularly, by formal requests in writing. In this way the opinion of the Plebiscite Commission was invited by the Governing Commission on all matters concerning the plebiscite which did not relate to the administration of the Territory. Thus all questions regarding propaganda, such as requests to the Governing Commission for permission to carry flags, to wear badges, to publish pamphlets, and to hold special meetings, were laid before the Plebiscite Commission for advice. On entering on its functions the Plebiscite Commission was asked by the Governing Commission for its opinion as to whether the ban 34 Lettre circulaire, no. 4. Regarding echoes of other objections raised by the Oberbürgermeister, various of the staff of the Plebiscite Commission warned the Kreis inspectors to remember that if the Regulations did not correspond to those in force in local elections it was for the reason that there was no analogy between these and a plebiscite, and advised them to try always to see the reason for deviation rather than be convinced by the official. Many of the provisions objected to were based on the Treaty of Versailles and could not be altered. (Lettre circulaire, no. 35, September 20, 1934.)

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should be removed from public meetings connected with the plebiscite campaign. Although eager to allow the utmost freedom to carry on legitimate propaganda, the Plebiscite Commission requested that the existing decrees regarding assembly, publicity, and the like be continued until the Kreis bureaus and the tribunals should be in working order. It added that it proposed to consider later the question of a decree laying down rules for the plebiscite campaign and the fixing of the date when it might be considered to be open.35 Owing to various obstacles the decree was never drafted. The only political meetings allowed until January 6, 1935, were closed ones, in the sense that all those attending had to show cards of membership in the organization holding it. The question of allowing the Saar to be made the meeting place for associations with wide affiliations in the Reich was raised by an application from the "Gau XIV, Nahe-Mosel-Saar des Deutschen Sängerbundes" for permission to organize a Gau festival at Saarbrücken on September 8 and 9, which would have brought some 60,000 persons, many from outside the area. On being requested by the Governing Commission for its opinion on the matter, the Plebiscite Commission felt that this festival might amount to a kind of political occupation and might become as well an unfortunate precedent for similar demands from both sides. It therefore replied that, as such festivals would attract a large number of outside visitors to the Territory, the imminence of the plebiscite made their authorization inadvisable.36 The Reich press promptly accused the Plebiscite Commission of partisanship and insufficient knowledge of the popular feeling. On the whole, however, the Deutsche Front took the decision with commendable philosophy, and so great was the desire to praise the Plebiscite Commission as against the Governing Commission that regret was expressed privately that the Plebiscite Commission had not allowed the less popular body to take the blame. The Sängerfest was held at Trier, instead of Saarbrücken, at the appointed time and with great success. The Plebiscite Commission was most anxious to interfere as little as possible with the normal life of the Territory, and invariably gave a favorable opinion regarding functions of an essentially local character to which only a small number of outsiders would come. A large number of such functions were in fact held. 35 "First Monthly Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., September i , 1 9 3 4 , pp. 1 1 4 9 - 1 1 5 0 . 38 "Second Monthly Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., September 1 9 3 4 , p. 1 1 6 1 .

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When asked by the Governing Commission for its opinion on the stream of applications from groups in the Saar for permission for citizens of the Reich to enter the Territory to lecture on nationhood, folklore, the peasantry, the German economic situation, and the like, the Plebiscite Commission invariably approved, on condition that no reference should be made to politics. The Governing Commission followed this policy, but the condition, though accepted by_ the local representatives, was not always lived up to. The opinion of the Plebiscite Commission was habitually asked by the Governing Commission regarding any pamphlets the various groups wished to distribute. The Plebiscite Commission made it a rule to advise against such pamphlets only if the text contained abuse of opponents or violent language liable to provoke disturbance.37 Films, it recommended, should be prohibited when they contained propaganda in favor of one of the plebiscitary parties. Demands were repeatedly made by the Deutsche Front supporters that only those qualified to vote should have the right to speak at political meetings in the Territory and to carry on propaganda in the press. Had the rule been applied to editors of journals, it would have eliminated many of the chief writers of both sides. Regarding many persons it was impossible to know until toward the end of the campaign whether they were qualified or not. This was the case of the leader of the Deutsche Front, Herr Pirro, who was unanimously refused registration on the provisional lists by the communal committee of Homburg and yet, on his protest being found valid, was entered on the final list of qualified voters. The determining consideration with the Plebiscite Commission was, however, that no distinction between voters and non-voters in regard to speeches pronounced in the Territory appeared to be justified so long as persons not entitled to vote, among them Chancellor Hitler, Reichspropagandaminister Goebbels, and other Reich leaders, were making themselves heard daily in the Territory from broadcasting stations outside the area. Propaganda speeches came, to be sure, from France as well as from Germany, but the small amount of propaganda broadcast by the Strasbourg station was not comparable in amount or bitterness to that from Frankfurt and Stuttgart. From these two stations were daily sent "news flashes" of the most intemperate character in which the Governing Commission was vilified and the adherents of the status quo were denounced as "scoundrels and traitors." T o control loud speakers in public streets, 57

" T h i r d Report of the Plebiscite Commission, September December 1 9 3 4 , p. 1 6 6 5 .

L.N.O.J.,

ι to October i ,

1934,"

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halls, and cafés, or to eliminate them entirely, would have been merely a half-way measure. There was, of course, no way of controlling radio programs in private houses, and the Deutsche Front was arranging with its usual competence that those possessing radios should invite in their neighbors who had none. Thus the proposed restriction, which had much to recommend it, was perforce abandoned. In the Territory itself, as in the world at large, it was assumed that the majority of the total vote would be cast for immediate return to Germany. The question was as to the probable size of the minority vote for the League regime. This was a matter of first importance to those interested either in aiding or in injuring the prestige of the Hitler government. Estimates of this minority varied from week to week, and ranged from 25 per cent to 40 per cent, the wide disparity representing uncertainty as to the reaction of the Saar Catholics to the situation of their Church in the Reich, where Cardinal Faulhaber, who had assumed leadership over the protesting Catholics, had attacked Nazi activities as involving a threat to Christianity itself, while Robert Ley, powerful leader of the Reich Arbeitsfront, had announced drastic measures against the clergy. Memories of the Kulturkampf, still strong in the Saar, had been revived by talk of a new religious war which might involve the whole Catholic Church. Prominent persons near to Hitler had publicly proclaimed that the Catholic youth organizations, not yet coordinated in the Hitler-Jugend as the similar Protestant body had been, must be wiped out within a year. The Vatican was apparently convinced that, in order to have a pretext for suppressing all Catholic institutions not belonging to the Nazi machine, the German government was deliberately blocking any possibility of agreement under the Concordat regarding the Catholic organizations which should continue to exist. The opinion that the size of the majority for immediate return to Germany would hang on the ultimate position of the Vatican was widely expressed in the press of the outer world. 38 T o prevent the blame from being thrown on the Catholics for any even partial defeat of the Reich party, and the result being seized on as a pretext for fresh reprisals and persecutions in the Reich, 38 The Journal de Genève of May 1 3 , 1934, in its leading editorial said, "Let the clergy receive the order to support the autonomist movement in the Saar and the Reich would risk losing the Territory on the day of the vote." It doubted that the Holy Father would care to go so far. But the threat might be useful. "C'est une arme dangereuse, et il est certain que Rome saura s'en servir." For the moment, the Journal said, the Vatican showed no haste. It was biding its time. "La curie ne jouera probablement ses cartes qu'au dernier moment et à bon escient. Car si c'est un atout, c'est le dernier. Mais Berlin ne saurait risquer pareille partie non plus. Les chances sont donc pour qu'un accord préalable au plébiscite règle le différend."

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the Holy See in the spring of 1934 had sent Monsignor Testa to be its special representative in the Saar. The reaction among the Saar Catholics to the events of June 30 in Germany seemed to indicate a great increase in the numbers of those wishing to postpone return to the Third Reich. The "blood-purge," of which the Germans in Germany were so little aware for weeks, was known to the Saar overnight, not only through the Volksstimme, which, being Socialist, was suspect to the Catholics, but through the Neue Saar Post, which since its founding had assumed the leadership of those Saar Catholics who were for the status quo. Not only did the first news of the murders in the Reich give the Saar Germans a bewildering impression of disunity among the Reich leaders, but to all Saar Catholics, no matter what their attitude on the plebiscite, the assassination of the chief Catholic figure in Germany, Dr. Erich Klausener, chairman of the Katholische Aktion of Berlin, and of Adalbert Probst, leader for the Reich of the Katholische Jugendschaft, caused profound uneasiness. At the high requiem mass held throughout the Territory the vast crowds overflowing the churches included many leaders of the Deutsche Front. The Catholic Saarbrüc\er Landeszeitung of July 15, although now turned National Socialist, asked what was the guilt of Klausener and Probst. The Neue Saar Post cried, "Christus\reuz-Ha\en\reuz!" The circumstances attending the assassination of Chancellor Dollfuss of Austria meant a second shock to the Saar Catholics. Rumors were increasing that a powerful Catholic party pledged to vote for the status quo would soon enter the field under the leadership of various priests. Certain Catholic circles and the foreign journalists in touch with them were convinced that the odds were now even, that the Church held the balance, and that unless Hitler should succeed in rehabilitating himself and should placate the Church, or unless the Nazi regime should be overthrown before January, the Territory might be indefinitely lost to the Reich. As an escape from the dilemma, both of politics and of conscience, sentiment was growing among the Catholics in favor of the proposal of the Socialists that the plebiscite, if it could not be postponed, should be considered temporary and should be followed by another and final one, after the National Socialist regime in the Reich should have come to an end. As early as May 1934 the supporters of the status quo had been eager to secure from the French government a promise that France would never oppose a second plebiscite. They wished also for a statement that the League regime would mean a large measure of popular government, arguing that this was possible under Article 35a

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of the Saar Annex which provided that if the League should decide for the maintenance of the regime established by the Treaty it would be its duty to take appropriate steps to adapt this regime to the permanent welfare of the Territory and to the general interest. A s an indication of the strength of the Catholic Church in the Territory, public attention was fastened on the great meeting of Saar Catholic Youth under the auspices of the Katholische Jungmännerverband, fixed for July 2 9 — the Catholic Confession of Faith D a y — in the stadium of Kieselhumes on the outskirts of Saarbrücken, which was to be addressed by the bishops of Trier (Treves) and Speyer. About 50,000 young people, especially from workers' families, marched in the procession, the numbers showing that they were well disciplined and firmly in the hands of their priests, nuns, holy orders, and organizations of lay brotherhoods, which formed a finely meshed network over the whole Territory. It was taken as significant that among the many flags which they carried there were no swastikas, and that while they gave a silent tribute to the murdered leader of the German Catholic Youth, Adalbert Probst, Hitler was not mentioned. According to its custom, the Governing Commission had authorized the meeting on condition that it should be purely a religious demonstration, and that all political matters should be completely excluded. In spite of this engagement, the Bishop of Speyer attacked (without naming it) the Neue Saar Post, and with the Bishop of Trier signed a telegram to President Hindenburg reading: Fifty thousand young Saar Catholics of both sexes, gathered around their spiritual leaders, the Bishops of Trier and Speyer, . . . send from the western marches of Germany their greetings and an assurance of unwavering fidelity to the Supreme Head of the German Reich. (Signed)

FRANZ

RUDOLF

Bishop of Treves (Signed)

LUDWIG

SEBASTIAN

Bishop of Speyer T h e Plebiscite Commission felt that "in sending that telegram, the Bishops of Treves and Speyer — who could hardly be unaware of the fact that permission for the meeting had been given in consideration of the assurance that it would be a purely religious demonstration — failed to observe the political neutrality required by the circumstances." It accordingly reported the text of the telegram to the League Council on August 24, saying that, in view of their spiritual authority, their action at the present juncture

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must be deemed contrary to the principle of the freedom of the voting. It implies [said the Commission] that the Catholic Bishops are not bound by the solemn undertakings entered into by the Governments concerned. Being of opinion that this is a defect which is likely to impair the strict neutrality of the plebiscite operations, the Commission feels bound to bring the attitude of the Bishops of Treves and Speyer to the notice of the Council of the League of Nations, in order that the Committee may take such action as it may think fit.39 The Council took no action. M. Barthou, who might have been expected to urge it, at the meeting on September 27, 1934, took the conciliatory attitude that he had not followed the Plebiscite Commission in its emphasis on the necessity of shielding the population against "the pressure too openly exercised by certain ecclesiastical authorities who were placing the authority of their sacred office at the service of a political cause," as he "preferred to think that the Plebiscite Commission's attention had only been called to certain casual incidents which would not recur." 40 The Holy See had apparently long since considered the advisability of suspending the jurisdiction of the bishops of Trier and Speyer, and of creating an extraordinary ecclesiastical administration for the Territory during the plebiscite, as it had done in Marienwerder, Allenstein, and Upper Silesia, over which Pope Pius XI, then Papal Nuncio at Warsaw, had been given jurisdiction as Alto Commissario Ecclesiastico.41 However, on Monsignor Testa's advice, early in August, that it was unnecessary, as the clergy were 100 per cent German, the Vatican limited itself to maintaining an observer in the Saar, charging him, it was said, to see that no member of the clergy took advantage of his spiritual authority to further political interests.42 For this office Monsignor Giovanni Panico, former auditor and chargé d'affaires of the apostolic nunciature at Prague, was sent to Saarbrücken on September h , 1934, with the title of envoy extraordinary and direct representative 30 L.N.O.J., October 1934, pp. 1 2 0 1 - 1 2 0 2 . The action of the Plebiscite Commission brought from the Saarbrücken Zeitung of September 5, under the heading Ein Unverständliche Protest," the argument that the telegram was not political but merely a greeting from the young Catholics to their sick President. More important to the political situation in the area than the telegram was the attack by the Bishop of Speyer on the Neue Saar Post, for this at once set the attitude for the clergy. It is said that many priests canceled their subscriptions. 40 L.N.O.J., November 1934, p. 1463. 11 The Governing Commission in 1920 had asked that a separate diocese be established for the Saar (see above, p. 83). 42 From news article by Arnaldo Cortesi, dated Vatican City, December 8, 1934, in the New York Times, December 9, 1934, sec. 4, p. 1.

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of the Holy Father in the Saar.43 Monsignor Panico enjoyed complete jurisdiction over the dignitaries as well as over the faithful of the Church, and, it was said, had the special mission to see that every Catholic voter on January 13, 1935, voted in full liberty of conscience free from spiritual pressure. The bishops of Trier and Speyer, however, in retaining their religious jurisdiction over their respective dioceses, remained the superiors of the Saar clergy, and except on questions of heresy were responsible to no higher authority on earth, not even the Pope himself. Before the arrival of the Plebiscite Commission, the Governing Commission had been warned that the Saar Landjäger were maintaining relations with the German secret state police of Trier, enabling the latter to issue false passports and to arrest inhabitants of the Saar entering the Reich who were suspected of not sympathizing with the Hitler régime. The Governing Commission finding, on inquiry, every reason to suppose that the Deutsche Front Voluntary Labor Organization (Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst) was involved in this affair, ordered a search on July 19 of the headquarters of the organization, which was housed in the Deutsche Front premises. Even the rapid preliminary examination of the numerous documents sufficed to show that the Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst was maintaining entirely unjustified relations with the Saar police agents and other officials of the Governing Commission and was at the same time in contact with the German secret police at Trier and with all kinds of services and authorities in the Reich, that it was promoting their interference in Saar affairs, and that it was also regularly spying on the Governing Commission, on its services, on the refugees, and on the political parties.44 A disquieting feature attending the search was the attempted interference by a hostile crowd, hastily summoned by emissaries on bicycles, motorcycles, and cars of the secret Deutsche Front Ordnungsdienst.45 "Monsignor Testa had been promoted bishop and appointed apostolic delegate to Egypt and Palestine. "Letters dated August 3 and 17, 1934, from the Chairman of the Governing Commission to the Secretary-General of the League (L.iV.O./., September 1934, p. 1 1 4 0 , and October 1934, p. 1 1 8 8 ) . 45 The Chairman of the Governing Commission reported to the Council that one aspect of the affair which deserved its special attention was "the attitude which is impressed upon certain parts of the population in connection with the measures ordered by the Governing Commission." Both on the occasion of this search and those on the following day at the editorial offices of the weekly journal, Der Deutsche Kumpel, at Brebach, there had been similar occurrences: the immediate gathering of a crowd — hastily assembled by emissaries on bicycles, motorcycles, or in cars — which endeavored to interfere with the police arrangements, hostile cries by the crowd against certain police officials described as "separatists, traitors, dirty Jews," etc., songs, beflagging of houses,

T H E P L E B I S C I T E COMMISSION While the Governing Commission, whenever legal reasons had warranted, had made similar searches in connection with other parties, this search and seizure of the documents brought from the press of the party such a storm of criticism of President Knox, and of Police Commissioner Machts, who, the Deutsche Front papers asserted, had led the search (an assertion formally denied by the Governing Commission on July 2i ), that it seemed as if the matter had been taken as a signal for a direct mass attack on the Governing Commission. On the two following days almost all of the twenty Deutsche Front papers of the Territory were suspended by the Department of the Interior for their attitude toward the affair, which the Governing Commission held to be a breach of their repeated promises to observe discipline, a veiled incitement to disobedience, an undermining of the authority of the state, and a threat to public order and safety. On July 21 the editor of the Saarbrüc\er Zeitung, who was also chairman of the Saar press organization, in a violent speech broadcast by the Frankfurt Sender, described the Commission's charges as "four assertions and four untruths," and asserted that if anyone was endangering public order it was the Commission itself by sending Machts to direct the search.46 The editor accused the Governing Commission of partisanship in allowing the "deutschfeindlich" press to insult, vilify, and threaten every German political leader in the Saar, while not allowing the German press to make the slightest criticism of a "questionable" police official. He then made a bitter attack on the Emigranten and on President Knox for allowing them, under the right of asylum, to carry on antiGerman propaganda in the hope of making an international police force inevitable, and ended with a final defiance of Knox himself.47 The speech seemed to be the climax of the campaign of many months in the German press against the Chairman of the Governing Commission and the Police Commissioner. The next day a chauffeur named Baumgartner shot at Police Commissioner Machts in the center of Saarbrücken, and Machts, untouched, turned and shot his assailant. In the pockets of Baumgartner were found cards of membership in the exhibition of transparent placards, etc. On the last occasion the gendarmerie had been sent to the spot in sufficient force and displayed a notable lack of energy. (Letter from the Chairman of the Governing Commission to the Secretary-General of the League, August 3, in L.N.O.J., September 1934, p. 1140. See also L.N.O.J., October 1934, December 1934, p. 1 6 5 1 . ) " T h e Governing Commission formally stated on July 21 that Police Commissioner Machts had been present to protect the criminal police in their work but did not direct the search. " From copy of speech recorded by the Governing Commission (author's collection).

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Deutsche Front and in the National Socialist Party in the Reich.48 The Deutsche Front, however, said that the man no longer belonged to the party, and some of the party papers asserted that, as the Baumgartner bullets were not found, there was reason to suspect that he had used blank cartridges and that the whole affair had been staged by Machts and the chauffeur, an assertion seemingly disproved by the fact that Baumgartner was so seriously wounded that his leg had to be amputated. The Governing Commission held that the attack was provoked by the heated campaign in the press and radio and that the same section of the population which had opposed the Commission's endeavors to recruit a number of neutral police "would now like to undermine its authority by seeking to secure the dismissal of certain elements of the police which are thought not to be amenable to certain forms of pressure.49 The Deutsche Front retorted that it was not the press and wireless attacks which were responsible for the shot at Machts, but the "unyielding policy of prestige" of President Knox, which had "created a feeling amongst the population which leads only too easily to such deplorable excesses on the part of excited and mentally irresponsible individuals." 50 In consequence of the attack on Machts the police were ordered to make new raids on the Deutsche Front headquarters, on the Deutsche Nachrichtenbüro, which was under the Reichspropagandaministerium, and on the Saar Korrespondenz, a Deutsche Front paper. The parties raided brought formal complaint before an examining magistrate of the Provincial Court of Saarbrücken, who ruled that the seizure of the documents was illegal, and ordered their restoration. The Governing Commission thereupon invoked a Prussian ordinance of 1794 regarding the maintenance of public order, said that the examining magistrate was not competent, and gave notice that the documents would remain confiscated, a position sustained by the Supreme Court at Saarlouis. The seized documents threw light on many activities of the Deutsche Front. As the examination proceeded, the Governing Commission transmitted to the League Council the texts of the most important of them, with summaries.51 The evidence proved, the Commission stated, that the Ordnungsdienst, which played the same part as the "S.S." " T h i s was denied by the Saarbrücker Landeszeitung on July 28, 1934. " L e t t e r of the Chairman of the Governing Commission to the Secretary-General, dated August 3, 1934 (L.N.O.f., September 1934, pp. 1 1 4 0 - 1 1 4 1 ) . M "Third Petition of the Deutsche Front section of the Landesrat to the League Council," L.N.O.J., October 1934, p. 1220. 61 See letters of August 3 and 17 (L.N.O.f., September 1934, p. 1140, and October 1934, p. 1 1 8 8 ) and of November 6 (ibid., December 1934, p. 1645).

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(Schutz Staffeln) in Germany, numbered nearly 10,000, including 1,500 women members, and that it covered the whole Territory in a network, had a system of rapid transport, a list of assembly points, and a plan of mobilization. From the documents it was seen to be a kind of secret police, watching the members of the party and even its leaders, a force constantly on the alert and ready to intervene in the streets. Extracts taken at random from the files showed them as "keeping watch on festivities, demonstrations and country fairs; drawing up secret reports on members of the Party and on their adversaries; denouncing abuses in the winter relief work organized by the 'Deutsche Front,' or favoritism in the selection of workmen for trips to the Reich. A member of the Party expresses surprise that an opposing party could distribute pamphlets without the Ordnungsdienst' intervening and that he had himself to 'clean up' the village." 5 2 Every effort was made to keep the organization secret, but its existence was established by uncontroverdble evidence. The force was not wholly popular with the inhabitants and led to a considerable amount of difference of opinion and rivalry even within the party, as witness the Eiserne Brigade Spaniol, which was uncovered by the search. This organization, which had a song, "Kill the Pirroites. Death to Pirro," was understood to have taken a personal oath of allegiance to Prussian Staatsrat Spaniol before his fall and to be awaiting his return. There was also evidence that the "S.A." had not been dissolved as the Commission had ordered, but continued to exist in disguised form. In view of these and other serious situations uncovered by the documents the Governing Commission as a preliminary measure issued an ordinance banning any organizations whose object was to facilitate in any way the enlistment of young Saarlanders for the labor camps, and providing imprisonment for anyone effecting or abetting in such an enlistment. This applied also to any employer requiring one of his employees to show proof of having done a period of service in the "F.A.D." T o prevent the possibility of a regrouping in the Saar, under a disguised form, of young men who had done service in any of the Nazi formations, all Saarlanders who had been members of the former "S.A." and "S.S." sections or of the Eiserne Brigade Spaniol were required to report to the police, with the possibility of being placed under special surveillance.53 Espionage by the Deutsche Front organizations was proved by a large number of documents found in the archives. A report was found 52

L.N.O.J., December 1934, p. 1 6 5 1 . ^Appendix, Doc. 1 3 . See also L.N.O.J.,

October 1934, pp. 1 1 8 9 and 1 1 9 1 - 1 2 0 0 .

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from the butler of the Chairman of the Governing Commission. The clergy seemed to have been under special observation and subject to pressure, and to have been receiving orders by telephone, with threats of a concentration camp in 1935. But there were "worse things than threats." The newspapers and the German wireless service were being used for the purpose of subjecting persons to public persecution. Quotations from the documents showed many cases of denunciation to the German authorities, and of various forms of boycott. Special attempts had been made to use it in order to bring the cinemas into line, but these had not succeeded and subsidies were to be reverted to. Forced sales of real estate to satisfy foreign mortgagees were boycotted under the direction of the Trutzbund für Wirtschaftliche Gerechtigkeit which used pressure to prevent Saar inhabitants from appearing as buyers.54 As the examination of the documents progressed, evidence was found of collusion between the Deutsche Front and Saar officials in a very large number of cases. The Governing Commission reported to the League Council on November 6: "The officials have been induced either illegally to furnish information and documents to the 'Deutsche Front' or to place themselves at that body's disposal, so that the 'Deutsche Front' is inclined to play, in some respects, the part of a clandestine government." Saar officials very frequently supplied information to the Deutsche Front and to the Prussian secret police, such as extracts from reports to the Governing Commission. Extracts were found from official statements of criminal antecedents concerning opponents of the Deutsche Front which could have been furnished only by an official who had betrayed his trust. Many confidential official documents had been given to the Deutsche Front. "But the 'Deutsche Front' does not only collect confidential information and documents from officials, it makes use of them as if it were the lawful authority in the Territory." The chief of propaganda was found to have arranged interviews between the Landeshauptmann of the Rhine Province and the Landräte of Saarbrücken, Ottweiler, and Saarlouis. A police official of the Territory acted in double capacity as a Vermessungsrat and the chief clerk to the Deutsche Front administration. Hundreds of teachers had joined the education section of the Deutsche Front. A director of one of the schools was the head of the section, and a file regarding the summer solstice celebrations showed that he had taken special precautions to conceal their political character so as to 54

L.N.O.J.,

December 1934, p. 1649.

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avert intervention by the Governing Commission.55 From the documents it appeared that the Oberbürgermeister of Saarbrücken considered himself the agent of the Deutsche Front. In recruiting employees for the municipal administration he consulted the propaganda service of the organization, and, among other things, he had allowed the winter program of the municipal theater to be drawn up by it with a view to propaganda for the plebiscite.56 It was found that the Landesleitung of the Deutsche Front had even assumed public functions, and, with the assistance of the Governing Commission's own Bürgermeister, was circumventing the order of the Commission of April 28, 1933, that no communal funds should be used for allowances to young Saarlanders sent to Voluntary Labor camps in the Reich. Finally the report gave excerpts from documents to show that, in applying pressure, the Deutsche Front could not only rely on help from far too many Saar officials but also enjoyed the support of the German government and of the German authorities. Hundreds of letters were seized which emanated from German ministries or official organs. "In certain cases the German Front acts towards the German Government, the German authorities and the inhabitants of the Saar as if it were the Government of the Territory. The chief of the Legal Section corresponds with German public prosecutors, courts and authorities. (June 25, 1934.) He makes enquiries from Saar authorities on the subject of refugees and sends the result to German authorities." 57 A Deutsche Front official was placed temporarily in charge of a mayor's office. When his work came to an end he "rendered account" in official language to Herr Pirro. The Deutsche Front was subordinated to the German government and received from it many subsidies for uniforms for the "S.A.," excursions of blocs of m L.N.O.J., December 1934, pp. 1653 et seq. That the Deutsche Front was still sending Catholic children on political excursions to the Reich was shown by a complaint of March 12, 1934, to Herr Pirro from all the Catholic deans (Dechanten) of the Territory regarding the placing of the children in Protestant families, contrary to an assurance in writing of Vice-Chancellor von Papen. M L.N.O.J., December 1934, p. 1654. As early as June 2 1 , 1934, it had been planned to play Wilhelm Tell immediately before the voting in order to celebrate liberty in the Saar, a number of the performances to be given at low prices at the expense of the Deutsche Front. On being told by Herr de Iongh that it was inadmissible to have Gessler, in the performance of the play, made up to resemble President Knox, the Oberbürgermeister resourcefully proposed that all resemblance should be prevented by having Gessler wear a beard. The absence of President Knox from the Territory at the moment, and his ignorance of the whole affair, did not prevent the Deutsche Front speakers from ridiculing him repeatedly for his fancied insistence on this measure. 67 L.N.O.J., December 1934, p. 1655. This was subsequent to the agreement of the German government of June 2, 1934.

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Saar inhabitants into the Reich, etc. Generally speaking, all the large demonstrations in the Saar were organized in the Reich.58 Evidence was ample that the connection between the Deutsche Front and the Reich broadcasting system was very close. The "untruthful and unsavory stories" constantly given out over the German radio for months past, and the libels and other statements calculated to exert pressure or to intimidate, appeared to owe their origin to the Deutsche Front, though the German Propaganda Ministry was responsible for their broadcasting.59 The protests of the Governing Commission to the German government had been numerous regarding the violent campaign carried on in a press subject by law to state control and by the official German wireless broadcasting services against the Governing Commission, its members, and its officials. N o reply had been received, however, although on August 14 the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a note verbale to the Governing Commission objecting to the failure to suppress various Saar papers of the Left for their insults and calumnies against the deceased President of the Reich on the occasion of his death.60 In its reply the Governing Commission took advantage of the moment to make one more protest regarding the tone of the German wireless stations, but this remained unchanged. The Saarländische Wirtschaftsvereinigung sent in a petition dated August 20, asking the League Council to place immediately at the disposal of the Governing Commission resources sufficient to end the campaign of defamation being carried on by the German wireless in which the status quo supporters were constantly denounced as "scoundrels," "traitors," "unpatriotic elements," "substitute Frenchmen," etc.; and to end the personal libels and insults published daily in the Deutsche Front press of the Saar.61 As three of the documents seized on August 17 in the offices of the "F.A.D." of the Deutsche Front gave ground for fear, in so far as there might be voters among the Saarlanders in question, that in violation of the undertaking by the German government of June 2 an 68 LJV.O./., December 1934, pp. 1656-1657. On June 12, 1934, the Devisenstelle (Currency Office) of Saarbrücken informed Pirro that 100,000 marks a month could be transferred from the Reich {ibid., p. 1658). 58 ZJV.O./., December 1934, pp. 1657-1658. 80 L.N.O.I; October 1934, p. 1221. Ä L.N.O.J., October 1934, p. 1213. The petition also asked for measures to prevent a Putsch or other acts of terrorism by the National Socialists in the Territory; for dismissal of the judges, police officials, and other functionaries who in the course of their duties were showing themselves tools of the Nazis; and for the meeting of the plebiscite courts at an early date.

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attempt was being made to infringe on the freedom of the voting, the Plebiscite Commission brought them to the attention of the Council on September 4·62 For months before the coming of the Plebiscite Commission the groups working for the status quo had complained about difficulty in securing halls and municipal sport grounds for their meetings.63 The Kreis inspectors, on taking up their duties, confirmed these statements and reported that the situation amounted to an effective boycott, accomplished in various ways. Municipal councils would let the town assembly hall, often the only available one in the commune, to a Deutsche Front gymnastic society, or agreements for the letting of meeting-rooms on licensed premises would be canceled "in circumstances suggesting that such action represented a form of pressure used to deprive certain political parties of meeting places." 64 The problem had been raised by the Council Committee of Three in its letter to the Committee of Experts in May 1934, and had been dealt with in the memorandum on the rules for the plebiscite campaign drafted at the time in the Committee of Experts, on which no action had been taken. In line with this memorandum the Plebiscite Commission, when the matter was again raised by the Governing Commission, decided that if a friendly agreement should prove impossible it would be imperative to give the Kreis inspectors the power to requisition halls, at the regular prices, to serve as meeting places for the political parties not able to secure their use in the ordinary manner. On August 2 the Plebiscite Commission sent the Governing Commission a preliminary opinion to this effect,65 and, in cooperation with the Governing Commission, an ordinance was drafted and approved by the Plebiscite Commission on August 21. The ordinance provided that, in cases where political parties should show reason for the belief that the use of premises suitable for the holding of meetings in regard to the plebiscite had been made impossible for them, the Kreis inspectors should be em62 See L.N.O.J., October 1934, pp. 1204 and 1208, and sub-annexes 1 2 - 1 6 , pp. 1 1 9 6 1 1 9 9 . From one of these documents it appeared that a native inhabitant of the Territory was being detained in a concentration camp to keep him from taking part in propaganda in the Territory. Another, dated July 6, 1934, and so subsequent to the undertaking of the Reich, showed that there was unusual pressure to keep young Saarlanders in the " F . A . D . " camps until the plebiscite, by the refusal of labor passes, without which they could not find work with certain employers in the Saar. β3 "Second Monthly Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., September 1934, p. 1 1 6 1 . 64 Ibid., pp. 1 1 6 1 - 1 1 6 2 . 66 See petitions from the Saarländische Wirtschaftsvereinigung, February 19, 1934 (L.JV.O./., April 1934, p. 407) and from the Freiheitsaktion an der Saar, June 1 , 1934 (L.N.O.J., September 1934, p. 1 1 6 5 ) .

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powered, without regard to existing contracts, to order the placing of particular premises suitable for meetings at the disposal of political parties making application. Before issue of the order the applicant was to deposit a suitable sum to be determined by the inspector. Appeal against the amount paid might be lodged with the Supreme Plebiscite Court within two weeks from the day of the requisition of the premises. Persons failing to comply with the orders of the Kreis inspectors would be liable to imprisonment for a period of from two weeks to three months and to a fine of 1,000 francs or more. The draft ordinance was transmitted to the Committee of Three of the Council by the Plebiscite Commission in a letter dated September 15. On September 28 the Council approved it and invited the Governing Commission to promulgate it on a request to that effect from the Plebiscite Commission. The ordinance was promulgated on September 30 and worked admirably.66 When it was found that the Socialists and Communists wished in some places to have their meetings in halls of a confessional character, the Plebiscite Commission instructed the Kreis inspectors to requisition such halls only when in that place no other hall was available.67 To obviate further delays like that suffered by the ordinance regarding halls, the Council on September 28 adopted a resolution eliminating the necessity of referring each ordinance to the Committee of Three of the Council by providing that thereafter the Governing Commission should promulgate forthwith, at the request of the Plebiscite Commission, those ordinances and provisions relating to the plebiscite which had been unanimously adopted by the Plebiscite Commission and had not given rise to any objection on the part of the Governing Commission.68 Appendix, Doc. 17. For English text see L.N.O.J., November 1934, p. 1466. During the delay the Plebiscite Commission attempted to secure its object by other means. When consulted by the Governing Commission regarding six closed meetings planned by the Deutsche Front to be held in the open on September 23 in sport places which were largely owned by the municipalities, the Plebiscite Commission replied that it would have no objections if the city officials or the organizations controlling the places of meeting would declare themselves ready to place them at the disposal of other political parties, should they apply. The city of Saarbrücken thereupon answered that the sport place was not available for the twenty-third; the Landrat of St. Ingbert and the Bürgermeister of Neunkirchen and of Saarlouis reported that the proprietors refused to accept the conditions; and only the Gemeinde of Völklingen agreed to them. The Deutsche Front had already decided to abandon the meetings in the open air and to hold them in halls, which required no permission. (Saarbrüc\er Zeitung, September 22, 1934.) 67 Lettre circulaire, no. 5 1 , October 25, 1934. See also "Third Report of the Plebiscite 68 Commission," L.N.O.J., December 1934. L.N.O.J., November 1934, p. 1467.

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Although it was still the rule that all attending political meetings must show membership cards for entrance, this did not prevent the holding of large meetings by both sides. The Deutsche Front had held many in the Territory. The first large one to be held by the status quo adherents was planned to balance a monster demonstration being organized by the Bund der Saarvereine and the Deutsche Front for August 26 at Coblenz and Ehrenbreitstein, where Reichskanzler Hitler himself was to be the principal speaker, his words to be broadcast to the Saar. To this meeting, the plans for which filled the Deutsche Front press, thousands were to come from the Saar Territory in special trains and motorcars. For the same day the Freiheitsfront had received permission for a closed meeting in the open air at Sulzbach at which the speakers were to be Max Braun, Fritz Pfordt, and Pastor Dörr — a Socialist, a Communist, and a Catholic — who were to speak on the text, "Nie zu Hitler." The Volksstimme of August 24 cried, "Wir marschieren! Sulzbach-Ehrenbreitstein. Freiheit-Knechtschaft!" Hitler, they said, had made the Saar the touchstone of his prestige, and the plebiscite on January 13 could be the deathblow to the "brown regime." The situation in the mines, while not agreeable, was preferable to the sweating system of Prussian times, they argued, and wages were better than in the mines in the Reich. Max Braun, writing in Die Fackel, a special number of the Volksstimme of August 26, said, "Let us hold fast to the small territory which is the last bit of Germany free from Hitler." The Communist A. Z. Arbeiterzeitung of August 25 gave its ringing appeal for all "fighters for freedom" (Freiheitskämpfer) to go to Sulzbach. Both meetings were claimed by their partisans to have been a huge success. The Deutsche Front estimated that half a million people, from all parts of the Reich, had been present at the demonstration at Coblenz and Ehrenbreitstein. One hundred and thirty special trains and a great number of busses and motorcars had come from the Saar, carrying, they claimed, 200,000 people. The status quo adherents said that only 100,000 to 150,000 had come from the Saar, and that the number could not be taken as any proof of party allegiance, as the fare had been reduced by 75 per cent and other inducements offered, and the Saarlanders had been marched by localities, which had made control by the Blockwarte an easy matter. Courage was as necessary to stay away from Ehrenbreitstein, said the status quo leaders, as it was to go to Sulzbach. The figures for attendance at Sulzbach varied still more than those for Ehrenbreitstein, and this even among the status quo papers. The

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Vol\sstimme claimed that the crowd numbered 100,000; the GeneralAnzeiger estimated it at 80,000 to 90,000; and the Neue Saar Post said 60,000. On the other side the Deutsche Front press at first reported 7,000, later increased this to 12,000, and ended with 20,000. The actual number was probably 30,000 or, at the most, 50,000.®9 The majority, asserted the Deutsche Front, were Emigranten and Marxists from Lorraine, with a large number of "Jewish exploiters." The Plebiscite Commission's own officials reported that the meeting was made up almost entirely of workers, who sang the "International" and took the oath with fist outstretched in unison. The meeting was completely orderly except for a tear-gas bomb thrown by a National Socialist, who was promptly arrested. By order of the examining magistrate he was placed in a hospital in Saarbrücken, from which, before trial, he was rescued by his friends and taken across the frontier to the Reich. The meeting at Ehrenbreitstein, because of its conciliatory tone toward Catholics, Lutherans, and the Left, was an important event in the plebiscite campaign. It was opened by a solemn open-air mass, followed by an evangelical service. After the trooping of the standards, Hitler made a speech in which he promised a general reconciliation after the Saar, irrespective of past political attitudes. The Saar problem, he said, was the only territorial issue separating France and Germany. That settled, he hoped that the two peoples could live in harmony and that the pealing of church bells throughout Germany and the Saar on January 14 would herald not only the return of the lost territory to the Reich but the inauguration of a new era of peace. At the close 10,000 white pigeons were released to emphasize the peaceful character of the occasion.70 Propagandists for immediate return to Germany were holding out the promise of three great material benefits to the Saar on its return: a great autostrade connecting Saarbrücken and the Rhine; the piping of Saar gas to Ludwigshafen, with branches to Speyer and Landau; and a canal to the Rhine by way of Kaiserslautern. On the status quo side Max Braun was promising for the free Saar state a modified form of Socialism, with the widest self-government by the Saar people within the constitution to be guaranteed by the League of Nations and the possibility of a new decision over the Saar to be inserted in the final administrative arrangements under paragraph 31 (a) of the " T h e official figure for those carried by train was 11,000, but as Sulzbach was in the center of the industrial area most of those attending the meeting came, no doubt, on foot, or by bicycle or motor truck. '"'The Times (London), August 27, 1934; New Yor\ Times, August 27, 28, 1934.

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Saar Annex. Moreover, the Saar state would, he said, enjoy a suitable participation in the ownership of the state mines, and the great iron and steel works would be under state control. The promise of participation by the Saar state in the ownership of the mines, although confirmed by M. Barthou, the Foreign Minister of France, five days later,71 appeared to play little part in the campaign, and after the death of M. Barthou it was forgotten. The Einheitsfront, although composed of Socialists and Communists, evidently took little interest in economic advantage. The slogan of both sides was freedom: the Einheitsfront for freedom to remain outside the Third Reich and to return to the Fatherland after the Hitler regime should have ended, the Deutsche Front for freedom to return immediately to the Fatherland and so escape from foreign rule. The Vol\sstimme was claiming that 50 to 60 per cent of the votes in the plebiscite would be cast for the status quo. Most foreign observers still felt convinced that the majority of the votes would be cast for immediate return to the Reich. Others, however, considered the outcome far from certain. According to their computation 35 per cent of the inhabitants were for immediate return, 35 per cent were for the status quo, as at least a temporary measure, and 30 per cent were undecided. It was becoming increasingly evident that the amount of selfgovernment to be enjoyed under the League regime, and the question of a second plebiscite, would be of prime importance to a considerable number of voters, not only among the Einheitsfront but among the Catholics. As time passed it was becoming clear that the Saar Catholics fell into three groups: those who were for immediate return to Germany regardless of the regime in power there; those who, in order to protest religious freedom, were against immediate return even if it meant permanent separation; and those who were against return to the Reich so long as it was under National Socialism but were unwilling to vote for the status quo without the certainty of a second plebiscite. This last group, which might well be the decisive factor, hoped that M. Barthou would secure a definite statement from the League Council on the matter of the second plebiscite and the nature of the régime to be set up temporarily under the League.72 The effort of M. Barthou to secure from the League Council a statement on these points was embodied in an aide-mémoire dated August 31, 1934, in which he asked the Council for a definite decision " S e e below, p. 2 2 3 . 12 Priests in all three of these groups were taking an active part in the campaign by speaking and writing.

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on the many different questions which would surely arise out of a transition from the present regime to whatever regime it might be called on to establish.73 If the Council should make preparations at once for the task, which would in any case devolve on it in a few months, it could not fail, he said, to influence favorably the trustworthiness of the plebiscite, since the inhabitants of the Territory would not be left in ignorance or doubt as to the scope and consequence of their votes. The French government accordingly proposed that the Committee of Three of the Council, with the assistance of the technical organs of the League, should consider how the legal guarantees given by the French and German governments to all qualified voters in the plebiscite should be extended to all inhabitants irrespective of their past political attitude, as also other provisions to secure that the change of regime resulting from the plebiscite should take place without violence or injustice. Should the League regime be maintained, the Council, M. Barthou said, had the power to adapt it to the permanent welfare of the Territory and to the general interest. It was, therefore, the duty of the Council at the present session to outline this regime in such a manner that the voters might have a clear idea of the status which would result from their vote. For its part the French government, while reserving the right to state its views more fully during the Council session, would declare immediately that "in its opinion, it would be justifiable, when the status to be adopted is being prepared, to give a large place to the cooperation of the Saar population, the expression of whose views is desired by the Treaty itself. Similarly, it would agree that account should be taken of the desires already expressed by the population that possibilities of modifying this status should be reserved with a view to applying the lessons of experience 'and promoting the permanent welfare of the Territory and the general interest.' " Under whatever sovereignty the Territory should be placed, the aide-mémoire continued, the League must ensure respect for the rights acquired during the fifteen-year period in which it had been responsible for the administration of the Territory — in particular, rights of ownership, the jurisdictional, administrative, and fiscal decisions of a definitive character taken during the League regime; the right of persons of foreign nationality to keep their property freely in their respective currencies; respect for contracts made in foreign currencies, or in gold; and finally, and of first importance in an industrial area, the rights acquired as to social insurance and pensions. T o guarantee these 73

L.N.O.]., October 1934, p. 1185.

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rights the French government recommended the establishment in the Saar of a mixed arbitral tribunal for a period of fifteen years, its jurisdiction in no way to conflict with that of the Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal. The aide-mémoire urged especially that the Council deal with the question of payment for the mines if the territory should be united with Germany. In the event of union with France or of maintenance of the League régime no legal or financial difficulty was to be anticipated. In the latter case "realizing that the operation by the French State of a mining area on which the whole economic life of the Territory depends would hardly be compatible with the free exercise of the latter's new political status," the French government would be prepared to surrender a large part of the deposits on equitable terms to the Territory. Should the Territory be returned to Germany, however, the latter was under obligation to repurchase the mines at a price payable in gold, and France would not abandon this claim and renounce ownership of the mines without a satisfactory settlement. To wait for the fixing of the sum by the three experts under the Saar Annex, and for the decision of the Council on the time and method of payment, might lead to difficulties and delay, and the French title would not expire until the date on which Germany had re-purchased the mines en bloc. T o allow exploitation of the mines by the French state concurrently with German sovereignty over the Territory, or to postpone the reinstallation of German sovereignty until the mines were fully paid for, would be difficult to accept and would involve serious dangers. The Council, on the basis of paragraphs 36 and 38 of the Treaty and of Article 11 of the Covenant, ought to assume responsibility for the settlement of the question of the mines and take the necessary steps so that, before the plebiscite, a Franco-German agreement might be concluded under its auspices regarding the fixing of the purchase price of the mines and the method of payment. Other claims of the French state ought also to be considered, notably those regarding the lines of the Alsace-Lorraine railway system in the Saar and the customs stations. The private claims of individuals of various nationalities, many of whom had made loans to the Saar bodies, trusting to the League of Nations and only after express authorization from the Governing Commission, ought to be considered also, M. Barthou urged.74 Finally, the aide-mémoire raised the question of the French franc. Should the Territory be united with France or remain under the 74 According to an article in L'Illustration of March 9, 1935, French investments in the Saar taken together brought in a revenue of about 100,000,000 francs a year.

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League, no difficulty would arise from the fact that the franc was its legal currency. Should the Saar be united with Germany the position would be different. If the system of the restriction of transfers established in Germany were to continue, it would be inadmissible that the francs circulating in the Saar should be claimed by the Reichsbank without being employed for the settlement of foreign public and private debts, for which Germany would have to assume responsibility by reason of the attribution to her of the Saar Territory. Negotiations ought therefore to be opened under the auspices of the League and the necessary steps taken to insure that if the Saar were placed under German sovereignty French notes circulating there would be employed for the transfer of these debts. If the total amount of francs thus released were not sufficient to cover the whole of the debts, some method would have to be sought by which these debts could be settled. M. Barthou had hoped that the Council would take action on the questions raised in the aide-mémoire during its September session. T h e Council, however, referred the matter to the Committee of Three, extending its mandate to cover not only the aide-mémoire but also questions raised in letters of the Chairman of the Governing Commission of August 3 and 23 regarding the maintenance of order, the matter of Saar loans placed outside the Territory, Saar claims on foreign countries, and all other cognate matters. M. Barthou, disappointed, said that France did not relinquish any of the three solutions contemplated by the Treaty and would prepare for the necessary settlements in view of each of these eventualities. Nevertheless, regarding the status quo something more than settlement was needed. T h e new regime must be defined. Union with France or return to Germany were simple solutions, the advantages and drawbacks of which the Saar electors could gauge for themselves. T h e solution of the status quo, on the other hand, would remain somewhat shadowy in outline for the electors unless defined by the Council. A definition, therefore, was "an imperative duty for the League Council and its Committee. . . . It was essential that, when the plebiscite period opened, the Saar electors should have a clear and definite idea of each of the three solutions between which they would have to choose." T h e French government had hoped that the Council in its present session "would find it possible to fulfil the expectations of the population of the Saar. It had been unable to do so. T h e Council must, however, at least be assured that a new session would be held as soon as possible and in sufficient time to enable it to deal with and settle the

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question."78 On adjournment the Council arranged for a special meeting on the Saar to be held on November 15. Of all the matters brought up in the Barthou aide-mémoire, the local press at once concentrated on that of the second plebiscite. The formula used had been somewhat vague, perhaps deliberately so. It was promptly interpreted by each side to its own advantage. The status quo press announced with joy that the aide-mémoire made certain a second plebiscite, and a democratic form of government in the interim. The Deutsche Front papers and the entire Reich press insisted that the Barthou document did not promise a second plebiscite and that it was legally impossible under paragraph 35 of the Saar Annex which spoke of the "regime definitively adopted." Their position was strengthened by articles in the Temps, the Journal des Débats, and other Paris newspapers. Some of the Deutsche Front papers indeed tried to interpret the aide-mémoire as indicating that France had abandoned the Territory. The insistence of the whole Deutsche Front press that a second plebiscite was impossible showed how dangerous they considered the issue. That they also looked on the prospect of self-government for the Saar state and a large share in the Saar mines as a danger was indicated by the telegram sent by the Deutsche Front leaders to M. Barthou on September 20. A share in the mines, they asserted, would mean fastening a part of the mines' deficit on the Saar, which would also have to shoulder a deficit of 280,000,000 francs a year, representing the payment of the Reich to the war-wounded and other groups which would cease in case of a vote for the status quo, while to change the present regime by increasing the cooperation of the inhabitants in the government of the Saar state would be contrary to the Treaty of Versailles and would require the consent of all the signatories, including Germany. The status quo must mean, after the plebiscite, as before, an autocratic government by foreigners.76 This 70 L.N.O.J., November 1934, pp. 1462-1463. On the same day the President of die Council, M. Benes, took occasion to thank the Governing Commission through its Chairman, and to say that the Council "fully appreciated, as a result of the communications it had received, the arduous nature of Mr. Knox's task. The Council must be grateful to him for the great exertions which he had put forth and for the work he had accomplished with impartiality, firmness and courage. The President renewed to him, in the name of his colleagues, the assurance of the Council's confidence which he had justified in all . . . respects." In this expression of confidence and gratitude, echoed by M. Barthou, Baron Aloisi joined in the name of the Committee of Three {ibid., pp. 1 4 6 3 1464). ™ Saarbriicker Zeitung, October 1, 1934. The telegram rejected the idea of a division of the Saar and called attention to the emphasis by Tardieu at the Peace Conference on the interdependence of all parts of the Basin.

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was followed by a statement from Saarbevollmächtigter Bürckel on October 19 that an independent Saar would be impossible either politically or economically, would permanently prevent any alleviation in Franco-German relations, and would always be a center for the activities of Communists and Emigranten, while a second plebiscite would be contrary to the Treaty of Versailles, and no guarantee of its being held was possible.77 To prevent any definition of the status quo by the League Council was now believed in many quarters to be the prime object of the Hitler government. Rumor ran in Paris and London that, to forestall the conference on the Barthou memorandum, which was to be held in Rome, Hitler had undertaken to conciliate Italy, and that Ambassador von Hassel was offering to Italian Under-Secretary of State Suvich concessions regarding Austria in exchange for Italian concessions regarding the Saar. It was said also that the German minister in Belgrade was trying to win over King Alexander before he set out on his expected visit to Paris. When on October 9 King Alexander and Prime Minister Barthou were murdered at Marseilles, the Left press in the Saar was inclined to fasten suspicion on Germany, as the murders were to her advantage. This the Deutsche Front leaders characterized as treasonous slander showing that the Saar state would be a center of murder and war in Europe.78 The status quo journals carrying the canard were at once suppressed by the Governing Commission. The chief concern of the Plebiscite Commission during August and September had been the drawing-up of the registration lists. As all the applications for registration, according to the Regulations, had to be in the hands of the communal committees before the first of September, and it was desirable that the latter should be free to concentrate on them at once, the Plebiscite Commission had instructed the committees to complete by August 31 the first verification of the lists of those registered without application.79 On September 1 the Plebiscite Commission announced that adding 77

Saarbrüc\er Zeitung, October 19, 1934. Saarbriicker Zeitung, October 15, 1934. ™The Plebiscite Commission had decided on August 14 that persons living too far away to apply by letter might be registered provisionally on application by telegram before September 23, this to be followed by a letter with the necessary information. On September 5 the Commission decided to treat the applications arriving from abroad before September 26 as "claims" and ordered them forwarded as such to the Kreis bureaus (Lettre circulaire, no. 28). On September 1 2 the Plebiscite Commission ordered that those applications not signed by the applicant but carrying only an address in the Territory were to be held void (Lettre circulaire, no. 3 3 ) . 78

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the number of applications received to the names already registered ex officio gave about 520,000. As the total population of the Saar was only 828,000, this was a surprising figure. The status quo groups, already claiming that the Deutsche Front had been able to incorporate their "carefully cooked" index cards in the plebiscite lists, at once charged that the figure was anywhere from 32,000 to 100,000 too large.80 The Einheitsfront and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Wahrung Saarländischer Interessen on September 12 formally protested to the Plebiscite Commission that the highest possible number was 488,000, and that this would mean that all the persons in the world qualified to vote in the plebiscite had complied with the formalities, which was manifestly absurd. The Plebiscite Commission, after examining the criticisms and protests with the greatest care and making its own computations, was convinced that the total number of persons on the lists was not excessive and that it was therefore by no means proved that a large number of names had been wrongfully entered. Moreover, the Commission had ascertained on various occasions that, "while the majority of the local authorities openly expressed their sympathy with the 'Deutsche Front,' their technical work had nevertheless been correctly and conscientiously performed." 81 It felt, however, that the time had come to issue a warning. On September 12 the Plebiscite Commission published a statement through the Governing Commission saying that it recognized with gratitude that the local officials, in so far as they had cooperated in the work for the preliminary lists, had done so from a technical viewpoint. The Commission regretted on the other hand that "it had repeatedly ascertained that connection existed between local officials and a political organization in violation of the proper restraint which was necessary in Saar officials regarding the plebiscite." It reminded them that its proclamation of July 1 had emphasized the fact that there were three alternatives. There were, therefore, three parties with completely equal rights in the plebiscite, and no one of these was to be regarded as either favored or inferior. The Plebiscite Commission had also remarked that in several cases the officials had disregarded its proclamation enjoining them to refrain from any influence, direct or indirect, on the vote. It therefore called on all officials to stop at once all cooperation with political organizations and in the future 80 The weekly Westland, the ablest of the status quo journals, conducted by the former editor of the Düsseldorfer Lokal Anzeiger, had published computations in May showing that those qualified at the end of 1934 should be 413,327. 81 "Third Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., December 1934, p. 1663.

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to take the greatest care to avoid anything that could be called official influence on the population, and reminded them of the ordinance of the Governing Commission of November 1933 providing punishments for failure to preserve a neutral attitude while exercising their functions.82 This did not prevent the Oberbürgermeister of Saarbrücken, with the Bürgermeister of Neunkirchen and the sixty municipal councilors who formed sections of the Deutsche Front (Stadtverordnetenjra\tionen der Deutschen Front) from journeying to Berlin on October 10 to present the honorary citizenship of their two cities to President Hindenburg and Chancellor Hitler.83 As further evidence of the attitude of the Oberbürgermeister, on October 28 the carillon newly installed in the Rathaus tower began its daily program of patriotic German airs, beginning with Deutsch ist die Saar and ending with Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles,84 a defiance of the spirit, at least, of its orders which the Plebiscite Commission let pass in silence. In spite of the assurance of the Plebiscite Commission regarding the lists, mistrust of the communal committees continued not only on the part of the status quo adherents but of liberal organizations throughout the world. It became obvious that during the period for claims the status quo groups would send in a large number both for entry in the lists and for striking off. On September 8, 1934, the ordinance was promulgated setting up the Supreme Plebiscite Court and the eight Kreis courts, and defining their competence and procedure.85 During the month the organization of staff, offices, and equipment was completed, and by October 1 the courts were ready to undertake regular work in accordance with the Council resolution of June 4. The judges had been selected by the Committee of Three of the Council and appointed by the President of the Council on consultation with his colleagues, while the distribution of the Kreis judges had been made in consultation with the Plebiscite Commission. His Excellency, Judge Bindo Galli, first president of the Court of Appeals of Genoa, who had been the chairman of the Committee of Experts to draft the Regulations for registration and voting, had long since been appointed by the Council as the president 82

Appendix, Doc. 14. Saarbrüc\er Zeitung, October 10, 1934. The Deutsche Front journals, in an effort at subtlety, described the first piece as the Bergmannslied, the ancient air to which Deutsch ist die Saar had been set, and Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles as Gott erhalte unsern Kaiser, the Austrian national anthem by Haydn, the music o£ which had been taken for the Reich anthem. The other airs played were the Grossglocknerlied of Carinthia and Schleswig-Holstein Meerumschlungen, which recalled German victories in plebiscites on the Austrian and Prussian frontiers. 85 Appendix, Doc. 12. 83

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of the Supreme Plebiscite Court. T h e vice-president was M r . Justice Creed Meredith, a distinguished member of the Supreme Court of the Irish F r e e State. T h e other judges were H e r m a n Reimers, counsel to the Supreme Court of N o r w a y and former director at the Ministry of Foreign A f f a i r s ; Louis Goudet, president of the Court of Justice of Geneva, Switzerland; W i l l i a m Jean Moretti, president of the Geneva Court of First Instance, 1 9 1 4 - 1 6 , and later member of the federal diplomatic service; L . Cabrai de Moneada, professor of l a w at the University of Coimbra, Portugal; Johan von N o r d e n f a l k , judge of the Supreme Court of A p p e a l of Stockholm, S w e d e n ; Antonio Quintaño-Rippolles, deputy public prosecutor-general to the Audiencia Territorial of Oviedo (Asturias), Spain, and four substitutes: C h . L e o n H a m m e s , deputy to the L u x e m b o u r g state prosecutor; D r . Mario Toribolo, deputy to the procurator-royal at the T r i b u n a l of T r e v i s o ; Ernst Brand, L L . D . , advocate at Berne; and Pierre Majerus, L L . D . , advocate at L u x e m b o u r g . D r . Jean-Pierre Wester, councilor at the Supreme Court of Justice of L u x e m b o u r g was examining magistrate (Untersuchungsrichter), and the prosecutor (Generalstaatsadvo\at) was D r . Guiseppe Martina, councilor of state of Italy and former vice-director of the U p p e r Silesian Department of Justice during the plebiscite. T h e registrar to the Supreme Court (Gerichtssefy-etär) was Pietro Barucci, registrar-in-chief of the Court of Appeals of Florence, and the registrar attached to the Prosecutions Department was Umberto Culotti, counsel to the Court of A p p e a l of F i u m e , Italy. T h e eight Kreis judges appointed were: Saarbrückenstadt: Dr. Milorad Straznicky sometime professor at the University of Zagreb and formerly Jugoslav Minister to the Netherlands St. Ingbert: Charles Duzmans,86 head of the legal department of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and formerly Minister in Prague Saarlouis: H. Reijers, district judge at The Hague Homburg: Jhr. Mr. C. J. van der Wyck, deputy judge to the Divisional Court of The Hague St. Wendel: Carl Kruse-Jensen, judge at the Oslo Court of First Instance Ottweiler: Hans von Bennich, member of the Stockholm Court of Appeal Saarbrückenland: H. Josef Berg, Juge de Paix at Luxembourg Merzig: Chr. Junior, judge at the Municipal Court of the City of Copenhagen. W h i l e the President and members of the Supreme Plebiscite Court and the Kreis judges had already arrived in Saarbrücken, they did not 86 M. Straznicky and M. Duzmans had the same grade as counselers to the Court, at which they were deputy judges.

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begin to sit in their judicial capacity until October, the intervening time being taken up not only in preliminary arrangements but also in negotiations with the Plebiscite Commission concerning the executive ordinance which must be issued regarding the procedure to be followed for claims and appeals concerning registration as provided in Articles 16, 24, and 25 of the Regulations for the Plebiscite. During the negotiations between Judge Galli and the Plebiscite Commission a divergence of view was apparent.87 The Regulations as drawn up and approved at Geneva, and promulgated in the Saar, had provided that the claimant must send a signed statement to the Kreis bureau, giving his reasons for the claim and inclosing such documents as he might possess. The Kreis bureau would then notify the person concerned and ask for a reply. This procedure was calculated to have the very valuable result of preserving the anonymity of the claimant as far as it concerned the person against whom he might be bringing a demand for striking off. The Supreme Plebiscite Court, however, which was to give the final decision on all appeals from the decisions of the Kreis bureaus, was appalled at the probable number of claims, which, it feared, would make it impossible to prepare the final lists within the period prescribed. Moreover, as the decisions of the Kreis bureaus would lay the bases for procedure before the Court, it wished the bureaus to deal with all claims by the same procès contradictoire which the Court itself would use later regarding appeals from the Kreis bureaus' decisions. The changes which this would require in Articles 23, 24, and 25 of the Regulations were permissible under Article 76, which empowered the Plebiscite Commission to regulate the application of the Regulations by later measures. The Court felt that the loss of anonymity would not mean a danger of reprisals and held that, as Article 23 of the Plebiscite Regulations provided that claims could be made even by non-voters if resident in the Territory, anyone who feared to disclose his identity might get one of the leaders on his side to sign the claim for him. The Plebiscite Commission was reluctant to surrender the anonymity of the claimant, but on the insistence of the Court it finally agreed that Article 3 of the Executive Ordinance88 should be framed to provide that, if the claim was one for the correction, striking off, or entry of the name of a person other than the claimant, the latter must send a signed copy of his claim by registered mail to the person concerned and must attach the postal re87 88

"Third Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.]., December 1934, p. 1662. Appendix, Doc. 15.

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231

ceipt to the original copy of the claim sent to the Kreis bureau. From the posting of the letter the person concerned would then have four days in which to present to the Kreis bureau his observations in writing, the relevant documents, and the copy of the claim sent to him. It was clear that the new procedure ran the risk of possible fraud, for there was no way of making certain that the claimant had not sent to the person concerned some paper other than a copy of the claim, or even an empty envelope. No such charges were made, however. Strong objections were raised by the Einheitsfront and other groups against the cost of the registered letter, which meant a considerable charge to those receiving low wages and a serious expense to the political associations if claims were made in large numbers. They also objected to the limit of four days for a reply to the Kreis bureau, a period which they felt to be too short for persons living outside the Territory.89 The Executive Ordinance provided that each claim declared by the Kreis bureau to be receivable must be submitted to the Kreis judge for his opinion on its validity. With this in hand, the Kreis inspector must then give the final decision, subject to appeal to the Plebiscite Court within fifteen days, through the Kreis bureau. If the appeal was for the purpose of correction, striking off, or registration concerning another person, then the appellant must send a signed copy of his claim to the person concerned as well as to the Court. On the day before the provisional lists were posted, forms on which claims were to be entered had been supplied by the Plebiscite Commission to be distributed by the Kreis bureaus not only to the mayors of all the communes but to all the prisons as well.90 These were in three colors, green for correction {Berechtigung), pink for striking out (Streichung), and white for a new entry (Eintragung).91 On the reverse side of each form was a space for the opinion of the Kreis judge. 88 The Plebiscite Commission ruled that the Regulations and the Executive Ordinance should be interpreted to mean that someone at the address in the Territory to which notices were to be sent for the voter living abroad had power to make a claim for him to the Kreis bureau or court against omission from the list. If the address was that of an information bureau the protest must bear the signature of an individual (Lettre circulaire, no. 46, October 20; see also Third Report of the Plebiscite Commission, L.N.O.J., December 1934). 80 With the forms were sent notices to be given the prisoners regarding the date of the plebiscite, with the information that imprisonment for a political act without loss of civil rights did not disqualify, and that, if not already registered, they could make application in the form of a claim until October 26 (Lettre circulaire, no. 47; see also Third Report of the Plebiscite Commission, L.N.O.J., December 1934). 91 Appendix, annexes to Doc. 16.

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Forms of the same colors were supplied to the Kreis bureaus for sending the decisions to the persons concerned. The Kreis inspectors were directed by the Plebiscite Commission to correct obvious errors, such as mistakes in spelling or in dates, without going through the complete process laid down in the ordinance if the corrections concerned the persons making the request and were supported by evidence and by official documents. The greatest caution was enjoined, however, in a case where the proposed alteration might affect the identity of the person in question.92 As the Plebiscite Regulations had required, the provisional lists were ready for publication by September 26, and at 8 A.M. of that day the names, with the civil status (état civil), the commune in which the voter had resided on June 28, 1919, an address in the Territory, occupation, and number in the register or card catalogue, were posted for inspection by the population, according to the arrangements supervised by Verbindungsinspektor van der Mandere. The Regulations had required that the lists be posted on the communal bulletin board. The customary bulletin boards, as the Oberbürgermeister had pointed out, were far too small for the purpose, but temporary boards had been prepared which were officially designated as communal bulletin boards, a notice to that effect being placed on the regular bulletin boards. For the most part the lists were posted out-of-doors. Various devices, such as a small roof at the top, or a covering of cellophane, were used to prevent destruction of the typewritten details by weather. In Saarbrücken, where the lists necessitated printing, copies were posted in six places — opposite the Rathaus, in the Ludwigsplatz, and in Malstatt, Burbach, St. Arnual, and Jägersfreude — the posting in each case covering a space of 100 square meters.93 Since these lists were printed, when one sheet became worn by the tracing of the finger with which so many reinforce the eye, it could easily be replaced by another. In some Kreise, where the lists were merely typed, the paper was covered with cellophane, not only in order to preserve it from rain but from 92

"Third Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J.,

December 1934, pp. 1662-

1664. 93

T w o printed forms were supplied by the Plebiscite Commission for the posting of the preliminary lists. Form A, which was for the Abstimmungsbezirke containing several communes, left the space'for the commune blank; form B, for those divisions consisting each of one commune only, had the name of the commune printed at the top. This was because the list had to give the commune of the voting division where the voter had residence on June 28, 1919. The Plebiscite Commission ordered that the surface for posting the lists must be 100 cm. high, in order to take two sheets of the lists, pasted together. Each sheet was to be signed by the president of the communal committee (by means of a stamp, if he so desired).

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the questing finger. In one Kreis where the lists were short, they were posted under glass covered with wire netting. In other places, where such costly precautions had not been taken, the boards were moved indoors every night at six o'clock and outdoors again at 8 A.M. Wherever they were left outside, throughout the night large numbers of people could be seen examining them by the light of a match or an electric torch. In a few places, where the communal committee had received permission from the Kreis bureau and the Commission, the lists were posted in rooms carefully chosen for ease of access. This was the case in Neunkirchen, where the complete list was posted in the large hall used for symphony concerts, in Sulzbach, Dudweiler, Brebach, and some smaller places, where the lists were displayed in schoolrooms directly accessible to the street, and in a few others, where they were posted along the corridor of the Bürgermeisteramt or outside in a covered passage with sufficient light. When the lists were under cover it was ordered that signs must be posted outside and, if necessary, inside also, telling in which room the lists might be consulted, and that during the period for examination the doors of the building and of the room must stand open; that the lighting must be adequate; that no one except those consulting the lists and those officially on guard over them might stay in the rooms or in the immediate vicinity; and that the Kreis inspectors must see that the necessary freedom of consultation was protected. The lists were guarded by police in order to prevent any attempt at damage, but none was made. The Plebiscite Commission had recommended that in every Bürgermeisterei at least six copies of the lists should be made, instead of the three required by Article 20 of the Regulations. One of these six copies was for posting, two for the Kreis bureau, one for reserve, and two for the use of the two political party groups. If there were more than two political groups in one Bürgermeisterei, they must, either directly or through the Kreis bureau, come to an understanding as to sharing the two copies.94 With the lists was to be posted a notice stating that during the period of thirty days anyone living in the Territory could bring claims for the correction, entry, or striking-off of any name, while anyone living outside could demand his or her own entry. This provision, in fact, extended the time for application from voters outside the Territory. M Lettre circulaire, no. 36. In its Third Report the Plebiscite Commission stated with regard to these three supplementary copies that it did not see its way to do more than recommend their compilation, as the expense would have to be met by the public authorities of the Territory. See Regulations, Article 13, paragraph 1.

T H E

234

S A A R

PLEBISCITE

The number of registrations on the provisional lists came to 532,740. These were divided among the eight Kreise as follows : 9 5 TOTAL ON DISTRICT

{Kreis)

SEPT. 2 6 ,

Saarbrücken (town) . Saarbrücken rural district Saarlouis Merzig St. Wendel Ottweiler Homburg . . St. Ingbert • • INTAL

1934

NUMBER RESIDENT ABROAD

78,612 141,280 94,820 25,400 22,112 100,716 31,386

13,000 13,890

38,4I4

3>°97

532>74°

55.794

9.113

2,267 1,492 9,225 3>7 10

With the posting of the preliminary lists the attacks on them by the adherents of the status quo redoubled. The Einheitsfront and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft charged that through the machinations of the local authorities and the auxiliary staffs the lists included the names of some 38,000 persons not entitled to vote, especially Saargänger, those resident in the Saar only because of military service, minors not actually resident on the required date, and 5,000 dead; 96 that about 20,000 had been entered two or three times over, either in the same voting division or in two or three divisions; and that about 25,000 names, among them those of many Jews, had intentionally been omitted by the local authorities during the preparatory work, and the omissions overlooked by the communal committees whose members, other than the neutral chairmen — in whom they expressed perfect confidence — were so largely affiliated with the Deutsche Front. Moreover, in the registrations of those not members of the Deutsche Front, there were, they charged, many intentional inaccuracies in spelling and in the date and place of birth which represented a deliberate intent to prevent them from voting. The number of omissions and improper registrations alone would, they said, necessitate more than 90,000 claims, which Would mean that the period for claims must be lengthened by at least one month. They demanded also that the status quo adherents be given representation on the communal committees equal to that enjoyed 96

"Third Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., December 1934, p. 1660. For the three petitions from the Einheitsfront and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Wahrung Saarländischer Interessen, dated October 2, 4, and 1 5 , and the observations of the Plebiscite Commission, see L.N.O.J., December 1934, pp. 1626 et seq. See also "Petition from the Saar Socialist Party," dated October 29, 1934, ibid., pp. 1641—1642. 86

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by the Deutsche Front. From the Deutsche Front, as well, came charges of omissions and mistakes, though in a far less degree. In view of the partisan composition of the communal committees, the assumption that all errors, even small mistakes in spelling or dates, were intentional was a natural one. It failed, however, to take account of the fact that the method of registration provided in the Regulations made unintentional double registration in the preliminary lists not only possible but probable, the period for claims being provided precisely in order to clear up errors. The method called for registrations ex officio of those resident in the area, and for applications from those not resident. But applications were also acceptable, and had been invited, from those residents who, since June 28, 1919, had moved from one commune to another. Accordingly, there might be and were cases of many who had already been registered ex officio but who, ignorant of the fact, had also sent in applications, perhaps to another communal committee under the impression that they should be on that list. Bona fide double entries were possible also, even ex officio, in the many hundreds of cases of men and women living in one commune and working in another, for in both places they must announce themselves to the police and were thus on both police lists. There were, moreover, the many women who had been married, perhaps several times, since June 28, 1919, and who might, without intent, be registered under both maiden and married name.97 Finally were the many different possible spellings of the same surname.98 Many persons in these categories themselves notified the communal committees that they were on the lists twice, and asked to be struck off in one place or another. A great opportunity for bona fide error was afforded, inevitably, in determining the residence of minors living away from their parents and earning their own livelihood. These might not have notified the police of their departure from the family dwelling before the day on which the Treaty required residence, and in that time of food rationing the family would not have been eager to do so, for it would then 07 One source of error was the fact that the Meldekarten (cards kept by the police of those coming to the commune), which were the chief bases of the lists, were arranged by families. The wife was entered on her husband's card, the date of her arrival in a new home not being always accurately kept. Deaths, especially during the war and post-war years, were not always entered, and if other members of the family were still alive the names of those who had died would still be on the card. 88 Of these, for instance, there were Mayer-Meyer, Bäcker-Becker-Beker, Wolf-Wolff, Pfeifer-Pfeiffer. The name of Gerstener, so the Deutsche Front warned its members, might be found under seven other spellings — Gerstner, Gärstncr, Gärstener, Kärstener, Kärstner, Kerstner, or Kerstener.

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T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

have lost the child's food card. Thus a minor might be registered in his home and also in the place where he had his separate residence. The charges regarding registration of unqualified persons, however, concerned chiefly soldiers and Saargänger and the members of their families whose residence was fixed by theirs. Such persons had indeed been entered on some lists and not on others. This was not, however, due to error but to the fact that the interpretation of the provisions in the Regulations regarding residence had been left to the individual judgment of each communal committee and that different communal committees found reason to arrive at different opinions as to whether Militärdienst in Articles 5 and 6 covered only the required service or included also those who had remained in the army from choice. As Saarbrücken and Saarlouis had both been garrison towns and the matter involved the residence of the wife and children as well, the meaning of the word was of considerable moment. Still more important was the question of the habitual residence of the Saargänger who entered the Territory every Monday morning from the neighboring Hunsriick and Hardt to spend the work-week in workmen's barracks. In 1919 there had been about 18,000 of these men, many of them sons and grandsons of others who had throughout their lives followed the same routine," while in the Warndt there was a similar group of men — amounting in 1919 to about 4,500 — accustomed to journey every Monday morning to work in the mines of Lorraine and to sleep near-by through the week. As final decision of appeals belonged to the Supreme Plebiscite Court, the Plebiscite Commission had felt that it must itself lay down no general rules of interpretation but must leave it to the communal committees to decide each individual case. It was, of course, necessary for each communal committee to adopt a general principle for its own guidance, and this, owing perhaps to the various nationalities of the chairmen of the committees and the legal concepts they represented, differed widely from one committee to another, the greater part holding that the Saargänger in principle had their residence outside the Territory, especially if married, but others holding that it was precisely the married who must be considered to have the intention to retain their work, and consequently their residence, in the Territory. Others held that in some cases these Saargänger had two habitual residences, with the intent to remain in both, and argued that the Plebiscite Regulations had not made dual residence impossible so long as only one was in the Saar. Still others interpreted the Treaty to mean " S e e above, pp. 1 3 - 1 4 .

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237

that everyone who had a close tie with the Territory must have the right to vote. The Einheitsfront and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Wahrung Saarländischer Interessen on September 27, in bringing up the matter of the Saargänger and the military, had asked that the Supreme Plebiscite Court should give decisions of principle on certain test cases, to serve as bases for corrections to be made by the plebiscite authorities on their own initiative. The Plebiscite Commission rejected this proposal on the ground that, as the whole system of claims and appeals erected in the Regulations was based on personal applications, the proposed procedure would have completely transformed its character. Moreover, it held, the choice of "test cases" would lead to other difficulties, for individual cases offered too many and too great variations for a classification to be possible, and each category would again have contained numerous varieties, so that it would have been very difficult, if not impossible, to apply the decisions of principle to all the individual cases. Finally, the President of the Supreme Plebiscite Court held that the latter would be unable to take any decisions except on the basis of individual appeals submitted to it. 100 Repeated demands for a drastic revision of the lists and a lengthening of the period for claims were made in the Neue Saar Post and in the other status quo papers, and were echoed by various international groups, including the Marley Committee for the Victims of German Fascism 1 0 1 and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. The Paris press was also insistent on revision and the French government intimated at Geneva that it would like to see the lists revised and the period of claims prolonged. The Plebiscite Commission felt, however, that the mistrust of the lists was greatly exaggerated. Examination of the names which were said to have been im100

"Third Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.OJ., December 1934, p. 1664. On October 9 and 18 the Marley Committee sent to the League memoranda charging that there were 75,000 too many names on the lists, and published a statement that it had informed the Plebiscite Commission that it shared the widespread conviction that the coming plebiscite would be neither secret nor free. The Plebiscite Commission in turn issued a statement that the Marley Committee had neglected to publish its reply, which was that the Commission "in every case can guarantee absolutely that the plebiscite will be secret and that thereby its freedom also will best be served. The Plebiscite Commission has also informed the Committee of the manner in which the secrecy of the vote will be completely safeguarded" (Saarbrüchjsr Zeitung, October 6, 1934). The Marley Committee demanded an examination of the lists by neutral commissions; representation of each of the three alternatives on each communal committee; prolongation of the period of claims by one month at least; suppression of the requirement that the claimant notify the interested party, and provision for official notification; and official statements regarding the interpretations of the status quo and a second plebiscite. 101

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properly omitted showed that many of these persons were, in fact, already registered, and that others were not qualified. T h e Commission felt that it had reason to doubt seriously any such large number of errors as were charged, as well as the allegations of fraud on the part of its communal committees, for the Kreis inspectors reported that they had confidence that the work had been done in good faith. T h e Commission, in fact, was prone to believe that the large number of claims which threatened really represented a hope that the periods provided in the Regulations would be shown to be impossible and that the date of the plebiscite would have to be postponed, as the status quo leaders had asked in January at Geneva. This, the Plebiscite Commission, in the interests of European harmony, was determined to make every effort to avoid. It was confident, moreover, that, if a larger number of neutral assistants were brought in, the lists could be properly corrected during the periods for claims and appeals already provided, and accordingly it increased its staff of neutrals in the Kreis bureaus, arranged for neutral assistance to the Kreis judges, and instructed the Kreis inspectors to correct ex officio all obvious mistakes pointed out by the person concerned and supported by his pass or identity card. 102 T h e Commission also instructed the Kreis bureaus to investigate the protests from the Einheitsfront and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft to the effect that certain local authorities had refused documents to those wishing to make claims, and reminded the public authorities, through the Governing Commission, that under Article 75 of the Regulations they were required to supply free of charge all documents and papers for which 102 On October ι the Plebiscite Commission made the following announcement through the press: "Die Abstimmungskommission teilt mit: "Die Abstimmungskommission hat die Frage geprüft, ob bei kleinen Berichtigungen der vorlaufigen Listen in jedem Falle das in der Abstimmungsordnung vorgesehene Einspruchsverfahren eingehalten werden muss. "Sie hat beschlossen, die Herren Kreisinspektoren zu ermächtigen, bei Berichtigungen offenbarer Irrtümer von der Einhaltung des Einspruchsverfahrens abzusehen, vorausgesetzt, dass die Berichtigungen von den Beteiligten selber vorgeschlagen werden, dass diese sich durch einen Pass oder eine Identitätskarte ausweisen, und dass die gewünschten Berichtigungen sich auf die Angaben des persönlichen Ausweises oder auf andere vorgelegte Urkunden stützen. "Falls sich in den Identitätskarten oder Pässen Vornamen wie Fritz, Max, Hans, Gretchen, Lenchen usw. vorfinden, die Stimmlisten aber Friedrich, Maximilian, Johannes, Margarete, Helene usw. angeben, oder umgekehrt, so empfiehlt es sich auf dem Wege der Berichtigung auch hierin eine genaue Uebereinstimmung zwischen Stimmrechtslisten und Ausweisen zu sichern; auf diese Weise wird die Feststellung der Person des Wahlberechtigten beschleunigt und die Wahlhandlung selber erleichtert. "Unbedeutende Rechtschreibeabweichungen in Vornamen (wie Josef und Joseph, Jakob and Jacob, Berta and Bertha) brauchen nicht berichtigt zu werden, wohl aber bedarf jeder Fehler in den Familiennamen einer Berichtigung."

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they were asked by the authorities concerned, for the purposes of application of the Plebiscite Regulations.103 The investigation revealed that a great part of the difficulty met with by the two status quo organizations was due to their mistake in applying to the regular local officials and not to the plebiscite officials —the Kreis bureaus — for redress. On October 26 the Plebiscite Commission announced that with the end of the thirty-days' posting of the provisional lists, the first part of the preparatory work for the plebiscite was over. A final decision regarding the accuracy of the provisional lists or of the criticisms regarding them was not yet possible, but regarding the assertions that an excessive number of registrations proved that the lists were inaccurate the Commission could at once make a statement. By its own computations, the steps of which were given in detail, the Commission had found that the possible number of qualified voters was 550,000 and that therefore the number of 532,000 on the preliminary lists was far from exaggerated. It once more asked the inhabitants to bring any errors in the lists to the Kreis bureaus, which would go over them again to detect any mistakes; these could be eliminated ex officio even after the ninth of November. The number of claims remained very moderate until the last week of the period. They then began to increase materially and on the last day arrived in large numbers. The Commission ordered that the Kreis bureaus should remain open until midnight on October 24 so that claims could be received up to the last minute. The total number of claims submitted was 107,145.104 These were divided as follows: 32,854 46,033 28,258

C l a i m s f o r e n t r y o n lists Claims for

removal....

C l a i m s f o r correction .

107,145

Total

Of these, 44,355 claims had been brought against the lists in Saarbrücken Stadt.105 108 101 105

"Third Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.f., December 1934, p. 1663. "Fourth Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., December 1934, p. 1 6 7 1 . The claims regarding the Saarbrücken list were as follows: For entry . . 14.451 For removal 15,121 For correction 14,783 Total

44=355

24o

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

The effort of the Supreme Plebiscite Court to reduce the number of claims had merely resulted in their being made en masse by the political organizations instead of separately by individual inhabitants. The Kreis bureaus reported that a preliminary examination of the large volume of claims which arrived at the last moment showed that a considerable number appeared to be without foundation. In a communiqué of October 29 the Plebiscite Commission stated that a very large number were unsupported by reasons (unbegründete), and that the right of submitting claims had been exercised in a manner that could hardly be regarded as cooperation by the population within the meaning of its proclamation of July 1, 1934. 106 The Commission had even considered whether a serious examination of all of the unsupported claims was worth while. Wishing, however, to make the lists as correct as was humanly possible, it had decided to examine all the claims, and, without allowing itself to be deterred by their large number, had made the necessary arrangements for completing this within the time limits laid down in the Regulations. It accordingly proceeded to order all the assistant inspectors to cooperate with the Kreis inspectors in examining and settling claims, and at the same time increased the office staff wherever it was necessary. The charge by the Einheitsfront and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Wahrung Saarländischer Interessen that there were 20,000 double registrations was indeed a serious one, for anyone receiving two or more voting certificates might easily cast two or more votes. The requirement in Article 44 of the Regulations that for entrance into the voting booth the voter residing in the Territory must also present an identity card with photograph constituted only a mild check, for the Plebiscite Commission, anxious to spare the voters as much trouble and expense as possible, had ruled that all the identity cards issued·—the red Saar personal identity card given to all inhabitants not citizens of France or other Allied countries, the white Saar identity card given to the citizens of these countries, the yellow Saar identity card issued by the 108 "Die Abstimmungskommission gibt bekannt, dass ungefähr 100,000 Einsprüche bei ihr eingelaufen sind. Sie hat festgestellt, dass eine sehr grosse Zahl davon nicht begründet ist. Von dem Einspruchsrecht ist vielfach ein solcher Gebrauch gemacht worden, dass die Abstimmungskommission denselben nicht als eine Mitarbeit von Seiten der Bevölkerung im Sinne ihres A u f r u f s auffassen kann. Die Kommission hat darüber beraten, ob diese Einsprüche ihrer Unbegründetheit wegen ohne nähere Untersuchung abgelehnt werden sollen. Im Interesse der Aufstellung möglichst einwandfreier Listen hat sie jedoch beschlossen, auch diese unbegründeten Einsprüche einer materiellen Prüfung zu unterziehen. Sie hat Massnahmen getroffen, um diese Arbeit z u m vorgesehenen Zeitabschnitt erledigen zu können. Wie schon in einer früheren Bekanntmachung der Kommission erklärt wird, wird diese auch noch nach dem 9. November fortfahren die Listen von Amts wegen zu überprüfen."

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French military authorities before the withdrawal of the troops, and the regular passport issued by the Governing Commission — might be used.107 While fairly confident that there was no probability of plural voting, the Plebiscite Commission determined to take every possible means to eliminate all double registrations and informed the League Council on November 3 that for this purpose it planned to set up a central card index of all those registered on all the preliminary lists of the Territory.108 The idea of a central card index had been worked out by members of the Commission with the Kreis inspectors late in October as the swiftest and best means by which to discover double registrations. In order to manage it in the very short period before January 6, by which date the electoral certificates (Ausweise) must have been sent by the communal committees to all those registered on the voting lists to enable them to enter the polls, it was arranged to secure the cards for the index by having carbon copies of the certificates made as they were filled out. These carbons — each, like the certificate, containing the Bürgermeisterei, the number in the list, the name and surname, address in the Territory, and place and date of birth — were sent in to the special card index office called the Kartothe\büro, which was established on November 20 in the Stadtsparkasse in Saarbrücken under Verbindungsinspektor Blehr and three assistant Kreis inspectors. By working from 6 A.M. to 1:3ο A.M. in four shifts of eight hours each, with a personnel of about thirty local inhabitants, and by introducing ingenious ways of classifying the cards,109 on December 20 the Kartothe\vn Lettre circulaire, no. 23, August 27, 1934. On the request of the Plebiscite Commission the Governing Commission issued an ordinance to this effect (no. 538, Verordnungen, 1934). The voter residing outside the Territory had been required by the original text of the Regulations to present his passport duly visaed by the proper authorities in the Territory. The visa was later eliminated as being no real check and entailing an enormous labor on the part of the public authorities, and, in consequence of the point made by French sources that some voters residing outside the Saar might have difficulty in securing national passports, the Governing Commission, on the request of the Plebiscite Commission, in two ordinances of January 7, 1935, provided that for these voters the identity card issued by the Saar authorities should also be recognized for entrance into the Territory and the voting booth (Verordnungen, no. 3, January 8, 1935). By an amendment to the Regulations promulgated on December 15, any person receiving a duplicate certificate must return it (see Appendix). 108 L.N.O.J., December 1934, pp. 1 6 3 1 et seq. 109 It was found more expeditious to keep the women's cards separate and to place on the top of the card of each married, widowed, or divorced woman a small red tag giving her maiden name. Lists of deaths were sent in to the office regularly from all the police stations, and corresponding cards were eliminated and notices sent to the Kreis bureau; as many persons died in communes other than those where they were registered, this proved very helpful.

242

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

büro had finished setting up the index and had begun on a second examination of the entries. The announcement of the central card index greatly calmed the fears of the status quo side, and in a few days their criticisms ceased. Another measure which helped to end apprehension regarding the preliminary lists was the promulgation on November 8 of an ordinance to enable the Kreis bureaus to remove, ex officio, the names of deceased persons; those who would not have reached the age of twenty on January 13, 1935; double entries; those whose right to vote depended on the residence of a father, guardian, or husband whose own claim to the required residence had been disallowed; persons under the required age, under guardianship, or in a mental asylum; those who had lost civic rights in consequence of a non-political offense; and any other entries clearly due to an error of fact. 110 Further, to deal with the claims concerning the Saarbrücken lists, which contained some 87,000 names, the Commission furnished the Kreis bureaus with an additional staff to verify the registers on which the entries had been based, and for this purpose engaged for a month, as assistants, one Dane, three Luxembourgers, two Netherlanders, and three Swiss. The examination of the 107,145 claims was completed by the Kreis bureaus on November 9, the date prescribed in the Regulations. Of the total, 53,447, or 49 per cent, were allowed, the others being rejected or declared non-receivable.111 Of the 78,887 claims for entry or striking off, less than 30 per cent had been found to be valid. The decisions in the three categories were as follows: REQUESTS

TOTAL

NUMBER

CLAIMS

ALLOWED

18,540

PER

CENT

F o r addition of names

32,854

56.4

F o r removal of names

46,033

7,217

15.6

F o r corrections

28,258

28,210

99.08

Examination of the claims had shown that many names had in fact been omitted, apparently about equally from among adherents of the Deutsche Front and of the status quo. The omissions were found to have been due to various causes. That almost 10,000 names had been forgotten when the cards for the Saarbrücken list were prepared by the employees of the city hall in May and June was a surprising fact, but as far as could be seen there had been no discrimination against either of the two sides. The city officials blamed the omissions on the ""Appendix, Doc. 18. See also "Fourth Report of the Plebiscite Commission, November 1 - 1 5 , 1934," L.N.O.f., December 1934, p. 1671. 1,1 "Fourth Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., December 1934, p. 1671.

T H E P L E B I S C I T E COMMISSION

243

faulty character of the registers of 1919, which in Saarbrücken, as everywhere else at that period, were kept by men recruited from among the aged and incapacitated who had no special experience in such work. Many of the records of the time were, in fact, almost illegible. All of the 15,121 claims for striking off names from the Saarbrücken list — almost all of them made by the Einheitsfront — had been given a special examination. About 10 per cent had been declared invalid, half because habitual residence had not been proved, the rest because of double registration, or death. Some 500 names — those of members of a family whose head had been found not qualified by residence, or persons insane, or deprived of civic rights, or deceased — had been struck off ex officio. The registration of the names of deceased persons could be attributed to the fact that there was no connection between the registry of deaths (Standesamt) and the police bureau for notifications of arrivals (Meldeamt), and that deaths were recorded only in the place where they occurred. Also many of the Bonzon documents had been sealed in 1923, and so held many names of those who had died. One proof that the communal committees had not intentionally registered dead persons was the eagerness of the Deutsche Front to eliminate such entries, fearing that in the discussions at Geneva regarding the final disposition of the Territory the proportion of voters to the total number of registrations would be given importance. In contrast to the large number of claims, the total number of appeals from the decision of the Kreis bureaus to the Supreme Plebiscite Court, handed in by November 23, as the Regulations required, amounted to only 9,248.112 The Supreme Plebiscite Court was able to consider these by December 17, three days before the date fixed in the Regulations, and to communicate the decisions to the Kreis bureaus. Of these appeals, 2,387 (25.8 per cent) were allowed, while the others were rejected or declared non-receivable. The figures were as follows: TOTAL

ALLOWED

Appeals concerning the addition of names

7,400

1,365

Appeals concerning the removal of names

1,844

1,018

4

4

Appeals concerning corrections

The number of names registered on the final lists was 539,541. By means of the central card index and of the special verification of the voting lists it was found that, after the provisional lists had been 112

"Sixth Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., January 1935, p. 33.

244

T H E

S A A R

PLEBISCITE

corrected as a result of the claims procedure, there remained few incorrect entries, and it was not necessary to remove more than one per thousand of the names entered ex officio. T h e Plebiscite Commission reported on December 31 that the central card index had uncovered less than 2,000 cases of double entry, which was less than half of 1 per cent of the total registrations. 113 T h e index had also made it possible to discover other mistakes of less importance. It should be remarked, however, that the value of the index in having calmed fears of fraud and silenced all criticisms was far out of proportion to the percentage of double entries. T h e Plebiscite Commission reported that further investigations into the sources of the inaccuracies in the provisional lists had shown that they were due to incorrect information submitted to the communal committees, that they were purely technical, and that no blame whatever attached to the committees. 114 Accordingly, the Plebiscite Commission reported that it could now say that the final lists of those entitled to vote fully served their purpose and that the percentage of ever attached to the committees. 114 Accordingly, the Plebiscite Commission, in a circular letter published in the Saar press, thanked the communal committees and all who had collaborated in drawing up the lists for their excellent and impartial work. 1 1 5 113

L.N.O.f.,

1 9 3 5 , p. 33.

A c c o r d i n g to the

final

report of the plebiscite official in

charge, the index uncovered, in fact, 2,060 cases of double entry and 7 of triple entry. 114

" S i x t h Report of the Plebiscite C o m m i s s i o n , " L.N.O.J., "DIE

116

"UNGENAUIGKEITEN

January 1935, p. 33.

ABSTIMMUNGSLISTEN IN S A A R B R Ü C K E N - S T A D T

BEREINIGT

" D i e V o l k s a b s t i m m u n g s k o m m i s s i o n f ü r das Saargebeit hat an die Gemeindeausschüsse der A b s t i m m u n g s k o m m i s s i o n

folgendes Schreiben gerichtet:

gültige Liste der Stimmberechtigten mission

in

der

Lage,

sich

über

aufgestellt w o r d e n

die

von

den

"Nachdem

ist, ist die

Gemeindeausschüssen

jetzt die

end-

Abstimmungskomgeleistete

Arbeit

auszusprechen. " N a c h V e r ö f f e n t l i c h u n g der v o r l ä u f i g e n Listen u n d im V e r l a u f e des Einspruchsverfahrens hatte sich herausgestellt, dass in Saarbrücken-Stadt u n d in einer kleinen A n z a h l anderer Bürgermeistereien die vorläufigen Listen ziemlich u n g e n a u w a r e n .

Die

Kom-

mission hat daher f ü r Saarbrücken-Stadt eine besondere Massnahme g e t r o f f e n , u m

die

g a n z e Liste erneut z u ü b e r p r ü f e n . " D i e s e A r b e i t w u r d e auschliesslich v o n neutralen Beamten ausgeführt.

Hierbei

hat

sich g e z e i g t , dass nach erfolgter B e r e i n i g u n g der v o r l ä u f i g e n Liste d u r c h das Einspruchsverfahren jetzt n u r noch sehr w e n i g e Fehler Übriggeblieben sind, so dass schliesslich v o n den v o n A m t s w e g e n eingetragenen Personen nicht m e h r als I P r o z e n t

Streichungen

v o r g e n o m m e n z u w e r d e n brauchten. " E i n e weitere U n t e r s u c h u n g über die G r ü n d e der Fehler in den v o r l ä u f i g e n Listen hat erwiesen, dass diese d u r c h die m a n g e l h a f t e n U n t e r l a g e n verursacht w o r d e n w e l c h e den Gemeindeausschüssen in Saarbrücken-Stadt u n d den anderen

waren,

Bürgermeiste-

reien z u r V e r f ü g u n g gestanden hatten. "Es hat sich auch ergeben, dass diese Fehler rein technischer A r t w a r e n u n d dass den

T H E P L E B I S C I T E COMMISSION

245

With the coming of autumn, propaganda on both sides had grown in intensity. That for immediate return to Germany was by far the more evident. The Deutsche Front papers told constantly of deputations of Saar women and other groups who had been given a cordial reception by Hitler and the "S.A." in Berlin. The harvest festival of the Erntedanltfest on September 30 was used as an opportunity for propaganda, as the summer solstice had been, and the swastika, made of wheat or ears of corn, was displayed in the processions on the floats drawn by oxen, and on the festival arches under which they passed. Every Sunday saw the Hitler Jugend and the Bund Deutscher Mädel marching with uniforms and banners; the veterans' associations dedicated monuments to war-dead; the music and sports clubs held joint meetings with their visitors from the Reich; and women's organizations held Kulturabende in which the ties with Germany were emphasized in poetry and prose, song and story, while the theaters and movie houses labored to the same end. In a region where economic interests were so vital it was striking that so little importance should be given to economic arguments. Some, however, were brought by both sides. The status quo press was charging that living costs were higher in the Reich, that there was danger of devaluation of the mark, and that the Territory was absolutely dependent on its French markets. The Deutsche Front asserted that the perpetuation of the status quo would mean raising the Reich tariff to normal and that this would bring destruction to the very bases of Saar industry, as Saar steel and coal would lose their German market. Only return to the Reich, they insisted, would assure bread and work. 116 The arguments of the Deutsche Front were strengthened by the Gemeindeausschüssen wegen der Fehler keinerlei Vorwürfe gemacht werden können. "Die für das ganze Saargebiet eingerichtete Zentralkartei hat weiter erwiesen, dass nach dem Einspruchsverfahren in den verschiedenen Bürgermeistereien weniger als 2000 Doppeleintragungen und andere Fehler vorgekommen sind, also für das gesamte Saargebiet einschliesslich Saarbrücken-Stadt weniger als 1 / 2 Prozent. "Dieses Ergebnis der besonderen Kontrolle neben den Nachprüfungen, die in allen Abstimmungsbezirken stattgefunden haben, berechigt jetzt zu dem Auspruch, dass die endgültigen Listen der Stimmberechtigten hohen Anforderungen entsprechen und dass eine Genauigkeit erreicht ist, die über 99 Prozent liegt. Die Kommission findet in der geleisteten Arbeit zu ihrer Freude Anlass, den Gemeindeausschüssen samt ihren Vorsitzenden und allen denjenigen, die zur Aufstellung der endgültigen Listen der Stimmberechtigten beigetragen haben, ihren Dank für die vorzügliche und objektive Arbeit auszusprechen!" 116 The general economic situation of the Territory was examined in detail in a report by the Institut für Konjunkturforschung in Berlin, which was republished by the Saarbrücker Zeitung in December 1934 under the title, Die Abhängigkeit der Saarwirtschaft vom Reich.

246

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

undoubtedly serious economic situation in the Territory arising from the uncertainty as to the future political, economic, and monetary regime, and the fear that the Reich system of frozen credits would be extended to the Saar immediately after the plebiscite. Loans were being called in, new capital was refusing to enter, and French manufacturers were restricting trade credits to their Saar customers. This, together with the smallness of receipts from sales to Germany, was placing a very heavy financial strain on the Saar wholesale and retail trade as well as on its industries. The two German chambers of commerce — the Handelskammer and the Handwerkskammer — and three other economic associations sent a joint petition to the League Council asserting that the falling-off of French purchases from the Saar, owing to the depression in France and to a deliberate refusal to buy Saar products, had prevented the working of the Franco-German clearing system. To remedy the situation they demanded that the League Council at once open the tariff frontier with Germany to an extent sufficient to insure an equal trade balance between the Saar and the Reich. 1 1 7 The fact that unemployment had quickly receded from its peak in January 1933 of 45,700, or nearly 40 per cent of the workers, and now stood at 35,600, or a little over 24 per cent, was ignored by the press of both sides. 118 The most important economic question in the mind of the Saar workingmen appeared to be that of the fate, after the plebiscite, of their pensions and social insurance funds, toward which they had been paying contributions. The Deutsche Front was insisting, and in this was echoing the chief spokesmen in the Reich, that the allowances from the Reich to the Saar associations, even those toward the pensions for the German World War veterans under the 117 L.N.O.I; December 1934, p. 1633. The Governing Commission in its letter of transmittal reported that the situation, because of the calling in of loans and the cutting off of trade credits, was indeed serious and recommended that the League Council reassure foreign holders of credit in the Saar — commercial, banking, mortgage or other forms — by a declaration that the settlement of Saar debts to foreign creditors incurred before the establishment of the final régime would under no circumstances be subject to financial restrictions and that, in particular, debts expressed in francs, dollars, pounds, florins, and so forth, must be settled in the currency employed in the contracts. It also recommended a decision that the monetary system be maintained after the plebiscite until April ι , and that an increase in the import quotas be made which might improve the situation in the Territory. For a report of the Governing Commission of August 23, 1934, on the economic situation, see L.N.O.J., October 1934, p. 1200. A description of the clearing system with Germany is given in the "Fifty-ninth Periodical Report to the Governing Commission," L.N.OJ., January 1935, pp. 25-26. 118 The Germans objected that these figures for the reduction of unemployment did not take into account the Saargänger who were no longer entering the Saar from outside to work during the week.

THE

PLEBISCITE COMMISSION

247

agreements m a d e w i t h the G e r m a n g o v e r n m e n t in 1 9 2 2 , w o u l d cease to be paid to a n area w h i c h h a d cut itself off voluntarily, a n d that the resources of a n y status quo whole burden.119

S a a r w o u l d obviously be u n e q u a l to the

Successive petitions w e r e c o m i n g to G e n e v a

from

associations of employees of the mines, as w e l l as f r o m the A r b e i t s gemeinschaft zur W a h r u n g

Saarländischer Interessen a n d the

Saar-

w i r t s c h a f t s v e r e i n i g u n g , i m p l o r i n g the C o u n c i l to open negotiations f o r s o m e agreement before the plebiscite w h i c h should g i v e assurance that, no matter w h a t the result of the vote, retirement pensions, annuities, insurance f u n d s a n d the like w o u l d be p a i d in undepreciated

cur-

rency, w h e t h e r the rights h a d been a c q u i r e d in G e r m a n y , the S a a r , or F r a n c e .

T h e y w a r n e d that, should the question not be settled be-

fore the plebiscite, it w o u l d greatly influence the decision of the S a a r voters.120 B o t h sides w e r e m a k i n g every effort to w i n the support of labor. T h e D e u t s c h e F r o n t accused the F r e n c h M i n e s A d m i n i s t r a t i o n of faili n g to protect houses in the m i n i n g districts f r o m caving-in, a n d the papers carried photographs of w h o l e streets sinking.

F r o m early A u -

g u s t a general strike of the coal miners h a d been in preparation, engineered, so said the status quo, b y the D e u t s c h e A r b e i t s f r o n t 1 2 1 of the 110

Deutsche Front (special plebiscite number) December 1934. As a warning to all friends of the status quo, the Trutzbund für Wirtschaftliche Gerechtigkeit published the figures of German contributions to Saar funds. By agreement the Saar government paid one-quarter of the pensions to war-wounded, and the Reich three-quarters. The figures showed that the annual share paid by the Reich was higher than the annual returns from the Saar income tax. 120 Petitions of the Zentral verband der Angestellten, the Berufsverband der Saarländischen Bergbau-Angestellten, and the Heilgehilfenverband der Saargruben (L.N.O.J., August 1934, pp. 986—987). In its covering note the Governing Commission stated to the Council that the uncertainty should be relieved as speedily as possible; that the convention just negotiated between France and Germany and the Governing Commission would cover social insurance when ratified, but that an agreement should be arrived at regarding war pensions, the continuation of benefits paid by the trade unions to their members, continued payment in undepreciated currency of private insurance policies in francs, and in general the maintenance of all rights acquired under private contracts between employers and employees which might be called in question if the Saar returned to Germany. For supplementary petitions of July 18 and 30, and September 15, 1934, of the organizations mentioned above, see L.N.O.f., September 1934, pp. 1 1 7 2 - 1 1 7 3 , and December 1934, p. 1623. See also petitions of September 9, 1934, signed by Herr Hoffmann on behalf of 200 delegates of the "non-coördinated" (nicht gleichgeschaltet) Christian population of the Territory (L.N.O.f., December 1934, p. 1 6 2 1 ) and of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Wahrung Saarländischer Interessen and the Saarländische Wirtschaftsvereinigung of September 1 1 , 1934 (L.N.O.J., December 1934, p. 1624). 121 The Deutsche Arbeitsfront of the Reich was erected after the dissolution of the labor unions there. It had in the Saar a subsidiary called the Gesamtverband Deutscher Arbeitsnehmer an der Saar, an organization controlled by the Nazis which had the ap-

248

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

Reich and by Herr Röchling, in order to incite the Socialist and Communist miners against the French Mines Administration. The Christian Trade Unions had been "coordinated" and were receiving their regular union funds from Berlin headquarters, which meant control from there as well. The Free Trade Unions had refused to be "coordinated" and were thus cut off from their central treasury, to which they had made their contributions. On August 20 the Gewerkvereine Christlicher Bergarbeiter Saar and the Christliche Metallarbeiterverbands Saar demanded a raise in wages and an increase in paid vacations, an action in which the Freie Gewerkschaften of miners and metal workers refused to join. The General Director of the French Mines Administration replied that the demand was so untimely and unreal as to be obviously a political maneuver.122 His statement that in spite of the shorter working hours the average wage of a Saar miner was 8.5 francs a day higher than in France was seized on by the Saarbrücker Zeitung as an argument against the status quo.123 In September efforts were started to eliminate the non-Nazi leader of the Christlicher Metallarbeiterverband, Otto Pick, who was unacceptable to the Deutsche Arbeitsfront. Charges of corruption were brought, prepared, according to the status quo, by the Reich Gestapo or secret police, and the Deutsche Arbeitsfront, but when the case was tried before the Landgericht they were not proved. The general assembly of the Christliche Metallarbeiterverband on October 14 reëlected Pick, a part splitting off and forming a new union. On both sides various Catholic priests of the area were taking part in the campaign by speaking and writing. In the great Deutsche Front meetings priests were echoing the words of Pirro that the choice was in essence one between "Deutschtum" and "Franzosentum," 124 while the Neue Saar Post was insisting that it was between "Christentum" and "Neue Heidentum" and warning of another "thirtieth of parent object of bringing the workers into line in the Hitler movement and of working on the masses for the plebiscite under the direction of the Deutsche Front. 122 M. Marin Guilleaume, director general of the Saar mines, later made the statement that because of the concessions necessary to keep the Saar miners contented during the depression the work day was shorter and reductions in wages were less than in any other country. Since the beginning of the depression wages had been reduced only 6 per cent in the Saar, while in France miners' wages had fallen 12 per cent, in foreign countries 20 per cent to 30 per cent, and in the Saar steel works 22.5 per cent; in addition, fewer miners had been turned off than in the Ruhr. Owing to the fall in the cost of living the purchasing power of the Saar'miner was about the same as in 1929 (Journal de la Sarre, December 1934). 123 Saarbriic\er Zeitung, September 29 and October 1, 1934. 124 Pfarrer Wilhelm at a Deutsche Front meeting (Saarbrücker Zeitung, September 24, 1934). The quotation from Pirro is from the Neue Saar Post, September 26, 1934.

T H E P L E B I S C I T E COMMISSION

249

June." French journalists visiting Berlin asserted that the Deutsche Front was increasingly uneasy at the hesitation of the Saar Catholics and that the Catholic unions in the Saar were likely to declare soon for the status quo. Complaints were being made constantly by the Neue Saar Post that its distributors were prevented by violence from distributing their papers in various places in the area and that subscribers were boycotted and threatened with vengeance, and, in many cases, with death, or with "Pirmasens," which amounted to the same thing. 125 While for the most part the leading journals on both sides kept their propaganda vocabularly within bounds, the less respectable ones were constantly having to be suspended by the Governing Commission for abusive epithets. It proved impossible, however, to stop the painting by night of "Landesverräter," "Mordbande," and "Gesindel" on the houses of opponents, while in the window of a local Deutsche Front headquarters a signed complaint against a registration was displayed, the legend, "Ein sauberer Nachbar — Kommentar überflüssig," seeming to be an invitation to make the complainant suffer for his temerity. The public prosecutor had been occupied with such cases ever since the first of October. The Kreis courts had already begun to sit,126 and the Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal entered into office on October 23 in the Municipal Works Building of Saarbrücken.127 Its first sentence, one of seven months' imprisonment against the Hausmeister of the Deutsche Front headquarters for opposing the police during the raid of July 17, was protested by the Saarbrüc\er Zeitung as "Draconic." On November 1 the prosecutor of the Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal reported to the Governing Commission and to the Plebiscite Commission that during the month of October 665 cases of a political nature had been reported by the public prosecutor, 167 of them cases of illegal distribution of printed matter and leaflets, 79 of threats, 71 of wounding and ill-treatment, 67 of verbal insults, and 113 of offenses against the Regulations for Registration. The number of accused came 125 L.N.O.J., December 1934, p. 1 6 2 1 . For the meaning of "Pirmasens" see above, pp. 1 2 2 - 2 3 . 128 The Kreis plebiscite courts of Saarbrücken Stadt and Land had opened on October 16 in a villa on the Winterberg. In its first case, transferred from the Landgericht of Saarbrücken, the plebiscite court of the city of Saarbrücken sentenced the editor of the Deutsche Kumpel, a less respectable organ of the Deutsche Front, to a fine of 1,000 francs or twenty days in prison, for an article inciting against a Jewish merchant (Neue Saar Post, November 17, 1934). 127 In accordance with the decision of the League Council of June 4, 1934, the offices and premises of all the plebiscite courts were furnished by the Saar Department of Justice, and part of their office staff also was recruited from among the personnel of the Department.

250

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

to 801, of whom 460 were Saar inhabitants, 64 from outside, and 277 not determined. Of the accused 266 belonged to the Deutsche Front, 367 to the "Anti-Front," and 168 were undetermined.128 The number of cases reported for November was 625. The Saar Supreme Court gave severe sentences for breaches of neutrality by officials. On November 15 the regular Saar Supreme Court sentenced the Bürgermeister of Homburg to imprisonment for six weeks for signing articles officially with the Nazi greeting, Heil Hitler. In December the Supreme Plebiscite Court fined the leader of the Trutzbund 4,000 francs for insulting the president of the Saar railroads, a Catholic supporting the status quo. Pressure from the Reich was, however, beyond the reach of the Saar Supreme Courts or of the two Commissions. On November 3 the German government deprived of their nationality twelve Germans, one of them a native Saarlander qualified to vote in the plebiscite, because they had signed a manifesto supporting the status quo. The Plebiscite Commission reported to Geneva that it considered the action taken against the plebiscite voter to be contrary to the undertaking 128 To facilitate the task of Prosecutor Martina of the Supreme Plebiscite Court, the Director of the Interior, on the request of the Department of Justice, ordered on September 1 3 that the police authorities should transmit to him a copy of all papers concerning offenses of a political character, the originals of which were sent to the Saarbrücken Landgericht. This enabled the prosecutor to require from the ordinary judicial authority the files for all political offenses and to exercise the functions conferred on him by Articles 1 3 , 14, and 1 5 of the Ordinance of September 7, 1934, in matters where an inquiry (information) or a preliminary judicial inquiry (instruction formelle) had been entered by the ordinary courts of the Territory. For all other matters, notably when it concerned cases already taken to the Schnellgericht, the prosecutor found it impossible to exercise the right conferred on him by those Articles, as he was faced by a judgment already pronounced. A goodly number of political offenses had been deferred to the Schnellgericht, which had shown excessive clemency, especially in cases of wearing uniforms and political emblems, distribution of prohibited leaflets, illegal possession of arms, etc. In view of the results of the procedure before the Schnellgericht, it seemed best to send the cases back to the Kreisrichter, under the law of October 2 1 , 1 9 1 7 (Reichsgesetz zur Vereinfachung der Strafrechtsfragen). This would avoid transference of the accused from place to place. Each Kreisrichter was expected to hold a hearing at least twice a week. On November 23 the Plebiscite Commission approved a proposal of Minister Zoricic of the Governing Commission for a commission for appeals en grace regarding plebiscite matters as in ordinary penal procedure, to be composed of the prosecutor of the Supreme Plebiscite Court, a lawyer (avocat), and a representative of the Plebiscite Commission. The Plebiscite Commission appointed President Rodhe as its representative. In November the Governing Commission, in the interests of various of its officials accused in the Deutsche Front petitions dated November 13 of breach of official secrecy in connection with the documents seized in July, brought action against the signers of the petitions — Pirro, Kiefer, Levacher, Röchling, and Schmelzer. The trial, set for December 21 before the Superior Plebiscite Tribunal, was postponed indefinitely, however.

T H E P L E B I S C I T E COMMISSION

251

given by the German government in its letter of June 2, 1934. 129 No official action was taken by the Council Committee of Three. As the Deutsche Front continued to act on the theory that there was only one legitimate party in the plebiscite, the Plebiscite Commission on November 12 published a proclamation recalling to the inhabitants that there were three alternatives and therefore three parties with equal rights — a fact which the Commission regretted was often forgotten in political meetings and in the press — and adding that on certain occasions such pressure and threats of a political nature had been uttered against political opponents as to justify the expression "political terror." The Commission gave warning that all, and particularly leading and influential persons, should display moderation in their propaganda, public and private; that in future the Commission would be obliged to report abuses to the public prosecutor's office as being contrary to the laws in force; and that the inhabitants of the Territory must bear in mind and act in the spirit of the solemn declarations made to the Council by the governments of Germany and France. 130 At the same time, in consequence of the evidence of the close connections of Saar officials with the activities of the Deutsche Front, as shown in the documents seized in the Deutsche Front headquarters, and published on November 10 by the League, 1 3 1 the Plebiscite Commission requested the Governing Commission to publish an ordinance which required all officials, state or communal, to maintain an attitude of neutrality even when not on duty. The ordinance emphasized the peculiar obligations of officials during the plebiscite period, prohibited them from holding any office in or engaging in any propaganda or other activity in any of the political parties concerned in the plebiscite campaign; or organizing or conducting or speaking at any political meetings in connection with the campaign, or attending in their official capacity; or discussing in print matters concerning the plebiscite. The penalty for infringement was imprisonment for not less than three months and a fine of not less than 1,000 francs. Any such cases were to go directly to the Supreme Plebiscite Court. 128

L.N.O.J., January 1935, pp. 49 and 53. Appendix, Doc. 19. See report of the Chairman of the Governing Commission to the Secretary-Genera! of the League, November 6, 1934 (L.N.O.J., December 1934, pp. 1645 et seq.). The Neue Saar Post on November 1 1 asserted that the documents showed that the German government had broken its agreement of June 2 with the League and that France had the right to claim that the conditions under which the date of the plebiscite was fixed had not been carried out. In La Tribune des Nations, a new weekly appearing in Paris, M. Nicholas Politis wrote that the plebiscite ought to be postponed because the guarantees were insufficient to insure order (Saarbrück_er Zeitung, November 9, 1934). 130

131

252

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

That the officials had indeed been playing an active part in the Deutsche Front organization was obvious from the following broadcast sent out by the Frankfurt Sender on November 22 : For fifteen years the Saar officials have fought and suffered for their Deutschtum in the front line; now in the final struggle they are to stand wholly aside. A few weeks before the plebiscite the Deutsche Front is being forced to carry out numerous changes, since now even the most minor official may not be even a Bloc\wart or Zellenwart. Really, one can't help saying that the Plebiscite Commission in this ordinance does not show any particular understanding of the present situation.132 The Governing Commission's report of November 10 gave evidence that the Deutsche Front, through its Ordnungsdienst, had been using threats of "1935" to force the Saar people to obey its orders to display flags. In mid-November the inhabitants were being asked by the Deutsche Front, "in certain cases, in circumstances which suggested pressure or threats," 133 to exhibit cards in their windows stating, "On January 13 I will vote for Germany." At the same time, and again at the orders, so it was said, of the Deutsche Front, there began to appear on the gables of houses and on the chimneys of factories and breweries, painted posters, often with designs including the German eagle or the swastika, and with legends such as: "Deutsch die Saar. Wir kehren bald zurück"; "Die Knechtschaft dauert nur noch kurze Zeit"; "Unser Schwur, Deutschland nur"; "Deutsch bist Du! Deutsch müssen deine Kinder ewig bleiben"; "Die Treue ist das Mark der Ehre"; "Nur Deutschland, Herr mach uns frei!"; "Deine Hand, Kamerad von Hütte und Schacht, wir schlagen für Deutschland die Januarschlacht!" One showed a miner tearing apart the chains which bound his hands and crying, "Wir wollen heim ins Reich!" In Homburg the gable of a low building opposite the hotel was filled with a design of chimneys of steel works against a background of Saar hills, the rising sun behind them bearing a swastika with, underneath, the legend, "Das Land wird frei und der Morgen tagt." On finding that such signs, innocent enough in themselves, were in some cases being used for purposes of pressure, the Plebiscite Commission on November 23 issued a warning through the press of the penalties to which, under Article 60 of the Regulations, any person was liable who should unlawfully seek to influence any other person to reveal the manner in 132 133

Translation from text in the author's collection. "Fifth Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., December 1934, p. 1673.

POSTERS ON H O U S E G A B L E S

Upper: "Loyalty is the M a r k of Honor" Lower: "The Land becomes Free and the Morning dawns"

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which he proposed to vote.134 In order to make certain that all parties should have a fair chance to use posters, the Commission requested the Governing Commission to promulgate an ordinance which prohibited, under penalty of fine or imprisonment, the public exhibition of any writings, drawings, or posters relating to the plebiscite, except on billboards of identical dimensions and especially erected in places specified by the Kreis inspectors.135 The police were ordered to see that the signs already displayed on houses were painted over, and each Kreis inspector was instructed to report on the progress made in his Kreis·136 The billboards to be used by the respective parties were to be side by side as far as possible, so that neither party should be able to claim that it had suffered from discrimination. In case of damage or removal the injured party must make complaint to the Bürgermeister and at the same time inform the Kreis inspector. The boards were erected during the first week in January. There was no effort to put up posters for union with France. On the Deutsche Front boards three posters appeared: one, carrying the legend, "Zu Deutschland," depicted a man pushing open heavy doors behind which a great swastika was shining like a sun; a second was of a grey-haired mother embracing her son, about his feet broken chains and pieces of a frontier post and behind him the smoking chimneys of the Saar, the legend reading, "Deutsche Mutter·—heim zu dir"; the third and most effective poster, a mammoth one in shades of dark green-grey, showed a Saar workman with, over his shoulder, the ghost of a Ger131

"Mitteilung der Abstimmungskommission

"Es ist der Abstimmungskommission zur Kenntnis gekommen, dass an einer Reihe von Häusern im Saargebiet Anschriften angebracht worden sind, welche ein politisches Bekenntnis zur Abstimmung darstellen. "Die Abstimmungskommission muss in diesem Zusammenhang auf die Strafbestimmungen des Artikels 60 der Abstimmungsordnung des 7. Juli 1934, hinweisen, wonach derjenige, welcher durch unerlaubte Mittel, selbst wenn er mittelbar handelt, eine Person zu bestimmen sucht, zu offenbaren, in welchem Sinne sie abzustimmen gedenkt, mit Gefängnis von drei Monaten bis zu drei Jahren bestraft wird; die Strafe kann nicht weniger als ein Jahr betragen, wenn die Tat von mehreren Personen gemeinsam begangen wird. "Die Abstimmungskommission warnt daher vor jedem Versuch, das Aushängen von Plakaten und Anbringen von Aufschriften aufzunötigen, um die Stimmabsichten kundzutun. Sie behält sich vor, die ihr zur Kenntnis kommenden Fälle der Ausübung von Druck und Drohung der Staatsanwaltschaft des zuständigen Abstimmungsgerichtes anzuzeigen." 133 Appendix, Doc. 2 1 . 136 Lettre circulaire, no. 83, December ι , 1934. In most cases the signs were merely covered with whitewash so that they might be ready for the expected day of return to Germany.

Sofortige

SchlieDung der Gruben: Keine A b s a t z m ö g l i c h k e i t für die S a a r k o h l e . 10 M i l l i o n e n T o n n e n K o h l e n liegen im R u h r g e b i e t u n v e r k a u f t e r auf den H a l d e n .

Die Saargruben

müssen die F ö r d e r u n g einstellen.

Hüttenindustrie stirbt ab: Verlegung der Zollgrenze bedeutet Verlust der Rohstoffversorgung. Kein Erz mehr für das Saargebiet. Darum StUlegung der Hütten.

Massenarbeitslosigkeit: Entlassung der meisten Berg' und Hüttenarbeiter. Vollständiger Wirtschaftszusammenbruch, noch nie gekanntes soziales Elend. Außerdem 25000 Arbeitslose aus der Kldnindustrle. die von der Zollgrenze gegen Deutschland lebt (Textil, Chemie, Holzverarbeitung, Tabak, Emaille, Herde usw.).

Ruin des Mittelstandes: Arbeitemot 1st Mittelstandstod. Untergang der kleinen Geschäfte und Handwerksbetriebe. [Me Steuerschraube tut das Uebrige.

Der Bauer gebt zugrunde: Das Erbhofgesetz treibt den Kleinbauern von der Scholle. Nährstatidgests bedeutet moderne Zwangswirtschaft, Beseitigung des freien Handels. Der Bauer schafft mit Verlust. Steuerdruck 1 Zwangsversteigerungen I

Markinflation, Rentenverlust:

Dr. Schachts Devisengesetze. Zwangsumtausdi goldgedeckter Franken gegen wertlose Reichsmark. Ablieferungspflicht von Auslandsguthaben. Weitere Kürzung, teilweise völlige Streichung der Kriegs· und Soziairenten. Höhere Soziallasten, geringere Leistungen. Neue verschärfte Gesetze.

Willst Du das? Nein! Darum

Status quo! STATUS Q U O POSTER GIVING ECONOMIC A R G U M E N T S

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man soldier in a steel helmet, the words below reading, "Wir starben für Euch! Und Ihr wollt uns verraten?" The status quo boards, used only by the Einheitsfront, likewise carried three pictorial posters: one, in red and grey, showed a steel works with smoking chimneys, behind them a white hand, the fingers extended as if taking an oath, the legend reading "Nur Status Quo schützt unsere Heimat"; on the second, a workingman behind a wall labeled "Status Quo" was shouting, "Wir halten die Saar bis Deutschland frei ist!"; and the third showed three men, a steel worker, a miner, and a business man, standing hand-inhand on a map of the Saar, with the words, "Volksfront für Status Quo." Two status quo posters carried only reading matter, one devoted to the certainty that a second plebiscite was possible, the other to the arguments that immediate return to the Reich would mean the closing of the mines, the death of the steel industry, mass unemployment, the ruin of the middle class and the peasants, and inflation. The Catholic arguments for the status quo were displayed not on the billboards but in the Neue Saar Post. While the journal made some effort to warn of the change from the franc to the mark, and of the sealing up of the French frontier, it devoted itself almost entirely to arguments other than economic. W e vote for the Status Quo [it said] because w e wish a free Germany, a land of social justice, and Hitler-Germany is a slave state, a land of prison and barracks; because if the Saar should vote against Hitler the whole of Germany would be freed from the foreign domination of Hitler and then the road to return to the G e r m a n Fatherland would be open; because w e wish peace, and Hitler-Germany means w a r ; because w e believe in the G o d of Revelation and not the G o d made by H i d e r in his own image.

We

save Germany from H i d e r for G o d .

In various cases where status quo boards had been erected on private property at the direction of the Kreis inspectors, they were destroyed. The Deutsche Front insisted that this was done by the Communists in order to throw blame on the Deutsche Front, and offered a reward for information which would lead to arrest. They also argued, however, that the ordinance had given no power to the Kreis inspectors to requisition private property.137 The problem of securing an adequate and nonpartisan police force to keep order in the Territory during the remainder of the campaign 137

On January 3 the Einheitsfront, having secured authorization from the Kreis inspector of Saarbrücken, erected thirteen billboards on city property. The Oberbürgermeister on January 8 warned the Sozialdemokratische Partei that the city would not allow

256

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

and until final allocation of the Territory was growing ever more pressing. The Governing Commission, under the Council Resolution of June 4 authorizing it to increase the local gendarmerie, had called at once for local candidates who did not belong to any group which had taken a definite attitude regarding the alternatives of the plebiscite. A s the Deutsche Front had prophesied, few such candidates had been forthcoming. 138 On July 15, 1934, the post of Inspector of Police and Gendarmerie had been created, and to this had been appointed Captain Arthur C. Hemsley, a retired officer of the British navy. Although he was a foreigner, his appointment aroused little objection, and the tension regarding Commissioner Machts somewhat subsided. Incidents, however, were increasing, and each side was demanding better protection, the Einheitsfront from the Deutsche Front, and the Deutsche Front from the "Rot-Front-Leute," as they called their adversaries of the Left. On August 3 President Knox had informed the Council that, while the Commission was continuing its effort to recruit additional gendarmes from the local inhabitants, without immediate recourse to recruitment outside the Territory it could not assume responsibility for the maintenance of order, which was daily becoming more difficult. The Governing Commission accordingly requested the President of the Council to approach members of the League as soon this, on the ground that the ordinance did not lay down the conditions under which the owner of the property was obliged to permit its use, nor in what way he would be indemnified. On the same day the Einheitsfront billboards were removed by the town employees all over the Territory and in some places burned by the Ordnungsdienst. The lacunae in the ordinance were repaired and the boards erected as before. 138 The candidates were required to sign a declaration that they did not belong to such a group. The objection of the Deutsche Front that the condition would eliminate practically all the inhabitants of the Territory constituted in the opinion of the Commission "an implicit recognition of the great difficulties of local recruitment in the spirit desired by the Governing Commission." (Letter from the Chairman of the Governing Commission to the Secretary-General, August 3, 1934, L.N.O.J., September 1934, p. 1141.) On September 5 the Deutsche Front complained that after it had informed the Council on June 4, 1934, that the number of its members was then 93 per cent of those entitled to vote, the Governing Commission had made the entry of Saarlanders into the gendarmerie dependent on their not belonging to any party which had already taken sides in the plebiscite, by this device excluding practically all members of the Deutsche Front; therefore the Governing Commission was not entitled to say that it had been unable to find the requisite candidates in the Saar ("Fourth Petition from the Deutsche Front Section of the Landesrat" L.N.O.J., October 1934, p. 1 2 2 3 ) . By October 1 only 109 additional men had been recruited. On November 20 the Commission enrolled 127 more under the same conditions. In view of the arrival of the international forces in the Territory, no further police reinforcements were engaged by the Governing Commission. ("Sixtieth Periodical Report of the Governing Commission," L.N.O.J., April 1935, p. 507.)

«i

1

m

^

IDtrftarbmfMudi! M3lirn)olltuîi9UOTûtèn? DEUTSCHE FRONT

POSTER

" W e died for you! A n d you would betray u s ? "

DEUTSCHE FRONT

POSTER

"To Germany"

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as possible, in order to facilitate its requests for individual recruiting of outsiders. At once the Deutsche Front press and the Reich press and radio had launched an energetic offensive demanding that recruiting should continue to be local. The troubles, they said, were caused wholly by the Emigranten, supported by the "Marxists" from Lorraine and Luxembourg who, under the leadership of Separatists, were trying to provoke the Saar people. Thus, if the Governing Commission wished to stop the disorders it had only to prevent the entrance of these troublemakers and expel the Emigranten·139 In their opposition to the introduction of police from outside the Territory the German organs were encouraged by the attitude of the isolationist British press — the Rothermere and Beaverbrook journals — saying that the policy of President Knox meant the setting up of a foreign army of occupation, and demanding his recall. The London Times and other more solid British papers supported President Knox, however, holding that there was an ever-present danger of an incident which, if precautions were not taken, might bring about military occupation by the French troops. The Paris journals, referring to the events in Pirmasens in 1923 and in the Rhineland in 1930, felt that the demands of the Governing Commission did not go far enough. As for the Left groups throughout Europe, they were certain that a Putsch was planned for the Saar like that in Austria of the previous July. Some prophesied that if the Nazis should find that the size of the minority against Chancellor Hitler was likely to be a blow to his prestige, the Putsch would come before the vote, in order to bring in the French troops and so prevent it. Others warned that according to confidential information from reliable sources the Nazis meant to enter the Territory immediately after the vote and present the League with a fait accompli, before it had reached a decision.140 To match the Deutsche Front Ordnungsdienst and to meet the danger of a Putsch the Saar Left had since August been organizing a Massenselbtschutz which was in turn increasing the alarm among the Deutsche Front. The Governing Commission on August 17, in its second report on the documents seized in the Deutsche Front headquarters on July 19, 139 In this connection see petitions from the Deutsche Front dated September 5 and November 13, 1934 (L.JV.O./·, October 1934, p. 1223, and January 1935, p. 43). 140 See petition from the Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Wahrung Saarländischer Interessen and the Saarländische Wirtschaftsvereinigung of September 20, 1934 (L.N.O.J., December 1934, p. 1625). The Vol\sstimme and the Deutsche Freiheit on August 20 asserted that the plans for the Putsch called for parallel movements of the "S.A." and of a Saar legion recruited and directed by the Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst from its assembly point at Trier.

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T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

had emphasized the gravity of the menace to public order caused by the Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst (Voluntary Labor Service) of the Deutsche Front. Among the various documents annexed which seemed to show the aims pursued by the central organization in the Reich, it drew special attention to a letter of October 6, 1933, from the Reich directorate of the "F.A.D." in Berlin to Spaniol, the head at that time of the Saar National Socialists and of the Deutsche Front. This read: With reference to your letter of September 9 to the Reich Directorate of the Labour Service . . . we will submit a request to the Prussian Government and to the Reich Government to the effect that the Reich Directorate be empowered to admit a total of about 10,000 Saar Germans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five into the German Labour Service (including those already in the service) and to keep them beyond their period of training until they are recalled by the Saar Territory in the plebiscite year, 1935. We suggest that these young men should be divided up into camp groups and quartered east of the fifty-kilometre zone east of the Rhine, 141 and west of the general line Stettin-Frankfurt-on-Oder-Dresden, and that, in addition to the ordinary service prescribed for the Voluntary Labour Service, they should receive special attention and instruction with a view to the Saar campaign.142 Another document dating from the same period showed that the credits necessary for the upkeep and special training of these 10,000 young Saarlanders for a year and a half were estimated at 12,900,000 Reichsmarks, 143 while a letter dated July 6, 1934, from the directorate of the "F.A.D." at Hanover to the Saar "F.A.D." in Berlin mentioned that "according to a letter from the Reich Directorate moral pressure was to be exercised with a view to keeping the Saar Germans in the Voluntary Labour Service until the plebiscite," and that this moral pressure was to consist inter alia in refusal to issue a labor pass.144 "The 141 T h e zone referred to was that set up by Articles 42 and 43 of Part III of the Treaty of Versailles: "Article 42. Germany is forbidden to maintain or construct any fortifications either on the left bank of the Rhine or on the right bank to the west of a line drawn fifty kilometres to the east of the Rhine. "Article 43. In the area defined above the maintenance and the assembly of armed forces, either permanently or temporarily, and military manoeuvres of any kind, as well as the upkeep of all permanent works for mobilization, are in the same way forbidden." 142 L.N.O.J., October 1 9 3 4 , p. 1 1 8 8 and Annex I. 143 Ibid., Annex II. xii Ibid., Annex III, sub-annex 1 6 . This was one of three documents which the Plebiscite Commission brought to the attention of the League Council, since, in so far as there might be voters among the Saarlanders kept in the labor camps, there was ground for the fear "that an attempt is being made to infringe the freedom of voting, such an attempt constituting a violation of the undertaking entered into by Germany in her letter of June 2nd, 1 9 3 4 . " Of the other documents one indicated that a native inhabitant

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inevitable conclusion to be drawn from the passages quoted above," observed President Knox, "is that the geographical position of the special training camps for young Saarlanders with a view to the Saar campaign is chosen so as to enable these young men to be given military training without infringement of Articles 42 and 43 of the Treaty of Versailles." The Governing Commission estimated from its own information that the number of young Saarlanders in the Voluntary Labor Camps was not 10,000 but 16,000. In concluding its report the Governing Commission again called on the Council to approach the members of the League with reference to the recruiting of police forces and gendarmerie. The publication of the report at once brought denials that there was any intent to give military training to any of the boys in the labor camps, or to organize a Putsch. The head of the Reich "F.A.D." said that the Saar recruits in the Reich were not given military instruction nor were they being trained to the east of the demilitarized zone, the fact being that 2,115 them were stationed inside the zone.145 The "special attention and instruction with a view to the Saar campaign" consisted in giving "special education in the consciousness of their German manhood," he said, and the German Labor Service knew nothing of the credit of 12,900,000 marks, and was itself bearing the cost of the maintenance of the Saar Germans — costs which had not hitherto been made good from any quarter or in any form. The Deutsche Front asked the League Council to consider whether, in view of the methods employed by the Governing Commission in proof the Territory was being detained in a concentration camp to prevent him from engaging in propaganda in the Territory "contrary to the interests of the German Labour Service," and the other recommended measures against a native of the Saar to stop his unfavorable criticism of the Third Reich. (See letter from the Chairman of the Plebiscite Commission to the Secretary-General, September 4, 1934, L.N.O.J., October 1934, p. 1204.) 145 Annex to Fourth Petition from the Deutsche Front section of the Landesrat, September 5, 1934 ( L . N . O J . , October 1935, p. 1 2 2 5 ) . The Governing Commission, in transmitting the petition, attached to it the text of a letter of July 9 from the regional administrative leader of the Deutsche Front to Pirro quoting Prussian Counsellor of State Spaniol as saying that "if the present leadership results in the loss of the Saar Territory, he would march in at the head of his (?) 17,000 unemployed in the Voluntary Labour Service and reduce the Territory to a heap of ruins." The disapproval of Spaniol expressed by the regional leader was not wholly reassuring in view of the latter's statement that "once the Saar has got safely past January 13th, 1935, we can place our fate confidently in the hands of the man who, on June 30, 1934, once more showed, with his loyal and trusty supporters, what he stood for. In the space of forty-eight hours, the Führer will have banished many a phantom." Pirro himself, said the Chairman of the Governing Commission, had uttered on July 9, 1934, illdisguised threats, "no less serious in character" than those uttered by Spaniol (L.N.O.],, October 1934, pp. 1 2 2 2 - 2 3 ) .

2Ö0

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

curing, examining, and exploiting the material, the Council should attach any importance to it. 146 Explanations and protests to prevent strengthening of the police by foreign recruiting were, however, unavailing. The warning of its Governing Commission could not be disregarded by the League Council. Moreover, whether a Putsch was to be feared or not, it was obvious that, even if its neutrality could be relied on, a force of 1,300 police — a number which included jailors, inspectors and the like — was far too weak for keeping order and guarding the polling booths and the frontier on the voting day. On the German government's signifying its consent to the engagement of a number of German-speaking neutral police, the League Council on September 3 asked the members of the League to lend the Governing Commission their full support in facilitating its task of securing foreign recruits. 147 Four countries, including Belgium, Italy, and Lithuania, made a favorable reply, but as their citizens could not be said to be German-speaking, they were ruled out by the terms of the German agreement. Efforts by President Knox to secure a contingent from the Swiss government proved abortive, as the Swiss Bundesrat expressed the wish that, while there was no Swiss law forbidding citizens to serve in foreign police, nevertheless on political grounds, and because of the Swiss policy of neutrality, the Governing Commission would not recruit Swiss citizens. The Governing Commission thereupon set about finding in neutral countries other than Switzerland a number of men with suitable experience and a fluent command of German. Eventually it secured eight retired British officers, twenty-five Czechs (two of them officers), and three Scandinavians. Their governments assumed no responsibility for these men but merely, as members of the League, facilitated their recruitment. 148 While this measure, though so bitterly resented in the area, 149 was helpful, it was obvious that it would be totally inadequate in case of 1,6

Petition by the Deutsche Front to the League of Nations, dated November 13, 1934 (L.N.O.J., January 1935, pp. 42-43). The Deutsche Front objected to the fact that examination of the seized documents had been given over to Oberregierungsrat Ritzel, one of the Emigranten employed by the Department of the Interior. 147 See letter from the Secretary-General to the members of the League of Nations (L.N.O.J., September 1934, p. 1 1 4 7 ) . 148 For the question of the leader of the British Labour Party, Mr. Lansbury, on this point in the House of Commons on November 12, 1934, and the reply of Prime Minister Macdonald, see Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, 1933—34, v °l- CCXCIII, cols. 1 5 2 1 - 1 5 2 3 . 148 On November 17 the Saarbrüc\er Zeitung carried a photograph of applicants for positions as Saar police officers leaving the Ministry of War in London, and under it the query: "When will the Saarbrücken people be sent to London as police officers?"

Volksfront

S T A T U S Q U O POSTER

"The People's Front for the Status Quo"

S T A T U S Q U O POSTER

"Only the Status Quo Protects our Homeland"

T H E P L E B I S C I T E COMMISSION trouble, and that trouble might come was all too apparent. Excitement in the Reich had been so stimulated, especially among the para-military organizations, that there was good reason to fear that some irresponsible if well-meant patriotic venture might result. The statement so widely made that on January 14 the frontier with Germany would cease to exist might well prove provocative.150 Rumors were increasing of a Putsch being planned by the "S.A." from the Reich immediately after the plebiscite, to present the League with a fait accompli should it plan to delay the return of the Saar to Germany until she had paid for the mines, as the French were insisting, or to divide the Territory according to the local voting or by some other plan, as some were proposing in France. 151 Daily, it was charged, Nazis were slipping in from the Reich. Rumors were rife in late October that there were 30,000 "S.A." already in the Territory en civil, and that whole formations were entering. Fear was growing of some clash between the two sides in the Territory itself. Every celebration, and especially the Harvest Festival, gave evidence of how broad was the network of the Ordnungsdienst. In September occurred the serious mishandling of some leaders of the parties for the status quo, which the latter took as evidence of an intent to terrorize them.152 On the other side the Einheitsfront self-help organization was apparently widely spread over the Territory also. Camps of "Separatist Terrorists," among them many Emigranten, were being trained, it was rumored, in lonely places, and there was said to be 350 members in Dudweiler alone. Arms were being brought to them, said the Deutsche Front, from France. 153 It IC0 The Saarbriicker Zeitung carried on November 18 a full-page poster of the eastern frontier of the Territory with a row of men chopping down the barriers, and the legend: Am 13 Januar fällt diese Grenze. The Saar Kalendar as well, supposed to hang in every Nazi household, by not correcting the general impression that the Saar would automatically return to Germany on January 14, should the people vote for it, did nothing to avert danger of rash action arising out of disappointment. lDl In the French Chamber voices were heard favoring a declaration that free trade would be maintained with those parts of the Saar which should vote for the League régime (see report of M. Adrien Dariac, Journal officiel, Chambre des Députés, Débats, November 30, 1934, p. 2836). Proposals were being made by members of the Association de la Sarrc, and were echoed in the Paris press, that, no matter what the result of the voting, the Territory should be divided in thirds, so that those voting for France or for the League of Nations need not leave their homeland to live under their chosen sovereignty (Journal de la Sarre, August 1934). See petition from the Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Wahrung Saarländischer Interessen and the Saarländische Wirtschaftsvereinigung of September 1 1 , 1934 (L.N.O.J., December 1934, Ρ- 1624). 153 Petition of the Deutsche Front dated November 13, 1934 (L.N.O.J., January 1935, p. 43 and Annex 2).

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T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

was a fact that twice at dusk in the great marketplace of Saarlouis men had swiftly assembled, had given with upraised fist the salute, "RotFront!" and had as mysteriously disappeared. With the development of Nazi methods in the Saar and the disintegration of the morale of the police force it had become clear as early as 1933 that the maintenance of order in the Territory was assured not so much by the local gendarmerie as by the right of appeal of the Governing Commission for the introduction of French troops in the event of grave disorders, which had been granted to the Governing Commission by the League Council in 1925 and 1926. Yet it was very doubtful whether the French army would have been able at this time to give the required assistance without a partial mobilization, since under the system of one year's service then in force the army was composed in the autumn months mainly of raw recruits. It was therefore extremely important at this moment of great political tension that the French government should not allow it to be supposed that it would not respond to such an appeal from the Governing Commission. The uncertainty as to the attitude of France was ended when M. Barthou on September 27 affirmed before the League Council that, if an appeal were made to her, France would not evade her special responsibilities under the Council's decisions of 1925 and 1926,154 although French sentiment was unanimous in its anxiety for the avoidance of any menace which might require it. Further, on October 31 it had been learned from the French and British press that the French government had ordered two army corps, the one at Metz, the other at Nancy, to be ready at a few hours' notice, should President Knox request it, on the understanding that such action was not to be taken to mean a renewed occupation of the Territory. With the announcement the statement was made that, in order to avert the disastrous consequence of intervention by France alone, she was anxious that the French troops, should they be forced to enter, should be accompanied by a few from other countries, and in particular by at least a handful of British soldiers.105 In Germany, where French reluctance to use troops was not credited, the news that the French were ready to march brought fierce resentment, the greater because the reinforcement of the gardes mobiles in the frontier districts had created the erroneous conviction 1M

L.N.O.J., 1934, p. 1462. The Times (London), October 3 1 , 1934, p. 14, and November 1, p. 14. M. Laval, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said before the French Chamber on November 30, 1934, that France was asking other countries to undertake jointly with her la mission de police {Journal officiel, Chambre des Députés, Débats, November-December 1934, session extraordinaire, p. 2835). 1X1

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that the French frontier garrisons were being reinforced. 156 In the German heart memories of the Ruhr occupation were always present, as was the fear that France would at the last moment find a pretext for striking a blow at German rearmament before it should become too strong. The threat of French occupation amounted in German eyes to illegal influence on the plebiscite. They issued instant denials that there was any excuse for such an act. "The German Government and people," so ran two inspired statements by the official German news bureau, "desire nothing more than the execution of the plebiscite as promised by treaty and afterwards a solution of the Saar question in conformity with the wishes of the voting population"; the Saar population, in spite of the "provocation of emigrants," would preserve its exemplary discipline "until and beyond the plebiscite"; the French arguments "must be rejected from the standpoint of international law and the universally recognized principles of elementary good faith." 1 5 7 On November 7 the German diplomatic representatives in Paris, London, Rome, and Brussels were instructed to protest to the Locarno Powers that a vote under the bayonets of an interested party would be contrary both to natural law and to the Locarno Treaties. 158 The storm of protests from the Reich was understandable. The prime intent of the French military precautions had, however, been diplomatic, and they had secured their aim in the sobering effect on responsible quarters in the Reich. On November 2 Reichsbevollmächtigter Biirckel issued orders to the "S.A." and the "S.S." in the Reich, forbidding from January 10 to February 10 the wearing of uniforms, or the holding of parades, processions, or gatherings of any kind, within twenty-five miles of the Saar border. 159 The German 1M

T h e gardes mobiles are a body between the gendarmerie,

or rural police, and the

army. 167

The Times (London), November ι and 2, 1934. During the first week of November Chancellor Hitler, in an interview with the representatives of French war veterans' organizations, MM. Robert Monnier and Jean Goy, the latter a member of the Chamber of Deputies, said that it was pure nonsense to suppose that Germany intended to disturb the plebiscite by force and declared solemnly that she would accept the result of the plebiscite, no matter what it might be. The interview appeared in Le Matin of November 18 and The Times of November 19; it was confirmed by the Völkischer Beobachter of November 25. The Times (London), November 8, 1934, p. 13. The German government argued that, since the Saar was in the demilitarized zone, French troops might not enter. The French replied that the troops would enter not as French troops but as international troops called in by the Governing Commission. 160 It was reported that Bürckel had also ordered that a small, carefully selected force of " S . A . " should form a cordon around the twenty-five mile zone as a precaution "in order to prevent any foolish and exuberant venture upon which misguided fanatics might be tempted to embark in spite of all admonitions" (The Times, London, November 2 1 ,

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Ambassador on November 5 informed the British Foreign Minister, Sir John Simon, of the measure, and solemnly assured him that there was no danger of an invasion of the Territory of the Saar. 160 All eyes were now fixed on Rome, where, on November 5, in the Palazzo Chigi, the Committee of Three of the League Council had begun to consider the questions raised by the Barthou aide-mémoire and by the Governing Commission. As the solution of the greater number of these problems required the consent of the two governments involved, the two ambassadors at Rome, von Hassel and Chambrun, on the invitation of Baron Aloisi, were appointed by their respective governments to take part in the discussions. In addition, the French government sent the director of the Ministry of Finance, M. Rueff, and the diplomatic secretary of the Foreign Office, M. Fouques-Duparc, and the German government sent the German Minister at Berne, Freiherr von Weiszäcker, and experts from the Berlin Foreign Office. The League Financial Committee, to which the economic problems had been submitted by the Committee of Three, sent as its representatives Professor M. Mlynarsky of Poland, chairman of the Financial Committee, Sir Otto Niemeyer of Great Britain, Dr. Pospisil of Czechoslovakia, and Professor Dr. Tumedei of Italy. 181 The negotiations progressed slowly, and the extraordinary session of the League Council planned for November 15 to consider the final agreements had to be postponed from week to week. The French had feared that the francs in circulation in the Territory would go to enrich Dr. Schacht's exchange fund and be used to depress the franc. The Germans had feared that France would insist that, should Germany win the plebiscite, she must pay for the mines in gold, as the Treaty had provided and the Barthou aide-mémoire had insisted.162 Great was the relief, T934, p. 1 3 ) . On December 7 Biirckel forbade all "S.A." and "S.S." men to enter the Territory for any reason whatever unless entitled to vote (Deutsche Front, December 7, •934)· 100 Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, 1933-34, vol. CCXCIII, col. 618. 161 Baron Aloisi had asked the League Financial Committee to study the following questions: (a) The right of persons of foreign nationality to keep freely their property in their respective currencies; (b) the respect for contracts in foreign currencies or in gold; (c) the claims of the French state other than those pertaining to the mines; (d) private claims of persons belonging to various nationalities; (e) French banknotes circulating in the Saar Territory, in the event of the union of the Territory with Germany. It was also asked to study the question of commercial credits. 102 Since 1920 the French and Germans had changed positions regarding the valuation of Saar coal (see above, p. 58, n.). The Germans considered that the value of the mines had been constantly sinking, not only because of the amount of coal extracted but because of the allegedly wasteful methods of the French Mines Administration. Some

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therefore, when on November 22 came the official communiqué announcing that the two governments had accepted a proposal of the sub-committee of the League Financial Committee to link the financial questions with that of the mines, and that payment for these would be by means of the French francs in circulation in the Saar, the balance to be paid off in five years by means of free deliveries of Warndt coal. N o mention was made in the communiqué of a second plebiscite, a definition of the status quo, or pensions. T h e disappointment of the status quo adherents was intense, and various organizations expressed the hope that the Council would give priority at its coming session to these three matters of prime importance to the plebiscite. T h e impression was growing, and was widely emphasized in the German press, that Foreign Minister Laval had abandoned the Barthou policy. On November 30 M. Laval made a statement in the Chamber of Deputies omitting all mention of the two political points and saying that France desired only that the freedom and secrecy of the vote should be effectively assured, and that she would abide by the plebiscite. This declaration was received with applause from all the benches, but the French Left was eager to secure from him some statement regarding the definition of the status quo and a second plebiscite, and on December ι the matter was put up to him squarely by M. Henry Fontanier. M. Laval replied that it was the province of the Committee of Three to propose, and of the League Council to decide what should be the legal, political, and social status of the Saar under the League regime, and that, as to a second plebiscite, if the League should decide for the status quo it would have full sovereignty and if the Saar people should one day express the wish to return to Germany it would be for the League Council to decide. H e continued: " Y o u ask what on that day G e r m a n nationalist papers in 1930 d e m a n d e d that the mines be g i v e n back to G e r m a n y w i t h o u t a n y payment, and D r . R ö c h l i n g is quoted as saying in would

never

L'Intransigeant, 2838).

pay

a

sou

in Journal

to France f o r officiel,

them

(quotation

by

1934

that

Germany

Franklin-Bouillon

from

C h a m b r e des Députés, Débats, N o v e m b e r 30, 1934, p.

T h e French, on the other h a n d , insisted that the mines w e r e w o r t h far m o r e

than in 1920, since they had been handed over in a bad state because of the w a r and the Mines Administration had been forced to renovate everything, as well as to expend large

amounts

on

betterments,

workmen's

homes,

general

stores and

electric

power

stations, and the installation of electric safety devices.

A l l these, as well as the thirteen

new

into

shafts sunk,

must, the

French

said,

be taken

consideration

in

the

price.

A c c o r d i n g to M . Chariot, m e m b e r of the C o m m i s s i o n des Mines of the French C h a m b e r , the F r e n c h state had invested 550,000,000 francs in the mines f r o m 1920 to 1928 (Journal officiel,

C h a m b r e des Députés, 2 e session extraordinaire de 1929, D o c u m e n t s

parlemen-

taires, no. 2524, A n n e x e s , p. 2 5 8 ) . T h e report of the L i g u e des Droits de l ' H o m m e also said that the value of the mines had been increased ( L e s Cahiers des Droits September 20, 1929, p. 5 6 9 ) .

de

l'Homme,

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would be the attitude of France? My reply will be plain: France would not oppose i t . " 1 6 3 On December 3 the final agreement was signed at Rome, and on December 5 Baron Aloisi laid the report of the Committee of Three before the League Council at Geneva. The report took up first the definition of the regime to be established under a vote "commonly though improperly called the 'Status Quo,' and the possibility of a second plebiscite. It seemed neither possible nor desirable to lay before the Council detailed proposals for the organization of the League regime, he reported, but as, unlike the other two alternatives, the legal significance, owing to the wording of the Treaty, was not very clear, it seemed perfectly correct for the Council, interpreting the provisions of the Treaty, to give a definition in principle. The report proceeded: The formula "maintenance of the regime established by the present Treaty and this Annex" is to be interpreted in the light of the provisions of the Treaty and the Annex taken as a whole. In this connection, it should first of all be observed that, according to Article 49 of the Treaty, the object of the plebiscite in which the inhabitants are called to take part is "to indicate the sovereignty under which they may wish to be placed." . . . The legal effect of the League's decision in favour of the maintenance of the regime established by the Treaty would be . . . to assign to the League the sovereignty over the whole or part of the Territory. . . . Moreover, the same §35 stipulates that it will be the duty of the League "to take appropriate steps to adapt the régime definitively adopted to the permanent welfare of the Territory and the general interest." It is thus recognized that, in the hypothesis of the decision in question being reached, the present régime of the Territory might, and indeed should, undergo the modifications necessary for adjustment to its conversion into a régime of League of Nations sovereignty. The League will therefore have power, within the limits set by the Treaty, to make such changes in the organization of the present régime as it may consider appropriate in the interest of the population of the Territory and in the general interest. Inasmuch as, in this hypothesis, the League of Nations would become the titular sovereign of the Territory, it would also follow that, in the future, it would have power to dispose of its sovereignty to 163 Journal officiel, Chambre des Députés, Débats, November 30, 1934, p. 2859. The Saarbriicker Zeitung commented joyfully on M. Laval's statement of November 30 that he had reversed the Barthou policy and had renounced all official French propaganda for the status quo, and it ignored the statement of December 1. The Neue Saar Post, on the other hand, played up the statement of December 1 as meaning that the French policy was fixed permanently and that there was no ground for saying that the French government no longer supported the Barthou aide-mémoire.

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such extent as might be compatible with the provisions of the Treaty and in conformity with the principles on the basis of which the sovereignty over the Territory has been conferred upon it and must be exercised. 164 T h e report next dealt with the question of nationality of the inhabitants under the three hypotheses. Union with Germany would not involve any legal change, but if the Territory were placed under the sovereignty of the League it would be necessary to institute a Saar nationality; and in the event of union with France questions of nationality would be settled in accordance with the principles generally followed in cases of annexation of territory. Regarding the extension to the inhabitants in the Territory who did not possess the right to vote of the guarantees given to the voters by the French and German governments on June 2, 1934, Baron Aloisi laid before the Council letters of the two governments, of December 3 and 4 respectively, in which they undertook in identic language to abstain from all proceedings, reprisals, or discrimination against inhabitants of the Saar Territory who were not entitled to vote, on account of their political attitude in connection with the purpose of the plebiscite during the League's administration. It was further agreed that by "inhabitant" should be meant any person who had been domiciled in the Saar Territory for at least three years on January 13, 1935. T h e two governments agreed that any dispute with regard to the application or interpretation of these undertakings should be referred to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at T h e Hague and that, further, during the transitional period of one year as f r o m the establishment of the definitive regime, the Supreme Plebiscite Court should have the power to entertain petitions from inhabitants of the Saar not entitled to vote, complaining of any mistreatment in the Saar falling under the provisions of the undertakings. 1 6 5 Regarding the treatment of the inhabitants after the establishment of the definitive regime, the Committee of Three had concluded that it was not permissible under the Treaty to impose on the state to which all or part of the Territory should be assigned permanent obligations limiting the exercise of its sovereignty, or to make the union of the Territory subject to the acceptance of such obligations. T h e Committee had secured an undertaking from the French and German governments to the effect that, in the event of the union of all or part of the Territory either with France or with Germany, persons domiciled in the 164

For the text of the report, see L.N.O.J., December 1934, pp. 1694-1705. For details of procedure regarding petitions, see Annex I of the report (L.N.O.J., December 1934, pp. 1 7 0 0 - 1 7 0 1 ) . 1,5

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Saar who were desirous of leaving the Territory should be given every facility to retain or sell their immovable property free of any charges if they so informed the authorities within six months of the establishment of the definitive regime, and that, in the event of union with Germany, the inhabitants of the Saar Territory, whatever their nationality, should not, for a period of one year, be subject to any discrimination on account of their language, race, or religion. 166 Regarding social insurance, the technical aspects of which the Committee of Three had asked the International Labor Office to study, the report recited that, should the League regime be maintained, the rights acquired by the inhabitants were to be safeguarded; the French government would guarantee to persons in the Saar, irrespective of nationality, the full benefit of rights acquired from Saar insurance institutions, the rights arising out of the periods covered by contributions to German insurance institutions, and the payment of annuities or pensions acquired from German or Saar insurance institutions; and the German government had declared that the social insurance in the Territory would be incorporated in the general German insurance system and that, as a general rule, the rights acquired from social insurance funds in the Territory would in consequence continue to be safeguarded. Concerning the position of the Saar officials after the plebiscite, which the Council had twice affirmed would be safeguarded in all circumstances, 167 the two governments had declared their readiness to negotiate with the Governing Commission, and the latter had begun negotiations with the German government on November 26. Agreement regarding financial questions had been reached. Thanks largely to the sub-committee of the League Financial Committee it had been agreed that if the Territory were awarded to Germany, France would cede her rights of ownership over the Saar mines and railways against a payment of 900,000,000 francs. 1 6 8 This payment would be provided for by the handing over of 95 per cent of the total quantity of Bank of France notes and other foreign means of payment circulating in the Territory, and, for the balance, by free deliveries of Saar coal, these (which it was understood would be from the Warndt coal extracted through the shafts of the French companies in Lorraine) being spread in such a way as to ensure full payment in five years. In addi166 L.N.O.J., December 1934, Annex II. France gave the same guarantee, but without limitation as to time. 107 See L.N.O.J., July 1933, pt. I, pp. 835, 928, and October 1934, pt. I, p. 1207. ™aIbid., Annex III. This amounted to 150,000,000 Reichsmarks.

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tion, the dues derived from the Warndt mine leases would be paid to the French Treasury up to an amount averaging 2,200,000 tons per annum for five years. 169 If at the conclusion of this period the lump sum of 900,000,000 French francs had not been discharged in full, the dues derived from these leases would continue to be paid to the French Treasury until the said payment had been completed, unless it was determined by arbitration that Germany was not responsible for the non-execution of the payment. The report recommended that for the sake of the financial and economic situation in the Territory a minimum period of not less than one month be fixed between the allocation by the Council and the change of regime. In closing, Baron Aloisi paid a tribute to both the French and German governments for the cooperative spirit they had shown, and to the League Financial Committee, the Secretariat, and the International Labor Office for their assistance. The League Council postponed discussion of the report to the next day and went at once into private session to hear a statement by President Knox on the maintenance of order in the Territory. When, forty minutes later, the Council met again in public session, M. Laval at once asked the Council itself to assume responsibility for the maintenance of order and to send a force of international contingents. 170 "It lies with Germany," he said, "to see that the plebiscite is taken in orderly circumstances. For our part, our sole desire is to see that the freedom and secrecy of the voting are ensured. We bow beforehand to the result of the plebiscite." It was still understood, he continued, that, whatever happened, France was prepared to assume the international obligations she had contracted before the Council of the League of Nations. It was understood that France would ask other countries, in conjunction with her, to assume responsibility for policing the Saar, but he thought that France should go further. The Saar problem was not, and should not be, a Franco-German problem. It was fundamentally an international problem. He therefore asked the League Council to assume the responsibility for maintaining order in the Saar which the French government would always be ready to assume and, if the Council should comply with his request, then, in order to show clearly to German public opinion and world public opinion that she had no le9 This was, in effect, an extension for at least five years of the leases of Warndt coal fields made by the French government in 1927 (see above, p. 1 0 1 ) . The Saarbrücker Zeitung of December 9 reported that the French representatives had given assurances that the 5,000 Saar miners working in these mines would be taken care of and their further employment assured. 170 L.N.O.J., 1934, pp. 1706-1708.

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hidden designs or mental reservations, "France would willingly agree not to send a contingent, on the understanding, of course, that Germany also would send none." Immediately the representative of Great Britain, Mr. Anthony Eden, accepted the suggestion on behalf of his government. Prevention, he said, was better than cure, and the right way was not to provide for the introduction of troops from outside after the emergency had arisen but to see if it were possible now, with the authority of the Council and the assent of France and Germany, to take steps that would prevent the possibility of such trouble arising. The way to do this was by the introduction on the authority of the Council of an international force. If the Council decided to send an international contingent, the United Kingdom, if invited, would supply a suitable proportion of such a force, on condition that other countries conveniently situated should also contribute, and that both France and Germany should assent to the arrangement. Baron Aloisi made the same commitment for the Italian government. 171 M. Litvinov indicated that he had not been taken into the counsels of the British, French, and Italian representatives, and would have to consult his government. M. Benes also said that he must ask his government but that he was certain that, if the Council so requested, Czechoslovakia would shoulder the obligations on the same conditions as those laid down by the representative of the United Kingdom. President Knox, to satisfy M. Litvinov's request for more information, recalled the Governing Commission's repeated reports of the increasingly intense atmosphere, and its unsuccessful proposal of a small international force made the previous March. The Governing Commission rejoiced that this was now possible and felt certain that if an international force of the nature proposed were to be stationed in the Saar, order would be maintained, and the plebiscite and the period following it would pass off peaceably. M. Benes closed the meeting by asking the Committee of Three to consider the problems raised and present concrete proposals before the close of the present session. When the report of the Committee of Three was accepted at the final session of the Council, on December 6, various members took occasion to make important statements regarding the possibility of a second plebiscite. M. Laval repeated his formula that should the inhabitants vote for the status quo and later desire a second plebiscite, "France 171 Apparently, as the Saarbrüci^er Zeitung correspondent at Geneva reported, this turn of affairs in the Council originated in a British proposal which had been agreed to by Knox, Aloisi, Laval, and Eden at the private meeting, and the open meeting had been delayed so that Baron Aloisi might telephone to Rome for the agreement of his government.

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would not oppose it." M. Litvinov followed with the statement that if, in the future, the Saar people were unmistakably to raise their voice in favor of a change in their legal status the League could not possibly deny them the right of self-determination merely because, for some reason or other, they had not chosen to make use of it at an earlier period. Need any objections, he asked, be expected from the other great nation concerned if one day, as all sincerely hoped, it might again take its seat on the Council? Under these circumstances he could not imagine other members of the League desiring to refuse to satisfy the legitimate wishes of the Saar population to reconsider a vote that had been prompted by temporary reasons. M. Benes said that such declarations accurately expressed the view of the Council as a whole. These statements, taken together with the Aloisi report, made it apparent that neither France nor the other members of the League Council would oppose a second plebiscite. Nevertheless, the matter was not yet clear enough to reassure those in the Territory whose vote depended on the opportunity of a later return to Germany. The Deutsche Front papers ignored the statements of Laval, Litvinov, and Benes of December 6, and insisted that the manner in which the report dealt with the second plebiscite showed that it recognized its impossibility. The Saarbrüc\er Zeitung published the text of the report of the Committee of Three under the headline, Eine lakonische Definition, and asked what remained of the Gloriole of the status quo — its democratic freedom and basic rights: "Von ihr ist mit keinem Wort die Rede." 1 7 2 The status quo papers insisted that the report meant that the Council of the League could hold a second plebiscite and prophesied that if France would not oppose it, no one else would. Under the heading, Die zweite Abstimmung ist gesichert, the paper carried daily in large type the statements of Laval and Benes before the Council on December 6, which the Deutsche Front press had omitted to publish. Urgent pleas were made to the Plebiscite Commission by the inhabitants of the Territory to interpret more plainly the status quo and the possibility of a second plebiscite, so that the voters might have a clear idea of what they were voting on. The Commission, however, could not go further than the Council, and was forced to reply by quoting the exact phraseology of the report adopted at Geneva. On November 30 the long-talked-of Catholic party for the status quo had been launched under the name of Deutscher Volksbund für Christlich-soziale Gemeinschaft. Among its founders were said to be over seventy Catholic priests. The party announced that it was, "For 172

Saarbrücker Zeitung, December 6, 1934.

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Christ and our Germany against National Socialism and neo-paganism"; for return to Germany, but not to Hitler Germany. The new party claimed to be the only representative of true Saar Catholics. The Saarbriicker Zeitung retorted that in supporting the status quo it was in the same Front as the anti-Christ Communists and Marxists, who were against Germany and for the permanent sovereignty of the League of Nations. When on December 3 the Neue Saar Post carried names of representatives of the party in the different Kreise to whom application for membership could be made, the Saarbriicker Zeitung countered with a list of signatures of Catholics who were opposed to the new organization. The two bishops on December 4 admonished priests taking part in new political organizations.173 The Gewerkverein Christlicher Bergarbeiter expelled its former leaders, Heinrich Imbusch and Fritz Kuhnen, for identifying themselves with the new party.174 The first large meeting of the Deutscher Volksbund was announced for December 9 in Saarbrücken, under the chairmanship of the editor of the "Neue Saar Post. The Deutsche Front promptly arranged meetings for the same day throughout the Territory, two to be held in the mammoth tent recently erected by the organization in Saarbrücken 113 On November 12 the bishops of Trier and Speyer had ordered the priests of their respective dioceses to abstain from any public appearance at political meetings in the Saar, to practice the same restraint in the pulpit and in Catholic religious organizations, and to avoid recommending papers or books from the pulpit. "What we wish and must prevent through these instructions is the bringing of politics into the Church and the care of souls. Our instructions do not concern the moral duty of love for inherited nationality and fidelity to the Fatherland. Such love and fidelity are rather, according to Catholic doctrine, moral virtues. The priests, as also the laity, must not forget to commend to All Just and All Merciful God the earnest and weighty question of the plebiscite in prayer and sacrifice." This pleased both sides, the Deutsche Front rejoicing in the words regarding the Fatherland, which they interpreted as an admonition to vote for immediate return to Germany, and the Neue Saar Post taking the edict as meaning freedom of conscience for every Saar Catholic. On December 4 the bishops made public a statement that the decree had referred only to "public appearance at political meetings" but that they considered it "a political manifestation of the highest import if priests participate in a meeting which had the declared intent of setting up a new political organization. We must regretfully declare that these priests have acted contrary to the clear meaning and spirit of our decree. We expect them in future to pay attention to the orders of their bishops." (Saarbriicker Zeitung, December 6, 1934.) It was said by those close to Catholic circles that sixteen priests in the Bavarian part of the Territory had refused to obey the pastoral letter, twenty-two had not replied, and thirty-eight were undecided. Should these come out openly for the status quo it was possible that it might receive a majority of the votes of the whole Territory. 174 Saarbriicker Zeitung, December 10, 1934. Kuhnen had come to the Territory before the World War and had been a deputy in the Reichstag. He was the chief figure among the miners and the leader of their strikes in 1920 and 1923. Imbusch, who had come from Essen to the Saar in 1933, was also one of the miners' leaders, was the former chief of the Christian Trade Unions in the Reich, and had been a member of the Reichstag.

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on city property. All these meetings were crowded, and at the two in Saarbrücken it was claimed that, without any press preparation or open propaganda, 40,000 party officials and more than 50,000 other members were present.175 In contrast to the blaze of swastikas at the great Deutsche Front meetings, over the stage of the Volksbund meeting, in the Catholic hall which had been requisitioned by the Kreis inspector, rose a straight and slender cross, with over it the words, "Christus ist unser Führer, nicht Hitler." Thereafter the organization carried on meetings every Sunday in various parts of the Territory. From the attacks on it in the Deutsche Front press, which were far more bitter than those against the Einheitsfront, it was obvious that the new organization was considered the greater menace to an overwhelming vote for the Third Reich. The attack on the Volksbund centered on the charge that it, as well as the Neue Saar Post and the General Anzeiger, were subsidized by French money. This assertion was one of high political potency, for while it was accepted as unquestionably legitimate that Herr Röchling should for years have been receiving funds from the German government for propaganda, and that the Deutsche Front should be enjoying a large subsidy from the same source, the equally incontestable right of the French government to take any part in propaganda was ignored, and it was considered rank treason for any Saar organization, paper, or individual to accept aid from French sources. On December 7, shortly after the first meeting of the Volksbund, the Deutsche Front press, under jubilant headlines, ran the story of how the private secretary and confidential agent of a divisional engineer of the Mines Administration had, by means of false keys, broken into his chief's safe and had turned over to the Deutsche Front documents which he alleged he had found therein, and which, if genuine (a fact denied by his former chief, Herr Rossenbeck), showed that the Neue Saar Post had been receiving subsidies from the French State Mines Administration. The former secretary, who had escaped to Germany, broadcast over the Stuttgart Sender his triumphant account of the theft. The Plebiscite Commission promptly issued a communiqué to the press expressing its "indignation that details of this theft were broadcast by the Reich wireless station . . . with the obvious intention of making political propaganda in the Saar Territory in view of the plebiscite," its disapproval of "the way in which this criminal act was committed, and the tone in which it was brought to the knowledge of the public by part of the Saar press." The Commission warned that, as it was 1,5

Saarbrücker Zeitung, December i o , 1 9 3 4 .

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unable to take any action concerning the German wireless station, it must reconsider the question whether the public diffusion of broadcasts from the Reich should be prohibited in the Saar, a question discussed on various occasions but ultimately dropped because it seemed that a general relaxation of tension had set in. 176 Saarbevollmächtigter Biirckel at once addressed a letter to the Commission arguing that the subsidies of Herr Rossenbeck had been directed toward "wresting Germans from their nation and their Fatherland," and that in considering the affair regard must also be paid to the search conducted by the Governing Commission in the Deutsche Front offices, thus seeming to place the police action ordered by the Governing Commission on a par with the theft by the fugitive secretary. The Plebiscite Commission replied that as regarded the connection alleged between Herr Rossenbeck's activities and the secretary's acts, "it need only be said that, according to the clear provisions governing the plebiscite — which provisions have been confirmed by the German Government — those who are opposed to union with Germany enjoy the same rights as those who are in favour of such union," and that it failed to understand "why the search of the Deutsche Front offices conducted by the competent authorities was mentioned in this connection." 177 Biirckel's assertion in the same letter that "certain non-German wireless stations," meaning in particular, no doubt, the French one at Strasbourg, had "hurled insults against Germany without the Plebiscite Commission expressing its disapproval," the Plebiscite Commission dismissed with the statement that if it did not express its disapproval it was because, in view of the relaxation of tension, it hoped it would have no further reason for doing so, and that, as far as the Commission had been able to ascertain, not one of these stations had broadcast anything of a kind comparable with the secretary's speech from Stuttgart. As the day set for the vote advanced, the efforts of the Deutsche Front to bring pressure on its opponents became still greater. Early in December the Westland, a status quo paper recently bought by Deutsche Front sympathizers, printed a list of Jewish inhabitants of the Territory who, it charged, had given money to promote the status quo cause — a list said to have been so inaccurate as to have been fabricated apparently from the telephone directory. At once a boycott began against the persons on the list, which was displayed in prominent windows of various towns, the names of local inhabitants therein underlined in red. In consequence, it was said, butchers would not buy meat 176 177

"Sixth Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J., "Sixth Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.J.,

January 1 9 3 5 , p. 34. January 1 9 3 5 , p. 3 5 .

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inspected by a veterinary listed, and shops were boycotted, even those on the list through error suffering with the others. The Supreme Court at Saarlouis on December 5 prohibited the distribution of the number of the Westland containing the list under the penalty of a fine of 5,000 francs, but though this prevented similar lists from being published the harm had been done. On the other side the Vol\sstimme was daily publishing lists of names of Saar inhabitants living near Saarlouis who in April 1919 had signed petitions to Clemenceau asking for union with France, but who, under pressure, so it implied, had now joined the Deutsche Front. 178 As no action was brought by anyone the list was widely assumed to be accurate. So far anyone not coming to carry on political activities might enter the Territory freely. The time had come to limit this freedom of entrance. As early as October 12 suitable measures had been discussed with the Plebiscite Commission, and, in agreement with the latter, on November 29 the Governing Commission issued two decrees which required that anyone wishing to enter who did not enjoy the status of a Saar inhabitant or of a French national resident in the Saar, or did not hold a voting certificate or a frontier labor card, must have a permit from the Passport Service of the Saar Department of the Interior which he must present to the police authorities within twenty-four hours after arrival. To remain more than seven days, he or she must have special permission which must be renewed in order to remain after December 26. Further, between December 27 and January 26 no one might enter without a permit from the Saar Department of the Interior, unless he were a registered voter or held a Saar passport or identity card, or a workers' frontier pass.179 The Plebiscite Commission had long been at work on the many details concerning the organization for the casting and counting of the vote, the final articles for which had been left to it by the Committee of Experts when drafting the Regulations the previous May. The Regulations had provided that the voters should cast their ballots in the Bürgermeisterei in which they had resided, and that the president of each voting bureau must be not a native of the Territory and must not belong to either of the two nations interested in the plebiscite. The number of voting bureaus, however, had not been fixed. After careful study and experiment the Plebiscite Commission had decided that the maximum number of voters for each electoral bureau should be fixed at 600, exceptions being made only where an electoral bureau 178 170

See above, p. 43 and n. 24. Appendix, Doc. 22.

276

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

served a whole commune, as happened occasionally in the Bavarian part of the Territory. This decision made necessary a total of 860 voting bureaus, and, with the reserve of deputy chairmen which the Plebiscite Commission had determined on, this brought the total number of chairmen necessary up to 950. For these posts the Commission had decided to obtain, if possible, the services of nationals of the nearest neutral countries — Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Switzerland— who combined a perfect knowledge of German with the qualifications necessary for presiding over an electoral bureau, and whose traveling expenses would not be unduly high. Early in November, on the request of the Plebiscite Commission, the Committee of the Council had asked the governments of these countries to recruit the officials in question. Luxembourg was asked to send 220, the Netherlands 365, and Switzerland 350. Agreement had been received at once from the governments of the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The Swiss government had replied that, while it did not care to select the presidents itself, it saw no inconvenience in Swiss citizens' volunteering as presidents of the voting bureaus, since the work was purely of a civilian nature. The cantonal governments of German Switzerland accordingly proposed names of those possessing the authority and tact necessary for presiding over a voting bureau, and the final selection was made by the Swiss member of the Plebiscite Commission. A few chairmen of American, British, Danish, Finnish, Italian, and Swedish nationality were appointed by the Commission on special recommendation, bringing the total to 950. As regarded the other members of the voting bureaus, the Plebiscite Commission had long since determined that each of the three alternatives on the ballot should be represented as far as possible on each bureau. On November 14 the Commission had invited each of the various political organizations to submit the names of four candidates for the posts of the two regular and two assistant members. The Kreis bureaus, whose duty it was to make the appointments, were to send in their nominations by November 30 for approval.180 After most careful study the Plebiscite Commission decided not to fix the voting bureaus in the several communes of the voting division, but to bring them together in the chief place of the Bürgermeisterei, for though the latter arrangement would mean that the average voter would have a somewhat greater distance to travel it represented the 180 Lettre circulaire, no. 84. On August 17 the Plebiscite Commission had decided that the post of secretary of the voting bureau might be suppressed, and so amended the Regulations on December 15.

T H E P L E B I S C I T E COMMISSION

277

usual procedure in the Territory, and had other great advantages. It would save much time for the communal committees, since, if there were several voting bureaus, they would need to divide the lists only alphabetically and not by communes also. It would, moreover, mean fewer voting bureaus and less effort for the Kreis bureaus in distributing the urns and supervising the proceedings. Accordingly the voting bureaus of the Bürgermeisterei, with few exceptions, were concentrated in one town, and to make police protection easier they were fixed as far as possible in one building. An amendment to Article 29 of the Regulations made this possible. In spite of the drastic sentences given by the Plebiscite courts threats of reprisals after the plebiscite were increasing. The widespread feeling among the Saarlanders that the Deutsche Front organization possessed almost supernatural powers made such threats seem far from empty, and the technique followed in the "plebiscite" held in the Reich on August 19,1934, had been the opposite of reassuring. The Plebiscite Commission had already assured the voters that it could and would safeguard the secrecy of the vote, but rumors were still being spread, apparently by the Deutsche Front, that all efforts of the Commission would be vain and that the voters for the status quo would be known and would be exposed to reprisals from individuals, or even from the Reich authorities, after the handing over of the Territory. It was evident that the only real remedy was not only to insure a secret ballot but to establish absolute confidence in such secrecy. With this confidence established, anyone who had not taken an open stand for the status quo could be expected to vote without fear of "1935." The inviolate character of the casting of the ballot had been assured by providing a neutral president for each voting bureau, as well as by purely mechanical safeguards. The status quo adherents, however, were uneasy as to the counting, for they feared that if this were done by each local voting bureau, as it had been in most of the other plebiscites, identification of the individual ballots might be possible, if in no other way than by addition and subtraction of the results. To destroy this fear the Plebiscite Commission considered very carefully the proposals for counting the ballots at Geneva or at Saarbrücken. Early in November it decided that the counting should be centralized at Saarbrücken and be done by a force of neutral presidents of the voting bureaus working under the Kreis inspectors and their assistants, the whole process to be under the supervision of the Plebiscite Commission, which would itself give the final decision on all doubtful ballots. Each step in the counting was to be carried out before the eyes of repre-

278

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

sentatives of the three sides, placed at a distance sufficient to make impossible any identification of individual ballots. After the proclamation of the result the ballots would be taken in sealed boxes to the League Council at Geneva, which would then destroy them, thus removing all chance that any ballot could be traced to any voter. The Plebiscite Commission on December 1 1 , 1934, posted throughout the Territory a proclamation describing the essential provisions of the Regulations. 181 It first called attention to the guarantees given by both interested states on June 2, 1934, that they would not make reprisals or allow their citizens to make them, and that the whole system for the plebiscite regulations had been constructed so as to give all guarantees to the voters that the vote would be secret, free, and uninfluenced. The Commission then reminded the voters that the members of the Plebiscite Commission and all its officials, including the chairmen of all the voting bureaus, were foreign to the Saar and belonged to no one of the states interested in the plebiscite; that the voter would be alone in the voting booth when he marked his ballot (unless he should require help because of physical infirmity) and would there place it in an envelope which he himself would close; that on leaving the booth he would give the closed envelope to the chairman, who would put it in the ballot box; that before ascertaining the result the ballot box would be taken to Saarbrücken under the guard of neutral officials and of the police; that before counting, the contents of all the ballot boxes from one voting district would be mixed together so that the result in any one voting bureau could not possibly be known even to the Plebiscite Commission and still less to the public; and that after the counting, which would be exclusively by neutral officials under the supervision of the Plebiscite Commission, the ballots would be handed over to the League Council at Geneva, thus excluding all possibility of a later examination to ascertain the vote of individuals. The Commission closed by drawing attention to the penalties of imprisonment for forcing a person by threats, pressure, or the like, to disclose how he or another had voted or meant to vote, and to the fact that the jurisdiction of the Supreme Plebiscite Court would be continued after the plebiscite. At once the Deutsche Front leaders protested to the Plebiscite Commission that as the Saar had become an asylum for Emigranten, who were even in the police, transportation of the ballots to a central hall would mean too much danger of theft or of substitution of false ballot boxes. They begged the Plebiscite Commission to allow the counting either in the separate voting bureaus or in the Bürgermeisteramt, or at 181

Appendix, Doc. 23.

T H E PLEBISCITE COMMISSION

279

least to allow a preliminary count in one or the other if the Plebiscite Commission insisted on having the final counting in a central place. 182 T h e Plebiscite Commission, however, held to the original plan and embodied it in its final ordinance regarding the electoral operations subsequent to the closing of the polls which was promulgated on December 22 in execution of Article 55 of the Plebiscite Regulations. 183 T h e Plebiscite Commission had taken every precaution against the use of false ballots by ordering them of an intricate design on a background resembling that of bank notes. These were being made in all secrecy in T h e Hague by a bank-note printing house of established integrity. T h e Supreme Plebiscite Court had succeeded in considering all appeals before the date fixed, and the Kartothe\büro had completed the card index and finished the first examination of the entries. Thus it was possible on December 20 to begin forwarding the electoral certificates to the addresses given in the Territory and to complete the distribution before the end of the month, as had been planned in order to give time for forwarding the certificates to voters living outside the Territory to enable them to enter. 184 T h e number of registered voters living outside the Territory had come to about 55,000. Of these about 48,000 resided in Germany, and 5,000 in France. Of the remaining 2,000 it was expected that 1,100 would come from the United States and Canada, 210 from Central and South America, and about thirty from Africa and Asia, these latter being chiefly missionaries from the mission-house at St. Wendel. By December 11 the first of the voters from Africa had already arrived in Hamburg, and those from Chicago and the West were on their way to N e w York to board the German liners provided for them. 185 182

Saarbrücken

183

A p p e n d i x , D o c . 10, A n n e x III.

Zeitung,

D e c e m b e r 12, 1934.

184

T h e Plebiscite C o m m i s s i o n , using the latitude g i v e n it by Article 32 of the Pleb-

iscite Regulations, had arranged to have the certificates delivered by registered letter, w i t h a special receipt tucked u n d e r the flap of the envelope ready to be signed and returned by the postman to the c o m m u n a l committee, w h i c h w a s to keep it w i t h the voting list. (See A p p e n d i x , D o c . 10, Article 32.)

T h e G o v e r n i n g C o m m i s s i o n agreed to deliver the

certificates w i t h o u t charge. T o save time and expense it w a s arranged that the n a m e and address of the voter as typed on the certificate should be visible t h r o u g h a " w i n d o w " of thin paper set in the envelope. T h e certificates f o r the voters not l i v i n g in the Territory

w e r e stamped

Ausland,

to enable the president of the voting bureau to see q u i c k l y that the voter m u s t show w i t h it not a Saar identity card but a passport. 186

A s early as October 1 the V e r e i n der Saarländer had held a flag consecration in

New York

at w h i c h it w a s a n n o u n c e d that h u n d r e d s w o u l d g o to the plebiscite;

in

C h i c a g o a concert and ball had been held to raise the necessary traveling f u n d s f o r Saarlanders in the W e s t (Saarbriicker

Zeitung,

October 30 and D e c e m b e r 9, 1 9 3 4 ) .

Bürgermeisterei

No.

Bisten

(in der Liste)

Abstimmungsausweis

zur Volksabstimmung des Saargebietes Sonntag, den 13. Januar 1935, 8 , 3 0 — 2 0 Uhr

(Name Qnd Vornamen)

(Aoadixiit im Saalgebiet)

Geburtsdatum

Geburtsort

Der Abstimmungsberechtigte gibt seine Stimme ab in: Der Vorsitzende des Gemeindeausschusses:

Dieser Abstimmungsausweis ist nicht übertragbar. Um zur Abstimmung zugelassen zu werden, muß der Abstimmungsberechtigte seinen Abstimmungsausweis vorzeigen, sowie einen der nachstehenden Identitätsausweise: 1. Der Abstimmungsberechtigte, welcher zur Zeit das Saargebiet bewohnt: roten saarländischen Personal-Ausweis, oder weißen saarländischen „ „ (carte d'identité), oder gelben saarländischen „ „ (erteilt von der Militärbehörde) oder saarländischen oder ausländischen Reisepaß (der Staatenlose, Paßersatz). 2. Der Abstimmungsberechtigte, welcher zur Zeit n i c h t im Saargebiet wohnt: Reisepaß (der Staatenlose, Paßersatz).

Wahlordnung für die Volksabstimmung im Saargebiet. Artikel 62. Wer mehrmals abstimmt, entweder in derselben Ortschaft oder in verschiedenen Ortschaften, wird mit Gefängnis von sechs Monaten bis zu einem Jahr oder mit Geldstrafe von 250 bis 5000 Franken bestraft. Gleiche Strafen treffen denjenigen, welcher an Stelle einer anderen Person abstimmt oder wer abstimmt, ohne das Recht dazu zu haben.

T H E ELECTORAL

CERTIFICATE

A b o v e , r e c t o ; b e l o w , verso

T H E P L E B I S C I T E COMMISSION As the time for the arrival of the voters from outside the Territory drew near the streets were ablaze with the swastika flag and the imperial colors. Anxious to avoid any reproach of having allowed an appearance of a fait accompli, the Plebiscite Commission decided that the display of flags should be prohibited from December 23 until the results of the voting should have been proclaimed. The ordinance, promulgated at the request of the Plebiscite Commission by the Governing Commission on December 20, 1934, prohibited for this period the public display of all national flags, or flags or banners bearing the colors of the Saar Territory or of towns in the Territory, the colors of churches, or banners or symbols which had a special political character in connection with the plebiscite.186 This ordinance was greatly resented. From the Frankfurt-am-Main Sender came on December 21 bitter criticisms of the Governing Commission for promulgating it and ignoring the fact that the promulgation had been at the request of the Plebiscite Commission. Accordingly the latter issued a communiqué on December 30 pointing out that the ordinance had been promulgated at its own request, and making it clear that it considered undesirable and inadmissible the attribution to the Governing Commission of responsibility for measures taken by the Plebiscite Commission.187 Every Saturday and Sunday both sides were holding meetings. The Deutsche Front claimed that at each meeting in its huge tent 50,000 were present. Arrangements were being made by the Deutsche Front for Christmas services around lighted Christmas trees which were being erected in the public squares in the towns and villages. Determined to prevent as far as possible the use of Christmas for propaganda, the Plebiscite Commission, through the press on December 16 proposed to the organizations taking part in the plebiscite campaign that, from December 23 to 27 inclusive, they should suspend all propaganda activities. On December 20 President Henry of the Plebiscite Commission announced that this had been accepted in writing by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft zur Wahrung Saarländischer Interessen, the Deutsche Front, the Deutsche Volksbund, the Einheitsfront, the Saarländische Sozialistische Partei, and the Saarländische Wirtschaftsvereinigung, and that the Deutsche Front proposed that the truce be extended to January, but this the Einheitsfront had refused.188 Meanwhile attention was focused on the arrival of the international 188

Appendix, Doc. 24. "Sixth Report of the Plebiscite Commission," L.N.O.]., ™Neue Saar Post, December 20, 1934. 187

January 1935, p. 34.

282

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

police force, called locally the Knox-Armee. On December 8 the Committee of Three had reported to the League Council that, in reply to its query, the German government had acquiesced in the proposal of an international force to maintain order before, during, and after the plebiscite.189 Accordingly the Council on the same day had invited the governments of the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden to take part in the establishment of such a force. At the same time it had instructed the Committee to set up a sub-committee of one representative of each of the countries so invited, together with the chairman of the Governing Commission, in order to study and propose measures necessary for the organization and functions of this international force. The four governments having replied favorably, the Council on December n voted that the International Force should be placed at the disposal of the Saar Governing Commission and requested the members of the League concerned to grant every facility for the transit through their territory of the national contingents and their supplies. The costs of transport and of maintenance resulting from expatriation, in so far as they were not covered by the credits already provided in the budgets of the respective governments, together with any costs of accommodation, were to be charged to the League fund for the plebiscite. Should this fund prove insufficient, the Committee of the Council was authorized to request the French and German governments to make supplementary payments. The cost of death or invalidity pensions consequent on service as a member of the International Force would be borne by the government of the Territory within the meaning of paragraph 39 of the Saar Annex. 1 9 0 The Governing Commission was authorized under paragraph 34 of the Saar Annex to enact the legislation necessary to exempt the International Force and its members from all responsibility for any act accomplished in the performance of their mission and to confer on itself in case of need the power of 183

T h e German reply of December 6, 1 9 3 4 , read as follows: " T h e German Government has taken note of the statements made in the Council regarding the maintenance of public order in the Saar Territory during the plebiscite period. As a matter of fact, it considers that the situation in the Saar Territory does not make it appear necessary that foreign forces should be employed for the maintenance of public order. "Nevertheless, the German Government would agree to the sending of an adequate number of neutral international contingents to the Saar Territory for the above purpose if the Council were to decide that this should be done." ( L . N . O . J . , December 1 9 3 4 , pp. 1 7 2 9 - 1 7 3 0 . ) 180 For the text of the two resolutions adopted by the Council, see L.N.O.J., December 1 9 3 4 , pp. 1 7 3 0 , 1 7 6 2 - 1 7 6 3 .

T H E P L E B I S C I T E COMMISSION

283

requisition for the accommodation, maintenance, and transport of the force. The command of the International Force, its organization, services, and members, were to be exempt from the jurisdiction of the courts of the Territory, and the Supreme Plebiscite Court was to have exclusive competence to judge breaches of penal law committed against the International Force or its members, or affecting its property or that of its members or organs. The sub-committee on arrangements regarding the International Force recommended on December 12 that the contingent should be composed of infantry, armored cars, and ancillary troops, and that the force should be highly mobile and equipped with motor transport up to approximately 50 per cent of the infantry's strength. The subcommittee reported that the Governing Commission was to continue to bear the responsibility for the maintenance of law and order, and that, subject to the military requirements of the situation, and without prejudice to any immediate action which might be necessary in the event of an emergency, the commander-in-chief was to comply with the requests made to him by the chairman of the Governing Commission for intervention to maintain or restore order. Each of the governments furnishing a contingent was to appoint an officer to the staff of the commander-in-chief.181 The composition of the force of 3,300 men was as follows : United Kingdom Italy Netherlands Sweden Total

1,500 i)300 250 250 3,300

As the commander-in-chief was to be under the orders of the chairman of the Governing Commission, the Committee of Three asked the United Kingdom to make the appointment, and on the recommendation of the British Ministry of War the British government appointed Major-General J. E. S. Brind. The British force consisted of two battalions of infantry (ist Essex and ist East Lancashire regiments) and a squadron of lancers (the 12th) with armored cars; the Italian of two battalions of infantry (one of grenadieri and one of carabinieri) and one squadron of tanks; the Dutch of two companies of marines; and the Swedish of two companies of Royal Guards. There were sufficient lorries to transport half of the total force in case of emergency. 1,1 L.N.O.J., December 1934, p. 1 8 4 1 .

284

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

The German government informed the Committee of the Council that it would give free transportation and provisioning to the frontiers of the Territory to the Dutch and Swedish contingents, and the French government did the same for the British force. On December 20, only ten days after the written orders had been received by the Force Commander, the first companies of the International Saar Force had detrained at Saarbrücken and other stations in the Territory. 192 On December 23 the last of the contingents were arriving. The Italian force, carefully selected from the élite of the Italian army and dressed in new uniforms, had been reviewed by Mussolini before entraining. They were a magnificent spectacle as, bayonets fixed according to the Italian regulations, they marched down the Bahnhofstrasse of Saarbrücken. The Dutch, members of a picked corps, gave an appearance of sturdy impassivity. The Swedes were specially enlisted, and special legislation had been necessary to enable them to serve outside Sweden. The British, the only ones not especially picked and with many raw recruits among them, gave a disarming impression of informality with their bayonets carried in inconspicuous fashion and their "Baby Austins" dashing back and forth. The task of the International Force was not intended to be that of a police force in the ordinary sense, but of an emergency reserve exercising by its mere presence a restraint on any who might be tempted to provoke disorders. As the greatest likelihood of trouble lay in the industrial area, this was divided between the two strongest contingents. The British, billeted at Brebach, Grube Heinitz, St. Wendel, and Homburg, had under their charge a large part of the industrial area, with the two great centers of Saarbrücken and Neunkirchen. The Italians, billeted at Dillingen, Sulzbach, Dudweiler, and Saarlouis, had the whole Kreis of Saarlouis and that part of the Landkreis of Saarbrücken which lay west of the city. Kreis Merzig was in charge of the Swedes, billeted at Merzig and Mettlach, while the Dutch were stationed at St. Ingbert, with a small contingent at Saarbrücken. As the area was densely populated and all available living accommodations appeared to be taken up, even the barracks formerly used by the German garrison having been turned into civilian apartments, the finding of billets presented difficulties. The civil government furnished a list of possible billets in each area — chiefly public buildings and factories — and the contingents fixed up their own billeting details. 102 General Brind had arrived in Saarbrücken on December 1 4 . A Dutch and a Swedish general had come also, temporarily, in order to make arrangements for the arrival of the several contingents.

M

υ ti

O Uh -Ο G Μ J O pH


enrt) C . ¡Robíe

3). be Songlj SEBjn

APPENDIX

441

DOCUMENT 20. Ordinance requiring officials to maintain a neutral attitude at all times and prohibiting them from engaging in political activities. November 22, 1934. 1 N R . 584.

VERORDNUNG BETREFFEND DIE POLITISCHE BETÄTIGUNG DER BEAMTEN

Auf Ersuchen der Abstimmungskommission, sowie auf Grund der Artikel 47, 49 und 50 des Abschnittes I V (Teil 3 ) des Friedensvertrages von Versailles vom 28. Juli 1919, ferner des Kapitels III der Anlage zu Abschnitt I V (Teil 3 ) des Friedensvertrages und in Ausführung des Beschlusses des Völkerbundsrates vom 28. September 1934 wird folgendes verordnet: In Erwägung, dass dem Beamten bei seiner Betätigung im öffentlichen politischen Leben bereits durch sein A m t Rücksichten auferlegt sind, die f ü r andere, nicht unter dem Zwange der im öffentlichen Interesse unerlässlichen Disziplin stehenden Staatsbürger nicht in Betracht kommen; dass der Beamte allgemein, insonderheit aber während der gegenwärtigen Abstimmungsperiode — auch bei dem politisch anders Gesinnten — Vertrauen auf seine Unparteilichkeit erwecken muss, er sich dieses Vertrauen aber nicht bewahren kann, wenn er in den politischen Kampf eingreift, oder seine politische Werbetätigkeit gar zum Gegenstand von Erörterungen und Angriffen wird, insbesondere auch in der Presse; dass es Pflicht der Abstimmungskommission ist, tunlichst dafür Sorge zu tragen, dass keiner Partei im Saargebiet die Möglichkeit gegeben wird, unter Benutzung der öffentlichen Staatsgewalt, politische Ziele zu verfolgen und die öffentliche Meinung f ü r sich zu gewinnen; dass dieser Missbrauch aber nur durch eine Einschränkung des Rechtes der ausserdienstlichen politischen Betätigung des Beamten wirksam verhindert werden kann; hat die Abstimmungskommission beschlossen, Die Regierungskommission des Saargebietes zu ersuchen, die nachstehende Verordnung baldmöglichst verkündigen zu wollen. Artikel 1. Den unmittelbaren und mittelbaren Staatsbeamten ist es untersagt 1 ) in oder f ü r Vereinigungen, die eine Einwirkung auf die Volksabstimmung bezwecken, irgendwelche Parteifunktionen oder irgendwelche Werbe- oder Agitationstätigkeit auszuüben, 2 ) politische Versammlungen zu veranstalten, zu leiten oder in ihnen als Redner aufzutreten, 1 Verordnungen, 1934, p. 482. The request by the Plebiscite Commission for publication of the ordinance is omitted.

442

T H E SAAR PLEBISCITE

3) in periodischen oder nicht periodischen Druckschriften Angelegenheiten der Volksabstimmung zum Gegenstand der Erörterung zu machen. Artikel 2. Vertretern, von Behörden, sofern diese Vertreter die Beamteneigenschaft besitzen, ist die Teilnahme an öffentlichen, aus Anlass der Volksabstimmung stattfindenden Veranstaltungen verboten, sofern die Teilnahme in der Eigenschaft als Vertreter einer Behörde erfolgt. Artikel 3. Wer den Bestimmungen der Artikel 1 oder 2 zuwiderhandelt, wird mit Gefängnis nicht unter drei Monaten und mit Geldstrafe nicht unter 1 000.— Franken bestraft. Sind mildernde Umstände vorhanden, so tritt Gefängnisstrafe nicht unter einer Woche und Geldstrafe nicht unter 500.— Franken ein. Die §§ 42 a und 42 b des Strafgesetzbuches finden keine Anwendung. Der Oberste Abstimmungsgerichtshof ist für die Untersuchung und Entscheidung zuständig. Artikel 4. Diese Verordnung tritt in Kraft drei Tage nach ihrer Veröffentlichung im Amtsblatt. Alle ihr entgegenstehenden Bestimmungen werden aufgehoben. Saarbrücken, den 20. November 1934. Im Namen der Regierungskommission Der Präsident: gez. G . G .

KNOX.

21. Ordinance prohibiting public exhibition of written matter, posters, etc., except on billboards specified by the Kreis inspectors. December ι, 1934.1 DOCUMENT

NR.

598.

VERORDNUNG

B E T R E F F E N D DAS Ö F F E N T L I C H E A N B R I N G E N VON A U F S C H R I F T E N , U N D P L A K A T E N W Ä H R E N D DER

ABBILDUNGEN

ABSTIMMUNGSPERIODE.

Artikel 1. Jedwedes öffentliche Anbringen von Aufschriften oder Abbildungen deren Inhalt sich auf die Volksabstimmung bezieht, ist verboten. Das öffentliche Anbringen und Ausstellen von Plakaten, deren Inhalt sich auf die Volksabstimmung bezieht, kann doch an den von dem zuständigen Kreisinspektor der Abstimmungskommission hierzu bestimmten Stellen und an den hierfür besonders errichteten Tafeln erfolgen. 1

Verordnungen,

tion is omitted.

1 9 3 4 , p . 486. T h e request by the Plebiscite C o m m i s s i o n f o r publica-

A P P E N D I X

443

Plakat im Sinne dieser Verordnung ist jede Druckschrift, die zur Verbreitung durch öffentliches Anschlagen, Ausstellen oder Auslegen bestimmt ist. Artikel 2. Jede der im Friedensvertrage vorgesehenen drei Abstimmungsparteien darf auf Antrag an das zuständige Kreisbüro der Abstimmungskommission und nach näheren Anweisungen desselben gleich grosse Anschlagetafeln errichten. Artikel 3. Wer den Vorschriften des Artikels 1 zuwiderhandelt, wird mit H a f t nicht unter drei Tagen, beim Vorliegen mildernder Umstände mit Geldstrafe nicht unter 300 Franken bestraft. Die §§ 4 2 a und 4 2 b S t . G . B . finden keine Anwendung. Ebenso wird bestraft, wer Plakate, die an den hierzu bestimmten Tafeln angebracht sind, unbefugt vernichtet, wegnimmt oder unlesbar macht. Artikel 4. Auf die amtlichen Bekanntmachungen der Abstimmungsbehörden sowie der öffentlichen Behörden sind die vorstehenden Bestimmungen nicht anwendbar. Artikel 5. Diese Verordnung tritt am 5. Dezember 1934 in K r a f t . Die zum Zeitpunkt des Inkrafttretens dieser Verordnung bereits angebrachten und in Widerspruch zu dieser Verordnung stehenden Aufschriften und Abbildungen müssen spätestens bis 10. Dezember 1934 entfernt sein. Vorstehende Verordnung wird auf Ersuchen der Abstimmungskommission hiermit verkündet. Saarbrücken, den 29. November 1934. Im Namen der Regierungskommission. Der Präsident: I.V. g e z . D R . ZORICIC.

22. Decrees regarding entrance into the Territory. 29 and December 22, 1934. 1

DOCUMENT

NR.

601.

November

VERORDNUNG B E T R E F F E N D R E G E L U N G DES V E R K E H R S I M S A A R G E B I E T .

Auf Grund der §§ 19 und 2 1 der Anlage zu Abschnitt I V (Teil 3 ) des Friedensvertrages von Versailles verordnet die Regierungskommission auf Grund ihres Beschlusses vom 29. November 1934, was folgt: 1

Verordnungen,

1 9 3 4 , p. 5 0 1 .

444

THE SAAR PLEBISCITE § ι.

Die Verordnung betreffend die Regelung des Verkehrs im Saargebiet vom 16. April 1925 wird wie folgt geändert: Artikel 2. — Personen, die nicht die Eigenschaft eines Saareinwohners besitzen, haben sich 24 Stunden nach ihrer Ankunft bei der Polizeibehörde des Ortes, in dem sie Aufenthalt nehmen, in Saarbrücken bei dem zuständigen Polizeirevier, anzumelden. Ueber die Anmeldung wird eine Bescheinigung erteilt. Artikel 3. — Personen, die die Bescheinigung der Ortspolizeibehörde über die Anmeldung eingeholt haben, können sich bis zu 7 Tagen innerhalb des Saargebietes aufhalten. Artikel 4. — Personen, die länger als 7 Tage im Saargebiet sich aufhalten wollen, müssen unter Vorlage ihres Passes oder ihres Ausweises bei der Regierungskommission, Abteilung des Innern (Passabteilung) ein Gesuch um Verlängerung der Aufenthaltserlaubnis anbringen. Diese kann die Erlaubnis zu einem weiteren Aufenthalt bis zu 3 Monaten erteilen und jedesmal nach Ablauf um weitere 3 Monate verlängern. Die Aufenthaltserlaubnis (Artikel 3 und 4) kann jederzeit zurückgenommen werden, falls der weitere Aufenthalt einer Person geeignet ist, die öffentliche Ruhe und Sicherheit im Saargebiet zu stören. Artikel 8. — Mit Geldstrafe bis zu 750 Franken oder mit entsprechender Haft wird bestraft, wer den Bestimmungen des Artikels 2, 4 und 7 zuwiderhandelt.

§ 2· Diese Verordnung tritt in Kraft mit dem Tage ihrer Veröffentlichung im Amtsblatt. Saarbrücken, den 29. November 1934. Der Präsident der Regierungskommission: I. V . g e z . D R . ZORICIC.

N R . 602.

VERORDNUNG.

Auf Grund der §§ 19 und 21 der Anlage zu Abschnitt I V (Teil 3) des Friedensvertrages von Versailles verordnet die Regierungskommission im Einverständnis mit der Abstimmungskommission und auf Grund ihres Beschlusses vom 29. November 1934 was folgt: Artikel 1. In der Zeit vom 27. Dezember 1934 — 26. Januar 1935 einschliesslich bedürfen alle Personen, mit Ausnahme der in Artikel 2 bis 4 bezeichneten, zur Einreise in das Saargebiet einer besonderen Genehmigung. Die Genehmigung wird von der Abteilung des Innern erteilt und kann jederzeit widerrufen werden.

APPENDIX

445

Die Einreisegenehmigung ist innerhalb 24 Stunden nach der Einreise der Ortspolizeibehörde vorzulegen. Sie berechtigt zu wiederholter Einreise in das Saargebiet innerhalb des in dem Genehmigungsvermerk bezeichneten Zeitraumes. Personen, denen die Genehmigung zum vorübergehenden Aufenthalt im Saargebiet erteilt ist, müssen diese Genehmigung vor dem 27. Dezember 1934 erneuern. Die erneuerte Genehmigung berechtigt sie zu wiederholter Ein- und Ausreise in das Saargebiet. Die Gebühr für die Einreisegenehmigung beträgt 20 Franken, im Falle des Absatz 4 = 2 Franken. Die Gebühr kann in begründeten Fällen, insbesondere bei Bedürftigkeit der einreisenden Person, falls ein dringlicher Anlass zur Einreise vorliegt, erlassen werden. Artikel 2. Für ausserhalb des Saargebietes wohnhafte abstimmungsberechtigte Personen genügt zur Einreise der Abstimmungsausweis gemäss Artikel 31 der Wahlordnung für die Abstimmung im Saarbeckengebiet vom 7. Juli 1934 in Verbindung mit dem Reisepass, wie er durch Artikel 34 dieser Wahlordnung bezw. durch die Verordnung vom 3 1 . Oktober 1934 betr. die in Artikel 44 der Abstimmungsordnung vom 7. Juli 1934 vorgesehenen Identitätsausweise für die Abstimmung vorgeschrieben ist. Artikel 3. Die auf Grund der Verordnung vom 27. Januar 1932 betr. die Arbeitszentralstelle für das Saargebiet ausgestellten Legitimationskarten sowie die Grenzausweise gemäss Protokoll über die Gebrauchsrechte an der saarländisch-französischen Grenze vom 13. November 1926 behalten ihre Gültigkeit. Artikel 4. Für Personen, die im Besitze eines saarländischen Reisepasses oder eines saarländischen Personalausweises sind, bedarf es zur Einreise keiner besonderen Genehmigung. Artikel 5. Die Bestimmungen der Verordnung betreffend die Regelung des Verkehrs im Saargebiet vom 16. April 1925 und der Verordnung vom 31. März 1925 zur Abänderung und Ergänzung der Verordnung betreffend die Erhebung von Gebühren für Erlaubnisscheine, Pässe und Ausweispapiere vom 23. November 1920, soweit sie den Vorschriften dieser Verordnung entgegenstehen, werden für die Dauer dieser Verordnung ausser Kraft gesetzt. Artikel 6. Die Polizeibehörden haben die erforderliche Kontrolle in der Eisenbahn und sonstigen Verkehrsmitteln, in Hotels und Gasthäusern und sonstigen derartigen Unterkunftsstätten vorzunehmen.

4 4

6

T H E

S A A R

P L E B I S C I T E

Artikel 7. Mit Geldstrafe bis zu 750 Franken oder mit entsprechender Haft wird bestraft, wer den Bestimmungen des Artikels 1 zuwiderhandelt. Artikel 8. Diese Verordnung tritt am 27. Dezember 1934 in Kraft. Das Mitglied der Regierungskommission für die Angelegenheiten des Innern wird ermächtigt, die Geltungsdauer dieser Verordnung zu verlängern und die erforderlichen Ausführungsbestimmungen zu erlassen. Saarbrücken, den 29. November 1934. Der Präsident der Regierungskommission: I. V. g e z . D R . ZORICIC.

NR.

653.

AUSFÜHRUNGSBESTIMMUNGEN

ZUR V E R O R D N U N G VOM 2 9 . N O V E M B E R SAARGEBIET.

1 9 3 4 B E T R E F F E N D E I N R E I S E I N DAS

(AMTSBLATT 1934 N R .

602).

Gemäss Artikel 8 der Verordnung vom 29. November 1934 betreffend Einreise in das Saargebiet wird folgendes bestimmt: § ιDie Genehmigung zur Einreise in das Saargebiet wird erteilt von der Abteilung des Innern. Sie ist schriftlich zu beantragen unter Vorlage eines mit Lichtbild versehenen Passes oder Personalausweises. In dem Gesuch ist Zweck, Dauer und Ort des Aufenthaltes im Saargebiet genau anzugeben. § 2. Die Genehmigung ist nachzusuchen vor der Einreise in das Saargebiet. Sie wird in dem Pass oder Personalausweis vermerkt und ist bei der Einreise den kontrollierenden Beamten vorzuzeigen. Sie ist ferner der Ortspolizeibehörde des Ortes, in dem der Aufenthalt genommen wird, innerhalb 24 Stunden nach der Einreise vorzulegen. Wird innerhalb der ersten 24 Stunden der Aufenthalt gewechselt, so genügt die Vorlage bei einer Ortspolizeibehörde. § 3· Diejenigen Personen, denen die Genehmigung zum vorübergehenden Aufenthalt im Saargebiet bereits erteilt ist, haben, wenn sie sich nach dem 26. Dezember 1934 im Saargebiet noch aufhalten wollen, erneut die Aufenthaltsgenehmigung bei der Regierungskommission, Abteilung des Innern, nachzusuchen. Die Genehmigung des weiteren Aufenthaltes erfolgt durch Abstempelung des Passes oder Personalausweises. Einer erneuten Meldung bei der Ortspolizeibehörde bedarf es nicht.

APPENDIX

447

§ 4· Die Einreisegenehmigung kann jederzeit widerrufen werden. Sie ist insbesondere zu widerrufen, wenn sich ergibt, dass sie durch unwahre Angaben erwirkt worden ist.

§ 5· In wieweit Ausnahmen von dem Erfordernis der Einreisegenehmigung in besonderen Fällen (im Grenzverkehr bei Personen, die dienstlich in das Saargebiet einreisen müssen usw.) zugelassen sind, wird durch besondere Verfügung bekanntgegeben. Saarbrücken, den 18. Dezember 1934. Das Mitglied der Regierungskommission für die Angelegenheiten des Innern: gez. G . G . KNOX.

Document

23.

Proclamation

by the Plebiscite Commission reassuring the casting and counting of the ballots.

the inhabitants December 11,

of the Saar as to the secrecy 1934.

Volksabstimmung für Jas Saargebiet

Bekanntmathung D e r Abstlmm ungskommission ist zur Kenntnis gelangt, daß unter der Bevölkerung hier und dott die Befürchtung besteht, die Abstimmung des 13. Januar 1935 werde nicht geheim sein, sodaß die Stimmberechtigten, j e nachdem sie in diesem oder jenem Sinne stimmen, sidi den Vergeltungsmaßnahmen von Einzelpersonen oder gar von selten der Behörden desjenigen Staates aussetzen, gegen den sie gestimmt haben. Diese Befürchtung ist schon deshalb unbegründet, weil jeder der beiden an der Abstimmung beteiligten Staaten sich am 2. Juni 1934 dem Völkerbund gegenüber feierlich verpflichtet hat, nicht nur

„sich hinsichtlich d e r abstimmungsberechtigten Personen jeder Verfolgung, Vergeltungsmaßnahme oder Schlech ter Stellung wegen der politischen Haltung, die diese Personen während der Verwaltung durch den Völkerbund mit Beziehung auf den Gegenstand der Volksbefragung eingenommen haben, zu enthalten;" sondern audi

„die geeigneten Maßnahmen zu treffen, um j e d e diesen Verpflichtungen zuwiderlaufende Handlung ihrer Staatsangehörigen zu verhindern oder ihr Einhalt zu gebieten.' 4 Außerdem aber 1st das gesamte System der Abstimniungsordnung in solcher Weise aufgebaut, daß den Abstimmungsberechtigten alle Gewähr dafür geboten wird, daß ihre Stimmabgabe I r e l , geôeim u n d unbeein/lujlt ist. Der Abstimmungskommission erscheint es ganz besonders wichtig, nicht nur für die vollkommene Gehelmhaltung der Stimmabgabe besorgt zu sein, sondern audi bel der Bevölkerung die Oberzeugung zu erwecken, daß sie sich unter allen Umständen auf diese Geheimhaltung vet lassen kann. Ist die Gehelmhaltung sichergestellt und 1st der Stimmberechtigte hiervon überzeugt, dann wird er Imstande sein, im Augenblick der Stimmabgabe alle etwa unter Druck oder Drohung erfolgten Versuche, Ihn zu beeinflussen und in die Fieiheit seiner Entschließung einzugreifen, abzuschütteln, und seine Wahl zwischen.den dtei durch den Friedensvertrag gebotenen Möglichkelten wird in voller Unabhängigkeit erfolgen können. Unbeschadet der weiteren Ausführungsbestimmungen, welche die Abstimmungskommission sich vorbehält, im geeigneten Augenblick der Bevölkerung bekannt zu geben, hält sie es für geboten, schon heute die Aufmerksamkeit auf folgendes zu lenken:

Die Mitglieder der Abstimmungskommission und sämtliche Beamten derselben, einschließlich der Vorsitzenden aller Wahlbüros, sind dem Saargebiet fremd und gehören keinem der an der Volksabstimmung beteiligten Staaten an. B e i der Wahlhandlung selbst muß ieder Abstimmungsberechtigte seinen Stimmzettel in einer Isolierzelle ausfüllen, welche er allein betritt (außer wenn er infolge eines körperlichen Gebrechens eines Beistandes bedarf), und muß dann diesen Zettel in der gleichen Zelle in einen Umschlag stecken, den er selber verschließt. Nachdem er aus der Isolierzelle getreten ist, übergibt er den gesdilossenen Umschlag dem Vorsitzenden, der ihn in die Urne legt. Jedem Stimmberechtigten ist es bei Strafe untersagt, im Abstimmungslokal auf irgend eine Weise die Wahl, die er treffen wird oder die er bereits getroffen hat, bekannt zu geben. Hat er noch nicht gestimmt, so geht er dadurch seines Stimmrechts verlustig. Die Urnen werden zur Feststellung des Abstimmungsergebnisses unter strenger Bewachung durch neutrale Beamte und Polizei nach Saarbrücken gebracht, und zwar wird vor der Zahlung der Inhalt sämtlicher Urnen eines Abstimmungsbezirkes vermengt, sodaß das Abstimmungsergebnis der einzelnen Wahllokale nicht einmal der Abstimmungskommission bekannt sein wird, geschwelge denn an die Öffentlichkeit gelangen kann. Nachdem die Zählung durch neutrale Beamte unter Aufsicht der Abstimmungskommission stattgefunden hat, und das Wahlergebnis in sorgfältiger Weise festgestellt worden ist, werden die Stimmzettel nach Genf verbracht und dem Völkerbunde Obergeben, sodaß die Möglichkeit einer nachträglichen Untersuchung derselben mit der Absicht, den Sinn der Abstimmung der einzelnen Stimmberechtigten herauszufinden, vollkommen ausgeschlossen ist. Wer durch unerlaubte Mittel wie Gewalt, Drohung, Betrug, Besiedlung usw. eine Petson zu bestimmen sucht, zu offenbaren, in welchem Sinne entweder sie selbst oder eine dritte Person gestimmt hat oder zu stimmen gedenkt, wird nach den geltenden Stratbestimmungen mit Gefängnis von drei Monaten bis drei Jahren bestraft. Die Strafe kann nicht weniger als ein Jahr betragen, wenn die Tat von mehreren Personen gemeinsam begangen wird. Die Abstimmungsgerichtsbarkeit bleibt audi nach erfolgter Abstimmung noch bestehen.

S a a r b r ü c k e n , den 11. Dezember 1934.

Die Hbstinimunashoiniiiissioii •• Victor Henry A. E . R o d h e

D. d e I o n g h W z n

oj

APPENDIX

449

24. Ordinance forbidding display of flags until proclamation of the result of the vote. December 20, 1934. 1 DOCUMENT

N R . 649.

VERORDNUNG BETREFFEND V E R B O T DES BEFLAGGENS WAHREND DER ABSTIMMUNGSPERIODE.

Artikel 1. Die öffentliche Ausstellung von Fahnen, Flaggen und Wimpeln in den Farben des Saargebietes, den kirchlichen Farben, den Farben der Städte des Saargebietes, sowie in den Farben der völkerrechtlich anerkannten Staaten und deren Teile ist bis zum Zeitpunkt der amtlichen Bekanntgabe des Abstimmungsergebnisses verboten. Gleiches gilt für alle Fahnen, Flaggen und Wimpel, die einen besonderen abstimmungspolitischen Charakter haben. Artikel 2. Die öffentliche Ausstellung nationaler Symbole und Hoheitszeichen sowie solcher Symbole, die einen besonderen abstimmungspolitischen Charakter haben, ist, ohne Rücksicht auf die Form der Ausstellung, für den in Art. 1 angegebenen Zeitraum verboten. Artikel 3. Wer den Vorschriften des Artikels 1 zuwiderhandelt, wird mit Haft nicht unter drei Tagen, beim Vorliegen mildernder Umstände mit Geldstrafe nicht unter 300 Franken bestraft. Die §§ 42 a und 42 b St. G. B. finden keine Anwendung. Der Oberste Abstimmungsgerichtshof ist für die Untersuchung und Entscheidung zuständig. Artikel 4. Die Bestimmungen der vorstehenden Verordnung finden keine Anwendung auf die Behörden der Regierungskommission, der Abstimmungskommission, auf die internationalen Truppen sowie auf die Zollbehörde und die im Saargebiet akkreditierten konsularischen Vertreter. Artikel 5. Ausnahmen von den Bestimmungen der Art. 1 und 2 können auf Antrag der Abstimmungskommission von der Regierungskommission bewilligt werden. 1 Verordnungen, tion is omitted.

1 9 3 4 , p. 544. T h e request by the Plebiscite Commission f o r publica-

450

T H E

S A A R

P L E B I S C I T E

Artikel 6. Die vorstehende Verordnung tritt am 23. Dezember 1934 in Kraft. Alle ihr entgegenstehenden Bestimmungen werden aufgehoben. Vorstehende Verordnung wird auf Ersuchen der Abstimmungskommission hiermit verkündet. Saarbrücken, den 20. Dezember 1934. Im Namen der Regierungskommission Der Präsident: gez. G . G .

KNOX.

D O C U M E N T 25. Ordinance forbidding political meetings in public places from January 10 until proclamation of the results of the vote. January 5, M S ·

1

NR.

II.

VERORDNUNG B E T R . V E R B O T VON V E R S A M M L U N G E N W Ä H R E N D DER ABSTIMMUNGSPERIODE.

Artikel 1. Die Veranstaltung öffentlicher oder geschlossener Versammlungen, auch solcher zu geselligen Zwecken soweit diese an Orten oder in Räumlichkeiten stattfinden, die dem Publikum gewöhnlich zugänglich sind, ist vom 10. Januar 1935 ab bis zum Zeitpunkt der amtlichen Bekanntgabe des Abstimmungsergebnisses verboten. Von der vorstehenden Regelung ausgenommen sind Theater- und Lichtspieltheateraufführungen. Artikel 2. Wer den Vorschriften des Artikels 1 zuwiderhandelt, wird mit Haft nicht unter einer Woche, beim Vorliegen mildernder Umstände mit Geldstrafe nicht unter 600 Franken bestraft. Die §§ 42a und 42b S t . G . B . finden keine Anwendung. Artikel 3. Diese Verordnung tritt in Kraft mit ihrer Veröffentlichung im Amtsblatt der Regierungskommission. Alle ihr entgegenstehenden Bestimmungen werden aufgehoben. Vorstehende Verordnung wird auf Ersuchen der Abstimmungskommission hierdurch verkündet. Saarbrücken, den 2. Januar 1935. Im Namen der Regierungskommission Der Präsident: gez. G . G . 1

Verordnungen,

tion is omitted.

1 9 3 5 , p. 7.

KNOX.

T h e request by the Plebiscite C o m m i s s i o n f o r publica-

APPENDIX

451

26. Ordinance forbidding sale of alcoholic drinks on licensed premises from January 12 to 15, inclusive. January 5, 1935. 1

DOCUMENT

NR.

12.

POLIZEIVERORDNUNG. OBERPOLIZEILICHE

VORSCHRIFT.

Auf Grund der §§ 137 und 139 des Gesetzes über die allgemeine Landesverwaltung, der §§ 6, 12 und 15 des Gesetzes über die Polizeiverwaltung und gemäss Artikel 2 Ziffer 6 des Polizeistrafgesetzbuches für Bayern in Verbindung mit § 366 Ziffer 10 des Reichsstrafgesetzbuches wird für den Umfang des Saargebietes folgende Polizeiverordnung — oberpolizeiliche Vorschrift — erlassen: Artikel ι. Am 12., 13., 14. und 15. Januar 1935 ist in allen Schankstätten der Verkauf von alkoholhaltigen Getränken verboten. Erlaubt ist an den genannten Tagen nur der Ausschank von Wein und Bier in der Zeit von 12 bis 15 Uhr und von 18,30 bis 21 Uhr. Artikel 2. Zuwiderhandlungen gegen vorstehende Polizeiverordnung — oberpolizeiliche Vorschrift — werden mit Geldstrafe bis zu 300 Franken oder mit Haft bis zu 14 Tagen bestraft. Saarbrücken, den 28. Dezember 1934. Das Mitglied der Regierungskommission für die Angelegenheiten des Innern: gez. G . G . Ύ

Verordnungen,

1 9 3 5 , p. 8.

KNOX.

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¡¡f Ö; Ι e o ? c « • "φ 3ε Μ d l I. ® « O —^·°ölm χ; C .C « Ε «Ε E Cub X ft •o « ® 'S Φ ®» ftο®E e -ο c-gc Ü „% ••a η « o sE ü ^_ δw3 ra t/3 Φ o c Ε s 2 n dS. " E •fi I « ί £ « ω ™ _ Ε l a î o α c2 S Ο «¡Ό • ι s s £ c ΙΑ 5 ' i S ï b II Ε S w » ? ε ~ -ti fli S2 -s S ν a: 5 βu. Ί, "α ç E • s.·; ¡5* •s - · ϊ Iii I »° c Ι Ι Ι ί ί® § ! 's>α 5 χ .· ο^ < £Λ «οj ϊηβ Ε ΐ i w· [ 5 ai« i i ·® > · tβ Ν !%o •o 3 S 2 £ο «s e "ss '•S3« i s E - " « ! * S -Ç» (9 N i ® e ; ig ·) α C = ΐ S β£ toC sΕ ί ί = . ι2 i !- Χ h11 •SSÏΌ Ï.Ï E «IS i ΐ2οη.; Second, 1 1 7 Saar-Freund, 79 Saargänger, 1 3 , Ι4> Ι Ι 2 > ιΙ3 η ·> 165, 234> 236 Saarländische Freiheitsfront, 163, 194 Saarländische Wirtschaftsvereinigung, 125, 163, 193, ΐ94> 2 ΐ 6 , 217η., 247, 281 Saarlautern. See Saarlouis Saarlied, 99, n o n . , 287 Saarlouis, 5, 6, 12, 28, 32, 33, 46, 47; founding of, 2of.; named Saarlautern, 5η., 3 1 2 ; union with Prussia, 31 Saarverein, 79 St. Ingbert, 10, 30 Sarrebruck-Commercy, House of, 18 Sarrelouis. See Saarlouis Schaumberg, 24η., 26 Schmelzer, Herr, 1 5 2 Schnellgericht, 250η. Schools, 49, 5 1 , 60; for Jewish children, 150; French Mines Administration, 93ff., 97, 98, H 5 f ï . , I I 6 ; French language in, 42, 95; German control of, 120; League Council as to, 96η.; national, 96 Schiicking, Walther, 102, io6n. Schutz Staffeln (S.S.). See National Socialist German Workers' Party Schutzbund, n o Scialoja report, 85η. Scrutin de liste, 88 Self-determination, 39, 67, 1 2 1 η . , 271 Separatist movement in Rhineland, 93, 94, 117, 122 Sequestrated German property in Lorraine, 68, 69η. Sierstorpf, Baroness, n o n . Social insurance, 1 1 in., 222, 246, 247 and n., 268; see also Insurance Soldiers, registration of, 236, 237 Sovereignty, 5 1 , 53η., 54, 6 ι , 63η., 67; German, 52, 56, 58η., 79 and n., 138, 223; League of Nations, 53, 266; see also Status quo Spaniol, Alois, 133, 1 5 1 and η., 163η., 2 1 3 , 259n. Speyer, Bishop of, 15, 83, 1 1 9 , 2o8ff., 272η., 288, 289, 3i8n.; Plebiscite Commission as to telegram of, 208 Spichern, French fortifications on, 8 Status quo, 104, 105 and n., 1 1 8 , 120, 125, I26f., 207, 219, 220, 227, 228, 261, 286, 295, 3 1 6 , 3 1 7 ; Barthou as to, 224;

Catholics and, 249, 272η.; Communal Committees, and, 195; definition of, 222, 224, 226, 265, 266, 295; groups, 124; propaganda, 254, 255, 2 9 1 ; meeting at Sulzbach, 2 1 9 ; vote for, forecasts of, 2 2 1 — r e s u l t s of, 306, 3 1 6 ; see also Einheitsfront; League regime Status quo press, 225, 237 Statut des fonctionnaires. See Saar officials Steel industry, 3, 10, 24, 1 1 8 , 1 1 9 ; see also Lorraine minette Steel production, 10, m and n. Stephens, George Washington, 100 Stresemann, Gustav, 85η., 104, 105, I07, 108, 1 1 4 Studienausschuss, 89 Stumm family, 6, 1 3 , 28, 30, 32, 35 Sturm Abteilung (S.A.). See National Socialist German Workers' Party Stürmer, Der, 1 3 3 Subsidies, 14η., 44, 214, 273 Subsoil, 102η. Supreme Court, Saar, 77, 275 Supreme Plebiscite Tribunal, 162, 173, 175, 179, 237, 240, 249, 250, 267, 278; and German Public Agent, 3 1 3 ; appeals to, 243, 279; approval by Council, 182; code of procedure after plebiscite, 3 1 2 ; competence of, I79Í., 228; composition of, 228ff., 3 1 3 η . ; importance of, 3 1 4 ; jurisdiction of, 176, 182, 283; maintenance of, after plebiscite, 179, 3 1 iff.; organization of, 228; political cases and, 249; proposed, 162; sentences for political offenses, 250η., 3 1 3 and n.; withdrawal of, 3 1 5 ; work of, 3 1 3 Sweden, 183, 186, 188, 190, 229, 282, 284, 297 Switzerland, 12η., 183, i86, 188, 190, 229, 260, 276 Talleyrand, 29 Tardieu, M., 50 and n., 5 1 , 52, 54, 55, 56, io8n.; mémoire on annexation of Saar, 46fr. Tariff. See French Customs Régime Taxes, 60, 1 1 3 Terrorism, 1 3 7 , 149, 154, 163, 2 5 1 , 261, 317 Testa, Monsignor, 209, 210η. Thirty Years' War, 18 Thoiry, Briand and Stresemann, 105 Toul, Bishopric of, 2 1 Trade. See Saar Basin, trade

INDEX Transportation: freedom of, 85; rail, 7, 34; water, 7; air, 7 and n. Treaty of Mutual Guarantee of the FrancoGerman frontier, i g 2 5 , 100 Treitschke, 46 Trier, Bishop of, 15, 83, 84η., 1 1 9 , 208, 272η., 288, 289, 3i8n. Trier, Bishopric of, 22η. Trier, Regierungsbezirk, 32 Trois Évêchés, 19, 2ΐ Troops, foreign, 149; see also French troops; and International Police Force Unemployment, m , 1 1 2 , 246; see also Saar Basin, unemployment Uniforms, wearing of, 1 3 1 , 132, 144, 263 United Front, 109, 122 United States of America, 1 7 1 , 183, 190, 297, 3 0 1 η . Vaterländische Frauenverein des Roten Kreuzes, 109 Vatican, the, 206η., 209, 291, 293, 303, 3i8n., 3 1 9 ; Concordat with Germany, 127 and n. Vauban, 6, 19, 40η.; ceinture de, 20 Versailles, Treaty of, 4, 37-69 (Ch. III); 4, 66, 73, 74, u m . , 163, 178, 226, 258, 307; Draft treaty, 57ÎÏ. — amended, 67; see also Saar Annex Vezensky, M., 98, 1 1 6 Villeroy family, 1 3 , 24 Volkesstimme, 80, 107, 1 2 1 , 122, 1 4 1 , 199, 207, 219, 275, 291 Voluntary Labor Service. See Deutsche Front, Freiwilliger Arbeitsdienst Vopelius, Frau Helene von, n o n . Vote, the, 295-322 (Ch. I X ) ; date fixed, 295; day of, 30i£f.; freedom, secrecy and trustworthiness of, 142, 154, 155, 170, 178, 2 1 7 ; results of, 304(1., 305 (map)—reasons for, 318f.; right to, 1 7 2 ; secrecy of, 277; special arrangements for, 295f.; see also Ballots; Guarantees as to freedom of the vote; Voting procedure

489

Voters, arrival of, from foreign states, 297; residing outside Saar Basin, 241η., 297 Voting booths, 301η. Voting bureaus, 174; chairmen of, 276, 277, 296, 297, 3 2 1 ; collection of votes of prisoners and hospital patients, 295; directions to, 297; expenses of chairmen, 297; location of, 276; members of, 276, 295; number of, 275, 276; oath administered, 297, 300; organization of, 175. 3 d Voting certificates, 175, 241, 279η., {text) 280, 298, 301 Voting instructions of Plebiscite Commission, (text) 299 Voting lists, 90, 174, 196η.; alphabetical division, 277, 3 0 1 ; central card index and, 2 4 1 ; drawing up of, 1 9 1 ; Saar leaders demand, 89 Voting procedure, 240, 241, 2y6ft., 296, 30iff.

Voting unit, 166, 1 7 1 , 173, 305 Voting urns, collection of, 302, 306, 309 Wambaugh, Sarah, 1 7 1 , 183; see also Committee of Experts for Plebiscite Regulations; Plebiscite Commission Warndt, the, 4, 5, 9, 17, 2 1 , 3 1 , 1.27η., 167 Warndt leases, 101 and n., 102, 108, 268, 269 and n. Waugh, R. D., 73, 74η. Williams, Whiting, 1 1 5 η . Wilson, President Woodrow, 43, 49, 50, 5 1 , 52, 53, 54, 55; agrees to French ownership of mines, 52, 53; agrees to plebiscite, 54; Fourteen Points of, 39, 40η.; rejects French claims, 50, 5 1 , 52 Wilton, Sir Ernest, 100 Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, 237 World War, 36 Zoricic, Milovan, 1 3 1 Zweibrücken, 21