Toward a Franco-Saar Economic Union

IN THE SUMMER OF 1946 France began making preliminary changes to separate the Saar from other German territories. Travel between the Saar and rest of the French zone of occupation became subject to special permission. French authorities also significantly modified the Saar's northeastern border. Criticism from the Allies prompted further alterations to the northeastern border the following summer. These areas were sparsely inhabited in comparison to cities such as Saarbrücken, Völklingen, Neuenkirchen, and Saarlouis. Nevertheless, border changes did lead to large protests in the towns excluded from the Saar, which suggests that those living in or near the Saar border saw life in the Saar as preferable to life outside it. These changes were made in order to give the Saar a border with Luxembourg and incorporate railway lines that were important to the region's coal mines. In addition, French officials separated the Saar's railways and social security system from the rest of Germany. By the end of 1946 the French government was still struggling to obtain international recognition for the Saar's political separation from Germany, although they had taken initial steps toward economic union with the territory.

Establishing a Franco-Saar economic union and a new Saar state involved an enormous amount of planning. To this end, in January 1947 the French government appointed Michel Debré head of a coordination mission. Debré's task was to advise the Foreign Ministry, Governor Grandval, General Koenig, and other French government agencies involved in the details of creating a customs and monetary union between France and the Saar. Another issue was the Saar's place in the Monnet plan, France's plan to modernize its industry and grow its economy. Debré's mission was to give clear direction to French policy, and French industry was allowed to give its input to the Commission du Plan de la Sarre, over whose first meeting Debré presided on February 3, 1947. Debré was a Gaullist who was appointed to his position after failing to win a seat in parliament in the fall 1946 elections. Above all, his concern was to advance French interests.