With the western two thirds of Germany after May 1945 divided into four military occupation zones, de Gaulle's plans for Grandval involved appointing him military governor in Baden-Baden, as "right-hand" to General Kœnig, with whom he had already worked very closely during the closing months of the war. Grandval was not interested in such a political-diplomatic posting, however. Plans were then developed for him to be offered the military governorship of the Saarland, a highly industrialised region with a unique political and economic status, where it was felt that Grandval's hands-on experience of the industrial sector could be particularly valuable. The region's mines were seen by the French government as a valuable source of future war reparations. Grandval took some persuading, and indeed sought the advice of his old family friend Léon Blum. However, he accepted and on 30 August 1945 was appointed as France's Military Governor ("Délégué Supérieur") of the region, taking up his posting on 7 September 1945. His mandate from the head of the French government was to establish a special administrative dispensation, as far as possible with the consent of the population. Looking ahead, it was hoped that in the event of another referendum on the matter, voters in the Saarland might be persuaded to back union with France in preference to a return to a German state. Grandval expected to remain in post for a few months, at most half a year.