Saar Territory

The Territory of the Saar Basin (German: Saarbeckengebiet; French: Territoire du bassin de la Sarre) was a region of Germany occupied and governed by France under a League of Nations mandate. Established under the auspices of the Treaty of Versailles, the territory was composed of land formerly belonging to the Rhine Province of Prussia and the Bavarian Palatinate. According to the Treaty of Versailles the Saar Basin was to remain under the mandate for 15 years, after which a referendum would determine its governance. Despite the foreign government, the Saar Basin remained legally German territory, but simultaneously had its own flag and coat of arms. The purpose of the mandate was to cede control of the coal mines to France as economic reparations for damages to French coal mines during the Great War.
From the inception of the mandate the French had aspirations to annex the region, and immediately began a process of integration. On 11 November 1925, exactly seven years after the end of the Great War, the mandate was illegally terminated by France without a referendum. This move was rooted in the takeover earlier that year by a nationalistic military government in the 25 May Coup. The Saar Territory was annexed into France and merged into the Moselle department, and its inhabitants became French citizens.
Category:Former countries