Modern day Republic of Saarland

[NomadicSky]

What would Saarland wasn't reintegrated into West Germany? Maybe the French force the Saar to sign a treaty of some sort forbidding such union or something.

At any rate by 2007 Saarland is an independent republic. What's it like? How's the rest of Germany? Europe?

[Chengar Qordath]

Maintaining the Saarland as an independent state would be difficult to manage; IIRC such small state would have a hard time remaining economically and politically viable, and the bulk of the populace will strongly favor re-unification with Germany. Unless something happens to create a major rift between the Saar and the rest of Germany it will be very difficult to justify keeping the area independent against the wishes of its populace.

[Emperor Qianlong]

Luxembourg is an independent country as well, and it is about the same size. I think it would have worked, especially if the Saarland was integrated into the EU.

[Calgacus]

Originally Posted by Emperor Qianlong

Luxembourg is an independent country as well, and it is about the same size. I think it would have worked, especially if the Saarland was integrated into the EU.

But again, the people there considered themselves German - the state's very existence was effectively one of the terms of surrender, so it's hard to see it continuing.

[Boom22]

Just no. Much of Germany's industry is located in the Saarland(I may be getting the Saarland and the Ruhr mixed up , correct me if I'm wrong) unless it was extreme, ther is no way on Earth this could happen.

[Emperor Qianlong]

Originally Posted by Calgacus

But again, the people there considered themselves German - the state's very existence was effectively one of the terms of surrender, so it's hard to see it continuing.

There was a referendum in 1954 in which the Saarlanders were to decide wether they would become independent or would rejoin Germany. In OTL they rejected independence by 67.7%, but in an ATL, for whatever reasons they might have chosen independence instead. I think this isn't really difficult.

[Emperor Qianlong]

Originally Posted by Boom22

Just no. Much of Germany's industry is located in the Saarland(I may be getting the Saarland and the Ruhr mixed up , correct me if I'm wrong) unless it was extreme, ther is no way on Earth this could happen.

No. Ruhr area has all the industry. The Saar area is one of Germany's most important coal deposits.

[Calgacus]

Originally Posted by Emperor Qianlong

There was a referendum in 1954 in which the Saarlanders were to decide wether they would become independent or would rejoin Germany. In OTL they rejected independence by 67.7%, but in an ATL, for whatever reasons they might have chosen independence instead. I think this isn't really difficult.

Yeah, but you still have to change the minds of about 115,000 people as to what nationality they are. Not an easy thing to do. Bear in mind that they voted for Kleine Wiedervereinigung against the wishes of Adenauer and the West German government. I'm not sure what other factors might have changed the vote by enough.

[Emperor Qianlong]

Originally Posted by Calgacus

Yeah, but you still have to change the minds of about 115,000 people as to what nationality they are. Not an easy thing to do. Bear in mind that they voted for Kleine Wiedervereinigung against the wishes of Adenauer and the West German government. I'm not sure what other factors might have changed the vote by enough.

Well, IIRC, the tiny Saar republic wasn't doing that bad. People might have wanted to rather stick with it instead of joining the FRG of which they - for whatever reason - might be distrustful. I know this is speculation on my side, but maybe it's a possibility.

[Thande]

How about if the Berlin Airlift crisis goes badly and West Germany either collapses or at least is seen as unviable by the Saarlanders?

[Tyr]

Post WW2 is hard, as said they were German.
Perhaps have a big battle there that kills a lot of them off and a bunch of French workers move in- France can't get quite get away with annexing it outright but it won't vote to be rejoining Germany.

[Emperor Qianlong]

Originally Posted by Leej

Post WW2 is hard, as said they were German.
Perhaps have a big battle there that kills a lot of them off and a bunch of French workers move in- France can't get quite get away with annexing it outright but it won't vote to be rejoining Germany.

Actually, post WW2 isn't that hard, like I said before, there was the referendum, I think the Saarlanders might easily have chosen otherwise. Or, for whatever reasons, the referendum never comes into existence due to pressure by the French.

[Calgacus]

Originally Posted by Emperor Qianlong

Actually, post WW2 isn't that hard, like I said before, there was the referendum, I think the Saarlanders might easily have chosen otherwise. Or, for whatever reasons, the referendum never comes into existence due to pressure by the French.

You offer no good reason why that balance in the referendum would tip in favour of independence. You also offer no good reason why the French would be able to hold onto the Saar for an extended period, in the face of general disinterest in the concept of a Francophone or even independent Saar Protectorate.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but simply claiming it is an easy thing to accomplish is not very helpful. In AH terms, one really has to find something that could happen differently to make the referendum go the other way.