WEST GERMANY: The Tenth State

On the first day of 1957, the Saar—that densely populated, industrially rich, and much fought over 898-sq.-mi. territory on the Franco-German border—became the tenth state in the Federal Republic of West Germany. The Saar's people speak German; its ground is heavy with coal needed by the French. The governments of West Germany and France, hoping "to settle the Saar question in such a way that it will no longer be an issue," agreed on political integration into Germany now, economic integration in three years (economically, the Saarlanders profited more...