9 - The Climatic Referendum

Summary

The nation is a daily plebiscite.

—Ernst Renan, “What is a nation?”

The idea that a Europeanized Saar will be the embryo of a united Europe is much harder to defend after the defeat of the EDC.

—Eric de Carbonnel, French Ambassador to the Saar, August 1955

The so-called “European” solution of October 23, 1954, was, in reality, a discreet way of dressing up objectives and ambitions that were entirely French.

—French Foreign Ministry, Note on the Saar, January 1956

The Referendum Campaign Begins

THE THREE-MONTH REFERENDUM campaign lasted from July 23 to October 23, 1955. These three months were a period of great emotion and debate for Saarlanders. The pro-German parties wasted little time in getting organized and publishing newspapers, posters, and pamphlets. By July 28 the CDU-Saar had published 70,000 copies of its newspaper, Neueste Nachrichten, while the DPS's Die Deutsche Saar ran 60,000 copies of its first legal edition. The DSP's newspaper, the Allgemeine Zeitung, came out with its first edition almost two weeks later, on August 10. The pro-German Social Democratic party, moreover, moved rapidly to organize its forces. It held a meeting on July 28 in Sulzbach that attracted 1,000 people, including representatives from West Germany's SPD, who sought to help the DSP. While both the DPS and DSP took strong stances on the referendum and urged Saarlanders to vote no, the CDU-Saar initially hesitated to join its fellow pro-German parties. It was closely tied to Adenauer, who despite his longstanding hostility to Hoffmann's government officially supported the Saar's Europeanization. Adenauer was a popular figure in both West Germany and the Saar in 1955, and both the CVP and CDU-Saar used statements from him in their propaganda. Although opposition to Europeanization meant a break of sorts with Adenauer, the CDU-Saar voted unanimously to take that position on August 8. Thus by the second week in August Hoffmann and his supporters faced three energized and determined pro- German parties.

The pro-German parties’ intense activities attracted the attention of the general public. Initially, the public seemed indifferent about the referendum, but it soon became a subject of daily conversation.