The picture with the country/province encircled
This is a picture from my history class book (dutch). It is about the US foreign policy after ww2. I understand the division of post ww2 Germany, but i have never heard of the (encircled) area on the map. Was it a province of France or a previously annexed country? I have never seen or heard (in special) about this area. If anyone could tell me more (in addition to my question), that would be greatly appreciated.
That is the Saar Protectorate.
After WWI, the Saar was not part of Germany and remained free of Nazi control until 1935, when it voted to rejoin Germany.
After the war, France managed to separate it from the rest of Germany, administered under the zones of occupation. This let it be controlled solely by France, instead of under the joint allied jurisdiction of the Allied Control Council for Germany. There were customs controls in place between it and the rest of Germany; it had it's own currency and stamps; and was very much separated. This lasted until 1957, when after a referendum, it voted to rejoin West Germany, and become the state of Saarland.
