The Saar returned to Germany through an agreed vote. Hitler's wider aims also included changes that he would pursue through threats and force.
Hitler wanted to overturn Versailles, bring German-speaking populations under German rule, and gain more land and resources, especially in eastern Europe. Nazis called this demand for land Lebensraum, or "living space". It meant conquest and control at the expense of people already living there, not simply meeting an unavoidable need. Revising a treaty limit, claiming to unite a people and conquering neighbouring countries were different aims. Rearmament gave Hitler more force to support his demands, while public promises could reassure other governments and reduce their resistance.
The Saar was an industrial region on Germany's western border. The peace settlement placed it under League administration for fifteen years and provided for a vote on its future. This kind of vote is called a plebiscite. In January 1935, voters chose a return to Germany; the transfer took effect in March.
The result improved Hitler's prestige, or standing, and returned an industrial area to Germany. However, it followed the procedure already agreed in the peace settlement. It was not a German invasion. When explaining Hitler's gains, separate what he gained from how he gained it: a vote, a threat and a military attack are different methods.
Worked example: Two gains, two different methods
The Saar returned in 1935; German troops entered the Rhineland in 1936.
- In the Saar, the peace settlement allowed a League-supervised vote on the region's future. Germany gained territory through that procedure.
- The Rhineland was already German, but treaties barred German troops there. Sending them in broke a military restriction.
- Both improved Hitler's standing, but only identifying the shared result would miss the difference between an agreed vote and a treaty breach.
Watch out for this
The return of the Saar was an early example of Germany taking territory by force.
The Saar returned through the vote provided for in the peace settlement. Do not treat the method as identical to later moves backed by threats or troops.
Check your understanding
Why should the Saar return and Rhineland remilitarisation be explained differently?
- The Saar vote followed an agreed procedure, while sending troops into the Rhineland broke an existing restriction.
- Both involved a League-supervised vote, but only the Rhineland had been French territory.
- Because the Saar result helped Hitler, the vote must have broken the peace settlement.