Book Reviews : The Saar Conflict, 1945-1955. By JACQUES FREYMOND. (New York: Frederick A. Praeger, Inc. 1960. Pp. xxviii, 395. $10.00.)

• Date: 01 September 1961
• Author: W. Ross Yates
• Published date: 01 September 1961
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296101400325
• Subject Matter: Articles

785

momentum

in

the

educational

realm,

and

the

young

seem

to

become

more

vocal

and

fearless

all

the

time.

Ferraton

is

cautiously

optimistic

in

suggesting

that

the

Norwegian

experiment

in

welfare

statism

may

exert

some

influence

elsewhere

by

its

example.

Fridtjof

Nansens

Institutt,

Lillehammer,

Norway

CHRISTIAN

BAY

The

Saar

Conflict,

1945-1955.

By

JACQUES

FREYMOND.

(New

York:

Frederick

A.

Praeger,

Inc.

1960.

Pp.

xxviii,

395.

$10.00.)

Mr.

Freymond’s

book

is

the

first

of

five

studies

sponsored

by

the

Carnegie

Endowment

for

International

Peace.

The

purpose

of

the

series

is

investigation

of

the

causes

of

international

conflict.

Each

of

the

five

monographs

is

to

be

written

by

a

different

author.

Each

will

analyze

a

conflict

of

secondary

importance

whose

temporal

and

spatial

dimensions

can

easily

be

established.

Each

is

ex-

pected

to

use

the

general

techniques

and

procedure

of

Mr.

Freymond.

Appar-

ently,

a

sixth

and

final

volume

will

compare

and

contrast

significant

elements

in

the

five

studies

in

an

attempt

to

discover

more

about

the

causes

of

conflict.

In

a

sense,

then,

The

Saar

Conflict

is

incomplete.

Mr.

Freymond

gives

a

detailed

analysis

of

social,

economic,

and

poltical

factors

in

the

Saar

crisis

from

1945

to

1955.

In

the

process

he

presents

an

enormous

amount

of

data

whose

full

significance

can

be

evaluated

only

after

the

final

volume

in

the

series

has

been

written.

He

divides

the

study

into

two

parts.

The

first,

comprising

about

two-thirds

of

the

text,

is

historical.

Mr.

Freymond

begins

by

describing

the

emergence

of

a

French

policy

for

the

Saar

of

economic

integration

with

France

and

political

autonomy.

Then

he

depicts

the

reconstitution

of

Germany

and

the

beginning

of

challenge

to

French

policy.

Chapters

three

through

eight

trace

events

leading

to

the

failure

of

French

policy

and

the

final

attachment

of

the

Saar

to

West

Germany.

In

the

remaining

third

of

the

study

Mr.

Freymond

presents

a

sociological

analysis

of

the

conflict.

In

chapter

nine

he

identifies

three

principal

decisions,

namely,

the

French

Government’s

formulation

of

a

Saar

policy

in

1946,

German

acknowledgment

of

a

latent

conflict

in

1950

by

raising

the

Saar

question

to

the

level

of

relations

between

two

sovereign

states,

and

the

referendum

of

October

23,

1955,

in

which

Saarlanders

rejected

European

status.

In

chapters

ten

through

twelve

he

discusses

the

roles

of

individuals

and

groups

in

making

these

decisions.

Chapter

thirteen

uses

techniques

of

polling

and

content

analysis

in

describing

public

opinion

in

Germany,

France,

and

the

Saar.

Chapter

fourteen

discusses

the

pressures

of

other

foreign

powers

which

affected

the

outcome.

In

a

final

chapter

Mr.

Freymond

generalizes

from

his

data.

In

the

balance,

he

declares,

the

conflict

was

primarily

political.

Both

France

and

Germany

subordinated

the

problem

of

the

Saar

to

the

goals

of

European

unity

and

defense.

However,

a

variety

of

attitudes

and

lesser

disputes

affected

their

positions.

In

France

the

interests

which

supported

or

opposed

French

policy

largely

neutral-