La Belgique francophone face au référendum sarrois de 1955 ; French-speaking Belgium and the plebiscite in Saar (1955)

peer reviewed ; Since 1945, French-speaking Belgians were looking at the « Saar problem », stumbling block of Europe’s build-up, with a mixture of awe and hope. In 1955, as the inhabitants were asked to vote on a peculiar status of “Europeanised” autonomous territory (within the WEU but keeping economical union with France), the coming plebiscite was seen as a good bid on Europe’s future. At first, Belgian public opinion was under the influence of optimistic statements made by official French and autonomist propaganda. After the failure of the plebiscite, Belgian journalists and diplomats trie... Mehr ...