ABSTRACT
On the British side, the Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office had reported on the economics of the Saar Question in tones favourable to the French. The principles of economic reparation and of the natural economic unity of the Saar Basin were the main basis of his maximum claim. Tardieu went beyond reparations to reveal a profound concern for the balance of economic and political power between France and Germany. Wilson became embroiled in a stormy argument with Clemenceau. The former’s solution did not meet the French claims in at least two major respects. Tardieu had argued without contradiction that the Saar and Alsace-Lorraine were closely tied economically. Clemenceau’s responses combined the resignation of a tired old man with the resolution of patriot. The Saar Committee’s report was condemned as impractical by Lloyd George in the Council of Four on April 8. The combination of French ownership of the mines and German sovereignty would only produce disputes.
