A referendum was held on 9 December 1951 in the states of South Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern. Voters were asked whether they favoured a merger of the three states into a single state or the re-establishment of the old states of Baden and Württemberg. With 69.7 percent of the vote, voters favoured unification with a turnout of 59.2 percent.
For either option to succeed, a majority in three or more of the four voting areas was required. As a majority in North Baden, North Württemberg, and South Württemberg supported the merger, while only South Baden supported the re-establishment of the old states, the merger was considered victorious. As a result, the state of Baden-Württemberg was founded on 25 April 1952.
Background After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the region that today forms Baden-Württemberg was divided into three entities: the Kingdom of Württemberg, the Grand Duchy of Baden, and the two Hohenzollern principalities, which were merged in 1850 into the Prussian Province of Hohenzollern. Württemberg and Baden were successively integrated as federal states of the German Empire in 1871 and the Weimar Republic in 1919, becoming the Free People's State of Württemberg and Republic of Baden respectively. Hohenzollern remained a province of the Free State of Prussia. After the federal structure of Germany was de facto abolished during the Nazi Gleichschaltung, Württemberg and Hohenzollern were merged into the Gau of Württemberg-Hohenzollern, while Baden became its own Gau.
Toward the end of the Second World War, urban centres in northern Baden and Württemberg were subject to bombing raids; over half of Stuttgart was destroyed by Allied bombers. However, southern Württemberg and Hohenzollern were largely spared from destruction due to their rural character.Thomas Schnabel: Württemberg zwischen Weimar und Bonn 1928–1945/46. Schriften zur politischen Landeskunde Baden-Württembergs. Band 13. Verlag W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1986, , S. 587. On 31 March 1945, the first Allied ground forces reached Baden when the French First Army under Jean de Lattre de Tassigny crossed the Rhine at Speyer and Germersheim, reaching Karlsruhe on 4 April. Additional French forces crossed the Rhine at Kehl on 16 April and advanced from the south through Tübingen. American forces entered Württemberg from the northeast, and advanced along the Neckar towards Stuttgart. Although both army groups reached Stuttgart almost simultaneously, the French occupied the city on 21 April.
American and French occupation
While France was not granted an occupation zone at the Yalta Conference in February 1945, Charles de Gaulle later successfully convinced the Allied leaders to allocate an area for French occupation. This comprised territory that had previously been part of the British and American zones. The French acquired the Saarland, the Palatinate, and territories on the left bank of the Rhine up to Remagen from the British zone, while the Americans ceded Baden south of Baden-Baden, some districts in the south of Württemberg, the Lindau district in Bavaria, and four districts in Hesse east of the Rhine. The border between the American and French occupation zones in Baden and Württemberg was based on a map drawn by Dwight D. Eisenhower on 3 May. He recommended that, due to the transport links of the region, the districts of Karlsruhe and Mannheim, as well as the area around the Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm highway (today the A 8), be assigned to the U.S. zone. Anything south of these regions would fall under French occupation, including large parts of Württemberg and the entirety of the old Province of Hohenzollern.Alfred D. Chandler Jr.: The Papers of Dwight David Eisenhower. The War Years: IV. Baltimore/London 1970, Nr. 2475 The French government demanded all of Baden, but the American authorities refused to grant further concessions, and the French agreed to Eisenhower's proposal on 29 June. French forces left Stuttgart on 8 July, and the final agreement concerning the occupation zones was signed by the four powers on 26 July.
Administration within the American zone developed quickly, with the different regions being organised into states by September. The parts of Baden and Württemberg under American occupation were united as Württemberg-Baden, and liberal politician Reinhold Maier was appointed Minister-President. At the time, the state covered 15,700 square kilometres and had a population of over 3.5 million. A constituent assembly was elected on 30 June 1946, and a constitution was approved by referendum on 24 November. Simultaneously, the first elections to the state legislature, the Landtag, were held. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was the largest party with 39 seats, followed by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) with 32, the Democratic People's Party (DVP) with 19, and the Communist Party (KPD) with 10. The CDU, SPD, and DVP subsequently formed a government together, and though Reinhold Maier's DVP was only the third largest party, he was chosen to continue as Minister-President. Within the new state, the regions of Baden and Württemberg were administered as "state districts" (Landesbezirke).
By contrast, French administration evolved slowly. Initially, the scope of administration in the French zone was limited to districts, which operated independently of one another.Alfred Dehlinger: Württembergs Staatswesen. Band 1. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1951, S. 217.Walter Grube: Vogteien, Ämter, Landkreise in Baden-Württemberg. Band 1. 1975, , S. 117. In October 1945, French authorities formed provisional governments for two separate regions: one covering Hohenzollern and the parts of Württemberg that fell within French zone, and the other covering the French-occupied parts of Baden. The new Baden zone, with its capital in Freiburg im Breisgau, covered 9,646 square kilometres and was home to 1.3 million people. The new Württemberg-Hohenzollern zone was slightly larger, but less populous and more rural. Article 1 of the Statute of the State Secretariat for Württemberg-Hohenzollern stipulated that it "exercises state power for the state government in the French-occupied area of Württemberg while the state government of Württemberg is dormant." In preparation for the drafting of the two states' constitutions, constituent assemblies were elected on 17 November 1946 by members of the local and district assemblies. The CDU dominated in both states, winning a majority of seats, while the SPD came second.Art. 8 der Verordnung Nr. 66 des französischen Oberbefehlshabers in Deutschland über die Bildung einer Beratenden Versammlung für Württemberg – retrieved 17 August 2008 In Württemberg-Hohenzollern, attempts by legislators to include references to Württemberg-Hohenzollern as part of Württemberg, and the restoration of Württemberg as a state goal, were rejected by French authorities. However, both the CDU and SPD agreed that the new state was only a temporary solution. The constitution was adopted by the State Assembly on 22 April 1947 with the support of the CDU and SPD. In Baden, the constitution was approved with the inclusion of a preamble which declared the new state to be the successor of the old Baden. Though it was often referred to as South Baden (Südbaden), the state's official name was simply Baden.
Both states' constitutions were ratified by referendum on 18 May. Held simultaneously were the first and only elections to the state Landtags.Verordnung Nr. 87 of the French High Command in Germany regarding a referendum on the constitution and election of members of the state parliament in the individual states. The CDU won an absolute majority in both. In Württemberg-Hohenzollern, they formed a coalition government with the SPD and DVP, while in Baden, they formed a coalition with the SPD. On 8 July, Lorenz Bock was elected as State-President (Staatspräsidant) of Württemberg-Hohenzollern. In Baden, Leo Wohleb, who had previously headed the provisional government, was elected as State-President.
Federal Republic of Germany
A conference between the four Allied powers was held in London between 25 November and 15 December 1947 to discuss the creation of an all-German administration. However, talks failed due to the conditions imposed by the Soviet Union and the differing ideas of France. A follow-up conference between the three western powers was then held to determine a common occupation policy. As a result, on 1 July 1948, the eleven state heads of government in the western occupation zones received the Frankfurt Documents, which contained recommendations for the establishment of a united western German state. A series of conferences were held throughout late 1948, culminating in the convening of the Parlamentarischer Rat to draft the new constitution, which became known as the Basic Law. It deliberated from 1 September 1948 until May 1949.Hans-Otto Binder: Carlo Schmid (1896–1979). In: Reinhold Weber and Ines Mayer (ed.): Political Minds from Southwest Germany. Writings on political regional studies in Baden-Württemberg. Vol. 33. Published by the State Center for Political Education, Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2005, , S. 250. Upon the foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany on 23 May 1949, Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern were admitted as states.
In the Frankfurt Documents, the Western allies asked the state heads of governments for proposals for state border changes. There were no proposals for any changes outside of southwestern Germany. The question of border changes was postponed until after the foundation of the Federal Republic, however, because the representatives of the three states could not agree on what course of action to take. The government of Württemberg-Hohenzollern proposed the unification of all three states,Landtag of Württemberg-Hohenzollern, 30th session on July 13, 1948, statement by President Lorenz Bock. which State-President Wohleb from Baden categorically rejected. He instead proposed the restoration of the old state of Baden, as espoused by the constitution of his state. However, the American military government opposed the division of Württemberg-Baden. North Baden politicians, fearing that unification with southern Baden would mean expansion of the harsh French reparations policy into the north, also opposed it.