After France and Germany reached agreement on the Saar question, French prime minister Pierre Mendès-France joined the other Allies in signing the protocols to make West Germany a sovereign and equal member of the Western alliance.
The WEST GERMAN FEDERAL REPUBLIC GAINED SOVEREIGN STATUS as the final instruments of ratification of the Paris treaties were deposited in Bonn; it joined NATO four days later (See Dec. 21).
The Geneva conference discussed German unification among European and world problems, and provided for a Big Four Foreign Ministers Conference, which failed to agree on a solution to the German problem (Oct. 27–Nov. 16).
A rearmament bill was enacted that authorized the immediate enlistment of 6,000 officers and men to form the nucleus of a future army of half a million.
During Chancellor Adenauer's visit to Moscow, West Germany and the USSR decided to establish diplomatic relations, and the USSR promised to release German war prisoners.
Saarlanders voted overwhelmingly to reject Europeanization, agreed on by France and Germany (Oct. 5), and in a parliamentary election (Dec. 18) gave a majority to pro-German parties.
