 The French Monnet Plan pushed for an internationalization of the area, and the subsequent Ruhr Agreement was imposed as a condition for the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany.During the Cold War, the Western allies anticipated that any Red Army thrust into Western Europe would begin in the Fulda Gap and have the Ruhr as a primary target.Increased German control of the area was limited by the pooling of German coal and steel into the multinational European Coal and Steel Community in 1951.