Alsace-Lorraine
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Alsace-Lorraine (German: Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen, generally Elsass-Lothringen) was a territorial entity created by the German Empire in 1871 after the annexation of most of Alsace and parts of Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and on the east of the Vosges Mountains. The Lorraine section was in the upper Moselle valley to the north of the Vosges Mountains.
The region became part of Eastern Francia in 921 during the reign of King Louis the German, later becoming part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was gradually annexed by the Kingdom of France after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. After the Franco-Prussian War, the Treaty of Frankfurt returned the area to German control as part of the newly-created German Empire in 1871.
A short-lived independence after World War I was ended by French troops in 1918 and the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, and the territory was reverted to France. The area was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1940, but reverted to French control in 1945 at the end of World War II and has remained a part of France since.
The territory was made up of 93% of Alsace (7% remained French) and 26% of Lorraine (74% remained French). For historical reasons, specific legal dispositions are still applied in the territory, properly and legally now known as Alsace-Moselle.
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[edit] History
[edit] Ancient and Mediaeval History
Always closely tied to the Rhine River which forms its eastern boundary, Alsace has found itself a border region for most of its history. It was first conquered by Julius Caesar in the 1st century BC and remained a part of the Roman province of Prima Germania for the next six centuries. The region was conquered by the Alemanni, a Germanic tribe, in the 5th century AD and then by Clovis and the Franks in 496. Under his Merovingian successors the inhabitants were Christianized.
In the ninth century, this region became part of the heartland of the Carolingian Empire of Charlemagne (Charles the Great). When Charlemagne's grandsons divided his Empire at the Treaty of Verdun of 843, the region was in the middle of Lorraine (Lotharingia), part of a narrow middle strip granted to Lothar with German- and French-speaking kingdoms to either side. Buffeted on both sides, the new kingdom did not last long and the region that was to become Alsace fell to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation as part of the duchy of Swabia in the Treaty of Meersen in 870. At about this time the entire region began to fragment into a number of secular and ecclesiastical lordships, a situation which lasted into the 17th century and was a common process in Europe.
One of the most powerful secular families of Swabia was that of the Staufen or Hohenstaufen. In 1152, this family placed its leading member on the German throne as Friedrich I Barbarossa. Frederick was instrumental in recovery of the monarchy from its dissipation following the Investiture Contest. Part of the reason was his policy of building up imperial lands in support of the monarchy and in 1212, Alsace was organized for the first time as we know it today to be one of them. Frederick set up Alsace as a province (though not provincia but procuratio was used) to be ruled by ministeriales, a non-noble class of civil servants. The idea was that such men would be more tractable and less likely to alienate the fief from the crown out of their own greed. The province had a single provincial court (Landgericht) and a central administration with its seat at Hagenau.
During his reign, Emperor Friedrich II designated the bishop of Strasbourg to administrate the Alsace, but the authority of the bishop was challenged by Count Rudolf of Habsburg, who received his rights from Friedrich's son Konrad IV. Straßburg (Straße means street, and burg means fortification), which had been an episcopal see since the 4th century, began to grow to become the most populous and commercially-important town in the region. In 1262, after a long struggle with the ruling bishops, its citizens gained the status of free imperial city. A stop on the Paris-Vienna-Orient trade route, as well as a port on the Rhine route linking southern Germany and Switzerland to the Netherlands, England and Scandinavia, it became the political and economic center of the region. Cities such as Colmar and Hagenau also began to grow in economic importance and gained a kind of autonomy within the "Decapole" or "Dekapolis", a federation of 10 free towns.
Around this time, German central power declined following years of imperial adventures in Italian lands, which ceded hegemony in Europe to France, which had long since centralized power. Now France began an aggressive policy of expanding eastward, first to the Rhône and Meuse Rivers, and when those borders were reached, aiming for the Rhine. In 1299, they even proposed a marriage alliance between Philip IV of France's sister and Albrecht of Austria's son, with Alsace to be the dowry; however, the deal never came off. In 1307, the town of Belfort was first chartered by the counts of Montbéliard.
During the next century, France was to be militarily shattered by the Hundred Years War with England which prevented for a time any further tendencies in this direction. After the conclusion of the war, France was again free to pursue its desire to reach the Rhine and in 1444 a French army appeared in Lorraine and Alsace. There it took up winter quarters, demanded the submission of Metz and Strasbourg and launched an attack on Basel.
[edit] Modern History
In 1469, following the Treaty of St. Omer, Upper Alsace was sold for money by Duke Sigismund of Habsburg to Charles of Burgundy who also ruled over of Netherlands and Burgundy. Although Charles was the nominal landlord, taxes were paid to the German Emperor. The Emperor was able to wreak this tax and a dynastic marriage to his advantage to gain back full control of Upper Alsace (apart from the free towns, but including Belfort) in 1477 when it became part of the particular demesne of the Habsburg family, who were also hereditary rulers of the Empire. A little later, 1515, the town of Mulhouse joined the Swiss Confederation in 1515 where it was to remain until 1798.
By the time of the Reformation in the 16th century, Strasbourg was a prosperous community, and its inhabitants accepted Protestantism at an early date (1523). The reformer Martin Bucer was a prominent Protestant reformer in the region. His efforts were countered by the Roman Catholic Habsburgs who tried to eradicate heresy in Upper Alsace. As a result, Alsace was transformed into a mosaic of Catholic and Protestant territories. On the other hand, Mömpelgard to the southwest of Alsace, belonging to the counts of Württemberg since 1397, remained a Protestant enclave in France until 1793.
This situation prevailed until 1639 when most of Alsace was conquered by France to prevent it falling into the hands of the Spanish Habsburgs who wanted a clear road to their valuable and rebellious possessions in the Netherlands. This occurred in the greater context of the Thirty Years War. So, in 1646, beset by enemies and to gain a free hand in Hungary, the Habsburgs sold their Sundgau territory (mostly in Upper Alsace) to France, which had occupied it, for the sum of 1.2 million thalers. Thus, when the hostilities finally ceased in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia, most of Alsace went to France with some towns remaining independent. The treaty stipulations regarding Alsace were extremely Byzantine and confusing; it is thought that this was purposely so that neither the French king or the German Emperor could gain tight control, but that one would play off the other, thereby assuring Alsace some measure of autonomy. Supporters of this theory point out that the treaty stipulations were authored by Imperial plenipotentiary Isaac Volmar, the former chancellor of Alsace.
The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) had been one of the worst periods in the history of Alsace and other parts of Southern Germany. It caused large numbers of the population (mainly in the countryside) to die or to flee away, because the land was successively invaded and devastated by many armies (Imperials, Swedes, French, etc.). After 1648 and until the mid-18th century, numerous immigrants arrived from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Lorraine, Savoy and other areas. Between 1671-1711 Anabaptist refugees came from Switzerland, notably from Bern. Strasbourg became a main center of the early Anabaptist movement.
France consolidated her hold with the 1679 Treaties of Nijmegen which brought the towns under her control. In 1681, she occupied Strasbourg in an unprovoked action. These territorial changes were reinforced at the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick which ended the War of the Palatinate (also known as the War of the Grand Alliance or War of the League of Augsburg), although the Holy Roman Empire did not accept and sign the document until 1697. Thus was Alsace drawn into the orbit of France. However, Alsace had a somewhat exceptional position in the kingdom. The German language was still used in local government, school and education and the German (Lutheran) university of Strasburg was continued and attended by students from Germany. The Edict of Fontainebleau which legalized the brutal suppression of French Protestantism was not applied in Alsace and in contrast to the rest of France there was a relative religious tolerance (although the French authorities tried to promote Catholicism and the Lutheran Strasbourg Cathedral had to be handed over to the Catholics in 1681). There was a customs boundary along the Vosges mountains against the rest of France while there was no such boundary against Germany. For these reasons Alsace remained coined by German culture and also economically oriented towards Germany until the French Revolution.
The year 1789 brought the French Revolution and with it the first division of Alsace into the départements of Haut- and Bas-Rhin. Many of the residents of the Sundgau made "pilgrimages" to places like Mariastein, near Basel, in Switzerland, for baptisms and weddings.
During the last decade of the 18th century, many Alsatians were in opposition to the Jacobins and sympathetic to the invading forces of Austria and Prussia who sought to crush the nascent revolutionary republic. When the French Revolutionary Army of the Rhine was victorious, tens of thousands fled east before it. When they were later permitted to return (in some cases not until 1799), it was often to find that their lands and homes had been confiscated. These straitened conditions led to emigration by hundreds of families to newly-vacant lands in the Russian Empire in 1803/4 and again in 1808. A poignant retelling of this tale based on what he had himself witnessed can be found in Goethe's Hermann und Dorothea.
In response to the restoration of Napoleon, in 1814 and 1815, Alsace was occupied by foreign forces, including over 280,000 soldiers and 90,000 horses in Bas-Rhin alone. This had grave effects on trade and the economy of the region since former overland trade routes were switched to newly-opened Mediterranean and Atlantic seaports.
At the same time, the population was growing rapidly, from 800,000 in 1814 to 914,000 in 1830 and 1,067,000 in 1846. The combination of factors meant hunger, housing shortages and a lack of work for young people. Thus, it is not surprising that people fled, not only to Russia, but also to take advantage of a new opportunity offered by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Empire had recently conquered lands in the East from the Turkish Empire and offered generous terms for colonists in order to consolidate their hold on the lands. Many Alsatians also began to sail for America, where after 1807 slave importation had been banned and new workers were needed for the cotton fields.
[edit] After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71
After the Franco-Prussian War, which had been declared and lost by France, the northern part of Lorraine was given to the new German Empire, along with Alsace. Not affected by this was the town of Belfort and the area around it (now the French département of Territoire de Belfort), because the inhabitants there were predominantly native French speakers, unlike in the rest of Alsace. Also, the town and area of Montbéliard, to the south of Belfort, was not included, despite the fact that this was a Protestant enclave, as it had belonged to Württemberg from 1397 to 1806.
The annexed area corresponded to the French départements of Bas-Rhin (in its entirety), Haut-Rhin (except the area of Belfort and Montbéliard), and a small area in the northeast of the Vosges département, all of which made up Alsace, and the départements of Moselle (four-fifths of it) and the northeast of Meurthe (one-third of Meurthe), which were the eastern part of Lorraine.
The remaining département of Meurthe was joined with the westernmost part of Moselle which had escaped German annexation to form the new département of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
The new border between France and Germany closely followed the geolinguistic divide between Romance and Germanic dialects, except in a few valleys of the Alsatian side of the Vosges mountains, the city of Metz and in the area of Château-Salins (formerly in the Meurthe département), which were annexed by Germany despite the fact that people there spoke French. The fact that small francophone areas were affected was used in France to denounce the new border as hypocrisy, since Germany had justified them by the native Germanic dialects and culture of the inhabitants, which was true for the majority of Alsace-Lorraine. However, some adjoining German-speaking areas were left within France as well. A purely linguistic border would have been too convolute to be practical.
The Treaty of Frankfurt gave the residents of the region until October 1, 1872 to choose between emigrating to France or remaining in the region and having their nationality legally changed to German. By 1876, about 100,000 or 5% residents of Alsace-Lorraine had emigrated to France. [1]
Under the German Empire of 1871-1918, the territory constituted the Reichsland or Imperial Province of Elsass-Lothringen. The area was administered directly by the imperial government in Berlin, and was granted some measure of autonomy in 1911.
[edit] After World War I
- See also Alsace Soviet Republic
In order to spare them possible confrontations with relatives in France, the soldiers from Alsace-Lorraine were mainly sent to the Eastern front, or the Kaiserliche Marine.
In October 1918, the German Imperial Navy, which had spent most of the war since the Battle of Jutland in ports, was ordered to fight, in order to weaken the British Royal Navy for the time after the war. However, the sailors refused to obey. At that time, about 15,000 Alsatians and Lorrainers had been incorporated into the Kaiserliche Marine. Some of them joined the insurrection and the German Revolution, and decided to rouse their homeland to revolt against the monarchy of the Emperor.
[edit] Independent Republic of Alsace-Lorraine
On 8 November, the proclamation of a Republic of Councils in Bavaria was aired in Strasbourg, the capital city of Alsace. The next day, on November 9, thousands of demonstrators rallied at the local bakers square in Strasbourg, to acclaim the first soldiers returning home from northern Germany. A train controlled by insurgents was blocked on the Kehl bridge, and a loyal commander ordered to shoot on the train. One insurgent was killed, but his fellows took control of the city of Kehl.
The same day, Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated and Philipp Scheidemann declared Germany a republic in a speech from the Reichstag. As Alsace-Lorraine had been administered by Berlin and the Emperor, and had no state government and monarch like other German states, the demise of the Emperor left an even larger vacuum of power.
Similar to other areas of Germany, the former seamen established a Soldiers' Council of Strasbourg, and took the control of the city. A council of workers and soldiers was then established and presided by the leader of the brewery workers' union. Their motto was: 'Neither German neither French nor neutral.'[citation needed]
On November 11, the Armistice with Germany (Compiègne) was signed, ending the war. The same day, the Diet of Strasbourg proclaimed an Independent Republic of Alsace-Lorraine. The Landtag parliament proclaimed itself the "National Council of Alsace-Lorraine" and the sole legal authority there. The next day, the National Council took over all functions of the Statthalter and of the Secretary of state, and proclaimed the sovereignty of Alsace-Lorraine. Eugen Ricklin and Jacques Peirotes were in charge.[citation needed]
Yet, independence was short-lived as the French occupied Mülhausen on 17 November. They took Colmar and Metz on the next days, and, on 21 November, French troops arrived in Strasbourg.[citation needed]
[edit] After the Republic of Alsace-Lorraine
After eleven days of independence, Alsace-Lorraine was occupied by and incorporated into France. The region lost its recently acquired autonomy, was reverted to the centralised French system and was divided into the départements of Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin and Moselle (the same political structure as before the annexation and as created by the French Revolution, with slightly different limits).
However, even today the territory enjoys laws in certain areas that are significantly different from the rest of France - see for example the statute of Alsace-Moselle.
The département Meurthe-et-Moselle was maintained even after France recovered Alsace-Lorraine in 1919. The area of Belfort became a special status area and was not reintegrated into Haut-Rhin in 1919 but instead was made a full-status département in 1922 under the name Territoire de Belfort.[1]
The French Government immediately started a Francization campaign that included the forced deportation of all Germans who had settled in the area after 1870. For that purpose, the population was divided in four categories, A to D.[2] German-language Alsatian newspapers were also suppressed.
[edit] World War II
After France was defeated in the spring of 1940, the area was administered from Berlin by the Nazis until they were defeated in 1945. During the occupation, all inhabitants of military age were subject to conscription into the German army, and in some cases engaged in repression against French citizens during the Second World War (see for instance the massacre of Oradour-sur-Glane).
Many young men from Alsace-Lorraine were also drafted or volunteered to serve in the German Wehrmacht or the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. This led to numerous problems and recriminations after the war.
[edit] Contemporary History
When Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France after the war, the fact that many young men from the area had served (in many cases by force) in the German Army, and even the Waffen SS, resulted in tensions between Alsace-Lorraine and other parts of France.
The French government pursued, in line with its traditional language policy, a campaign to suppress the use of German. Both the German language as well as the local Germanic dialect Elsässisch were for a time banned from public life (street and city names, official administration, the educational system, etc). Largely due to this policy, Alsace-Lorraine is today very French in language and culture. Few young people speak Elsässisch today, though the closely-related Alemannisch survives on the opposite bank of the Rhine, in Baden, and especially in Switzerland.
In recent times, official and private initiatives have been trying to reverse this process to preserve the area's unique Franco-German cultural heritage. France is one of only two EU member countries (Andorra being the other) that refuses to sign the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities[citation needed], which includes guarantees of the democratic right to freedom of language.
[edit] Geographical and historical data
- Area 14,496 km² (5,597 sq. miles).
| Year | Population | Cause of change |
|---|---|---|
| 1866 | 1,596,000 | - |
| 1875 | 1,531,804 | After incorporation into the German Empire, 100,000 to 130,000 people left for France and French Algeria |
| 1910 | 1,874,014 | 0.58% population growth per year during 1875-1910 |
| 1921 | 1,709,749 | Death of young men in the German army, Deportation of German newcomers to Germany |
| 1936 | 1,915,627 | 0.76% population growth per year during 1921-1936 |
| 1946 | 1,767,131 | Death of young men in the French army in 1939-40, Death of young men in the German army 1940-45, Death of civilians and many people still refugees in the rest of France |
| 1999 | 2,757,592 | 0.84% population growth per year during 1946-1999 |
- ^ However on the Colmar prefecture building, the name of Belfort can be seen as a sous-prefecture.
[edit] See also
- Former countries in Europe after 1815
- Irredentism
- Cultural Assimilation
- Censorship
- Language Policy in France
- Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
[edit] Further reading
[edit] Publications in English
- Linda Herrick & Wendy Uncapher, Alsace-Lorraine Atlantic Bridge to Germany, Origins, Janesville, WI, 2003.
[edit] External links
- (German) http://www.geocities.com/bfel/geschichte5b.html
- (German) http://www.elsass-lothringen.de/
- http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Rotunda/2209/Alsace_Lorraine.html
- France, Germany and the Struggle for the War-making Natural Resources of the Rhineland
- Elsass-Lothringen video
Kingdoms: Prussia | Bavaria | Saxony | Württemberg
Grand Duchies: Baden | Hesse | Mecklenburg-Schwerin | Mecklenburg-Strelitz | Oldenburg Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Duchies: Anhalt | Brunswick | Saxe-Altenburg | Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | Saxe-Meiningen
Principalities: Schaumburg-Lippe | Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt | Schwarzburg-Sondershausen | Lippe | Reuss-Greiz | Reuss-Schleiz | Waldeck-Pyrmont
Free Cities: Bremen | Hamburg | Lübeck Imperial Province: Alsace-Lorraine other: Colonial possessions
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Lorraine | Alsace | History of France | History of terretories in Germany ruled by a secular sovereign | States of the German Empire | Former countries in Europe | Short-lived states of World War I | Amalgamated placenames
