Alsace-Lorraine

The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine (German:Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen or Elsass-Lothringen) was aterritory created by the German Empire in 1871 afterit annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle departmentof Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-PrussianWar. TheAlsatian part lay in the RhineValley on the westbank of the Rhine River and east of the Vosges Moun-tains. The Lorraine section was in the upper Moselle val-ley to the north of the Vosges.The territory was made up of 93% of Alsace (7% re-mained French) and 26% of Lorraine (74% remainedFrench). For historical reasons, specific legal dispositionsare still applied in the territory in the form of a local law.In relation to its special legal status, since its reversionto France following World War I, the territory has beenreferred to administratively as Alsace-Moselle.[1]

1 Geography

Alsace-Lorraine had a land area of 14,496 km2 (5,597sq mi). Its capital was Straßburg. It was divided in threedistricts (Bezirke in German):

• Oberelsass, whose capital was Kolmar, had a landarea of 3,525 km² and corresponds exactly to thecurrent department of Haut-Rhin

• Unterelsass, whose capital was Strassburg, had aland area of 4,755 km² and corresponds exactly tothe current department of Bas-Rhin

• Lothringen, whose capital was Metz, had a land areaof 6,216 km² and corresponds exactly to the currentdepartment of Moselle

1.1 Towns and cities

The largest urban areas in Alsace-Lorraine at the 1910census were:

• Strasbourg (Strassburg in German): 220,883 inhab-itants

• Mulhouse (Mülhausen) : 128,190 inhabitants

• Metz: 102,787 inhabitants

• Thionville (Diedenhofen): 69,693 inhabitants

• Colmar (Kolmar): 44,942 inhabitants

2 History

2.1 Background

Main articles: French–German enmity and Causes ofthe Franco-Prussian War

The modern history of Alsace-Lorraine was largely influ-enced by the rivalry between French and German nation-alism.France long sought to attain and preserve its "naturalboundaries", which are the Pyrenees to the southwest, theAlps to the southeast, and the Rhine River to the north-east. These strategic aims led to the absorption of ter-ritories located west of the Rhine river. What is nowknown as Alsace was progressively conquered by LouisXIV in the 17th century, while Lorraine was integratedin the 18th century under Louis XV.[2]

The German nationalism, which arose following theFrench occupation of Germany, sought to unify all theGerman-speaking populations of Europe into a singlenation-state. As various German dialects were spoken bymost of the population of Alsace and Moselle (northernLorraine), these regions were coveted by German nation-alists.

We Germans who know Germany andFrance know better what is good for theAlsatians than the unfortunates themselves. Inthe perversion of their French life they have noexact idea of what concerns Germany.—Heinrich von Treitschke, German national-ist historian and politician, 1871[3][4]

2.2 From annexation to World War I

Main article: Franco-Prussian WarThe newly created German Empire’s demand of terri-

tory from France in the aftermath of its victory in theFranco-Prussian War was not simply a punitive measure.The transfer was controversial even among the Germansthemselves - the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarckwas strongly opposed to a transfer of territory that heknew would provoke permanent French enmity towardsthe new State. However, the German Emperor WilhelmI eventually sided with Helmuth von Moltke the Elder,other Prussian generals and others who argued that a

1

2 2 HISTORY

Alsatians leaving newly annexed Alsace for France.

MeuseMoselle

Meurthe

Haut-Rhin

Bas-Rhin

Vosges

SWITZERLAND

LUX.BELGIUM

GERMANY55 5754

88

67

68

90

Territorial evolutionof the départementsof Alsace-Lorraine

0 100(km)

0 60(miles)

Limits of the GermanEmpire 1871–1918

54: Meurthe-et-Moselle55: Meuse57: Moselle67: Bas-Rhin68: Haut-Rhin88: Vosges90: Territoire-de-Belfort

Départements before 1871

Modern borders

Modern départements:

Shading shows départements before 1870; black lines after 1871.Only the département of Meurthe changed name and becameMeurthe-et-Moselle after the border changes. Border between1871 and 1918 in yellow.

The loss of Alsace and Lorraine personified. Statue in Nancy,then in the French part of Lorraine.

westward shift in the new Franco-German border wasnecessary and desirable for a number of reasons. Froman ethnicistic perspective, the transfer seemed justified,since most of the lands that were annexed were popu-

“The Black Stain": In France, children were taught in school tonot forget the lost provinces, which were coloured in black onmaps. Painting by Albert Bettannier, a native of Metz who fledto Paris after the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War.

lated by people who spoke Alemannic German dialects.From a military perspective, shifting the Franco-Germanfrontier away from the Rhine would give the Germans astrategic advantage over the French, especially by early1870s military standards and thinking. Indeed, thanks tothis annexation, the Germans took control of the fortifica-tions of Metz, a French-speaking town, and also of mostof the iron resources available in the region.However, domestic politics of the new Empiremight havebeen the decisive factor. Although it was effectively ledby Prussia, the German Empire was a new and highly de-centralized creation. The new arrangement left many se-nior Prussian generals with serious misgivings about lead-ing diverse military forces to guard a pre-war frontierthat, except for the northernmost section, was part of twoother states of the new Empire – Baden and Bavaria. Asrecently as the 1866 Austro-Prussian War, these stateshad been Prussia’s enemies. Both states, but especiallyBavaria, had been given substantial concessions with re-gards to local autonomy in the new Empire’s constitution,including a great deal of autonomy over military mat-ters. For this reason, the Prussian General Staff arguedthat it was prudent and necessary that the new Empire’sfrontier with France be under their direct control. Cre-ating a new Imperial Territory (Reichsland) out of for-merly French territory would achieve this goal: althougha Reichsland would not be part of the Kingdom of Prus-sia, being governed directly from Berlin it would be un-der Prussian control. Thus, by annexing territory, Berlinwas able to avoid delicate negotiations with Baden andBavaria on such matters as construction and control ofnew fortifications, etc. The governments of Baden andBavaria, naturally, were in favour of moving the Frenchborder away from their territories.Memories of the Napoleonic Wars were still quite freshin the 1870s. Right up until the Franco-Prussian War,the French had maintained a long-standing desire to es-tablish their entire eastern frontier on the Rhine, and thus

2.2 From annexation to World War I 3

they were viewed bymost 19th century Germans as an ag-gressive people. In the years prior to 1870, it is arguablethat the Germans feared the French more than the Frenchfeared the Germans. Many Germans at the time thoughtthat the creation of the new Empire in itself would beenough to earn permanent French enmity, and thus de-sired a defensible border with their old enemy. Any ad-ditional enmity that would be earned from territorial con-cessions was downplayed as marginal and insignificant inthe overall scheme of things.The annexed area consisted of the northern part of Lor-raine, along with Alsace. The area around the townof Belfort (now the French département of Territoirede Belfort) was unaffected, because its inhabitants werepredominantly French speakers and because Belfort hadbeen defended by Colonel Denfert-Rochereau, who sur-rendered only after receiving orders from Paris. The townof Montbéliard and its surrounding area to the south ofBelfort, which have been part of the Doubs departmentsince 1816, and therefore were not considered part of Al-sace, were not included, despite the fact that they were aProtestant enclave, as it belonged to Württemberg from1397 to 1806. This area corresponded to the Frenchdépartements of Bas-Rhin (in its entirety), Haut-Rhin (ex-cept the area of Belfort and Montbéliard), and a smallarea in the northeast of the Vosges département, all ofwhich made up Alsace, and the départements of Moselle(four-fifths of it) and the northeast of Meurthe (one-thirdof Meurthe), which were the eastern part of Lorraine.The remaining département of Meurthe was joined withthe westernmost part of Moselle which had escapedGerman annexation to form the new département ofMeurthe-et-Moselle.

Kaiser Wilhelm II launched the construction of many buildingsshaped by a Germanic architecture, in order to Germanify theannexed cities. Here the Imperial railway station of Metz built in1908. Today, many of these buildings are regarded as importantexamples of Wilhelministic architecture.

The new border between France and Germany mainlyfollowed the geolinguistic divide between Romance andGermanic dialects, except in a few valleys of the Alsa-tian side of the Vosges mountains, the city of Metz and

its region and in the area of Château-Salins (formerly inthe Meurthe département), which were annexed by Ger-many despite the fact that people there spoke French.[5] In1900, 11.6% of the population of Alsace-Lorraine spokeFrench as their first language (11.0% in 1905, 10.9% in1910).The fact that small francophone areas were affected wasused in France to denounce the new border as hypocrisy,since Germany had justified them by the native Germanicdialects and culture of the inhabitants, which was true forthe majority of Alsace-Lorraine. However, the Germanadministration was tolerant of the use of the French lan-guage, and French was permitted as an official languageand school language in those areas where it was spokenby a majority.The Treaty of Frankfurt gave the residents of the regionuntil October 1, 1872 to choose between emigrating toFrance or remaining in the region and having their nation-ality legally changed to German. About 161,000 people,i.e., around 10.4% of the residents of Alsace-Lorraine,opted for French citizenship (the so-called Optanden);however, only about 50,000 actually emigrated, while therest acquired German citizenship.[6]

The “being French” feeling stayed strong at least duringthe first 16 years of the annexation. During the Reich-stag elections, the 15 deputies of 1874, 1881, 1884 (butone) and 1887 were called protester deputies (fr: députésprotestataires) because they expressed to the Parliamenttheir opposition to the annexation by means of the 1874motion in the French language: « May it please the Re-ichstag to decide that the populations of Alsace-Lorrainethat were annexed, without having been consulted, to theGerman Reich by the treaty of Frankfurt have to comeout particularly about this annexation. »[7] The infamousSaverne Affair put a severe strain on the relationship be-tween the people of Alsace-Lorraine and the rest of theGerman Empire.Under the German Empire of 1871-1918, the territoryconstituted the Reichsland or Imperial Territory of Elsaß-Lothringen. The area was administered directly by theimperial government in Berlin and was granted somemeasure of autonomy in 1911. This included its constitu-tion and state assembly, its own flag, and the ElsässischesFahnenlied as its anthem.

2.2.1 Reichstag election results 1874–1912

FVp: Progressive People’s Party. formed in 1910 as amerger of all leftist liberal parties.

2.2.2 During World War I

Further information: World War IAlsace-Lorraine, during this time, was a geo-politicalprize contested between the French and German pow-

4 2 HISTORY

German patrol during the Saverne Affair

Translation: Here at Gertwiller on 22 August 1914 three Alsa-tian farmers were shot, against all justice. (...) innocent victimsof German barbarity. Alsatians! Remember!

ers. The increased militarization of Europe, coupled withthe lack of negotiation between major powers, led toharsh and rash actions taken by both parties in respectto Alsace-Lorraine.As soon as war was declared, both the French and Ger-mans used the inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine as pawnsin the growing conflict between France and Germany.Germans living in France were arrested and placed intocamps by the French authorities. Upon entering certainvillages, veterans of the 1870 conflict were sought out andarrested.[8]

The Germans responded with harsh measures:[9] theSaverne Affair had convinced the high command that thepopulation was hostile to the German Empire and that itshould be forced into submission.Due to the proximity of the front, German troops con-fiscated homes. The German military were highly suspi-cious of French patriots.German authorities started to develop policies aimed atreducing the influence of French. French street namesin Metz, which were displayed before in both languages,were suppressed on January 14, 1915. Six months later,on July 15, 1915, German became the only official lan-

guage in the region,[10] leading to the Germanification ofthe towns’ names by an order of September 2, 1915.Prohibiting the speaking of French in public further in-creased the exasperation of the natives, who were longaccustomed to mixing their conversation with French lan-guage (see code-switching); however, the use even of oneword, as innocent as "bonjour", could incur a fine.[11]

Ethnic Germans took part in the persecution as a wayto demonstrate patriotism, listening closely and readyto denounce to the police anyone they heard using theprohibited language. Thus, the population was dividedbetween an all-powerful minority and a majority whichcould only keep its fist in its pocket and wait for the hourof revenge.[12]

German authorities became increasingly worried aboutthis renewed French patriotism, as Reichslands governorstated in February 1918: "Sympathies towards France andrepulsion for Germans have penetrated to a frighteningdepth the petty bourgeoisie and the peasantry".[13]

In order to spare them possible confrontations with rel-atives in France, the soldiers from Alsace-Lorraine weremainly sent to the Eastern front, or the Kaiserliche Ma-rine.In October 1918, the German Imperial Navy, which hadspent most of the war since the Battle of Jutland in ports,was ordered to fight, to avoid a humiliating surrender tothe Allies. However, the sailors refused to obey. At thattime, about 15,000 Alsatians and Lorrainers had been in-corporated into the Kaiserliche Marine. Some of themjoined the insurrection and the German Revolution, anddecided to rouse their homeland to revolt against themonarchy of the Emperor.

2.3 Annexation to the French Republic

Main article: November 1918 in AlsaceIn the general revolutionary atmosphere of the expiringGerman Empire, Marxist councils of workers and sol-diers (Soldaten und Arbeiterräte) formed in Mulhouse, inColmar and Strasbourg in November 1918, in parallel toother such bodies set up in Germany, in imitation of theRussian equivalent soviets.In this chaotic situation, Alsace-Lorraine’s Landtag pro-claimed itself the supreme authority of the land with thename ofNationalrat, the Soviet of Strasbourg claimed thefoundation of a Republic of Alsace-Lorraine, while SPDReichstag representative for Colmar, Jacques Peirotes,announced the establishment of the French rule, urgingParis to send troops quickly.[14]

While the soviet councils disbanded themselves with thedeparture of the German troops between November 11and 17,[15] the arrival of the French Army stabilized thesituation: French troops put the region under occupatiobellica and entered Strasbourg on November 21. The Na-

2.4 World War II 5

An Alsatian in traditional dress and a French officer, c.1919.

Metz and the Lorraine returned to France, front page of Le PetitJournal newspaper dated from 8 December 1918.

tionalrat proclaimed the annexation of Alsace to Franceon December 5, even though this process did not gain in-ternational recognition until the signature of the Treaty of

Versailles in 1919.Alsace-Lorraine was divided into the départements ofHaut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin and Moselle (the same politicalstructure as before the annexation and as created by theFrench Revolution, with slightly different limits). Today,these territories enjoy laws that are significantly differ-ent from the rest of France – these specific provisions areknown as the local law.The département Meurthe-et-Moselle was maintainedeven after France recovered Alsace-Lorraine in 1919.The area of Belfort became a special status area and wasnot reintegrated into Haut-Rhin in 1919 but instead wasmade a full-status département in 1922 under the nameTerritoire-de-Belfort.[16]

The French Government immediately started aFrancization campaign that included the forced de-portation of all Germans who had settled in the areaafter 1870. For that purpose, the population was dividedin four categories: A (French citizens prior to 1870),B (descendants of such French citizens), C (citizens ofAllied or neutral states) and D (enemy aliens - Germans).Until July 1921 111,915 people categorized as “D” wereexpelled to Germany.[17][18] German-language Alsatiannewspapers were also suppressed.

2.4 World War II

Main article: Malgré-nousAfter France was defeated in the spring of 1940, Al-

Monument to the Malgré-nous in Obernai, Bas-Rhin

sace and Moselle were not officially annexed by Ger-many. Adolf Hitler annexed them in 1940 through alaw which he kept secret.[19] Through a series of lawswhich, individually, seemed minor, Berlin actually tookthe full control over Alsace-Moselle and could forciblyintegrate Mosellan and Alsatian people into its army.Those territories were administered from Berlin until theWestern Allied invasion of Germany in March 1945.During the occupation, Moselle was integrated into aReichsgau named Westmark and Alsace was amalga-

6 3 DEMOGRAPHICS

mated with Baden. From 1942, people from Alsaceand Moselle were made German citizens by the Germangovernment.[20]

Beginning in October 1942, Alsatian and Mosellanmen, especially young men, were enrolled by force intothe German Wehrmacht either in the Heer, Luftwaffe,Kriegsmarine or Waffen-SS and they were called themalgré-nous (literally in spite of ourselves), which couldbe translated in English as “the unwilling” or “against ourwill”.[21][22][23] This was a major trauma for the two re-gions which had become “French-loving” after they rein-tegrated into France afterWorldWar I. Though they werenot included in the malgré-nous expression, such a situa-tion also applied to eastern Belgium and Luxembourg.Finally, 100,000 Alsatians and 30,000 Mosellans wereenrolled especially to fight on the eastern front against theRed Army. Most of them were interned in Tambov inRussia in 1945. Many others fought in Normandy as themalgré-nous of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.

3 Demographics

3.1 First language (1900)

• German: 1,492,347 (86.8%)[24]

• Other Languages: 219,638 (12.8%)[24]

• French: 198,318 (11.5%)• Italian: 18,750 (1.1%)• German and a second language : 7,485 (0.4%)• Polish: 1,410 (0.1%)

3.2 Religion

When Alsace and the Lorraine department became partof Germany, the French laws regarding religious bod-ies were preserved, with special privileges to the thenrecognised religions of Calvinism, Judaism, Lutheranismand Roman Catholicism, under a system known as theConcordat. However, the Roman Catholic diocesesof Metz and of Strasbourg became exempt jurisdic-tions. The Church of Augsburg Confession of France,with its directory, supreme consistory and the bulk ofits parishioners residing in Alsace, was reorganised asthe Protestant Church of Augsburg Confession of Al-sace and Lorraine (EPCAAL) in 1872, but territori-ally reconfined to Alsace-Lorraine only. The five localCalvinist consistories, originally part of the ReformedChurch of France, formed a statewide synod in 1895,the Protestant Reformed Church of Alsace and Lorraine(EPRAL). The three Israelite consistories in Colmar,Metz and Strasbourg were disentangled from supervi-sion by the Israelite Central Consistory of France andcontinued as separate statutory corporations which never

formed a joint body, but cooperated. All the men-tioned religious bodies retained the status as établisse-ments publics de culte (public bodies of Religion). Whenthe new Alsace-Lorraine constitution of 1911 providedfor a bicameral state parliament (Landtag of Alsace-Lorraine) each recognised religion was entitled to send arepresentative into the first chamber of the Landtag as exofficio members (the bishops of Strasbourg and of Metz,the presidents of EPCAAL and EPRAL, and a delegateof the three Israelite consistories).

3.2.1 Religious statistics in 1910

Population 1,874,014 :[24]

• Catholic: 76.22%

• Protestant: 21.78% (18.87% Lutherans, 2.91%Calvinists)

• Jewish: 1.63%

• Other Christian: 0.21%

• Atheist: 0.12%

3.3 Statistics (1866–2010)

3.4 Languages

Both Germanic and Romance dialects were traditionallyspoken in Alsace-Lorraine before the 20th century.Germanic dialects:

• Central German dialects:

• Luxembourgish Franconian in the north-westof Moselle (Lothringen) around Thionville(Diddenuewen in the local Luxembourgish di-alect) and Sierck-les-Bains (Siirk in the localLuxembourgish dialect)

• Moselle Franconian in the central north-ern part of Moselle around Boulay-Moselle(Bolchin in the local Moselle Franconian di-alect) and Bouzonville (Busendroff in the localMoselle Franconian dialect)

• Rhine Franconian in the north-east of Mosellearound Forbach (Fuerboch in the local RhineFranconian dialect), Bitche (Bitsch in the lo-cal Rhine Franconian dialect), and Sarrebourg(Saarbuerj in the local Rhine Franconian di-alect), as well as in the north-west of Alsacearound Sarre-Union

• Transitional between Central German and UpperGerman:

7

Spatial distribution of dialects in Alsace-Lorraine prior to the ex-pansion of standard French in the 20th century

• South Franconian in the northernmost part ofAlsace around Wissembourg (Waisseburch inthe local South Franconian dialect)

• Upper German dialects:

• Alsatian in the largest part of Alsace andin a few villages in the extreme east ofMoselle. Alsatian was the most spoken dialectin Alsace-Lorraine.

• High Alemannic in the southernmost part ofAlsace, around Saint-Louis and Ferrette (Pfirtin the local High Alemannic dialect)

Romance dialects (belonging to the langues d'oïl likeFrench):

• Lorrain in roughly the southern half of Moselle, in-cluding its capital Metz, as well as in some valleys ofthe Vosges Mountains in the west of Alsace aroundSchirmeck and Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines

• Franc-Comtois in 12 villages in the extreme south-west of Alsace

4 See also

• Areas annexed by Nazi Germany

• French–German enmity

• Unification of Germany

• Irredentism

• November 1918 in Alsace-Lorraine

5 Notes

[1] An instruction dated 8.14.1920 from the assistant Sec-retary of State of the Presidency of the Council to theGeneral Commissioner of the Republic in Strasbourg re-minds that the term Alsace-Lorraine is prohibited andmust be replaced by the sentence “the département ofHaut-Rhin, the département of Bas-Rhin and the départe-ment of Moselle". While this sentence was considered astoo long, some used the term Alsace-Moselle to point tothe three concerned départements. But, this instructionhas no legal status because it is not based on any territo-rial authority.

[2] William Roosen, The age of Louis XIV: the rise of mod-ern diplomacy. p. 55

[3] “Full text of “Alsace-Lorraine since 1870"". archive.org.

[4] REMAKING THE MAP OF EUROPE by Jean Finot,The New York Times, May 30, 1915

[5] In fact, the linguistic border ran on the north of the newone, including in the “Alemannic” territories Thionville(also named Diedenhofen under the German Reich),Metz, Château-Salins, Vic-sur-Seille and Dieuze, whichwere fully French-speaking. The valleys of Orbey andSainte-Marie-aux-Mines were in the same case. Similarly,the town of Dannemarie (and adjoining areas) were alsoleft in Alsace when language alone could have made thempart of Territoire de Belfort.

[6] Sophie Charlotte Preibusch: Verfassungsentwicklungenim Reichsland Elsass-Lothringen 1871–1918. In: BerlinerJuristische Universitätsschriften, Grundlagen des Rechts.Vol 38, ISBN 3-8305-1112-4, p. 96. (in German)(Google Digitalisat)

[7] Les députés “protestataires” d'Alsace-Lorraine (French)

[8] In 1914, Albert Schweitzer was put under supervision inLambaréné (then in French Equatorial Africa); in 1917,he was taken to France and incarcerated until July 1918.

[9] Charles Spindler, L'Alsace pendant la Guerre, 6 septembre1914 and 11 septembre 1915.

[10] Grandhomme, Jean-Noël (2008) Boches ou tricolores.Strasbourg: La nuée bleue.

8 7 EXTERNAL LINKS

[11] As of on October 26, 1914, we can read in Spindler’s jour-nal: “Then he recommends to me not to speak French.The streets are infested with informers, men and women,who touch rewards and make arrest the passers by for asimple « merci » said in French. It goes without sayingthat these measures excite the joker spirit of the people.A woman at the market, who probably was unaware that"bonchour" and "merci" was French, is taken with part bya German woman because she answered her "Guten Tag"by a "bonchour ". Then, the good woman, the fists on thehips, challenges her client : “Now I'm fed up with yoursilly stories! Do you know what? [here something like"kiss my ..."]! Is that endly also French? » (als: Jetz gradgenua mit dene dauwe Plän! Wisse Sie was? Leeke Siemich ...! Esch des am End au franzêsch?)"

[12] We can read in L'Alsace pendant la guerre how theexasperation of the population gradually increased butSpindler hears, as of on September 29, 1914, a charac-teristic sentence: « ... the interior decorator H., whorepairs the mattresses of the Ott house, said to me thismorning: “If only it was the will of God that we becameagain French and that these damned "Schwowebittel" werethrown out of the country! And then, you know, there arechances that it happens.” It is the first time since the war Ihear a simple man expressing frankly this wish. »

[13] Grandhomme, Jean-Noël. op.cit.

[14] Jacques Fortier, « La chute de l'Empire », Dernières Nou-velles d'Alsace, 16 November 2008 (Fr.)

[15] Jean-Noël Grandhomme, « Le retour de l'Alsace-Lorraine», L'Histoire, number 336, November 2008 (Fr.)

[16] However, on the Colmar prefecture building, the name ofBelfort can be seen as a sous-prefecture.

[17] Douglas, R.M. (2012). Ordnungsgemäße Überführung- Die Vertreibung der Deutschen nach dem ZweitenWeltkrieg (in German). C.H.Beck. pp. 94 f. ISBN 978-3-406-62294-6.

[18] “Tabellarische Geschichte Elsaß-Lothringens / Französis-che Besatzung (1918-1940)". Archived from the originalon 2009-10-25.

[19] Eberhard Jäckel, La France dans l'Europe de Hitler, op.cit., p. 123-124.

[20] Eberhard Jäckel, « L'annexion déguisée », dans Frankre-ich in Hitlers Europa – Die deutsche Frankreichpolitikim Zweiten Weltkrieg, Deutsche Verlag-Anstalg GmbH,Stuttgart, 1966, p. 123-124.

[21] The term actually appeared after World War I for the sol-diers who did not have the choice to choose their camp.

[22] Pierre Schlund, Souvenirs de guerre d'un Alsacien, Édi-tions Mille et une vies, 2011, ISBN 978-2-923692-18-0

[23] Paul Durand, En passant par la Lorraine ; gens et chosesde chez nous 1900-1945, Éditions Le Lorrain, 1945, p.131-132

[24] Statistics on verwaltungsgeschichte.de

6 Further reading• Baumann, Ansbert. « Die Erfindung des Grenzlan-des Elsass-Lothringen », in: Burkhard Olschowsky(ed.), Geteilte Regionen – geteilte Geschichtskul-turen? Muster der europäischen Identitätsbildung imeuropäischen Vergleich, Munich: Oldenbourg 2013,ISBN 978-3-486-71210-0, S. 163–183.

• Höpel, Thomas: The French-German Borderlands:Borderlands and Nation-Building in the 19th and20th Centuries, European History Online, Mainz:Institute of European History, 2010, retrieved: De-cember 17, 2012.

• Putnam, Ruth. Alsace and Lorraine from Cæsar toKaiser, 58 B.C.–1871 A.D. New York: G.P. Put-nam’s Sons, 1915.

• Roth, François. Alsace-Lorraine, De 1870 À NosJours: Histoire d'un “pays perdu”. Nancy: PlaceStanislas, 2010. ISBN 978-2-35578-050-9.

7 External links• http://www.geocities.com/bfel/geschichte5b.html(Archived 2009-10-25) (German)

• http://www.elsass-lothringen.de/ (German)

• http://web.archive.org/web/20090730200508/http://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

• Annuary of Cultur and Artists from Elsass-Lothringen (French) (German)

Coordinates: 48°40′N 7°00′E / 48.67°N 7°E

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8 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1 Text• Alsace-Lorraine Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsace-Lorraine?oldid=676361591 Contributors: Kpjas, JeLuF, Olivier, Stev-

ertigo, GUllman, Ixfd64, Ahoerstemeier, J'raxis, Magnus.de, Graculus, Wik, Zoicon5, Morwen, David Shay, Itai, AnonMoos,David.Monniaux, Sbbhattacharyya, Robbot, Pigsonthewing, ChrisO~enwiki, RedWolf, Timrollpickering, Cautious, Gobeirne, DocWat-son42, MaGioZal, Wilfried Derksen, Everyking, Revth, Eon, Matthead, Wmahan, Kudz75, Wgoetsch, J. 'mach' wust, Eregli bob, Dominotheory, Känsterle~enwiki, OwenBlacker, Bodnotbod, Kuralyov, Pmanderson, Vasile, Mschlindwein, Hardouin, Picapica, D6, An Siarach,Discospinster, Rich Farmbrough, Ranma9617, Dbachmann, Martpol, Bender235, Swid, Zscout370, El C, Markussep, Jpgordon, Circeus,Pearle, TobyRush, Blahma, Riana, Hu, ProhibitOnions, Grenavitar, Pwqn, Embryomystic, Dr Gangrene, Angr, Before My Ken, Marudub-shinki, Graham87, Deltabeignet, Magister Mathematicae, Rjwilmsi, Angusmclellan, Coemgenus, Gjmulder, Mattcaplan, Himasaram,Paj.meister, KirkEN, Olessi, Sango123, Oo64eva, FlaBot, Ground Zero, TheDJ, Str1977, Snarkibartfast, Micler, Valentinian, Chobot,Gdrbot, Adoniscik, Peter Grey, EamonnPKeane, YurikBot, RussBot, Gaius Cornelius, Theelf29, Jaxl, Dureo, Stijn Calle, Zwobot, Kor-toso, DWC LR, Igiffin, Tanet, Sean Whitton, Picaman, Victor falk, Attilios, Scolaire, SmackBot, Mira, Nihonjoe, Kintetsubuffalo, Srnec,Hmains, Betacommand, Skizzik, Aleverde, Chris the speller, Keegan, Jprg1966, MalafayaBot, Hibernian, Baronnet, Jadger, Dr. Dan,Alphathon, JRPG, Writtenright, MJCdetroit, Dyamantese, Stor stark7, Vina-iwbot~enwiki, Kukini, Ohconfucius, Kuzaar, UberCryxic,HADRIANVS, Volker89, Reveilled, King Henry V, Storm2005, Thomas Antonius, Hectorian, Ft93110, Boreas74, AGK, Courcelles,RCS, Pierre de Lyon, R9tgokunks, Dgw, AshLin, Lazulilasher, Richard Keatinge, Flammingo, Rudjek, Themightyquill, Scott.medling,Cydebot, Travelbird, Dusty relic, FrancoGG, DJBullfish, Daa89563, Barticus88, SeNeKa, Leedeth, Marek69, Missvain, CharlotteWebb,Blathnaid, David Liuzzo, AntiVandalBot, Luna Santin, Jean Francois, Jj137, Random user 8384993, Mutt Lunker, JAnDbot, Wiskan-dar~enwiki, Joshua, .anacondabot, Magioladitis, VoABot II, Nyttend, The Anomebot2, Catgut, Rickard Vogelberg, MartinBot, Grandia01,Rettetast, CommonsDelinker, Rajathk, JoDonHo, Yonidebot, NerdyNSK, Tdadamemd, (jarbarf), M-le-mot-dit, Nwbeeson, Shoessss,MisterBee1966, Sanderling, VolkovBot, Chaos5023, Pparazorback, TXiKiBoT, Yhnell, Broadbot, ^demonBot2, Shadowxfox, Telecom-Nut, Amwyll Rwden, RaseaC, Logan, Eggishorn, AdRock, Thw1309, SieBot, Revent, Francish7, Keilana, Mimihitam, Oxymoron83,Poromiami, Jdaloner, IanHerriott, Church, Sfan00 IMG, ClueBot, Hutcher, The Thing That Should Not Be, Knepflerle, Mild Bill Hic-cup, Aikidoshi, Parkwells, DragonBot, Excirial, PixelBot, Sun Creator, 7&6=thirteen, Alsr34, SoxBot III, Vanished User 1004, DumZ-iBoT, Cor1314, Hpgal92, Bruxelloise, Good Olfactory, Kbdankbot, Luwilt, Addbot, Leszek Jańczuk, Tdaddato, LAAFan, Tide rolls,Lightbot, Bermicourt, Guitarledgend109, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Angel ivanov angelov, Starbois, AnomieBOT, Bi Ya Dang, Ulric1313, DerStatistiker, ArthurBot, Papatt, Xqbot, Ulf Heinsohn, ArmchairVexillologistDonLives!, Anonymous from the 21st century, Omnipaedista,Sift&Winnow, The Wiki ghost, Kurlandlegionar, DITWIN GRIM, WebCiteBOT, FrescoBot, Lothar von Richthofen, Diomedea Exulans,MastiBot, Biala Gwiazda, Marsal20, MustaphaMond, Dinamik-bot, LawBot, Alfons2, MtulliusC, Yourmom59, DASHBot, Dewritech,Italia2006, Insert coins, Westbrabander, Bava Alcide57, Erianna, InfoPager, Donner60, Touquedillon, Grangerniels, Noah413, TRAJAN117, Weishar, ClueBot NG, CocuBot, Helpful Pixie Bot, Furfur, Gob Lofa, Unitedstates1000, Herr Lennartz, Vagobot, Mapmaster, Gle-vum, Ernio48, LoneWolf1992, Steff-X-FR, EdwardH, Liam987, HueSatLum, Khazar2, Futurist110, ÄDA - DÄP, Mogism, Chicbyacci-dent, Cerabot~enwiki, Brostoler, Gabriel tarentaise, Blaue Max, Zmflavius, YiFeiBot, Nick Mitchell 98, Eurohatim, 7Sidz, MonThrasher,Teddyktchan, Gabriel HM, Ccohen16, CimonT, Pizzasandcider, KasparBot, Benjamin TIber and Anonymous: 235

8.2 Images• File:1887_Bettanier_Der_Schwarze_Fleck_anagoria.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/1887_

Bettanier_Der_Schwarze_Fleck_anagoria.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: Deutsches Historisches Museum Berlin Originalartist: Albert Bettannier (1851-1932)

• File:Alsace-Lorraine_Dialects.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Alsace-Lorraine_Dialects.png Li-cense: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Rosss

• File:Alsace_Lorraine.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Alsace_Lorraine.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: travail personnel (own work by author) Original artist: Photo:Pierre Lescanne

• File:Alsace_Lorraine_departments_evolution_map-en.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Alsace_Lorraine_departments_evolution_map-en.svg License: FAL Contributors:

• Alsace_Lorraine_departments_evolution_map-fr.svg Original artist: Alsace_Lorraine_departments_evolution_map-fr.svg: Sémhur (<ahref='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:S%C3%A9mhur' title='User talk:Sémhur'>talk</a>)

• File:André_Bas_et_Marthe_Kuentz_-_1919.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Andr%C3%A9_Bas_et_Marthe_Kuentz_-_1919.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Gauthierbas

• File:Blason_région_fr_Alsace.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Blason_r%C3%A9gion_fr_Alsace.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: <a href='//validator.w3.org/' data-x-rel='nofollow'><img alt='W3C'src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Valid_SVG_1.1_%28green%29.svg/88px-Valid_SVG_1.1_%28green%29.svg.png' width='88' height='30' style='vertical-align: top' srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Valid_SVG_1.1_%28green%29.svg/132px-Valid_SVG_1.1_%28green%29.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Valid_SVG_1.1_%28green%29.svg/176px-Valid_SVG_1.1_%28green%29.svg.png 2x'data-file-width='91' data-file-height='31' /></a>iThe source code of this SVG is <a data-x-rel='nofollow' class='external text'href='//validator.w3.org/check?uri=https%3A%2F%2Fcommons.wikimedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%3AFilepath%2FBlason_r%25C3%25A9gion_fr_Alsace.svg,<span>,&,</span>,ss=1#source'>valid</a>.Original artist:

Image created for the Blazon Project of the French Wikipedia

• File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Originalartist: ?

10 8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

• File:Deutsches_Reich_(1871-1918)-de.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Deutsches_Reich_%281871-1918%29-de.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: own drawing/Source of Information: Putzger – Historischer Weltatlas,89. Auflage, 1965 Original artist: ziegelbrenner

• File:Dienstflagge_Elsaß-Lothringen_Kaiserreich.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Dienstflagge_Elsa%C3%9F-Lothringen_Kaiserreich.svg License: Attribution Contributors: Own work Original artist: Drawing created by David Li-uzzo

• File:Flag_of_Alsace.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Flag_of_Alsace.svg License: Public domainContributors: Self-made in Inkscape. Original artist: User:Mysid

• File:Flag_of_France.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c3/Flag_of_France.svg License: PD Contributors: ? Orig-inal artist: ?

• File:Flag_of_the_German_Empire.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Flag_of_the_German_Empire.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Recoloured Image:Flag of Germany (2-3).svg Original artist: User:B1mbo and User:Madden

• File:Front_page,_Le_Petit_Journal,_8_December_1918.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/79/Front_page%2C_Le_Petit_Journal%2C_8_December_1918.jpg License: ? Contributors:Original publication: Le Petit JournalImmediate source: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb32895690j/date Original artist:unknown(Life time: unknown)

• File:Fusillés_de_Gertwiller.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Fusill%C3%A9s_de_Gertwiller.jpgLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Gustave Graetzlin

• File:German_Empire_-_Alsace_Lorraine_(1871).svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/German_Empire_-_Alsace_Lorraine_%281871%29.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work based on: File:Deutsches Reich (Karte)Elsaß-Lothringen.svg Original artist: Shadowxfox

• File:Louis-Frédéric_Schutzenberger-L'Exode,_1872.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Louis-Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Schutzenberger-L%27Exode%2C_1872.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Ji-Elle

• File:Metz_Bahnhof_1.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Metz_Bahnhof_1.JPG License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Self-photographed Original artist: EPei at German Wikipedia

• File:ObernaiMalgréNous.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/ObernaiMalgr%C3%A9Nous.JPG Li-cense: CC BY-SA 2.5 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Juergen Kappenberg, Pirmasens, Germany

• File:Question_book-new.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/99/Question_book-new.svg License: Cc-by-sa-3.0Contributors:Created from scratch in Adobe Illustrator. Based on Image:Question book.png created by User:Equazcion Original artist:Tkgd2007

• File:Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_Reichsland_Elsass-Lothringen.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_-_Reichsland_Elsass-Lothringen.png License: Public domain Contributors: Ströhl, Hugo Gerard: DeutscheWappenrolle. Enthaltend alle Wappen, Standarten, Flaggen, Landesfarben und Kokarden des Deutschen Reiches, seiner Bundesstaaten undregierenden Dynastien. Nach offiziellen Angaben gezeichnet und erläutert, Stuttgart 1897, Tafel I. Original artist: Hugo Gerhard Ströhl

• File:Zabern_Militärpatrouille.PNG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Zabern_Milit%C3%A4rpatrouille.PNG License: Public domain Contributors: Reclams Universum, 30. Jg., Heft 11, S. 578, erschienen am 11. Dezember 1913 ; utilisé dans[1] Original artist: inconnu non cité dans le journal, voir aussi la wikipédia allemande

8.3 Content license• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0