Rubble from buildings destroyed in the Franco-Prussian War. source: see Clark, et al. link on Refs & Links page
The Military Conflict
The Franco-Prussian War was initiated by Prussia under the chancellorship of Bismarck, in support of his goal of creating a unified German empire. The war was fought, and Alsace-Lorraine subsequently annexed in order to ensure defendable borders with France. Bismark was especially eager to acquire the cities of Metz and Strasbourg. See Maps. The annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by Germany after their victory in 1871, only served to widen the political rift of more than 200 years that existed between Germany and France (See history, below).
Both nations expressed an almost arrogant self-righteousness about its claim on Alsace-Lorraine. Soon after the start of the Franco-Prussian War, German historian Heinrich von Treitschke wrote an essay entitled "What We Demand from France." David Harvey includes a quote from Treitschke in his book: "Who will venture to object that the people of Alsace and Lorraine do not want to belong to us?...We Germans, who know Germany and France, know better than these unfortunates themselves what is good for the people of Alsace...Against their will we shall restore them to their true selves." (Harvey, David A. Constructing Class and Nationality in Alsace, 1830-1945. DeKalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 2001.)
In France, an equally defiant attitude was adopted by the country, and La Revanche(the Revenge), a movment to attain the return of Alsace and Lorraine, became the nation's rallying cry.
Belfort
Drawing of Belfort, 1674. From Putnam, Ruth. Alsace and Lorraine from
Caesar to Kaiser, 58B.C.-1871 A.D.
NewYork and London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1915, p. 180.
Belfort was the only French fortress in Alsace-Lorraine during the Franco-Prussian
War. Germany originally intended to annex the city along with the rest
of Alsace-Lorraine, however, the persistent negotiation of M. Thiers and
other of the French representatives to the making of the Treaty of Frankfurt
(1871), succeeded in keeping Belfort French. Though in exchange France
was forced to allow the Germans a victory parade through Paris, France
maintained her national honor by preserving the fortress Belfort.
Some background on French-German Politics prior to 1871.
During the times of Julius Caesar, Alsace-Lorraine was a part of Gaul. The region was later part of Charlemagne's Holy Roman Empire and ruled for 800 years by the Hapsburgs. The city of Metz became French territory in 1552 after withstanding a siege by emperor Charles V. In 1648, at the end of the 30 Years' War France was awarded Alsace-Lorraine by the Treaty of Westphalia as a reward for the protection that Mazarin and Richlieu had provided to German princes during the war. For the next 200 years relations between Germany and France were politically rocky, but Alsace-Lorraine remained in the hands of France. Only in 1848, after angering Austria by supporting Italian unification, did France begin to worry about the possiblity of a Prussian invasion.
Post-Annexation Politics : 1871-1940
•The strong sense of French nationalism present in the annexed territories of Alsace-Lorraine stemmed largely from the ideals of the French Revolution.
•Geneva, 1884: An International Peace Conference proposes that Alsace-Lorraine become a neutralized territory; however the German government refuses.
•1918: The Treaty of Versailles returns Alsace-Lorraine to French control after 47 years as a part of Germany. Alsace-Lorraine remains French during the interwar period, but is occupied by Germany again during World War II.
•Following WWI, movements for political autonomy grow in the region of Alsace-Lorraine. These movements were led by Alsatians and Lorrainers dissatisfied with the current French government, which had become much more centralized since 1871, and unhappy with the separation of church and state. The autonomist groups were by no means separtists, but they wanted more autonomy over their own region of France.
Alsatians and Lorrainers in the Reichstag
Alsatians and Lorrainers who chose not to emigrate to France, and instead remained in Alsace-Lorraine after its annexation became German citizens, and so could be elected to the Reichstag as representatives of Alsace or Lorraine and take an active part in German government. A political movement called The Protestation emerged. This movement spanned economic classes, and was an effort to use positions in the Reichstag as platforms to voice their opposition to German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine and to spread the idea of Frenchpolitical nationalism in the region.
A quote by Edouard Teutsch, a former member of the French National Assembly and one of fifteen deputies from Alsace-Lorraine to the Reichstag, from an address to the Reichstag, February 18th, 1874:
"...for annexation without our consent constitutes, in our eyes, absolute moral slavery...Citizens possessed of a soul and intelligence are not goods that can be bartered from one to another, nor can they, therefore, be dealt with by contract.Moreover, were we even to grant--as we emphatically do not--that France had a right to cede us to you, the contract wherewith you confront us has no value. For a contract derives its validity from the free consent of the contracting partings...." cited in The Annexation of Alsace-Lorraine and its recovery, with an address by Marshal Joffre. Paris: Imprimerie Jean Cussac, 1918.
"One cannot simultaneously hate the German people and extend to German workers the hand of brotherhood. A choice must be made between the German imperial flag, the French tricolor, and the red banner of international socialism." from Harvey, David A. Constructing Class and Nationality in Alsace, 1830-1945. DeKalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 2001, p.2.
This quote illustrates some of the reasons why the politics surrounding work in Alsace-Lorrain were so tangled. Socialism first began to gain popularity among some residents of Alsace and Lorraine in 1849. Its support stemmed from the closeness between the ideals of socialism and those of the French Revolution. Despite the appeal of socialism to the working-class in Alsace-Lorraine, because of the stronger feelings of French nationalism, for the 20 years following annexation, the majority of these people voted consistently for French employers rather than the employers of the German Social Democracy party, despite the fact that the German socialist employers offered better working conditions and benefits.
