The Return of Alsace to France, 1918-1939

Abstract

In 1918 the end of the First World War triggered the return of Alsace to France after almost fifty years of annexation into the German Empire. Enthusiastic crowds in Paris and Alsace celebrated the homecoming of the so-called lost province, but return proved far less straightforward than anticipated. The region’s German-speaking population demonstrated strong commitment to local cultures and institutions, as well as their own visions of return to France. As a result, the following two decades saw politicians, administrators, industrialists, cultural elites, and others grapple with the question of how to make Alsace French again. The answer did not prove straightforward; differences of opinion emerged both inside and outside the region, and reintegration became a fiercely contested process that remained incomplete when war broke out in 1939. The Return of Alsace to France examines this story. Drawing upon national, regional, and local archives, it follows the difficult process of Alsace’s reintegration into French society, culture, political and economic systems, and legislative and administrative institutions. It connects the microhistory of the region with the macro levels of national policy, international relations, and transnational networks, and with the cross-border flows of ideas, goods, people, and cultural products that shaped daily life in Alsace. Revealing Alsace to be a site of exchange between a range of interest groups with different visions of the region’s future, this book underlines the role of regional populations and cross-border interactions in forging the French Third Republic.

Challenging the German Empire: Strategic nationalism in Alsace‐Lorraine in the First World War

“…Facing the military authorities' obsession with national loyalty and acting in a total war setting, many citizens were drawn, or rather forced, into modern national politics. As Alison Carrol (2018, p.17) notes in her recent monograph on post‐WWI Alsace, after the return of the French in November 1918—and, arguably, well before then—‘“indifference” to the nation (had become) impossible (or at the very least very difficult).’ Indeed, as this article has demonstrated, many locals were quick to respond to the attempts of the military authorities to impose national loyalty literally by decree. Denouncing neighbours as anti‐German, locals sought to capitalize on the climate of national suspicion and manipulate demands of unconditional national loyalty to settle personal scores and present themselves as loyal citizens.…”

“…In a reversal of perspective but not of substance, for instance, French wartime propaganda interpreted the proceedings of the German extraordinary military courts as testaments to the unalterably French sentiments of the Alsatians and Lorrainers (Fribourg, 1918). Upon their arrival in Alsace‐Lorraine in late November 1918, French rulers considered the question of Alsace‐Lorraine closed (Carrol, 2019, p.133; Fischer, 2010, pp.128–129; Prott, 2016, pp.148–149) and sought to erase the traces of German rule by mass expulsions of German citizens (Harvey, 1999; Grohmann, 2005; Prott, 2016, pp.166–170) and rapid assimilation of the region into a centralized French political, legal and cultural framework (Carrol, 2018; Fischer, 2010, pp.128–151; Rossé et al, 1936, pp.471–487; Roth, 2010, pp.158–161). Yet although the war was still going, it was the perception of France as a modern, democratic and most likely militarily victorious alternative to a reactionary and defeated Germany in economic and political turmoil that mattered to Alsatians and Lorrainers.…”

“…There was therefore no complete turnaround of national affections between August 1914 and November 1918 (Wahl & Richez, 1993, pp.241–57; Wahl, 2004 pp.188, 234–237). Nevertheless, and without losing sight of this multilayered ‘spectrum’ of collective identities (Carrol, 2018 p.11), scholars generally concur with Hermann Wendel that by the end of the war, the majority of the local population had overtly turned their backs to Germany and, in late November 1918, welcomed the arrival of French troops (Fischer, 2010 pp.121, 128; Grandhomme, 2013; Wahl & Richez, 1993 pp.251–52).…”

“…5 5 See the older works by Rossé, Stürmel, Bleicher, Deiber and Keppi (1936), Baechler (1969), Wahl and Richez (1993) and Hiery (1986). More recently, Harvey (1999), Boswell (2000), Grohmann (2005), Grandhomme (2008a), Roth (2010), Fischer (2010) and Carrol (2018), among others, have explored the elusive character of collective identities in Alsace and Lorraine.…”

Assessing the “Paris System”: Self-determination and Ethnic Violence in Alsace-Lorraine and Asia Minor, 1919–23

“…After the war, as Alison Carrol writes, it was "impossible (or at the very least very difficult)" for anyone who lived in this disputed borderland to remain indifferent to the issue of national identity. 73 The classification of the population into "native" Alsatians and Lorrainers and German "foreigners" exacerbated the tensions. Crucially, as the new authorities issued identity cards based on the classification scheme, they created clear markers of difference that lend themselves to discrimination and ethnic violence.…”