Annexation of Alsace and Lorraine. Stages of the struggle between Germany and France for Alsace and Lorraine
Alsace-Lorraine
To simplify the narrative, I will begin my review with the French and Belgian territories, then I will go clockwise, touching on the problem of Denmark, the eastern borders of Germany, and will end with a consideration of the southern borders, namely the Tyrol.
As the Allies moved east after the Normandy landings, they encountered generally friendly locals who rejoiced at being liberated from the German occupiers. There were virtually no partisan attacks observed here. The situation changed when troops entered the eastern regions of France, which were inhabited by ethnic Germans. Alsace and Lorraine have always been a bone of contention. In the Middle Ages they were German territories, then, in the 16th–17th centuries, they were conquered by France. They were returned to Germany in 1871, after the Franco-Prussian War. In 1919, under the terms of the Versailles Peace Treaty, they again ceded to France. In 1940, Nazi Germany was again able to recapture these disputed territories. In 1944, the Allied offensive once again brought them back under French control. Most of the population suffered from such crazy geopolitical leapfrog. Apathy reigned among them, caused by claims against both warring sides. But still, it should be noted that supporters of the autonomy of Alsace and Lorraine gravitated more towards the Nazi regime, to which they could be grateful for the “liberation” of the territories from many hundreds of thousands of French, pro-French elements and Jews. In exchange for loyalty to the new regime, the residents of these areas received only a few purebred Germans, who were placed at the head of administrative bodies. Unlike the French, the Nazis did not intend to exploit and colonize Alsace and Lorraine, pumping out its natural resources. The American military, already disdainful of diplomatic steps, decided not to go into the intricacies of this complex and delicate situation. The Americans simply believed that the inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine were hostile to them and therefore unworthy of trust. One of the American officers explained after the war: “Up to this point, the local residents had always been on our side. They rejoiced at us, but Lorraine showed a different picture. Even before we were able to catch the inhabitants who were providing real assistance to the enemy, we had heard about their hostility. We felt it ourselves. They were sullen and tried to ignore us as much as possible. For the first time, upon entering the city, we did not encounter the wild joy of the local residents. We saw only gloomy faces. Some of these people were arrested because they were sheltering German soldiers." General Crowe of the US 6th Armored Division told his subordinates very frankly: “We are in enemy territory and its civilian population must be treated as enemies.”
Unfriendly looks from civilians were taken as hostility, even though they were not helping the German military or organizing sabotage or resistance. On the few occasions when minor acts of sabotage did occur, the Allied response was surprisingly harsh. In the city of Neuswiller at the beginning of December 1944, several army communications wires were cut. One of the American officers called the mayor of the town and warned that if the perpetrators were not found within 24 hours, he would be punished. In fact, the head of the city was taken hostage. A few kilometers from this town was the town of Colmar, whose residents were suspected of targeting German artillery. As a result, without conducting any investigation, the Allies forcibly deported them, as well as the residents of the neighboring villages of Ostheim and Goimar, who, as they say, fell under the hot hand. Such harshness caused a response. An American patrol discovered explosives in a railway tunnel near Erzwiller. In Falkenburg, two local residents were detained for trying to mine a road along which American jeeps often traveled. There is evidence of several cases of shelling by unknown persons of American transport convoys. In a small village near Brieux, “Nazi Franctrières” (as the French military initially called “werewolves”) attempted to attack the sentries. The attack resulted in massive “cleansings” of local villages.
One of the most serious incidents in Alsace occurred in the capital of this province, the city of Strasbourg, which was captured by French troops on November 24, 1944. The events that took place here caused an entire international scandal. French soldiers quickly noticed that in “liberated” Strasbourg there were no French tricolor flags hanging on the houses. There was no rejoicing in the streets. During the German occupation, the national and social composition of the city changed greatly. Of the 200 thousand inhabitants who lived here in 1939, 40 thousand French were expelled, whose place was partially taken by German residents. Do not forget that the result of the rapid advance of the Allies was the localization of a ten-thousand-strong Wehrmacht group in Strasbourg. Most German soldiers chose to dress in civilian clothes and blend in with the civilians. The French were not able to identify all the disguised soldiers. As a result, swift attacks were made more than once on Allied troops from hiding. The suspicion immediately arose that they were being helped by the inhabitants of Alsace. The peak of such attacks occurred on November 29. As an eyewitness said: “At night, without weapons and escort, it was risky to cross the street.” General Jacques Leclerc, commander of the French 2nd Armored Division, was even forced to move his headquarters to a quieter location. There have been at least three attacks on the old building where it was originally located. During their repulse, two staff officers were killed. In another case, an Algerian soldier was stopped by a man in civilian clothes who asked for a light. When he took out a match, the stranger shot him. On December 9, a French military chaplain was ambushed on the outskirts of the city. The message about his death said that he was killed by machine gun fire. The blame was placed on "enemy soldiers operating behind the lines."
Leclerc, notorious for his explosive temper and indiscipline, recklessly issued an order on November 25, ordering "the suppression of the Nazi Franctriers by any means necessary." After the allotted period of two days, the hostage system was supposed to be officially introduced. After each attack, it was planned to publicly shoot five city residents. In addition, Leclerc announced that after the allotted two days, everyone who was found with a firearm at home would be shot. Those who sheltered German soldiers fell into this category. They were automatically included as accomplices of the partisans. Leclerc and the new authorities in Strasbourg believed that the city was deliberately flooded with Nazi agents in order to prepare a new German offensive. In fact, the soldiers simply could not retreat from the city. It seemed that such measures were justified.
Leclerc's order, which resembled pure arbitrariness and political terror, was nevertheless creakingly approved by the command of the allied forces. As a result, a risky attempt was made to bring the outrage committed by Leclerc into conformity with international law. The Allied Command issued a declaration which stated the following: “In some circumstances, for example if civilians are firing from rooftops at military formations, the measures envisaged by General Leclerc may be considered consistent with the Geneva Convention. But such measures cannot be applied to prisoners of war.” When the French 2nd Armored Division left Strasbourg, many (Allies and Germans alike) believed that the general's brutal orders had lost their force. Such a development would be a wise diplomatic move. But it turned out that they continue to operate in Strasbourg. This meant that the city could be overwhelmed by a wave of terror. Taking advantage of the small number of military garrison remaining in Strasbourg, the “werewolves” could launch new attacks, which would result in mass executions of innocent civilians. Civil authorities immediately turned to the American command to provide the necessary military contingent to maintain order in the city - the French, who resorted to such cruel measures, were not trusted. A scandal broke out and the French side tried unsuccessfully to hush it up.
The Nazis immediately used this incident for their propaganda purposes. Of course, on the one hand, the lack of reaction should have eased the situation of the captured Volkssturmists, but, on the other hand, it was too “good” a propaganda reason. The German Foreign Ministry issued a communique stating that if Leclerc continues to implement his repressive policy, the German side reserves the right to resort to similar measures against supporters of Charles de Gaulle who are found on German territory. In response to the executions of German civilians, there was a threat to carry out reprisals against the French in those territories of Alsace and Lorraine that were still controlled by the Nazis. German diplomats also harshly condemned the deportation of the German population, calling such measures “arbitrary.” This communique was transmitted to the French command on December 4 through the International Red Cross. It is noteworthy that it was fundamentally written in German, since German diplomats refused to conduct business in French, which they considered rude and barbaric.
The main “hot spot” in Lorraine was the border town of Saaregoimines, which was occupied on December 6 by the forces of the US Third Army. At first, the army units were located at some distance from the town, and the residents showed “indifference,” that is, they did not show great joy about the liberation. It was very difficult to expect a different reaction from the population of the town, which suffered greatly from Allied bombing. Over time, the residents of Saaregoy Mines began to be suspected of harboring 300 German soldiers. In addition, small SS detachments tried to penetrate the city at night. The French authorities and the new forces of law and order could not cope with the situation in the city, when saboteurs prowled its streets at night. As a result, American troops were brought into the city and a curfew was declared. But these measures were not enough for the command of the US Third Army - mass deportations of the German population began. Over time, they spread to neighboring cities. In the neighboring town of Remelfing, an entire residential neighborhood was deported, whose residents were suspected of helping the Wehrmacht: they allegedly worked as German artillery gunners. It is not surprising that such measures very quickly changed the attitude of the residents of Lorraine. If at first it was neutral towards the Allies, then by the end of December it became openly hostile. On December 20, the prefect of one of the cities complained that the Americans behaved as if they were not on French, but on German territory, surrounded by enemies.
The most serious incidents in Saaregoimines were caused by SS "werewolves" who acted in civilian clothes. They repeatedly ambushed the French and American military. Once they even fired at the motorcade of an American congressman. On the night of December 15-16, three French policemen were stabbed to death on the streets of this town. Fearing new mass executions, the local population betrayed the saboteurs, but the situation in the city still remained tense. Do not forget that until March 1945 the front line passed in close proximity to it.
At the beginning of 1945, a kind of military-political crisis broke out in Alsace. On the night of December 31, 1944 to January 1, 1945, the Wehrmacht began an operation in Northern Alsace that went down in history under the name “North Wind.” The counteroffensive was so rapid that the American command began to think about evacuating Strasbourg. Alsace again risked changing its “state affiliation”. As the German counteroffensive progressed, French and American counterintelligence noted a sudden surge in clandestine activity. This was manifested, first of all, in a gigantic amount of underground propaganda materials. This concerned primarily the Haguenau region. However, by February 1945 it became clear that the German counter-offensive had failed. If we talk about the features of the underground agitation, which lasted for quite a long time, then it is necessary to note the speculation on national feelings. It was addressed to the native Alsatians and emphasized the old desire for autonomy. Many of the leaflets bore the signature of SS Standartenführer Robert Ernst, who led the so-called Alsace Liberation Movement. His materials were supposed to convince the local population of the need for a “second National Socialist coming.” This agitation was not in vain, despite the failure of Operation North Wind. When the US Seventh Army began its offensive in March 1945, it discovered strong pro-German and autonomous separatist sentiment upon reaching the Moselle River. In the city of Rohrbach, which had just been occupied by the Americans, one of the civilians threw an anti-tank grenade at a jeep. The result was two killed, three wounded. The Americans immediately reacted angrily. A line from the military history of the US 14th Armored Division, which was incomprehensible at first glance, probably hid behind it a terrible reality. It said that the city had been “cleansed” by the division’s forces. But even after all major pockets of resistance had been eliminated in Alsace-Lorraine by the end of March, night attacks on the Allies were not uncommon. Reports in the newspapers of the time claim that “National Socialist fighters” managed to destroy a strategically important bridge over the Rhine in early April. There were reports that “werewolves” made a daring attack on the headquarters of the French general de Tassigny; before they died, they managed to kill many high-ranking officers.However, the Allied press remained deathly silent about this incident. Subsequently, several cases of attacks could be noted when the Allies threw grenades and homemade bombs. By the summer of 1945, the terror began to subside. In general, the majority of the German minority in Eastern France successfully underwent “political acclimatization.” Separatism and autonomous aspirations died out, flaring up again only in the 60s.
After the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, almost all of Alsace and the northeastern part of Lorraine were ceded to Germany under the Treaty of Frankfurt. Disputed areas, the historical affiliation of which is ambiguous, have changed their owners more than once, embodying a symbol of interstate conflict. Today Alsace and Lorraine are located in eastern France. They have become the main crossroads of Europe, hosting many international organizations and pan-European institutions.
Between France and Germany
The rich history of the two regions located between France and Germany can hardly provide clear answers about their affiliation. At the turn of our era, the population of Alsace and Lorraine consisted of Celtic tribes. During the invasion of Gaul by Germanic tribes in the 4th century, the territory of Lorraine fell under the rule of the Franks, and Alsace was occupied by the Alemanni. The conquered local population underwent linguistic assimilation.
During the reign of Charlemagne, the possessions of the Frankish kings were united into a single large state. However, after the death of the King of Aquitaine (Charles' successor) in 840, the kingdom was divided between his sons, which subsequently led to the division of Lorraine according to the Treaty of Mersin. Alsace became part of the East Frankish state, which later transformed into Germany.
From the 10th to the 17th centuries, as history shows, Alsace and Lorraine were under German influence (mainly through dynastic ties) and were part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation. However, in the 17th-18th centuries, France again managed to gradually annex the main lands of ancient Austrasia to its territories. This period was especially difficult for Alsace, which became a theater of military operations in the confrontation between several states at once.
In 1674, French troops managed to occupy 10 imperial cities. A few years later, through political manipulation and intimidation, he takes the oath of allegiance to France and Strasbourg. And in 1766, Lorraine became part of it.
As part of the German Empire
The Franco-Prussian conflict of 1870-1871, provoked by the Prussian Chancellor O. Bismarck, ended in the complete defeat of France. After the signing of the peace treaty in Frankfurt, Alsace and part of Lorraine ceded to the German Empire, which was proclaimed a united German state.
The new division of borders gave the empire military-strategic superiority. Now the border with France, thanks to Alsace, was moved beyond the Rhine and the Vosges Mountains and, in the event of an attack, was an insurmountable obstacle. Lorraine became a convenient springboard if necessary to attack France.
The German government, ignoring the protests of the population, tried to thoroughly consolidate the selected areas within the empire. Huge resources were allocated for post-war reconstruction, work was resumed at the University of Strasbourg, and destroyed castles were reconstructed. Along with this, the use of the French language was strictly prohibited, the press was published only in German, and localities were renamed. There was a harsh persecution of separatist sentiments.
Status of imperial lands
The German Empire, having finally secured the status of imperial territories for the disputed territories in 1879, united them into a single region. Previously, Alsatians and Lorraineers were asked to independently choose on the territory of which state they wish to live. More than 10% of the population preferred French citizenship, but only 50 thousand people were able to emigrate to France.
The administrative division of Alsace-Lorraine included three large districts: Lorraine, Upper Alsace and Lower Alsace. The districts, in turn, were divided into districts. The total area of the region was 14,496 square meters. km. with a population of over 1.5 million people. The former city of France - Strasbourg - becomes the capital of the imperial land.
It should be noted that Germany did not give up attempts to win the sympathy of the inhabitants of the annexed territories and in every possible way demonstrated concern for them. In particular, the infrastructure was improved and great attention was paid to the educational system. However, the imposed regime continued to cause discontent among the population of the region, brought up in the spirit of the French Revolution.
Government of Alsace-Lorraine
At first, administrative power in the subject territory was exercised by the chief president appointed by the emperor, who had the right to maintain order by all means, not excluding military force. At the same time, Alsace-Lorraine did not have local governments; it was offered 15 seats in the German Reichstag, and for the first decades they belonged entirely to candidates of the left-bourgeois protest party. There were no representatives of the region in the Union Council of the Empire.
At the end of the 70s of the 19th century, easing came and the military regime softened a little. As a result of the reorganization of management, a local representative body (Landesauschus) was formed, and the post of chief president was replaced by a governor (Stadtholder). However, in 1881, the situation tightened again, new restrictions were introduced, in particular regarding the use of the French language.
On the way to autonomy
In Alsace-Lorraine, supporters of autonomy for the region within the German Empire gradually began to gain voices. And in the elections to the Reichstag in 1893, the protesting party no longer had its former success: 24% of the votes were given to the Social Democratic movement, which greatly contributed to the Germanization of the population. A year earlier, the dictatorship clause of the 1871 law was repealed, and from that time on, imperial lands began to be subject to common law.
By 1911, Alsace-Lorraine gained some autonomy, which included a constitution, a local legislature (Landtag), and its own flag and anthem. The region received three seats in the Reichsrat. However, the policy of Germanization and discrimination of the local population did not stop, and in 1913 led to serious clashes (the Zabern incident).
Industrial Province
One of the most significant iron ore basins in Europe was located on the territory of Alsace-Lorraine. However, Bismarck and his associates were not very concerned with the development of local industry; the priority was to strengthen the union between the German states using this region. The Imperial Chancellor divided the local coal mines among the governments of the German states.
The Empire tried to artificially restrain the development of Alsatian deposits in order to prevent competition for companies from Westphalia and Silesia. Entrepreneurs in the province systematically encountered refusals from the German authorities to their requests for the organization of railway lines and waterways. However, Alsace-Lorraine contributed well to the economic development of Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And the influx of German capital helped bring the local bourgeoisie closer to the German one.
"Without us!"
The territorial conflict between Germany and France became one of the reasons for the outbreak of World War II in 1914. The latter's reluctance to come to terms with the lost regions excluded any possibility of reconciliation between them.
With the outbreak of hostilities, the Alsatians and Lorraineers categorically refused to fight in the German army, in every possible way ignoring the general mobilization. Their motto becomes a laconic phrase: “Without us!” After all, for them this war for the most part seemed fratricidal, since members of many families in the province served in both the German and French armies.
The Empire introduced a regime of harsh military dictatorship into the imperial lands: an absolute ban on the French language, strict censorship of personal correspondence. The military personnel of this region were constantly under suspicion. They were not deployed at outposts, it was difficult to let them go on leave, and their vacation periods were cut short. At the beginning of 1916, Alsace-Lorraine soldiers were sent to the Eastern Front, which led to worsening problems in the area.
Liquidation of the Imperial Province
The Treaty of Versailles of 1919 marked the official end of the First World War of 1914-1918, where Germany accepted its complete surrender. One of the conditions for peace was the return by France of previously selected areas - Alsace and Lorraine - to their 1870 borders. The long-awaited revenge of the French became possible thanks to the Allied troops, including the United States of America.
On October 17, 1919, Alsace-Lorraine was abolished as an imperial province of the German Empire and an independent geographical unit. Territories with a mixed German-French population became part of the French Republic.
Introduction
Alsace-Lorraine (German) Elsaß-Lothringen, fr. Alsace-Lorraine listen)) is an "imperial province" of the German Empire, now in Eastern France, consisting of Alsace and eastern Lorraine, linked by a common history between 1871 and 1944.
1. General information
The departments of Alsace-Lorraine are Upper Rhine, Bas-Rhine and Moselle. The area of the region is 14,496 km².
2. As part of Germany
After the Franco-Prussian War, a significant part of Lorraine and almost all of Alsace were transferred to Germany. The names of the provinces were left the same, but the German authorities immediately began to suppress the French language and French culture. The French resisted, and the Germans failed to suppress the French spirit. At the same time, a revanchist movement in support of the taken away provinces was active in France; streets were named in honor of Alsace and Lorraine in many cities of the country; in Nancy, the ancient capital of Lorraine, which remained part of France, an allegorical monument to the two provinces was unveiled.
During the First World War, the Alsatians and Lorraineers refused to fight in the German army; their motto was the laconic expression: “Without us!” In November 1918, the Alsace Soviet Republic was proclaimed, but by the end of the war the Allies occupied a large part of Alsace and Lorraine. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, France regained these lands.
3. Further history
After the defeat of France in 1940, Germany again annexed Alsace and Lorraine. A significant part of the French population was driven into concentration camps, many died there. In 1944, Alsace and Lorraine were liberated by Allied forces and officially returned to France after the war.
4. Cities
Strassburg (French) Strasbourg, German Straßburg).
Metz (fr. Metz, German Metz).
Colmar (French) Colmar, German Kolmar).
Source: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsace-Lorraine
An important element of the Nazis’ occupation policy in France was their attempt to quarrel with the French living in different historical provinces of the country. The policy in the three departments of France, which made up the traditional provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, was also characteristic in this regard. Their territory was 15 thousand square meters. km and population - 3200 thousand people.
Some researchers believe that before the war, the problem of Alsace and Lorraine did not particularly interest Hitler. So, in “My Struggle” he devoted only a few lines to this problem. In his speeches of a later period, Hitler repeatedly noted that the dispute over Alsace and Lorraine between France and Germany was easily resolved. All these pre-war official statements by Hitler and other leaders of Nazi Germany regarding Alsace and Lorraine were nothing more than a tactical device, a disguise designed to hide Germany’s true interest in these rich French territories. The true plans of the Nazis regarding Alsace and Lorraine began to be intensively developed and even openly promoted only during the war.
On September 10, 1939, one of the leaders of the Alsatian autonomists, F. Spieser, in a letter to Hitler, proposed annexing Alsace and Lorraine to Germany and, for the sake of form, holding a referendum here. Ribbentrop was instructed to take a close look at this issue, for which purpose in December 1939 a special reference group was created at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed by the chairman of the “Union of Alsaslotharingians in Germany” R. Ernst. A very interesting document has been preserved in the archives of the German Foreign Ministry - a memo from Ernst to the deputy head of the political department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rintelen, dated March 9, 1940, outlining the proposals of this reference and him personally. As is clear from the letter, an Alsatian by origin, Ernst was an Abwehr officer and coordinated the activities of a number of organizations involved in the study of Alsace-Lorraine and propaganda for it: “The Union of Alsace-Lorraine in Germany”, the magazine “Voice of Alsace-Lorraine”, “The Union of the German West”, "Club of Ethnic Germans", a research institute on Alsace-Lorraine issues in Frankfurt am Main and others.
The author of the memo, who, as he himself boasted, has been advocating for the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany for 20 years, recommends that the Foreign Ministry avoid prematurely revealing any intentions regarding this area, even beware of connections with Alsatians evacuated or in the combat zone and Lorraineers. He believes that it is necessary to give “the opportunity to calmly develop hostile sentiments towards the French in the circles of the Alsatians and Lorraineers,” and after the victory over France, the Alsatians and Lorraineers should be immediately reevacuated to their homeland. “We are not interested,” he writes, “that, while healing the southwestern departments of France with Alemannic-Frankish blood, we ourselves abandon this generally good German blood.” Further, the author of the note strongly recommends not to rush into including Alsace and Lorraine into the neighboring German Gau of Baden and Saar-Palatinate and not to implant officials sent from Germany into them. It is necessary that the Alsatians and Lorraineers “first become internally ripe for this later incorporation into large German areas,” which could happen in 5 years, writes Ernst. The prominent Nazi official O. Meissner, who himself was from Alsace, also became interested in the problem of Alsace and Lorraine. He came up with the idea of creating something like a “protectorate” in these French regions, and Meissner himself undoubtedly counted on the position of “protector”.
Such half-hearted solutions to the problem of Alsace and Lorraine did not suit the leaders of the Reich. They advocated in principle the unconditional annexation of these areas, but again, for tactical reasons, this issue was not raised during the armistice negotiations. The armistice agreement considered Alsace and Lorraine as part of France. In reality, the German authorities did everything so that by the time of peace negotiations Alsace and Lorraine would be annexed to Germany de facto. To this end, by Hitler's unpublished decree of August 2, 1940, “On provisional administration in Alsace and Lorraine,” they were divided into two independent regions and annexed to the adjacent German Gau: Alsace to Baden, and Lorraine to Saar-Palatinate. There was practically no military administration in them, as was the case in other occupied departments of France. On August 7, the governor and Gauleiter of Baden R. Wagner was appointed head of the civil administration in Alsace, and the governor and Gauleiter of Saar-Palatinate I. Bürkel in Lorraine.
To free the hands of the Gauleiters of Alsace and Lorraine, Hitler gave them emergency powers. They were subordinate to him personally; other imperial ministers had no right to interfere in the affairs of these areas. The Bureau for Alsace and Lorraine that existed in the German Ministry of the Interior was only a connecting link, but without the right to control the activities of Wagner and Bürkel. They were given the right to even have an independent budget. The names of these fanatical Nazis and racists are associated with the brutal Germanization of the French population of Alsace and Lorraine, its mass deportation and physical extermination.
Wagner sided with Hitler from the very first days of his appearance on the political arena of the Weimar Republic. He took part in the 1923 putsch with him and was in Landsberg prison with him. After 1933, Wagner was appointed Reich Viceroy and Gauleiter of one of the important areas of western Germany, Baden. As governor of Alsace, Wagner showed himself to be a sophisticated, cunning and cruel politician who went down in history as the “Hangman of Alsace.” On January 24, 1945, Wagner, who gave a speech for the last time in Gusbwiller, declared that Alsace is German soil. "I'll be back!" - he screamed as he drove away. Even before his death in the early morning of May 2, 1946, with a noose around his neck, this ossified Nazi shouted fascist slogans.
A “party comrade,” but a personal enemy of Wagner’s neighbor in Saar-Palatinate, was Bürkel. He was also an old “party comrade” of Hitler and, since 1933, often carried out his instructions to covertly prepare aggressive acts against neighboring countries. In 1935 he was appointed representative of the National Socialist Party during the plebiscite in the Saarland. Using various machinations, promises, threats, and outright terror, he managed to achieve a favorable outcome for Germany in the plebiscite. Bürkel then became Imperial Commissioner in Austria, where he became famous for his rudeness and ignorance. Burkel was rude, cruel, and proud. One of the authors wrote about him: “He was a type of Gauleiter like a Duke, who unconditionally obeyed only one Fuhrer.”
It was to such loyal satraps that Hitler entrusted the fate of the French population of Alsace and Lorraine.
On June 21, 1940, Wagner arrived in Strasbourg and from then on imagined himself as the master of Alsace, although he had not yet been officially appointed governor. A few days later, Hitler arrived here, explaining to both Wagner and Bürkel that they should pursue a cautious policy here and not rush into Germanization, so as not to reveal their cards prematurely and not shock the Vichy government and world public opinion. He gave them a 10-year period to transform Alsace and Lorraine into truly German lands.
But the Gauleiters were in a hurry to show their zeal. Wagner once declared that Alsace belongs to Germany forever and that in 5 years there will be no Alsatian problem at all. On June 26, 1940, Bürkel authorized the prominent Saarland steel industrialist R. Rechling to take charge of all industrial enterprises in Lorraine and the Moselle, and on July 1, Goering officially appointed Rechling as Commissioner General for Steel and Iron in these provinces. Despite the opinion in Berlin to temporarily leave local French authorities in Alsace and Lorraine, the Gauleiters considered that this was not necessary. They brought with them several hundred German officials.
The military authorities considered Alsace and Lorraine as an integral part of Germany, therefore the Wehrmacht troops stationed here, in accordance with Hitler's decree of October 12, 1940, were subordinate to the commander of the reserve army and were part of the corresponding military districts of Stuttgart and Wiesbaden. By another decree of October 18, 1940, the names Alsace and Lorraine were canceled and it was said that in the shortest possible time they would become part of the Westmark Gau, with its center in Saarbrücken, and the Haut-Rhine Gau, with its center in Strasbourg.
Having learned that an action was being prepared in Berlin for the “legal reunification” of Alsace and Lorraine with Germany through the adoption of a corresponding law by the Reichstag, Wagner immediately organized a propaganda campaign in Alsace, during which the “Alsatians” bribed by him demanded annexation to the “motherland” of Germany. However, contrary to the expectations of Wagner and pro-German circles in Alsace, the draft law was not discussed at the Reichstag meeting held on July 19.
Thus, there was no document that would officially decree the annexation of the three French departments that make up Alsace and Lorraine. But in fact, the German occupation authorities considered these territories as belonging to the Reich. Already in the first months of the occupation, in order to completely eliminate French influence and impose fascist orders, the following measures were implemented in Alsace and Lorraine: heads of local authorities who were objectionable to the occupiers were immediately eliminated; a number of prominent members of the clergy, including the bishops of Metz and Strasbourg, were relieved of their duties due to the fact that they used the French language and that they had a “French way of thinking”; civil rather than military government was established; state and customs borders were moved to the western limits of these territories; the use of French in institutions and in public life was prohibited; Geographical names were Germanized and racial legislation was introduced. In order to expel the use of French from Alsace and introduce the German language, which the Nazis considered the “native language” of the Alsatians, a special directive was signed on August 16, 1940. It was called “On the issue of restoring the native language.” The main requirements of this document are as follows: German is declared the official language in all government institutions and the church; all first and last names must be written and pronounced only in the German way; all enterprises and institutions must henceforth be named only in German; inscriptions on crosses and tombstones must also be written in German.
The occupation authorities also rudely interfered in the cultural life of the population of Alsace and Lorraine. In an order dated March 1, 1941, the head of Alsace's department of propaganda and education, Dressler, demanded that French musical works that "contradict the cultural aspirations of National Socialism" be included in the list of harmful and undesirable. Soon another unique decree appeared, which read: “Wearing French (Basque) berets in Alsace is prohibited. This ban applies to all hats that in their shape or appearance resemble French berets.” Violation of this prohibition was punishable by a fine or imprisonment.
One of the fascist newspapers in the article “French berets are still prohibited” wrote that Basque berets are very common in France and wearing them means loyalty to one’s homeland. The newspaper reminded Alsatians who did not want to give up their “bad habits” that they had long been invited to exchange their “French hats” for “decent hats and caps” free of charge. The newspaper warned the obstinate Alsatians that “every Alsatian who does not want to be considered a Frenchman and treated as such must take off the French beret and completely abandon it.”
In order to further weaken French influence in Alsace, on August 16, the local bishop was expelled from Metz, and the bishop of Strasbourg, who had evacuated to the south of France, was prohibited from returning. All French prefects and subprefects who had evacuated south during the entry of German troops were also prohibited from returning to their cities. The Germans were appointed in their places.
According to the decree of the German Minister of the Interior, Frick, citizens of Alsace and Lorraine were considered to be those who lived here before November 1918. Therefore, the return of those refugees who arrived here later was prohibited. The French remaining in Alsace and Lorraine were forcibly expelled to other departments of France. The use of the French language was prohibited, and in case of disobedience, by Wagner's order of April 27, 1941, the perpetrator was punished with up to a year in prison. Wagner also banned the singing of French songs. However, on July 14 - the day of the storming of the Bastille - French boys and girls still sang their traditional “No matter what, we will remain French,” for which by August 1941, 650 “politically unreliable” Alsatians were imprisoned in a specially created concentration camp near Schirmeck . The first rector of the German university opened in Strasbourg on November 25, 1941 stated: “The culture of French origin is a thing of the past. We must instill in Alsatians a sense of belonging to the German nation."
The Nazi occupiers were especially active in the Germanization of schools in Alsace and Lorraine. For this purpose, in particular, 5,000 French teachers were expelled from Alsace and 6,200 German teachers arrived in their place from Germany. French teachers were sent to the neighboring German regions of Westmark and Baden for “re-education” and worked here under the supervision of German teachers. But Gestapo agents reported that many of the French “are showing internal resistance to National Socialism and are working in bad faith. They still hope for a change in the military-political situation in favor of France and still feel like Frenchmen. They deny racial theory and condemn the persecution of Jews. They find a positive response among part of the German population."
A convinced Nazi, E. Gärtner, associated with school work in Alsace, declared that it was necessary to create such a stone wall between France and Germany that not a single French rooster would fly over it. Most of the teaching time in schools and higher education institutions was devoted to physical education, military training and the singing of Nazi songs glorifying Hitler. On July 29, all French names of settlements, streets and squares were canceled and converted into German. Everywhere, even in small villages, there should have been a square for them. Hitler. All French books were publicly burned at the stake, statues of Joan of Arc were confiscated, the wearing of any French badges and anything that contained the French national color combination of blue, red and white was prohibited.
On August 4, 1879, the disputed Alsace and Lorraine were annexed by Germany, and an imperial land was created on its territory Alsace-Lorraine. Thus, Berlin deepened the territorial dispute between France and the newly formed German Empire.
The two provinces, whose historical affiliation is ambiguous, changed hands during the Middle Ages. Alsace became part of the French kingdom at the end of the 17th century, Lorraine has been part of the kingdom since the Thirty Years' War (1608-1648).
However, a significant part of the population of these regions, especially the Alsatians, retained local dialects.
Nowadays linguists distinguish Alsatian language, which is close to Swiss varieties of German.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, active fighting took place in Lorraine. The capital of the region - the Metz fortress - was besieged by the Prussian army, after 52 days of defense the city surrendered, and with it 200 thousand French soldiers.
As a result of the Peace of Paris, both regions went to Germany. Thus, the German Empire, formed in January 1871, strengthened its borders.
On the territory of Alsace are the Vosges Mountains, which covered the southern regions of the newly created empire - Hesse and Bavaria. With the annexation of Lorraine to Berlin, France could not feel safe, since Germany controlled the flat route to Paris - the “Vosges Hole” between the Ardennes Mountains in the north and Vosges in the south.
Local residents in 1872 were able to choose their citizenship: the majority chose to remain French. But Germany did not consider the acquisition of these territories as temporary - on the contrary, they had to firmly enter the empire. A significant part of the French indemnity was spent on the restoration of provinces damaged by the war. In 1872, the university was restored in Strasbourg.
The ancient castle of Haut-Konigsbourg, located in Alsace, was handed over to William I in 1899, who began to reconstruct it to emphasize its belonging to Germany and the Germans.
Additional measures to Germanize the disputed regions were administrative: of the 1,700 communes of Alsace and Lorraine, only 310 were allowed to use the French language in office work. Repressive laws on the press and administrative expulsion were also maintained. However, separatist and pro-French sentiments in Alsace-Lorraine, declared an imperial state in 1879, persisted. Thus, in August 1873, the bishop of the city of Nancy, who remained French, called on his flock to pray for the return of Alsace and Lorraine to the bosom of France. In response, German Chancellor Bismarck demanded reprisals from the French government against the separatist cleric.
This story led to a diplomatic crisis. France's position in it was unenviable: the country had not yet recovered from the disaster of two years ago. But Austria-Hungary, Great Britain and Russia did not intend to watch this with folded hands.
How wrote The English ambassador in Paris, Lord Lyons, “it would not be difficult to provoke and crush France, but would it be possible to do this without causing a storm in other countries?”
As a result, war was avoided in 1873, but in 1875 the countries were on the brink again. The French announced the expansion of the active army by 144 thousand people, and the Germans banned the sale of horses, which looked like a pre-mobilization measure. As a result, only through the mediation of St. Petersburg, namely Chancellor Mikhail Gorchakov, was it possible to achieve Germany’s refusal from a preventive war with France.
He wrote that the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine is “the surest way to turn this war into a European institution.” Indeed, France remembered the humiliation of 1871 and entered the war in 1914, including with revanchist slogans.
The problem of Alsace-Lorraine became key, but not the only one of its kind on the European map. In 1878, following the results of the Berlin Congress, Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina, formerly part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1908, Vienna announced their annexation, which almost caused a global crisis and clashes with Belgrade. Despite the policy of appeasement (for example, Bosnia and Herzegovina did not transfer the taxes they collected to the center, but spent them locally), the Serbian population of the region did not accept the annexation. “The people stubbornly close their hearts to them (that is, the Austrians - Gazeta.Ru),” traveler Charles Diehl wrote about Sarajevo.
As a result, unresolved territorial conflicts became one of the reasons for the outbreak of the First World War. The heir to the Habsburg crown, Franz Ferdinand, was killed on the street in Sarajevo, which became the reason for the Austro-Serbian conflict, which grew into a global one.
As a result of the Great War, Alsace and Lorraine again became French. Then in 1940 they were occupied again by Germany - now Nazi. After the end of World War II, the fate of the long-suffering regions was finally decided - they became part of France. Moreover, it was Strasbourg that became one of the centers of pan-European institutions: it meets, has a residence and other organizations. The city has become a symbol of Europe, blurring national boundaries.
But the expression “Alsace-Lorraine” itself became a household name: thus, already in the 1920-1930s, “Alsace-Lorraine on the Dniester” was called Bessarabia (present-day Moldova), the dispute over which was between Romania and the Soviet Union.
The following materials were used in preparing the publication:
History of diplomacy. In 3 vols. T.2. M.: Gospolitzdat, 1945.
Shary A., Shimov Y. Roots and crown. Essays on Austria-Hungary: the fate of the empire. M.: KoLibri, 2011.
