Editing Alsace (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Alsace}}

In prehistoric times, Alsace was inhabited by nomadic hunters. Part of the province of [[Germania Superior]] in the Roman Empire, the area went on to become a diffuse border region between the French and the German cultures and languages. Long a center of the German-speaking world, after the end of the [[Thirty Years' War]], southern Alsace was annexed by France in 1648, with most of the remainder conquered later in the century. In contrast to other parts of France, Protestants were permitted to practise their faith in Alsace even after the [[Edict of Fontainebleau]] of 1685 that abolished their privileges in the rest of France.

After the 1870–71 [[Franco-Prussian War]], Alsace was annexed by Germany and became a part of the 1871 [[Unification of Germany|unified]] [[German Empire]] as a formal "Emperor's Land". After [[World War I]] the victorious Allies detached it from Germany and the province became part of the [[Third French Republic]]. Having been occupied and annexed by Germany during [[World War II]], it was returned to France by the Allies at the end of [[World War II]].

===Pre-Roman Alsace===
The presence of hominids in Alsace can be traced back 600,000 years.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities |publisher=Routledge|year=2005|isbn=1-57958-468-3 |editor-last=Skutsch|editor-first=Carl |volume=1|location=New York |pages=79}}</ref> By 4000 BCE farming, in the form of [[Linear Pottery culture]], arrived in the region from the Danube and the Hungarian plain. The culture was characterized by "timber longhouse settlements and incised pottery ... favoring floodplain edge situations for their permanent villages  ... [and] small clearings in the forest" for their crops and animals."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bellwood |first1=Peter |title=First Farmers |date=2005 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |location=Malden, MA |page=77}}</ref>

By 100 BCE Germanic peoples, including eventually the [[Suebi]] and other tribes under [[Ariovistus]], had begun to intrude into areas along the upper Rhine and Danube long settled by [[Celts|Celtic]] [[Gauls]]. Alsace itself had come to be occupied by the [[Triboci]], a Germanic tribe allied with Ariovistus.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cary |first1=M. |last2=Scullard |first2=H.H. |title=A History of Rome Down to the Reign of Constantine |date=1979 |publisher=MacMillan Education Ltd |location=London |page=260}}</ref>

===Roman Alsace===
In response to the threat posted by [[Ariovistus]], the [[Aedui]], a Celtic tribe allied to Rome, appealed to the Roman Senate and Julius Caesar for aid. In 58 BCE, after negotiations with Ariovistus failed, [[Julius Caesar]] routed the Suebi at the foot of the Vosges near what became Cernay in southern Alsace.<ref name="Macmillan Education Ltd">{{cite book |last1=Cary |first1=M. |last2=Scullard |first2=H.H. |title=A History of Rome Down to the Age of Constantine |date=1979 |publisher=Macmillan Education Ltd. |location=London |pages=259–261 |edition=third}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Caesar |first1=Julius |editor1-last=Henderson |editor1-first=Jeffrey |title=The Galllic War, Book 1 |date=2000 |publisher=Harvard University |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |pages=46-87 (lines 31-54)}}</ref> There followed a "long period of security ... for the Gauls along the middle and upper Rhine."<ref name="Macmillan Education Ltd"/>

From the time of [[Augustus]] to the early fifth century AD, the area of Alsace was incorporated into the Roman province of [[Germania Superior]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sheperd |first1=William |title=Historical Atlas |date=1929 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |location=New York |pages=38–39 |edition=seventh}}</ref> As a border province, the Romans built fortifications and military camps, many of which, including [[Argentoratum]] (Strasbourg), evolved into modern towns and cities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cary |first1=M. |last2=Scullard |first2=H.H. |title=A History of Rome Down to the Reign of Constantine |date=1979 |publisher=MacMillan Education Ltd |location=London |pages=336 and 458}}</ref>

===Alemannic and Frankish Alsace===
{{Main|Duchy of Alsace}}
In 357 CE, Germanic tribes attempted to conquer Alsace but they were rebuffed by the Romans.<ref name=":0" /> With the [[decline of the Roman Empire]], Alsace became the territory of the Germanic [[Alemanni]]. The Alemanni were agricultural people, and their Germanic language formed the basis of modern-day dialects spoken along the Upper Rhine ([[Alsatian dialect|Alsatian]], Alemannian, Swabian, Swiss). [[Clovis I|Clovis]] and the [[Franks]] defeated the Alemanni during the 5th century AD, culminating with the [[Battle of Tolbiac]], and Alsace became part of the [[Austrasia|Kingdom of Austrasia]]. Under Clovis' [[Merovingian]] successors the inhabitants were Christianized. Alsace remained under Frankish control until the [[Frankish realm]], following the [[Oaths of Strasbourg]] of 842, was formally dissolved in 843 at the [[Treaty of Verdun]]; the grandsons of [[Charlemagne]] divided the realm into three parts. Alsace formed part of the [[Middle Francia]], which was ruled by the eldest grandson [[Lothar I]].

Lothar died early in 855 and his realm was divided into three parts. The part known as [[Lotharingia]], or Lorraine, was given to Lothar's son. The rest was shared between Lothar's brothers [[Charles the Bald]] (ruler of the [[Western Francia|West Frankish]] realm) and [[Louis the German]] (ruler of the [[Eastern Francia|East Frankish]] realm). The Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however, becoming the [[stem duchy]] of [[Duchy of Lorraine|Lorraine]] in Eastern Francia after the [[Treaty of Ribemont]] in 880. Alsace was united with the other Alemanni east of the Rhine into the stem [[duchy of Swabia]].

===Alsace within the Holy Roman Empire===
At about this time, the surrounding areas experienced recurring fragmentation and reincorporations among a number of [[feudalism|feudal]] secular and ecclesiastical lordships, a common process in the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Alsace experienced great prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries under [[House of Hohenstaufen|Hohenstaufen emperors]].
[[File:Albert III Alsace.jpg|thumb|Seal of [[Albert IV, Count of Habsburg]] (d.1239), inscribed in Latin (with abbreviations): ''SIGILLUM ALBERTI (COMIS) DE HABESB(URG) ET LANGRAVII ALSACTIAE'' ("seal of Albert of Habsburg, Count of Habsburg and Landgrave of Alsace")]]
[[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick I]] set up Alsace as a province (a ''[[wikt:procuratio|procuratio]]'', not a ''[[provincia]]'') to be ruled by [[ministeriales]], a non-noble class of civil servants. The idea was that such men would be more tractable and less likely to alienate the [[fief]] from the crown out of their own greed. The province had a single provincial court (''[[Landgericht (medieval)|Landgericht]]'') and a central administration with its seat at [[Haguenau|Hagenau]]. [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] designated the [[Bishop of Strasbourg]] to administer Alsace, but the authority of the bishop was challenged by Count [[Rudolf I of Germany|Rudolf of Habsburg]], who received his rights from Frederick II's son [[Conrad IV of Germany|Conrad IV]]. Strasbourg began to grow to become the most populous and commercially important town in the region.

In 1262, after a long struggle with the ruling bishops, its citizens gained the status of [[free imperial city]]. A stop on the [[Paris]]-[[Vienna]]-[[Orient]] trade route, as well as a port on the Rhine route linking [[southern Germany]] and Switzerland to the Netherlands, England and [[Scandinavia]], it became the political and economic center of the region. Cities such as [[Colmar]] and [[Hagenau]] also began to grow in economic importance and gained a kind of autonomy within the "[[Décapole]]" (or "Zehnstädtebund"), a federation of ten free towns.

Though little is known about the early history of the [[History of the Jews in Alsace|Jews of Alsace]], there is a lot of information from the 12th century onwards. They were successful as moneylenders and had the favor of the Emperor.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wigoder |first1=Geoffrey |title=Jewish Art and Civilization |date=1972 |page=62}}</ref> As in much of Europe, the prosperity of Alsace was brought to an end in the 14th century by a series of harsh winters, bad harvests, and the [[Black Death]]. These hardships were blamed on Jews, leading to the [[pogrom]]s of 1336 and 1339. In 1349, Jews of Alsace were accused of poisoning the wells with [[plague (disease)|plague]], leading to the massacre of thousands of Jews during the [[Strasbourg pogrom]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The power of plagues |first=Irwin W. |last=Sherman |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2006 |isbn=1-55581-356-9 |page=74 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LOjqWL-u9VMC&q=strasbourg+pogrom+february+14+1349&pg=PA74}}</ref> Jews were subsequently forbidden to settle in the town. An additional natural disaster was the [[Rhine rift]] earthquake of 1356, one of Europe's worst which made ruins of [[Basel]]. Prosperity returned to Alsace under [[Habsburg]] administration during the [[Renaissance]].

[[File:Absolute Petite France 02.jpg|thumb|[[Petite France, Strasbourg|Petite France]], [[Strasbourg]]]]

Holy Roman Empire central power had begun to decline following years of imperial adventures in Italian lands, often ceding hegemony in Western Europe to France, which had long since centralized power. France began an aggressive policy of expanding eastward, first to the rivers [[Rhône]] and [[Meuse]], and when those borders were reached, aiming for the Rhine. In 1299 the French proposed a marriage alliance between [[Blanche of France, Duchess of Austria|Blanche]] (sister of [[Philip IV of France]]) and [[Rudolf I of Bohemia|Rudolf]] (son of [[Albert I of Germany]]), with Alsace to be the dowry; however, the deal never came off. In 1307, the town of [[Belfort]] was first chartered by the Counts of [[Montbéliard]]. During the next century, France was to be militarily shattered by the [[Hundred Years' War]], which prevented for a time any further tendencies in this direction. After the conclusion of the war, France was again free to pursue its desire to reach the Rhine and in 1444 a French army appeared in Lorraine and Alsace. It took up winter quarters, demanded the submission of [[Metz]] and [[Strasbourg]] and launched an attack on [[Basel]].

In 1469, following the {{Interlanguage link|Treaty of St. Omer|fr|3=Traité de Saint-Omer}}, Upper Alsace was sold by Archduke [[Sigismund, Archduke of Austria|Sigismund of Austria]] to [[Charles the Bold]], Duke of Burgundy. Although Charles was the nominal landlord, taxes were paid to [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor]]. The latter was able to use this tax and a dynastic marriage to his advantage to gain back full control of Upper Alsace (apart from the free towns, but including Belfort) in 1477 when it became part of the demesne of the Habsburg family, who were also rulers of the empire. The town of Mulhouse joined the [[Swiss Confederation]] in 1515, where it was to remain until 1798.

By the time of the [[Protestant Reformation]] in the 16th century, Strasbourg was a prosperous community, and its inhabitants accepted Protestantism in 1523. [[Martin Bucer]] was a prominent Protestant reformer in the region. His efforts were countered by the Roman Catholic Habsburgs who tried to eradicate heresy in Upper Alsace. As a result, Alsace was transformed into a mosaic of Catholic and Protestant territories. On the other hand, [[Montbéliard|Mömpelgard (Montbéliard)]] to the southwest of Alsace, belonging to the Counts of [[Württemberg]] since 1397, remained a Protestant enclave in France until 1793.

===German ''Land'' within the Kingdom of France===
This situation prevailed until 1639, when most of Alsace was conquered by France to keep it out of the hands of the [[Spanish Habsburgs]], who by [[Oñate treaty|secret treaty]] in 1617 had gained a clear road to their valuable and rebellious possessions in the [[Spanish Netherlands]], the [[Spanish Road]]. Beset by enemies and seeking to gain a free hand in [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)|Hungary]], the Habsburgs sold their [[Sundgau]] territory (mostly in Upper Alsace) to France in 1646, which had occupied it, for the sum of 1.2&nbsp;million [[Thaler]]s. When hostilities were concluded in 1648 with the [[Treaty of Westphalia]], most of Alsace was recognized as part of France, although some towns remained independent. The treaty stipulations regarding Alsace were complex. Although the French king gained sovereignty, existing rights and customs of the inhabitants were largely preserved. France continued to maintain its customs border along the [[Vosges mountains]] where it had been, leaving Alsace more economically oriented to neighbouring German-speaking lands. The German language remained in use in local administration, in schools, and at the (Lutheran) [[University of Strasbourg]], which continued to draw students from other German-speaking lands. The 1685 [[Edict of Fontainebleau]], by which the French king ordered the suppression of [[Huguenot|French Protestantism]], was not applied in Alsace. France did endeavour to promote Catholicism. [[Strasbourg Cathedral]], for example, which had been Lutheran from 1524 to 1681, was returned to the Catholic Church. However, compared to the rest of France, Alsace enjoyed a climate of [[religious tolerance]].

[[File:Louis XIV receiving the keys of Strasbourg-Constantyn Francken-f3791425.jpg|thumb|right|[[Louis XIV]] receiving the keys of Strasbourg in 1681]]
France consolidated its hold with the 1679 [[Treaties of Nijmegen]], which brought most remaining towns under its control. France seized Strasbourg in 1681 in an unprovoked action. These territorial changes were recognised in the 1697 [[Treaty of Ryswick]] that ended the [[War of the Grand Alliance]].
But Alsace still contained islands of territory nominally under the sovereignty of German princes and an independent city-state at Mulhouse. These enclaves were established by law, prescription and international consensus.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Oxford History of the French Revolution |first=William |last=Doyle |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1989 |page=7 |isbn=978-0-19-880493-2 |url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-history-of-the-french-revolution-9780198804932?cc=us&lang=en&}}</ref>

===From French Revolution to the Franco-Prussian War===
[[File:Enseigne Alsacienne revolutionnaire.jpg|thumb|Alsatian sign, 1792:<br />
''Freiheit Gleichheit Brüderlichk. od. Tod'' (Liberty Equality Fraternity or Death)<br />
''Tod den Tyranen'' (Death to Tyrants)<br />
''Heil den Völkern'' (Long live the Peoples)]]
The year 1789 brought the French Revolution and with it the first division of Alsace into the départements of [[Haut-Rhin|Haut-]] and [[Bas-Rhin]]. Alsatians played an active role in the French Revolution. On 21 July 1789, after receiving news of the [[Storming of the Bastille]] in Paris, a crowd of people stormed the Strasbourg city hall, forcing the city administrators to flee and putting symbolically an end to the feudal system in Alsace. In 1792, [[Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle|Rouget de Lisle]] composed in Strasbourg the Revolutionary marching song "[[La Marseillaise]]" (as ''Marching song for the Army of the Rhine''), which later became the anthem of France. "La Marseillaise" was played for the first time in April of that year in front of the [[Mayor (France)|mayor]] of Strasbourg [[Philippe-Frédéric de Dietrich]]. Some of the most famous generals of the French Revolution also came from Alsace, notably [[François Christophe Kellermann|Kellermann]], the victor of [[Battle of Valmy|Valmy]], [[Jean Baptiste Kléber|Kléber]], who led the armies of the French Republic in [[Revolt in the Vendée|Vendée]], and [[François Joseph Westermann|Westermann]], who also fought in the Vendée.

[[Mulhouse]] (a city in southern Alsace), which had been part of Switzerland since 1466, joined France in 1798.<ref name=":0" />

At the same time, some Alsatians were in opposition to the [[Jacobin (politics)|Jacobins]] and sympathetic to the restoration of the monarchy pursued by the invading forces of [[Habsburg monarchy|Austria]] and [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] who sought to crush the nascent [[revolutionary republic]]. Many of the residents of the [[Sundgau]] made "pilgrimages" to places like [[Mariastein Abbey]], near [[Basel]], in Switzerland, for baptisms and weddings. When the [[French Revolutionary Army]] of the Rhine was victorious, tens of thousands fled east before it. When they were later permitted to return (in some cases not until 1799), it was often to find that their lands and homes had been confiscated. These conditions led to emigration by hundreds of families to newly vacant lands in the [[Russian Empire]] in 1803–4 and again in 1808. A poignant retelling of this event based on what [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]] had personally witnessed can be found in his long poem ''[[Hermann and Dorothea]]''.

In response to the [[Hundred Days|"hundred day" restoration]] of [[Napoleon I of France]] in 1815, Alsace along with other frontier provinces of France was occupied by foreign forces from 1815 to 1818,<ref>Veve, Thomas Dwight (1992). ''The Duke of Wellington and the British army of occupation in France, 1815–1818'', pp. 20–21. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut, United States.</ref> including over 280,000 soldiers and 90,000 horses in Bas-Rhin alone. This had grave effects on trade and the economy of the region since former overland trade routes were switched to newly opened [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] and [[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] seaports.

The population grew rapidly, from 800,000 in 1814 to 914,000 in 1830 and 1,067,000 in 1846. The combination of economic and demographic factors led to hunger, housing shortages and a lack of work for young people. Thus, it is not surprising that people left Alsace, not only for Paris – where the Alsatian community grew in numbers, with famous members such as [[Georges-Eugène Haussmann]] – but also for more distant places like Russia and the [[Austrian Empire]], to take advantage of the new opportunities offered there: Austria had conquered lands in Eastern Europe from the [[Ottoman Empire]] and offered generous terms to colonists as a way of consolidating its hold on the new territories. Many Alsatians also began to sail to the United States, settling in many areas from 1820 to 1850.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://members.cox.net/smithgen/sources/ships/ships18201850notes.htm#sully1838match |title = Cox.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504053923/http://members.cox.net/smithgen/sources/ships/ships18201850notes.htm#sully1838match |archive-date=4 May 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1843 and 1844, sailing ships bringing immigrant families from Alsace arrived at the port of New York. Some settled in Texas and Illinois, many to farm or to seek success in commercial ventures: for example, the sailing ships ''Sully'' (in May 1843) and ''Iowa'' (in June 1844) brought families who set up homes in northern Illinois and northern Indiana. Some Alsatian immigrants were noted for their roles in 19th-century American economic development.<ref>[http://will.ilgenweb.net/bios/scheidtj.txt Ilgenweb.net] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723154212/http://will.ilgenweb.net/bios/scheidtj.txt |date=23 July 2011}}</ref> Others ventured to Canada to settle in southwestern [[Ontario]], notably [[Waterloo County]].

====Alsatian Jews====
{{Main|History of the Jews in Alsace}}
In contrast to the rest of France, the Jews in Alsace had not been expelled during the Middle Ages. By 1790, the [[Jewish]] population of Alsace was approximately 22,500, about 3% of the provincial population. They were highly segregated and subject to long-standing [[antisemitic]] regulations. They maintained their own customs, [[Yiddish]] language, and historic traditions within the tightly knit ghettos; they adhered to Jewish law. Jews were barred from most cities and instead lived in villages. They concentrated in trade, services, and banking. They financed about a third of the mortgages in Alsace. Official tolerance grew during the French Revolution, with full emancipation in 1791. However, local antisemitism also increased and Napoleon turned hostile in 1806, imposing a one-year moratorium on all debts owed to Jews.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Necheles |first1=Ruth F. |date=1971 |title=The Abbé Grégoire and the Jews. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4466643 |journal=Jewish Social Studies |volume=33 |issue=2/3 |pages=120–40 |jstor=4466643 |access-date=15 February 2024}}</ref> In the 1830–1870 era, most Jews moved to the cities, where they integrated and acculturated, as antisemitism sharply declined. By 1831, the state began paying salaries to official rabbis, and in 1846 a special legal oath for Jews was discontinued. Antisemitic local riots occasionally occurred, especially during the Revolution of 1848. The merger of Alsace into Germany in 1871–1918 lessened antisemitic violence.<ref>{{cite book |first=Vicki |last=Caron |chapter=Alsace |editor-first=Richard S. |editor-last=Levy |title=Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution |year=2005 |volume=1 |pages=13–16 |publisher=Abc-Clio |isbn=9781851094394 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tdn6FFZklkcC&pg=PA13 }}</ref> The constitution of the ''Reichsland'' of 1911 reserved one seat in the first chamber of the ''Landtag'' for a representative of the Jewish Consistory of Alsace–Lorraine (besides two seats respectively for the two main Christian denominations).

===Struggle between France and united Germany===
{{Main|Alsace–Lorraine}}
{{Blockquote|''We Germans who know Germany and France know better what is good for the Alsatians than the unfortunates themselves. In the perversion of their French life they have no exact idea of what concerns Germany.''|[[Heinrich von Treitschke]], [[German nationalist]] historian and politician, 1871<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/alsacelorraines00cerfgoog/alsacelorraines00cerfgoog_djvu.txt|title=Full text of "Alsace–Lorraine since 1870"|year=1919|publisher=New York, The Macmillan}}</ref><ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/05/30/100157406.pdf Remaking the Map of Europe] by [[:fr:Jean Finot|Jean Finot]], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 30 May 1915</ref>}}
[[File:Alsace4.jpg|thumb|Traditional costumes of Alsace]]
The [[Franco-Prussian War]], which [[Causes of the Franco-Prussian War|started]] in July 1870, saw France defeated in May 1871 by the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] and other German states. The end of the war led to the [[unification of Germany]]. [[Otto von Bismarck]] annexed Alsace and northern Lorraine to the new [[German Empire]] in 1871. France ceded more than 90% of Alsace and one-fourth of Lorraine, as stipulated in the [[Treaty of Frankfurt (1871)|treaty of Frankfurt]]; [[Belfort]], the largest Alsatian town south of Mulhouse, remained French. Unlike other member states of the German federation, which had governments of their own, the new ''Imperial territory of Alsace–Lorraine'' was under the sole authority of the [[Kaiser]], administered directly by the imperial government in Berlin. Between 100,000 and 130,000 Alsatians (of a total population of about a million and a half) chose to remain French citizens and leave ''Reichsland Elsaß–Lothringen'', many of them resettling in [[French Algeria]] as [[Pieds-Noirs]]. Only in 1911 was Alsace–Lorraine granted some measure of autonomy, which was manifested also in a flag and an anthem ([[Elsässisches Fahnenlied]]). In 1913, however, the [[Saverne Affair]] (''French'': Incident de Saverne) showed the limits of this new tolerance of the Alsatian identity.
[[File:Adolphe Braun Alsace costume.jpg|thumb|left|upright|An Alsatian woman in traditional costume, photographed by [[Adolphe Braun]] in the 1870s]]

During the First World War, to avoid ground fights between brothers, many Alsatians served as sailors in the [[Kaiserliche Marine]] and took part in the Naval mutinies that led to the abdication of the Kaiser in November 1918, which left Alsace–Lorraine without a nominal head of state. The sailors returned home and tried to found an independent republic. While [[Jacques Peirotes]], at this time deputy at the ''Landrat Elsass–Lothringen'' and just elected [[List of mayors of Strasbourg|mayor of Strasbourg]], proclaimed the forfeiture of the German Empire and the advent of the [[French Republic]], a self-proclaimed government of Alsace–Lorraine declared its independence as the "[[November 1918 insurgency in Alsace–Lorraine|Republic of Alsace–Lorraine]]". French troops entered Alsace less than two weeks later to quash the worker strikes and remove the newly established Soviets and revolutionaries from power. With the arrival of the French soldiers, many Alsatians and local Prussian/German administrators and bureaucrats cheered the re-establishment of order.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.ina.fr/archivespourtous/popup.php?vue=partenaire&partenariat=1df07ccad656b16c3f7dcd36ce620f11| title = Archive video}}</ref>

Although U.S. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] had insisted that the ''région'' was self-ruling by legal status, as its constitution had stated it was bound to the sole authority of the Kaiser and not to the German state, France would allow no plebiscite, as granted by the [[League of Nations]] to some eastern German territories at this time, because the French regarded the Alsatians as Frenchmen liberated from German rule. Germany ceded the region to France under the [[Treaty of Versailles]].

Policies forbidding the use of German and requiring French were promptly introduced.<ref>However, propaganda for elections was allowed to go with a German translation from 1919 to 2008.</ref> In order not to antagonize the Alsatians, the region was not subjected to some legal changes that had occurred in the rest of France between 1871 and 1919, such as the [[1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State|1905 French law on the separation of Church and State]].

[[File:Ensemble Timbres Hindenburg surchargés par Elsass.JPG|thumb|upright|German stamps of [[Paul von Hindenburg|Hindenburg]] marked with "Elsaß" (1940)]]

Alsace–Lorraine was occupied by Germany in 1940 during the Second World War. Although it was never formally annexed, Alsace–Lorraine was incorporated into the [[Nazi Germany|Greater German Reich]], which had been restructured into [[Reichsgau]]e. Alsace was merged with [[Baden]], and Lorraine with the [[Saarland]], to become part of a planned [[Gau Westmark|Westmark]]. During the war, 130,000 young men from Alsace and Lorraine were conscripted into the German armies against their will ([[malgré-nous]]). There were some volunteers for the [[Waffen SS]].,<ref>Stéphane Courtois, Mark Kramer. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=H1jsgYCoRioC&pg=PA323 Livre noir du Communisme: crimes, terreur, répression]''. [[Harvard University Press]], 1999. p.323. {{ISBN|0-674-07608-7}}</ref> although they were outnumbered by conscripts of the 1926–1927 classes. Thirty of said Waffen SS were involved in the [[Oradour-sur-Glane massacre]] (29 conscripts, one volunteer). A third of the malgré-nous perished on the Eastern front. In July 1944, 1500 [[malgré-nous]] were released from Soviet captivity and sent to [[Algiers]], where they joined the [[Free French Forces]].

===After World War II===
Today, the territory is in certain areas subject to some laws that are significantly different from the rest of France, which is known as the [[local law in Alsace–Moselle|local law]].

In more recent years, the Alsatian language is again being promoted by local, national and European authorities as an element of the region's identity. Alsatian is taught in schools (but is not mandatory) as one of the regional languages of France. German is also taught as a foreign language in local [[kindergarten]]s and schools. There is a growing network of schools proposing full immersion in Alsatian dialect and in Standard German, called ''[[ABCM-Zweisprachigkeit]]'' (ABCM -> French [[acronym]] for "Association for Bilingualism in the Classroom from Kindergarten onwards", Zweisprachigkeit -> German for "Bilingualism"). However, the [[Constitution of France]] still requires that French be the only official language of the Republic.

===Timeline===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- "
! Year(s)
! Event
! style="width:20%;"|Ruled by
! style="width:12%;"|Official or common language
|-
| 5400–4500 BC || Bandkeramiker/[[Linear Pottery culture]]s||—||Unknown
|-
| 2300–750 BC || [[Bell Beaker culture]]s||—||Proto-Celtic spoken
|-
| 750–450 BC || [[Hallstatt culture]] early [[Iron Age]] (early Celts)||—||None; Old [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] spoken
|-
| 450–58 BC || Celts/Gauls firmly secured in entire Gaul, Alsace; trade with [[Greece]] is evident ([[Vix Grave|Vix]]) || Celts/Gauls || None; Gaulish variety of Celtic widely spoken
|-
| 58 / 44 BC–<br />AD 260 || Alsace and Gaul conquered by [[Caesar]], provinciated to [[Germania Superior]] || [[Roman Empire]] || [[Latin language|Latin]]; Gallic widely spoken
|-
| 260–274 || Postumus founds breakaway Gallic Empire || [[Gallic Empire]] || Latin, Gallic
|-
| 274–286 || Rome reconquers the Gallic Empire, Alsace || [[Roman Empire]] || Latin, Gallic, Germanic (only in [[Argentoratum]])
|-
| 286–378 || [[Diocletian]] divides the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern sectors || Roman Empire
|-
| around 300 || Beginning of Germanic migrations to the Roman Empire || Roman Empire
|-
| 378–395 || The [[Visigoths]] rebel, precursor to waves of German, and Hun invasions || Roman Empire || Alamannic Incursions
|-
| 395–436 || Death of [[Theodosius I]], causing a permanent division between Western and Eastern Rome || [[Western Roman Empire]]
|-
| 436–486 || Germanic invasions of the Western Roman Empire || [[Gaul|Roman Tributary of Gaul]] || Alamannic
|-
| 486–511 || Lower Alsace conquered by the Franks || [[Frankish Realm]] || [[Old Frankish]], Latin; Alamannic
|-
| 531–614 || Upper Alsace conquered by the Franks || Frankish Realm
|-
| 614–795 || Totality of Alsace to the Frankish Kingdom || Frankish Realm
|-
| 795–814 || [[Charlemagne]] begins reign, Charlemagne crowned [[Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor of the Romans]] on 25 December 800 || Frankish Empire || Old Frankish; Frankish and Alamannic
|-
| 814|| Death of Charlemagne || Carolingian Empire || Old Frankish; Frankish and Alamannic varieties of [[Old High German]]
|-
| 847–870 || [[Treaty of Verdun]] gives Alsace and Lotharingia to [[Lothar I]] || [[Middle Francia]] (Carolingian Empire) || Frankish; Frankish and Alamannic varieties of Old High German
|-
| 870–889 || [[Treaty of Mersen]] gives Alsace to East Francia || [[East Francia]] (German Kingdom of the Carolingian Empire) || Frankish, Frankish and Alamannic varieties of Old High German
|-
| 889–962 || Carolingian Empire breaks up into five Kingdoms, Magyars and Vikings periodically raid Alsace || [[Kingdom of Germany]] ||Frankish and Alamannic varieties of Old High German 
|-
| 962–1618 || [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] crowned [[Holy Roman Emperor]] || [[Holy Roman Empire]] || [[Old High German]], [[Middle High German]], [[German language|Modern High German]]; Alamannic and Franconian German dialects
|-
| 1618–1674 || [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]] annexes portions of Alsace during the [[Thirty Years' War]] || Holy Roman Empire || German; Alamannic and Franconian dialects (Alsatian)
|-
| 1674–1871 || [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] annexes the rest of Alsace during the [[Franco-Dutch War]], establishing full French sovereignty over the region || Kingdom of France || Officially French<br /> (Alsatian and German tolerated and spoken by an estimated 85%-90% of the population)
|-
| 1871–1918 || [[Franco-Prussian War]] causes French cession of Alsace to [[German Empire]] || [[German Empire]] || German; German/Alsatian (86.8% - 1,492,347 people), French (11.5% - 198,318 people), Italian (1.1% - 18,750 people), German and a second language (0.4% - 7,485 people), Polish (0.1% - 1,410 people). Statistics from 1871. Over time, French declined to 10.9%
|-
| 1919–1940 || [[Treaty of Versailles]] causes German cession of Alsace to France || [[French Third Republic|France]] || French; Alsatian, French, German
|-
| 1940–1944 || [[Nazi Germany]] conquers Alsace, establishing [[Gau Baden-Elsaß]] || [[Nazi Germany]] || German; Alsatian, French, German
|-
| 1945–present || French control || France || French; French and Alsatian German (declining minority language)
|}