Alsace-Lorraine
Elsass-Lothringen, French Alsace-Lorraine was the territory ceded by France to the newly-unified Germany under the 1871 Treaty of Frankfurt, which ended the Franco-Prussian War and restored to France after World War I by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. Its legal name is Alsace-Moselle. Area 14,522 km² population 1,815,000 (1905).
Lothringen or French Lorraine had been a part of the HRR German empire roughly for 1000 years from c 800 to mid 17th century, when it was taken by France. In 1871 Lothringen became a part of the German empire.
The transferred area corresponded to the French départements of Moselle, Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin. While the two latter corresponded to nearly all of the historical province of Alsace, most of the traditional Lorraine remained within France. French desire to recover the provinces was a major cause of the tragic alliance system that led to World War I.
Under the German Empire of 1871-1918, the territory constituted the autonomous Reichsland or Imperial Province of Elsass-Lothringen. The area had considerable autonomy under the federal German Empire, and had its own legislature and laws. When the area was restored to France, these privileges were partly lost due the Lex Schuman. However, even today, the territory enjoys laws significantly different from the rest of France on certain issues - see the statute of Alsace-Moselle.
The area was again under German administration in 1940-45 during World War II.
Under both periods of German rule, an intense and often harsh policy of Germanization was pursued, with the names of towns and streets being changed and the use of the French language severely restricted. Ethnic Germans were also encouraged to settle in the region, and all inhabitants of military age were subject to concription into the Wehrmacht. Those latter policies resulted in some tensions between Alsace-Lorraine and some other parts of France, after Alsace-Lorraine inhabitants conscripted into the German forces were made to engage in repression against French citizens.
