Why was Alsace-Lorraine important to World War 1?
The small land between France and Germany called Alscae and Lorraine, was a monumental piece of land that created conflicts and wounds between the two rivaling nations. France and Germany.Ever since the Franco Prussian war of 1870–1871, France under Napoleon III lost against the militaristic and expansionist Prussia. It was as the result of this short yet monumental war where all the regions of present day Germany united to form the German Empire. Since the French lost this battle, they had to give this land that was between the two countries to Germany. The French people did not like that and as a result had fueled nationalism and resentment on these German victors robbing their land.In short…“The modern history of Alsace-Lorraine was largely influenced by the rivalry between French and German nationalism.” WikipediaNow, going to WW1, the land of Alsace and Lorraine has a significant importance to WW1. For example, one of the first battles of the Great War was the battle of Lorraine. It was part of Plan 17 of the French to recapture the territory. Also, the territory fueled Nationalism in france saying that Alsace Lorraine was clearly their’s.After the GREAT WAR, France, as a victor of the war, got Alsace Lorraine back. From 1871 to 1918, this land had belong to the Prussian/German empire. (47 Years).NOW TO THE CURRENT ERA, this land belongs to France and not Germany.Hope this answers your questionCheers
At the end of World War I, did the public opinion in Alsace-Lorraine support in being a part of France or Germany?
The people of Lorraine were a mix of French and German speakers. In Alsace there was a clear majority of German speakers. BUT, in both cases the population defined itself as belonging to the French nation. Hence, the logic for returning Alsace Lorraine to France without much discussion in 1918.Germany had its chance during the period 1871–1914 (a time span of 2 generations). With a clever local policy (cultural and political) they might have won over the German speaking majority of Alsace. Instead, their administration was that of an occupied region. They brought in Germans from other parts of Germany and never granted the autonomy they had promised (which was a normal local autonomy in the other small German states).
How did Alsace Lorraine play a part in World War 1?
Alsace and Lorraine are two counties (for lack of a better word - small regional political divisions) that exist on the frontier between France and Germany and have people living there who speak both French and German and trace their ancestry to both countries. Ever since the formation of the nation states of France and, especially, Germany (which didn't occur until the unification of Germany under Bismark in January 1871), both countries have claimed that, since people of French or German ancestry lived there, the provinces therefore belonged inside that nation. After the French were routed in the Franco-Prussian War, fought between 1866-1871, these territories were stripped from France and included in the new German Empire. This caused decades of rancor between the countries. The French, always feeling like they had been embarrassed by this upstart of a country - which they had (their emperor, Napoleon III was captured on the field of battle, after which France sued for peace) - dreamt of a day in the future where they would one day be able to go to battle with their ancient foe and reclaim these territories for the glory of France. It was this very hatred carried by the French that drove their foreign policy for the following 45 years. It led directly to France signing secret treaties with England and Russia (created to contain the land power of a strong Prussian/German state) which, as a party to, they agreed to declare war on Germany should Germany declare war on either one of their partners. After the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand when Austria declared war on Serbia, this triggered Austria's treaty with Germany, who then also declared war on Serbia. Germany's declaration caused Serbia's treaty with Russia to become active, and Russia declared war on Germany. Germany returned the favor, declaring war on Russia - and this triggered the secret agreement between the First World War allies and England and France declared war on Germany as well. It's a mouthful, but that's exactly the way it went down. Making matters worse was the fact that most of these treaties were secret so, while some of them were expected, was wasn't necessarily a sure thing. However, had the treaties been public knowledge, it would have been apparent that what should have been a minor war between Austria and Serbia had to, because of diplomatic promises, turn into a global conflagration.
If Alsace-Lorraine wasn't annexed by Prussia, would Russia, France, and Britain still look onto Germany as aggressive and WW1 happen the way it did?
The Annexation of Alsace-Lorraine may have turned certainly the French against Germany, but the foreign policies of the other two nations did not turn decisively against Germany until the Kaiser started doing his best impression of a bull in a china shop in the German foreign ministry.Before that, Germany had had Bismarck, who was a very skilled operator. He had got on well with the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli when they met in Berlin in 1878 and was very careful to stop France and Russia uniting against him, as he saw the dangers of a two front war.This policy however met its end at the hands of the Kaiser, who through his incompetence basically ensured the best ally Germany had was Austria-Hungary. He alienated Britain through the Naval Arms race, as well as through an explosive and disastrous newspaper interview where he insulted Britain and the British.France and Russia established financial ties at the end of the 1880s and the early 1890s, which laid the groundwork for an alliance between the two countries to be formed in 1891, in response to the Triple Alliance and the rumours that the British would join the German faction (which they didn’t.)
Why did the French have such a strong attachment to Alsace-Lorraine?
Well, that’s not an easy one…To answer the easy way, that particular territory were holding a lots of natural resources, and the Rhin river which form the actual natural border between Germany and France was and is a strategic fluvial route.Those countries were also the cradle of many great ideas and men (Bartholdi, the designer of the Statue of Liberty, Colmar; Gutenberg, get the idea of printing in Strasbourg; etc…)France loved those territories more than the people living in. The peoples from Lorraine were luckier, because of Franc ancestry, they were always welcome back in France. On the other hand, the people from Alsace wasn’t, because of Germanic ancestry, was always repealed by other French people (looks German, speaks German, eat German…)After the WWI, France finally have Alsace-Lorraine back to the motherland ! They reversed the germanisation process, with no imagination, in 1870, when German get theirs hand on Alsace-Lorraine, they translate in German the name of the cities, the streets and people’s names, if someone was called "Charbonier" (coal), it became "Kohler", but in 1918, M. Kohler became M. Collet (collar) to finally be named M. Kragen in 1940 by German again (the French didn’t touch it after 1945). Those situations are still a joke today, when elders told you the pain it was for some administrative task back in the days…The worst part was after WWII, when many young alsacians men were forced enlisted in Reich army and send to the east front, against soviets; the childrens were in Hitlerjungden; in nazi school; were citizens of third Reich !; became French again. France build a plan to erase any German part of Alsace (again). It was insidious, at school, with the interdiction of the local language (which is German based, it was a trauma for most of the elders I know who lived that time). Gladly they failed to erase the local German based culture and nowadays it is considered as a great treasure.From that time, even if very few alsacians were enlisted as SS, nor deployed in France, a lot of "French of the inside" (Français de l’intérieur) had many complaints about all alsacians, and treat them like the Germans/Nazis. That nonsense hate is still alive today, but is way more marginal.Everyone who came in Alsace, from anywhere in the world, could say it’s a beautiful place, full of history, gastronomy and kindness !Proudly written in Wuenheim, Alsace, France !
How did france plan to defend itself against germany in WWI?
Yes, haha, french jokes.Seriously, I'm supposed to know of some Franco defence tactic besides Russia... so is there anyone with ACTUAL knowledge? Or am I wasting my time?