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Nibbe, Tristan

Per 5

Euro History

DBQ

Alsace-Lorraine has commonly been a region fought over by the French and German governments as a

result its national feeling has commonly a mixture of the two as well as being contested by which ever

country most recently conquered it. After being ruled by France for nearly two hundred years after the

rule of Louis XIV most of the citizens considered themselves French in Nationality this was disputed

by the conquering Germans who, in an effort to win over the populace began to appeal to the younger

generation while still children. These kids once fully grown swayed public opinion back in favor of the

German government. This is supported by the Documents which are formed into three general groups;

those by people from the Alsace-Lorraine area, those from Germans, and those of the speeches made to

various crowds.

Documents 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, and 10 all are written or spoken by Germans and express the general

belief that Alsace-Lorraine should rejoice at the thought of being part of the German Empire.

Document 1 is spoken by Bismark who expresses his concern that Metz will be hard to tame due to its

strong French culture, he also states that it will most definitely be a source of trouble later on.

Document 3 is a proclamation by the German parliament about the seizure of the lands and attempts to

rationalize the suppression of the French culture that will most definitely occur in an effort to make

them more wholly German. Written by a German historian Document 4 expresses how the French have

most surely harmed the peoples of Alsace by suppressing the German culture and that it must be

reinstated by force, if necessary. Document 6 is a statistics table showing the percentage of languages

used in the Alsace-Lorraine area, according to the study the residents are well on their way to

conversion into German citizens. This is of course a German government report and would be loathe to

show anything less. Document 8 is written by the president of the Nationalist German League and

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expresses his belief the the former measures were not enough and that French language and culture

should be outlawed entirely. Document 9 is a newspaper article which shows that all facets of the

Alsace-Lorraine society largely considered themselves French, going so far as to say the very spirits of

the people are indeed French, showing that Germany has not been successful in attempting to win over

the hearts and minds of the people. The cartoon showed in Document 10 shows a separate side of the

ban on the French, it's largely biased due to being a French cartoon published in Paris. It displaces the

German police officer as being fat and too cowardly to actually confront the shopkeeper, contenting

himself with making a note in his book, while the children look on.

The speeches shown in documents 2, 5, and 7 show the various opinions of different public

figures on the subject of the Alsace-Lorraine seizure. Document 2 is a declaration to the French

parliament pleading with them to reconsider the secession of the Alsace-Lorraine area, and to

remember the bond that they have formed in the two hundred years of rule. Document 5 is a similar

plea to the German Reichstag asking them to reconsider their conquer of the areas and provides a subtle

threat of future wars if they continue with their plans. Document 7 is a speech by the Alsace Deputy

who states that the process of winning over the Alsace-Lorraine people is not going well and had been a

total disaster. The deputy being a resident of Alsace makes him biased in favor of the conversion

failing, were the German Empire forced to give up their attempts to rule over the Alsace-Lorraine area

they would be able to return to France as many of them hoped to.

Documents 2, 5, 7, 11, and 12 are all by Alsatians which show the progression of the feelings as

the attempts by Germany to convert the citizens to be German in spirit as well as name. In document 2

and 5 the extreme resentment of the people to German rule is shown directly before and after being

ceded. Doc 7 shows that even after several decades progress and when directly addressing the

Reichstag the Alsatians still insisted on a policy of fierce resistance. Document 11 is an excerpt from

the autobiography of a French WW 1 veteran whose brother wishes to fight for Germany and whose

father states that they must stay loyal to whoever may rule their slice of land. Document 12 shows the

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memory of a school boy who grew up in Alsace while it was under German rule and his opinion of the

soldiers and German government clearly reflect this. His observations are largely biased due to the

large amount of effort Germany placed in trying to win over the hearts of the next generation.

The perceptions of the cultural identity of the area shift dramatically as it is conquered and

reconquered throughout the ages. The minds of the residents seem to shift just as dramatically, while

some seem to remain loyal to the French government others feel the Germans are their best bet, still

others seem to reside at an unhappy middle ground where they acknowledge that neither country truly

cares about the residents, merely about the land they inhabit.