Located between the

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

and Rhine rivers,

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

and

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

were at the center of the Carolingian Empire during the Middle Age. The territories were initially part of the

Western Roman Empire In modern historiography, the Western Roman Empire was the western provinces of the Roman Empire, collectively, during any period in which they were administered separately from the eastern provinces by a separate, independent imperial court. ...

and later annexed by the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. In the 16th century, they were annexed by the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

. Part of these same territories were then annexed by the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

in the 19th century, before returning to France at the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1940-1945), they were annexed again by the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, before final return to French rule at the end of the war.

Historical context

The name "Lorraine" comes from the Frank King "Lothair", grandson of Charlemagne. The territory has been at the center of the Carolingian Empire during the 8th and 9th centuries. During middle age, the historical regions of

and

were at the Eastern border of the

, along the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

river, and later became part of the fragmented

. During the 16th century, the territories of the

Three Bishoprics The Three Bishoprics ( ) constituted a Provinces of France, government of the Kingdom of France consisting of the dioceses of Prince-Bishopric of Metz, Metz, Prince-Bishopric of Verdun, Verdun, and Prince-Bishopric of Toul, Toul within the Lorr ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

the cities of the

Décapole The Décapole (; , or ) was an alliance formed in 1354 by ten Imperial cities of the Holy Roman Empire in the Alsace region to maintain their rights. It was disbanded in 1679. In 1354 Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg ratified the treaty uniti ...

, and the

Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire which existed from the 10th century until 1766 when it was annexed by the kingdom of France. It gave its name to the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France ...

joined the Kingdom of France. From 1871 to 1918, and then from 1940 to 1945, part of these territories were annexed by the newly created

and by the

French annexations (16th–18th centuries)

Austrasian March

The fragmentation of the territories of the

, corresponding today to the historical regions of

and

, made it relatively easy for the Kingdom of France to pursue a policy of annexation based on a "natural" frontier, the

. The territories of the

, and the cities of the

, then those of the

Duchy of Bar The County of Bar, later Duchy of Bar, was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire encompassing the ''Barrois, pays de Barrois'' and centred on the city of Bar-le-Duc. It was held by the County of Montbéliard, House of Montbéliard from the 11t ...

and the

were annexed to France.

Annexation of Alsace (1648–1697)

On October 24, 1648, the rivalry between the

House of Austria The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

and the Bourbons led to the

Treaty of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two Peace treaty, peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy R ...

, which ended the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. France, the great victor of this long conflict, expanded its territory eastward: Metz, Toul, and Verdun were recognized as French after a century of ''de facto'' protectorate. France annexed part of Alsace, in particular the Landgraviate of Upper Alsace (formerly the County of Sundgau) and the cities of the Alsatian

. In 1675, the

Battle of Turckheim The Battle of Turckheim took place during the Franco-Dutch War that occurred on 5 January 1675 at a site between the towns of Colmar and Turckheim in Alsace. The French army, commanded by the Viscount of Turenne, defeated the armies of Austria ...

, lost by the Imperials, allowed France to annex new territories in Alsace. By creating in Metz, Besançon, and Brisach, Louis XIV was able to annex new territories without fighting: this was the . Thus, by a decree of March 22, 1680, the Council of Alsace annexed to the

the

bailiwick A bailiwick () is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. In English, the original French combi ...

s of Kutzenhausen, Bergzabern, Annweiler, Guttemberg, Gossersweiler, Vogelbourg, Otbourg, Cleebourg, Falkenbourg, the villages of Rechtenbach, half of the village of Dambach, and the castle and village of Riedseltz. By decree of August 9, 1680, the Council of Alsace united the Counties of Hanau-Lichtenberg and Oberbrunn, the Barony of Fleckenstein, the

s of Gressenstein, Wafslen, Barr, Illkirch, Marlem, Bischwiller and Reichshoffen, and the

s of Sulz, Guebwiller, Rouffach, Marckolsheim and Marmoutier, the county of Dagsbourg (Linange-Dabo), the

principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchy, monarchical state or feudalism, feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "prin ...

of La Petite-Pierre and Murbach, the county of Horbourg, the

seigneur A seigneur () or lord is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. The seigneur owned a seigneurie, seigneury, or lordship—a form of ...

y of Riquewihr, the Ban de la Roche, the lands and

ies of the bishopric of Strasbourg and Saint-Hippolyte. In September 1697, with the signing of the

Treaty of Ryswick The Peace of Ryswick, or Rijswijk, was a series of treaties signed in the Dutch city of Rijswijk between 20 September and 30 October 1697. They ended the 1688 to 1697 Nine Years' War between France and the Grand Alliance, which included the Dutc ...

, Louis XIV definitively annexed four-fifths of Alsace to France, including Strasbourg and the towns of the

Annexation of Lorraine (1552–1766)

In 1301, because of his opposition to the King of France, the

Count of Bar The County of Bar, later Duchy of Bar, was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire encompassing the '' pays de Barrois'' and centred on the city of Bar-le-Duc. It was held by the House of Montbéliard from the 11th century. Part of the county, ...

was forced to pay tribute to the French sovereign for the part of his county on the left bank of the

, henceforth known as the Barrois mouvants. The eastern part of the County of Bar and the

remained part of the

. As an integral part of the Holy Roman Empire, the free cities of

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

Toul Toul () is a Communes of France, commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle Departments of France, department in north-eastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Toul is between Commercy and Nancy, Fra ...

, and

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

and the adjoining episcopal principalities were ''de facto'' annexed to France in April 1552 by King Henry II of France, who was allied with the

German Protestants Protestantism (), a branch of Christianity, was founded within Germany in the 16th-century Reformation. It was formed as a new direction from some Roman Catholic principles. It was led initially by Martin Luther and later by John Calvin. Histor ...

. Henri II also imposed a francophone regent on the young Duke of Lorraine and Bar, Charles III, who was subsequently elevated to the French court. In 1633, despite an earlier commitment to respect the particular customs of the Messins, Toulois, and Verdunois, the

established a parliament in

with jurisdiction over the

. In 1648, the

annexed the bishoprics and imperial cities . In February 1661, with the Treaty of Vincennes, the King of France returned the Duchy of Bar to the Duke of Lorraine in exchange for several villages in

, to create a passage that would allow him to reach

directly without passing through a foreign country. The capital and the duchy were occupied again from 1670 to 1697. The annexationist policy of the ''Réunions'' continued in

. The Chamber of Metz successively united: * By a decree of April 12, 1680, the castle and county of Veldenz. * By a first decree of April 15, 1680, the lands and castellanies of Condé-sur-Moselle and Conflans-en-Jarnisy. * By a second decree of April 15, 1680, the town, castle, and land of Commercy. * By a decree of April 30, 1680, the county of Vaudémont, the county of Chaligny, and the castellany of Turquestein-Blancrupt. * By a first decree of May 6, 1680, the town and castle of Épinal. * By a second decree of May 6, 1680, the town and castellany of Sarrebourg. * By a decree of May 10, 1680, the castle, town, and seigneury of Nomeny and the land and ban of Delme. * By a first decree of May 20, 1680, the castle and town of Hombourg and the town of Saint-Avold. * By a second decree of May 20, 1680, the town, castle, castellany, and seigneury of Albe (

Sarralbe Sarralbe (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Alwe'' or ''Saaralwe'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Moselle department The following is a list of the 725 commune ...

). * By a decree of May 23, 1680, the town, lands, and seigneury of Marsal. * By a first decree of May 29, 1680, the castle and seigneury of Sampigny. * By a second decree of May 29, 1680, the castle, town, castellany and provostry of Hattonchâtel. * By a decree of June 6, 1680, the lands and seigneuries of Salm and Pierre-Percée. * By decree of June 12, 1680, the town, castle, and barony of Apremont. * By decree of June 13, 1680, the land and seigneury of Mars-la-Tour. * By decree of June 14, 1680, the town of Blâmont and the lands and seigneuries of Mandres-aux-Quatre-Tours, Deneuvre, and Amermont. * By decree of June 21, 1680, the castle of Lutzelbourg. * By a decree of June 27, 1680, the land and seigneury of Briey. * By a first decree of June 28, 1680, the county of Deux-Ponts. * By a second decree of June 28, 1680, the castle, county, and seigneury of Castres. * By a decree of July 4, 1680, the town and seigneury of Dieuze. * By a decree of July 8, 1680, the castle, town and county of Sarrebruck. * By a first decree of July 11, 1680, the county of Sarrewerden and Bouquenom. * By a second decree of July 11, 1680, the town, land and seigneury of Ottwiller. * By a first decree of July 15, 1680, the land and seigneury of Bousseviller. * By a second decree of July 15, 1680, the lands and seigneuries of La Marck, Marmonstier and Ochsenstein. * By a third decree of July 15, 1680, the castle and seigneury of Trognon. * By a decree of August 16, 1680, the seigneury of Sierck and the town of Port (Saint-Nicolas). * By a decree of September 16, 1680, the castle, land and seigneury of Créhange. * By a first decree of October 24, 1680, the town, land and seigneury of Virton. * By a second decree of October 24, 1680, the castle, land, and manor of Bitche. * By a first decree of November 7, 1680, the castle, land, and manor of Oberstein. * By a second decree of November 7, 1680, the castle, land and seigneury of Rembercourt-aux-Pots. * By a decree of November 28, 1680, the castle and town of Mussey. * By decree of December 5, 1680, the castle, land and manor of Réchicourt. * By decree of December 9, 1680, the town of Étain. * By decree of December 12, 1680, the county of Morhange. * By decree of December 23, 1680, the land and seigneury of Domèvre. * By decree of December 26, 1680, the town and seigneury of Gondreville. * By decree of March 6, 1681, the town and seigneury of Neufcastle. * By decree of March 10, 1681, the towns and seigneuries of Arrancy and Pierrevillers. * By decree of April 21, 1681, the county of Chiny. * By decree of May 16, 1683, the county of Vaudémont. * By decree of June 2, 1683, the lordships, provostships and castellanies of Pont-à-Mousson, Saint-Mihiel, and others. The

gave the Barrois and Lorraine their independence and their rightful sovereign, Leopold I. The young Duke, the Emperor's nephew, married a niece of Louis XIV, Elisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans, who paradoxically became the driving force behind resistance to French annexation. In 1702, the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

was the pretext for a fourth French occupation of the duchies of Bar and Lorraine. In 1733, the

War of the Polish Succession The War of the Polish Succession (; 1733–35) was a major European conflict sparked by a civil war in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over the succession to Augustus II the Strong, which the other European powers widened in pursuit of ...

had the same effect. To facilitate his marriage and election as head of the

, Duke François III of Lorraine agreed, despite his mother's objections, to exchange his patrimonial duchies for Tuscany. The

and the

were given for life to

Stanislas Leszczynski Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, Kherson Oblast, a coastal village in Ukraine * Stanislaus County, ...

, father-in-law of Louis XV, the dethroned King of Poland. It was agreed that upon the death of the sovereign, Barrois and Lorraine would become French. Stanislas left the administration of the duchy to his son-in-law and he died in 1766.

Annexations of principalities and enclaves (1766–1814)

From 1769 to 1786, a series of treaties between France and the princes of the Empire gradually regularized the border. In many places, watercourses marked the boundary; many enclaves on either side disappeared, but the border still did not consist of a single boundary. During the French Revolution, the following territories became part of France (year of annexation in parentheses): *

County of Kriechingen The County of Kriechingen was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was originally a part of the Duchy of Lorraine and was raised to an imperial estate in 1617. It belonged to the Upper Rhenish Circle. In 1697, Kriechingen was inherited by the Pri ...

(1793). *

County of Dagsburg The County of Dagsburg with its capital Dagsburg (now Dabo, Moselle, Dabo in France) existed in Lorraine (duchy), Lorraine from 11th to 18th centuries when the area was still part of Holy Roman Empire. History The ancestral castle in Dabo, the ...

(1793). *

County of Saarwerden The County of Saarwerden (; ) was a county located in Lorraine (region), Lorraine, within the Holy Roman Empire. As a second-level fief, it belonged to its local ruler and not to the emperor. Its capital was in (situated on the right side of the ...

(1793). *

Obersteinbach Obersteinbach () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories ...

, part of the

Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt () was a Imperial State, State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse among the four sons of Landgr ...

(1793). *

County of Montbéliard The Princely County of Montbéliard (; ), was a prince, princely Graf, county of the Holy Roman Empire seated in the city of Montbéliard in the present-day Franche-Comté region of France. From 1444 onwards it was held by the House of Württembe ...

(1793). * Principality of Salm-Salm (1793). * Lordship of Lixing (1795). * Austrian enclave of Manderen (1795). * Zetting-Dieding, an exclave of the Empire (1795 or 1797). *

Hundling Hundling (; ) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Moselle department The following is a list of the 725 communes of the Moselle department of France France, offici ...

, an exclave of the Empire (1797). * Rouhling, an exclave of the Empire (1797 or 1798). *

Republic of Mulhouse The Republic of Mulhouse () was a Protestant associate of the Old Swiss Confederation in what is now eastern France. Mulhouse had been a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire since 1275. It became a republic in 1347, with the election ...

, allied with the

Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...

(1798).

German annexations (19th–20th centuries)

Treaties of Paris (1814 and 1815)

In Lorraine, under the

Treaty of Paris (1814) The Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814, ended the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, following an armistice signed on 23 April between Charles, Count of Artois, and the allies. The treaty set the bord ...

, Moselle lost several communes and hamlets to

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

, including the Canton of Tholey and seven communes in the Canton of Sierck-les-Bains. In 1815, part of the Moselle cantons of Relling and Sarrelouis and all of the cantons of

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

and

Saint-Jean Saint-Jean (French for Saint John) may refer to: Places Belgium * Sint-Jan, a borough of Ypres, sometimes referenced as ''Saint-Jean'' in a World War I-related context Canada *Lac Saint-Jean *Lac-Saint-Jean-Est Regional County Municipality *L ...

became Prussian. Certain communes and hamlets in these cantons later returned to French territory under the demarcation treaty of October 23, 1829. In Alsace, the Bas-Rhin lost all its territories north of the Lauter in 1815. Some of these territories had been gained first by the Treaty of Paris in 1814. This included the 4 cantons of Bergzabern, Candel, Dahn, and Landau.

German annexation of Alsace-Moselle (1871–1919)

In 1871, following the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870, part of these territories, corresponding to the modern departments of

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin () is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its lower altitude among the two French Rhine departments: it is downstream of the Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine) de ...

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (); Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; , . is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine; its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less pop ...

, and

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...

, became part of the

. These territories, considered strategic by the Germans as they extended the border beyond the

and included the strongholds of

and

, were ceded in two stages. Elsass-Lothringen 1648-1789

In a letter justifying the decision to annex these territories to a unified Germany, Emperor William explained to

Empress Eugenie The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother ( empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rul ...

that the real motivation was strictly military, using the annexed territories as a military glacis to keep the French border away from the

and

rivers. Thus, the Welches valleys of Alsace and the Metz region, not following the linguistic border, found themselves "imperial territory" under the official name of "Alsace-Lorraine" and the direct administration of Emperor William. The preliminary peace treaty of February 26, 1871, put an end to the fighting between France and Germany. The

Treaty of Frankfurt The Treaty of Frankfurt may refer to one of three treaties signed at Frankfurt, as follows: * Treaty of Frankfurt (1489) – Treaty between Maximilian of Austria and the envoys of King Charles VIII of France * Treaty of Frankfurt (1539) – Initi ...

(May 10, 1871) established the terms of peace. In addition to a substantial indemnity, France had to cede part of its territory to the

Reich ( ; ) is a German word whose meaning is analogous to the English word " realm". The terms and are respectively used in German in reference to empires and kingdoms. In English usage, the term " Reich" often refers to Nazi Germany, also ca ...

. In Alsace, the departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin became German, except for the arrondissement of Belfort. In Lorraine, the former department of Moselle, except for

Briey Briey (; ) is a former commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Val de Briey.arrondissements of Château-Salins and

Sarrebourg Sarrebourg (; also , ; Lorraine Franconian: ; older ) is a commune of northeastern France. In 1895 a Mithraeum was discovered at Sarrebourg at the mouth of the pass leading from the Vosges Mountains. Geography Sarrebourg is located in the ...

, which belonged to the former department of Meurthe, and the cantons of Saales and Schirmeck became German. Until the adoption of the Constitution of 1911, Alsace-Moselle was governed directly by the Emperor and there were many tensions, the most famous of which was the Zabern Affair, which revealed the tensions between the inhabitants and the central power. From November 1918 until the signing of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

on June 28, 1919, the region was occupied by France in the application of the provisions of the Armistice of November 11, 1918, before becoming an integral part of the French nation again under article 27 of the Peace Treaty.

De facto annexation of Alsace-Moselle (1940–1945)

After the defeat of the French armies and the withdrawal of the British troops, the signing of the Armistice on June 22, 1940 provided for the occupation of northern France by the armies of the

. The Nazi regime seized the opportunity to occupy Alsace and Moselle,This department became the

CdZ-Gebiet Lothringen The Civil Administration Area of Lorraine (CdZ=Chef der Zivilverwaltung) () was an administrative division of the Gau Westmark from 1940 to 1945. History After the outbreak of the Second World War and the defeat of France in 1940, the ''dépar ...

, attached to the

Gau Westmark The Gau Westmark (English: ''Western March'') was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. From 1925 to 1933, it was a regional subdivision of the Nazi Party. History The Nazi (plural ) system was established at a party conf ...

. despite the inviolability of the French borders, as stipulated in the armistice. Germany therefore expelled French citizens who were too demonstrative in their refusal, and foreigners whom they considered to be German citizens. They proceeded to conscript young Alsatians-Mosellans under the

Nazi flag The flag of Nazi Germany, officially called the Reich and National Flag (), and also known as the Nazi flag or swastika flag ( – ) featured a red background with a black swastika on a white disk. This flag came into use initially as the banner ...

, leading to the tragedy of the

Malgré-nous Malgré-nous (, or, more figuratively, 'we who are forced against our will') is a term that refers to men from Alsace–Lorraine who were conscripted into the German military after the region's annexation from France during World War II. The ...

. The victory of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

and the

liberation of France The liberation of France () in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany in ...

at the end of 1944 and the beginning of 1945 put an end to this last annexation.

Historical context

French annexations (16th–18th centuries)

Austrasian March

Annexation of Alsace (1648–1697)

Annexation of Lorraine (1552–1766)

Annexations of principalities and enclaves (1766–1814)

German annexations (19th–20th centuries)

Treaties of Paris (1814 and 1815)

German annexation of Alsace-Moselle (1871–1919)

De facto annexation of Alsace-Moselle (1940–1945)

References

See also

Bibliography

Related articles