Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1916-02-26
ALSAcE AND LORRAINE.

| tached their signatures 10 The treat,
| whereby AiSace-Lor-aine ceased 10 b.
French territory. and passed into ths
| possession OF Germany. When tht
preliminaries OF peace came 10 OF
| discussed at Versailles. the cession o.
| Alsace, together with what is called
German Lorraine. was one OF the ear
lest conditions laid down by Counr
! Bismarck. This sacrifice OF territory
aroused great grief and indignation
throughout France. but especially n
the provinces about 10 De given up
Thoroughly. beaten. France could d.
nothing but yield TO the demands o.
the conqueror, and the National As
sembly confirmed the treat.
From that day the loss OF the ter.
ritory on her eastern front has never
ceased to trouble France. and from
that day the people OF the republic
have nourished the idea of "reyanche
against the Teutons.
1t is the German contention that
Alsace-Lorraine rightfully belongs &C
the kaiser's empire. since it was Ger
man territory for many centuries. As
matter of fact. Alsace-or Elsass, as
the Germans call it-has always been
more or less disputed territory Orig,
inally it was French, having been a
part of Gaul in the per.,I OF the Ru
man dominion. Alsace next paSSe
under the power Of the FrapES From
the sixth % ,ta eighth centuries Al
SAGE was part Of the kingdom ii
Austrasia, w.ucn came to an end
when Pepin- necame sole king OF
France in 141. A.sace became a part
of the French empire of Charlemagne
In the tenth century Alsace became
a duchy and was incorporated with
the German empire. Lorraine. which
had been a kingdom in the ninth cen
fury, also passed to the domination
of the Austrian house.
A considerable portion of Alsace
was restored to France by the treaty
of W'estphalia in 1913. as a result of
the Thirty Years War. In 1851 the
French captured Strassburg. and in
1897 practically the whole of Alsace
was coded to France. Mulhausen was
not acquired, however. until after the
revolution of 1859.
During the two centuries of the last
French occupation the people of the
country, who during the long German
domination had taken on a distinctly
Teutonic cast, became more French
than Frenchmen. although perhaps a
majority were of pure German de-
scent. Alsace was as patriotic and
loyal to France as any other par. OF
the nation, and the same was true OF
Lorraine. which became French just
a century and a half ago, at the death
of Stanislaus l., the deposed king OF
Poland, who had been given the crown
of Lorraine for life
When Germany annexed Alsace aud
part of Lorraine. forty.fve years
ago today. the people were thoroughly
French in sentiment and sympathies.
and in the period that has elapsed
the kaiser's government has not
found it possible to completely ban
ish from the memories of Alsatians
their old spirit of allegiance to
France. Forty-five thousand Alsatians
left their homes soon after the Ger.
man occupation, and their places
were soon taken by Germans. The
newcomers are naturally loyal to the
Fatherland. but among those of the
older families there are many who
refuse to pay more THAN lip tribute to
the Germans, and are still French at
heart.
At the present time. Alsace oceu-
pies the unfortunate position of a
country divided against itself. How
this condition can be remedied TO tie
satisfaction of any considerable nla-
jority of the people it is difficult to
see. If it remains German, the old
spirit OF hatred and disloyalty will
persist; if it should become French
territory again, the now large Ger
man population would be equally dis
satisfied. In any event. it would
seem. AlsAce must remain bone of
contention and possible source of
other wars in the future.