page_title: History of Strasbourg
section_title: 1918 through 1939
hierarchical_section_title: History of Strasbourg / 1918 through 1939
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: L’intérieur de Synagogue consistoriale du quai Kléber 1898-1940
context_page_description: Strasbourg is a city in the historic Alsace region on the left bank of the Rhine. Founded by the Romans in 12 BCE, the city passed under the control of the Merovingians in the eighth century, and then became part of the Holy Roman Empire. Flourishing throughout the middle ages and Renaissance, it was conquered by Louis XIV in 1681. After having changed nationality four times between 1870 and 1945, Strasbourg today is a symbol of Franco-German reconciliation and European integration. The following is a detailed history of Strasbourg, France.
context_section_description: Following the defeat of the German empire in World War I and the abdication of the German Emperor, some revolutionary insurgents declared Alsace-Lorraine as an independent Republic, without preliminary referendum or vote. On 11 November 1918 (Armistice Day), communist insurgents proclaimed a "soviet government" in Strasbourg, following the example of Kurt Eisner in Munich as well as other German towns. French troops commanded by French general Henri Gouraud entered triumphantly in the city on 22 November. A major street of the city now bears the name of that date (Rue du 22 Novembre) which celebrates the entry of the French in the city. Viewing the massive cheering crowd gathered under the balcony of Strasbourg's town hall, French President Raymond Poincaré stated that "the plebiscite is done".
  In 1919, following the Treaty of Versailles, the city was annexed by France in accordance with U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" without a referendum. The date of the assignment was retroactively established on Armistice Day. Germans were expelled from the city and certain imperial monuments were destroyed, notably the statue of German Emperor William I. The French system of central government control posed several problems. The Strasbourgeois were overwhelmingly speakers of the Alsatian dialect (90%), and wished to maintain their local laws. This period favored the rise of new political movements such as the communists and the autonomists. 
  In 1920, Strasbourg became the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine, previously located in Mannheim, one of the oldest European institutions. It moved into the former Imperial Palace. Thanks to the river traffic, the city regained a certain prosperity, which helped cushion the economic crisis of the 1930s. The autonomous port and rail links favored the development of industry, and in 1932 a new bourse was built. Several public housing projects were constructed during the late 1920s to accommodate the rising tide of workers, particularly the projects of Jules Siegfried, Louis Loucher and Alexandre Ribot. During the 1930, the population swelled with the arrive of Central European Jews, accompanied by a rise in antisemitism.
  The central government also worked to develop the University of Strasbourg. Two historians, Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre founded the Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales in 1929, giving rise to the Annales school of historiography that stresses long-term social history. Numerous foreign students attended the university, generally from central Europe and the Balkans.
  The political parties striving for an autonomous Alsace or a connection to France accounted only for a small proportion of votes in the last Reichstag, as well as in the local elections. Pro-French Alsatian autonomists had won many votes in the more rural parts of the region and other towns since the 1871 German annexation. The movement started with the first election for the Reichstag; those elected were called "les députés protestataires", and until the fall of Bismarck in 1890, they were the only deputies elected by the Alsatians to the German parliament demanding the return of those territories to France. At the last Reichstag election in Strasbourg and its periphery, the clear winners were the Social Democrats; the city was the administrative capital of the region, was inhabited by many Germans appointed by the central government in Berlin, and its flourishing economy attracted many Germans. This could explain the difference between the rural vote and the one in Strasbourg. After the war, many Germans left Strasbourg and returned to Germany; some of them were denounced by the locals or expelled by the newly appointed authorities. The Saverne Affair remains vivid in the memory of many Alsatians.
  When the Maginot Line was built, the Sous-secteur fortifié de Strasbourg (fortified sub-sector of Strasbourg) was laid out on the city's territory as a part of the Secteur fortifié du Bas-Rhin, one of the sections of the Line. Blockhouses and casemates were built along the Grand Ca
caption: Strasbourg's monumental Romanesque Revival synagogue did not survive the Nazi occupation of the city.
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