Lothringen (German) ~ Lorraine (French) Lothringen or in French, Lorraine, is a historical area in present-day northeast France. Some of the main cities are Metz, Nancy, Verdun and Epinal. In the past Lorraine was generally associated with Alsace and was referred to as Alsace-Lorraine. Kingdom ~ Duchy of Lotharingia Lorraine was originally an independent kingdom. It was created in 843, when the Carolingian empire was divided between the three sons of Louis the Pious. Named after the new ruler, Holy Roman Emperor Lothar, the area and other territories controlled by Lothar became known as Lotharingia. In France, this became known as Lorraine, while in Germany, it was eventually known as Lothringen. Lorraine is a French-ified version of the German title Lotharingen. In the Alemannic, the language once spoken in Lorraine, the -ingen suffix signified a property. Thus, in a figurative sense, "Lotharingen" can be translated as "Land belonging to Lothar". Between 843 and 855, Middle Francia was the territory ruled by Lothair I. Upon his death, his realm was split into three parts: the ancient Italy, Provence, and a new creation in the north, called Lotharingia from the Latin Lotharii Regnum, a designation for the son of Lothair's who ruled it: Lothair II. On Lothair's death without heirs in 869, by the Treaty of Mersen, his uncles Charles the Bald and Louis the German agreed to divide his realm. Thereafter, the reunion of divided Lotharingia was a prime ambition of most German and French monarchs. The Emperor Arnulf appointed his illegitimate son Zwentibold king in Lotharingia in 895 and on the latters death it passed to the king of Germany, Louis the Child. Charles III of France reunited the kingdom in 910 and appointed Gilbert as his duke (dux Lotharingiae or dux Lotharingiorum). Subsequent wars saw Charles deposed and the duchy annexed in its entirety by Henry the Fowler of Germany. Thereafter, Lotharingia (or Lorraine) is a stem duchy within the German kingdom. The Duchy of Lotharingia was an independent duchy from around 925 to its partition in 959. At that time the duchy was divided into Upper and Lower regions which became permanent following the death of Duke Bruno. Upper Lorraine was first denominated as the Duchy of the Moselle, both in charters and narrative sources, and its duke was the dux Mosellanorum. The usage of Lotharingia and Lorraine in official documents begins later, around the fifteenth century. However, the dukes of Upper Lorraine gradually came to be known simply as the dukes of Lorraine, because the significance of the Lower duchy declined greatly in the latter half of the eleventh century. French Aggression in 17th century In the 17th century, the French kings began to covet Lorraine, which lay between France proper and its possessions in Alsace. Lorraine, after siding with the Emperor in the Thirty Years' War, was largely occupied by France in 1641. In 1670, the French invaded again, forcing Duke Charles IV to flee to a Viennese exile. The French continued to occupy Lorraine for almost thirty years, only giving it up to Charles's heir by the Treaty of Ryswick which ended the Nine Years War in 1697. The Duchy was again occupied by France during the War of the Spanish Succession, although Duke Leopold Joseph continued to reign. Leopold's son and successor, Francis Stephen, was forced to give up the Duchy in 1737 in exchange for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany after the War of the Polish Succession. Francis Stephen was betrothed to Archduchess Maria Theresa, daughter and heir to Charles VI, and the French would only approve the marriage if Francis gave up his rights to Lorraine. Francis and Maria Theresa's marriage resulted in the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. Replacing Francis Stephen was the last Duke of Lorraine, Stanislaus Leszczynski, former king of Poland. With Stanislas's death in 1766, the long independent history of the Duchy of Lorraine came to an end, and the Duchy was annexed to France. Franco-Prussian War ~ 1870-1871 The Franco-Prussian War was declared by Napoléon Bonaparte, Emperor of France on Prussia, which was backed by the North German Confederation and the south German states of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria. The conflict marked the culmination of tension between the two powers following Prussia's rise to dominance in Germany, which before 1866 was still a loose federation of quasi-independent territories. The Decisive German victory of the Franco-Prussian War brought about the Treaty of Frankfurt. the terms of the treaty required the annexation of the eastern part of Lorraine known at Moselle to the newly-founded German Empire. Most of Lorraine has a clear French identity. For this reason, Bismarck only annexed about a third of Lorraine to the German Empire. The disputed third, known as Moselle, had a culture not easily classifiable as either French or German, possessing both Romance and Germanic dialects. Under Bismarck's German Empire Alsace-Lorraine had virtually no autonomy like other German states that were monarchies or free cities. It was ruled by a governor appointed by the Reichskanzler. The territory constituted the Reichsland or Imperial Province of Elsass-Lothringen. The area was administered directly by the imperial government in Berlin through the end of the first world war in 1918. Independent Republic of Alsace-Lorraine The Republic of Alsace-Lorraine was formed after the collapse of the German Empire with the end of World War I in 1918. Yet, 11 days later it was occupied by and incorporated into France. On 11 November 1918, the Armistice with Germany was signed, ending the war. That same day, the Soviet of Strasbourg proclaimed an independent Republic of Alsace-Lorraine. The Landtag parliament proclaimed itself the "National Council of Alsace-Lorraine" and the sole legal authority there. The next day, the National Council took over all functions of the Statthalter and of the Secretary of state, and proclaimed the sovereignty of Alsace-Lorraine. On 17 November French troops occupied Mulhouse in Alsace. They took Colmar and Metz on the next days, and on 21 November, French troops arrived in Strasbourg. Thus, the Republic of Alsace-Lorraine was a short-lived independent state, despite the ongoing support of president Woodrow Wilson and the United States congress. When the area was restored to France, the region reverted to the centralized French system and lost its recently acquired autonomy. The French Government immediately started a campaign that included the deportation of Germans having immigrated to the country between the wars. World War II During World War II, after France was defeated in the spring of 1940, Alsace-Lorraine was administered from Berlin by the Nazis until they were defeated in 1945. During the occupation, all inhabitants of military age were subject to conscription into the German army, and in some cases were made to engage in repression against French citizens during the War. Many young men from Alsace-Lorraine were also drafted or volunteered to serve in the German Wehrmacht or the Waffen-SS during World War II. This led to numerous problems and recriminations after the war. Under the periods of German rule between 1871-1918 and between 1940-1945, a policy of Germanization was pursued and the use of the French language was restricted. Ethnic Germans were encouraged to settle in the region, and all inhabitants of military age were subject to conscription into the German army. After World War II When Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France after the war, the fact that many young men from the area had served in the German Army and even the Waffen SS resulted in tensions between Alsace-Lorraine and other parts of France. The French government pursued a strong "anti-German" policy. The German language as well as the German dialect were strictly banned from public use such as Street and City names, official Administrations, educational systems, etc. Largely due to this policy, today Alsace-Lorraine is very French in language and culture. The original "Elsässisch" is close to extinct there, yet the closely related "Alemannisch" is alive on the east bank of the Rhine, in Baden, Germany. In recent times however, official and private initiatives have been trying to reverse this process, thus accepting the bi-lingual and bi-cultural heritage of the regions.