AI.SACK AND 



19 



:y in using their idiom. Hut, from tho 



of the Revolution, the French (Jovem- 



has boon ineessaiit in its efforts to mako 



tin- Gorman population of Alsace and Lor- 



raino a homogeneous element of tho French 



Kmpiro, and, by tho gradual introduction of 



tin- Freiieh language into churches, schools, 



courts, and all other public relations, to extir- 



the last remnants of tho German nation- 

 ality of tho inhabitants. Tho results of these 



s, thus far, have not been considerable. 

 ;o this day, there arc a large number of 

 communities whore French is unknown. Tho 

 number of churches and schools in which 

 (lei-man is still used exclusively is very con- 

 siderable, and, in nearly the whole territory 

 which since 1648 has been torn from Ger- 

 many, the German language is even to this 

 day predominant. This territory of tho Ger- 

 man language embraced, in 18G1, in Alsace 

 a population of 1,007,477 inhabitants out of a 

 total population of 1,093,876, and in three de- 

 partments of Lorraine (Moselle, Meurthe, and 

 Vosges) a German population of 351,681 in a 

 total population of 1,290,585. Thus France 

 has in its eastern provinces German-speaking 

 districts with a population of 1,359,158. Be- 

 sides these Germans, France has in tho two 

 departments of Pas de Calais and Nord a popu- 

 lation speaking Flemish, the dialect of Belgian 

 Germans, numbering together 341,917 inhabi- 

 tants, who, added to the above number, give 

 an aggregate German population of 1,701,175. 

 Of these, about 200,000 are supposed to have 

 more or less lost their nationality, and, with 

 regard to their language, have become more 

 French than German; leaving about 1,500,000 

 inhabitants, who, as far as their language is 

 considered, are even to this day Germans. 



In 1814 the hopes of the Germans, to have 

 Alsace reconnected with one of the German 

 states, were foiled by the opposition of the Em- 

 peror Alexander I. of Kussia, who demanded 

 that it remain with France. Only the fortress 

 of Landau with an adjacent district was given to 

 Bavaria ; and Saarlouis, Saarbriick, with a few 

 other places, to Prussia. "When tho war between 



Franco and Germany took a turn surprisingly 

 favorable to Germany, public opinion in the 

 latt.-r country declared it-elf very emphati- 

 cally for tho reunion of Alsace and the 

 man districts of Lorraine with Germany. In 

 accordance with this expression of public 

 opinion, the Prussian Government began the 

 reorganization of the conquered districts with 

 a view to their permanent occupation. The new 

 interest of Germany in the fate of Alsace called 

 forth many now works on its history, tho most 

 important of which are Menzel, Elsas* und 

 Lothringen (Stuttgart, 1870) ; A. Schmidt, El- 

 toss und Lothringen (Leipsic, 1870); Wagner, 

 EhaM und Lothringen (Leipaic, 1870). 



After the occupation of Northeastern Franco 

 by the German troops, the two General Gov- 

 ments of "Alsace" and "Lorraine" were 

 formed out of the occupied 'territory. They 

 comprise tho following districts : 



According to an official work on the French 

 census of 1866 (Statistique de la, France, 2* 

 serie, tome xvii., Strasbourg, 1869), the ecclesi- 

 astical statistics of the two General Govern- 

 ments were as follows : 



Nationalities. According to statistical re- 

 searches, especially those of R. Bockh, in his 

 work, " Der Deutschen Volkszahl und Sprach- 

 gebiet in den Europaischen Staaten. Erne statis- 

 tische Untersuchung " (Berlin, 1870), the ter- 

 ritory of the General Government of Lorraine 

 is almost wholly French, while that of the Gen- 

 eral Government of Alsace is almost entirely 

 German. 



The following towns of the General Govern- 

 ment of Alsace had in 1866 more than 5,000 



inhabitants: Strasburg, 84,167; Muhlhausen, 

 58,773; Metz, 54,817; Colmar, 23,669; Mar- 

 kirch, 12,425; Gebweiler, 12,218; Hagenau, 

 11,427; Schlettstadt, 10,040; Bischweiler, 

 9,911; Belfort, 8,400; Thann, 8,154; Dieden- 

 hofen (French name, Thionville), 7,376 ; Rap- 

 poltsweiler, 7,146; Saargemund, 6,802; Arson 

 the Moselle, 5,860 ; Forbach, 5,619 ; Brumath, 

 5,619; Weissenbnrg, 5,570; Zabern (French 

 name, Saverne), 5,499 ; Urbis (French name, Or- 

 bay), 5,431 ; Barr, 5,307; Ober-Ehnheim, 5,185. 



