My family is very proud of its lineage, ethnicity, and descent, as am I. I am Irish, and I am very proud of this. There are people in the family who can trace our heritage back to the eleventh century. Our favorite holiday comes in green and only once a year, and my but don’t we have some fun family gatherings? Although several centuries removed from the Emerald Isle, my family has retained, in a very beautiful way, a unique Irish identity unsurpassed in pride or "traditional flavor." When people ask, loudly and proudly the answer comes, "Why, Irish, of course!"
Well, not completely.
My mother’s father, a man who died on the day I was born and therefore never knew, came from another country, a country of equally rich heritage, but of very little fame. Located between France and Germany before "World War" was even in the collective vocabulary of the world, Alsace-Lorraine is known by most for little else than the fact that it no longer exists as an individual entity. But when confronted, my grandfather, Joseph Feldeisen, would deny French or German roots (both countries, among others, held claim on this territory at various times,) and would declare quite proudly and definitively, "I am Alsace-Lorrainian." Something very wonderful and unique about this tiny region must have created this strong sense of connection that my grandfather felt. Despite many changes in government, official religions, domestic unrest, and even all the monstrosities that several major wars have brought, the decidedly unique culture and identity of Alsace-Lorraine has survived intact, and flourishes to this day, a source of pride for all who claim its ancestry.
My grandfather was very adamant in demanding the integrity of his ethnic background. According to his wife, my grandmother, "Joe, a normally quiet tempered person, would jump down the throat of any person who was so brazen as to mistake his ethnicity for either French or German" (Feldeisen). This sense of ethnic pride was formed on account of the deep-rooted sense of national individuality, and my grandfather’s own familial connection to the history of Alsace-Lorraine.
Mentions of a united Alsace-Lorraine are quite rare in the annals of history. It has been an area of constant motion, changing hands and faces as rapidly as the days pass. Alsace-Lorraine is most often referred to as its separate units rather than their sum. The actual name Alsace first appeared in texts from the seventh century (History of Alsace). It is unclear where the name of this area comes from, but it is most likely derived from either the German word for the founding of a foreign country, or the Celtic words for the area at the bottom of a mountain. Although the name of the small region to the west of the Rhine River did not appear until the seventh century, records of its occupation by Romans and the Alaman tribe place the date sometime in the fourth century.
The Alsatian plain came under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire in the ninth century, and stayed so until halfway through the seventeenth century when it was ceded to France. Prior to this cession, beginning in the twelfth century, the peasant-farmers of this rich land slowly started to hang up the farm tools and became service providers in the slowly growing towns of the region. The first city to become independent of the Roman Empire was Strasbourg in the year 1262. Strasbourg was also my grandfather’s familial seat in Alsace-Lorraine. Around this time, many other cities began fortifying themselves, erecting walls around the central cores of the towns (History of Alsace). In the fourteenth century, ten cities in Alsace joined together to form an independent league which is still given protection under the massive wing of the Roman Empire. The final couple centuries until Alsace came under French rule were very turbulent for the region. During the Hundred Years War, the land was invaded by troops, and feudal wars continued to threaten the countryside. There was an outbreak of the Black Death plague in 1349, which decimated both the peasant population and that of the walled cities.
The name of the western-most part of this upside-down "L" shaped region is Lorraine. Its name comes from the German Lotharingia, which was the intermediate kingdom between the eastern and western kingdoms of the Carolignian Germanic Empire (Silverman 8). Prior to its association with the Roman Empire, Lorraine was inhabited by Celtic tribes. After Lorraine became a territory of the Holy Roman Empire, the land faced invasion by Huns. This invasion created a language barrier between the Gallo-Romans and the Franks and Alamans. This language barrier, which exists to this day, divides Lorraine into the Germanic peoples of the northern region and the Gallo-Romanic people of the southern. In 959, Lorraine was divided into two dukedoms following the structure of the various uses of language in the region. The Germanic people become the Dukedom of Upper Lorraine, while the Gallo-Romanic people become the Dukedom of Lower Lorraine. These original boundaries have basically stuck to this day. While Alsace-Lorraine is currently a territory of France, there is a clear demarcation between the French half (Alsace), and the Germanic half (Lorraine.) Lorraine today consists of all that remains of the Dukedom of Upper Lorraine. In 1301, what is today known as Lorraine came under the protection of the King of France.
The turbulence in these regions prior to the cession to France in many ways helped to create the unique identity of Alsace-Lorrainians. In the early sixteenth century, the Reformation held Alsace in a strangle hold. Catholics and Protestants fought bloody battles over the structure and teachings of the Church. These battles ended only after 18,000 peasants in the Alsatian countryside lay dead. The Peace of Augsbourg in 1555 settled the argument by stating that peasants must choose the religion of the lord on whose land they live on. In a sense, Alsace-Lorraine was one of the first European areas to support a form of freedom of religion.
Between 1618 and 1648, the Thirty Years War raged through Alsace, carrying with it the destruction of many villages and the murder of the inhabitants of these areas. More than half the population of the region was lost during this bloody war. Trouble came to Lorraine, as well, in the last couple centuries before union with Alsace under a French flag occurs. The sixteenth century brought the Reformation to the Dukedom, as well, but with the Protestants carrying much less clout than in Alsace. By 1552 the three rogue dioceses were occupied by soldiers of the Counter-Reformation. This action effectively ended the Reformation. War and plague thin the population of Lorraine, and it reaches an incredible low in 1630, around the same time as Alsace. The Thirty Years War wears the population and the resources of Lorraine very thin.
A major turning point in the history of this region takes place at the end of the Thirty Years War. It is at this time that the Dukedom of Upper Lorraine and Alsace meet for the first time. Divided by war into "lordly territories," most of the Alsatian region is joined to Lorraine by the Treaty of Westphalia, making the newly formed Alsace-Lorraine a possession of France (History of Alsace). Although now a French annexation, clearly Alsace remained heavily influenced by its Germanic roots, creating a unique culture. The French language was not made compulsory in the now French territory by the Edict of Nantes. My grandfather’s family spoke a dialect unique to the territory of Alsace-Lorraine. It was a blend of French and German that had many hybrid words not found anywhere else in either country (Feldeisen). Along the lines of religion, Catholicism was also made the only acknowledged religion, while most Alsatians remained Protestant. The Catholics cohabited with the Lutherans and other reformed Protestants, with separate parishes for each. Most people followed tradition rather than the edicts of central government, French or German. My grandfather, although a devout Catholic, was very supportive of his children finding their own religious path. Their upbringing included a solid moral base, and once this was achieved, all of his children went their own ways religiously (O’Hara). Slowly, Alsace-Lorraine and her citizens started forming a unique entity with traditions and customs all its own. The Alsace-Lorrainian identity began to be born.
The final step to unification was the annexation of the major stronghold Strasbourg in 1681. It became a part of France, but once more the "priveleges in local administration and in religious matters" remained in the hands of the Alsatians, allowing the cultures to mix and become unique. When the French Revolution of 1789 hits, Alsace-Lorraine was treated no differently from any other territory of France. It was divided into several "departments", as was the rest of France. The Continental system of post-revolutionary France boosted the importance of Strasbourg as a military, economic, and even religious center. The time between 1789 and 1812 "appeared in retrospect as a golden age" (Silverman 10). Fear of "German intentions" brought about an even greater sense of unity in Alsace-Lorraine (10). In this sense, though, they did not fully support the central government in Paris. Rather, they saw this as their opportunity to draw the forces of Alsace and Lorraine together to sharpen and define the identity of the fledgling culture. Perhaps this was to be the opportunity to declare once and for all that the region was no longer French or German, but its own unique nation.
As luch would have it though, hot on the heels of the Revolutionary years came the Restoration, which came close to effectively wiping out all the advances made in Alsace-Lorraine. In 1815, the second "Peace of Paris," made with many other European nations to end the years of imperial fighting, carved up and distributed parts of Lorraine to countries like Prussia. According to Dan Silverman, Lorraine "seemed better prepared for the Restoration" than Alsace due to the relatively large agricultural resources (10). But once again, this threat of annihilation drew Alsatians and Lorrainers together. Rallying their resources, the Restoration was faced with unity from Alsace-Lorraine, while around them Europe tripped and stuttered towards the first inklings of world war.
The 1830’s and 1840’s brought a period of unrest and disinterest with the French government. The government’s interests were too widely spread and it began to show with cutbacks on projects intended to aid Alsace-Lorraine. And yet, during such a time of unrest, a sense of Alsace-Lorrainian unity and nationalism were never higher. From the east came whisperings of German intentions to reunite their Alsatian "German brothers" with imperial Germany, and from the west came nothing in the way of a response to this, or any show of concern that Alsace-Lorraine would end up a "war prize" (10). France’s inaction about the German advances greatly angered Alsace-Lorrainians. On February 26, 1848, the Strasbourg municipal council took away the power of the local prefect, and reclaimed authority over Alsace-Lorraine. Paris did nothing to stop this revolutionary move, and, in fact, the "French minister of the interior confirmed this usurpation of power" (Silverman 15). So began the actual battle for recognition as a separate nation.
The fledgling Alsace-Lorraine was next cast into a time of disorder. The now united revolutionary government of Alsace-Lorraine held elections in the name of "order and liberty" (15). During this time, anti-Semitic riots occurred in many small towns as bottled tensions exploded. The elections in Alsace-Lorraine became almost a class struggle, classic rich versus poor. The territory became chaotic with the numerous political parties and agendas. Religious tension became unbearable with the omnipresent fear that one religious group would gain political control and use it to wipe out the other factions. In such a way, Alsace-Lorraine suddenly found itself in the middle of the Franco-Prussian War (18).
In many ways, the war forced the hand of Alsace-Lorraine. The Franco-Prussian War shut down rail and canal shipping lines and closed factories across Alsace-Lorraine. Silverman contends that the French inability to "reinstate normal conditions in Alsace and Lorraine…not disloyalty" finally caused Alsace-Lorraine to send delegates to Berlin purely for survival. One of the hopes of the delegations was to determine if a united Alsace-Lorraine, working as an independent state, could survive once back on its feet. At the end of the Franco-Prussian War, the French ceded Alsace and Lorraine to Imperial Germany.
Impotent to stabilize itself, yet hungry for independence, Alsace-Lorraine allowed capitulation to the German forces only to get back on its feet. Meanwhile, groups of protesters began congregating and submitting appeals to Imperial Germany for the independence and unity of Alsace and Lorraine. My grandfather’s father was heavily involved in this fight for independence. According to my grandmother, his father even spoke at several political rallies in support of an independent Alsace-Lorraine. During World War I, my grandfather’s father even avoided the German draft because of his wish not to fight against the French, who he must have still felt some connection to. Sadly though, while he did not go to war, the war came to him. He was killed in an artillery barrage. Fittingly, it was never discovered whether or not the shell that killed him was from a French or German gun.
After World War I, Alsace-Lorraine was ceded to France as reparations for the war. My grandfather and his mother fled to America at this time to begin a new life for themselves. In New York, he met my grandmother in the late thirties, and they married. Alsace-Lorraine remained in a time of relative peace for twenty years under French control. It was undisturbed until Germany once again bloodied its beautiful and serene countryside as it invaded Europe in the first several years of World War II. My grandfather returned only once to his old Alsace-Lorrainian home. He joined the United States Army in 1943, and participated in the D-Day landings of June 6, 1944. His brigade proceeded into the horrors that lay in wait inside the Nazi occupied "Fortress Europe." My grandmother has an old, grainy, black-and-white picture of my grandfather, in a dirt-stained uniform. He is standing next to the remains of a gutted building beside and intersection, gun in hand, with a weary smile on his face. On the back of the photograph, written in pencil very simply are the words "Home, Strasbourg. September, 1944." At the end of the war, Alsace-Lorraine was given, for the last time, back to France. It has remained peacefully under French control since World War II. While my grandfather’s family’s wish for an independent Alsace-Lorraine were never seen to fruition, he risked his life to see that the beautiful region was not occupied by Nazi aggressors. In a sense, he helped win Alsace-Lorraine its independence from oppression.
My grandfather never returned again to his old home in Alsace-Lorraine after World War II. But he never forgot his roots. My mother remembers sitting on his lap and having him sing her songs that his father sang to him, in his native dialect, although no one remembers the words. My grandmother says that to this day, this dialect is used in Alsace-Lorraine, and nowhere else. She also says that one of his main distinguishing features was his strong sense of ethnicity, and his pride in it.
It seems obvious that the interesting and decidedly rich history of Alsace-Lorraine helped to make my grandfather’s family fight so hard for the independence of the region. Until the day he died, he was very proud of his ethnicity. By going to war, my grandfather was really carrying on the fight of his father, the fight for independence. Although Alsace-Lorraine never achieved this national independence, its unique culture and identity in a way transcend national boundaries, linguistic and religious barriers, and make the region just as independent from its surrounding countries as if it were its own country. It is easy to see this identity that my grandfather was so proud of.
In the picture, my grandfather has a slight crooked grin on his face,
one that my grandmother tells me she sees on my face all the time. I never
knew my grandfather, because he died on the day I was born. My grandmother
says that my grandfather waited to receive the call that I had been born
before passing away; he got the call just moments before. I like to believe
that I have some special connection with him, a special bond, because of
this. Although I never met him, the stories I have heard of him make me
proud to be related to this wonderful person. In my own search for a unique
identity and sense of place in the world, I am proud of my Irish roots,
but I am also very proud to be an Alsace-Lorrainer.
Columbia Encyclopedia. "Lorraine." 1993 InfoPlease. 10.29.98. http://www.infoplease.com/ce5/CEO31268.html.
Feldeisen, H. Arlene. Correspondence interview. November 13, 1998.
Hazareesingh, Sudhir. Political Traditions in Modern France. New York: Oxford University Press 1994.
Mitchell, Allan. The German Influence in France after 1870: The Formation of the French Republic. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press 1979.
O’Hara, Helen T. Telephone interview. November 5, 1998.
Silverman, Dan P. Reluctant Union: Alsace-Lorraine and Imperial Germany 1870-1918. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press 1963.
Wazer and Stark, J. "Some Historical Context, Alsace-Lorraine." 1998 FamilyFind. 10.29.98. http://www.familyfind.com/alsace-lorraine/history.html.
"About Alsace-Lorraine." Last Updated November 10, 1997. 10.29.98. http://perso.club-internet.fr/rweinl/alslo_en.htm.
"History of Alsace." Last Updated November 10, 1997. 10.29.98. http://perso.club-internet.fr/rweinl/alshi_en.htm.
"History of Lorraine." Last Updated November 10, 1997. 10.29.98. http://perso.club-internet.fr/rweinl/lorhi_en.htm.