Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen
| Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen |
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| Imperial Territory of the German Empire | ||||||
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Anthem Elsässisches Fahnenlied "The Alsatian Flag's song" |
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| Capital | Straßburg (Strasbourg) | |||||
| Government | Federal territory | |||||
| Reichsstatthalter | ||||||
| • | 1871–1879 | Eduard von Möller (first) | ||||
| • | 1918 | Rudolf Schwander (last) | ||||
| Legislature | Landtag | |||||
| History | ||||||
| • | Treaty of Frankfurt | 10 May 1871 | ||||
| • | Disestablished | 1918 | ||||
| • | Treaty of Versailles | 28 June 1919 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| • | 1910 | 14,496 km2(5,597 sq mi) | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| • | 1910 | 1,874,014 | ||||
| Density | 129.3 /km2 (334.8 /sq mi) | |||||
| Political subdivisions | Bezirk Lothringen, Oberelsass, Unterelsass | |||||
| Today part of |
 France
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The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine (German: Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen or Elsass-Lothringen) was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle department of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east of the Vosges Mountains. The Lorraine section was in the upper Moselle valley to the north of the Vosges.
The territory was made up of 93% of Alsace and 26% of Lorraine; the remaining portions of these regions continued to be part of France. For historical reasons, specific legal dispositions are still applied in the territory in the form of a "local law". In relation to its special legal status, since its reversion to France following World War I, the territory has been referred to administratively as Alsace-Moselle.
Alsace-Lorraine had a land area of 14,496 km2 (5,597 sq mi). Its capital was Strasbourg. It was divided in three districts (Bezirke in German):
The largest urban areas in Alsace-Lorraine at the 1910 census were:
The modern history of Alsace-Lorraine was largely influenced by the rivalry between French and German nationalism.
France long sought to attain and preserve its "natural boundaries", which are the Pyrenees to the southwest, the Alps to the southeast, and the Rhine River to the northeast. These strategic claims led to the annexation of territories located west of the Rhine river in the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. What is now known as Alsace was progressively conquered by Louis XIV in the 17th century, while Lorraine was incorporated in the 18th century under Louis XV.
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