Jozef Pilsudski:
Prussia (and subsequently, the German Empire) stole Alsace from France (under Napoleon III) after the German victory in the Franco-Prussian War
Wrong again Pilsner!
URLHistory
In prehistoric times, Alsace was inhabited by nomadic hunters, but by 1500 BC, Celts began to settle in Alsace, clearing and cultivating the land. By 58 BC, the Romans had invaded and established Alsace as a center of viticulture. To protect this highly valued industry, the Romans built fortifications and military camps that evolved into various communities which have been inhabited continuously to the present day. While part of the Roman Empire, Alsace was part of Germania Superior.
[edit] Frankish Alsace
With the decline of the Roman Empire, Alsace became the territory of the Alemanni. The Alemanni were agricultural people, and their language formed the basis of the modern-day Alsatian dialect. Clovis and the Franks drove the Alemanni out of Alsace during the 5th century, culminating with the Battle of Tolbiac, and Alsace became part of the Kingdom of Austrasia. Under Clovis' Merovingian successors the inhabitants were Christianized. Alsace remained under Frankish control until the Frankish realm was, following the Oaths of Strasbourg of 842, formally dissolved in 843 at the Treaty of Verdun; the grandsons of Charlemagne, formally known as the founder of the Frankish realm, divided the realm into three parts. Alsace formed part of the Middle Francia, which was ruled by the youngest grandson Lothar I. Lothar died early in 855 and his realm was divided into three parts. The part known as Lotharingia, or Lorraine, was given to Lothar's son. The rest was shared between Lothar's brothers Charles the Bald (ruler of the West Frankish realm) and Ludwig the German (ruler of the East Frankish realm). The Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however; the region that was to become Alsace fell to the Holy Roman Empire as part of the Duchy of Swabia in the Treaty of Meersen in 870...
The Elsaß also never got ethnically cleaned and is now
inhabited by people with both french and german roots - even if the whole of France is very germanic anyhow...they even got their name from a german tribes confederation, the Franks.
Alsace is so not like Silesia! The french are not Poles!!! :)
Germans and French share one of the most important Europeans ever: Charlemagne aka Karl der Große:
URLHe laid the foundations for what should later become France and Germany...
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