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Discovering Diverse Content Through
Random Scribd Documents
nation has been supplied by nature is the sea on the west. On the
other three sides land features merge gradually with the main types
in their neighborhood. Within Belgian territory, the lowlands of
northern Europe join with the outliers of the uplifts of central Europe
and their extension into France. Nowhere is the break sharp. The
basin of the Schelde itself trespasses on the neighboring basins of
the Rhine, the Meuse and the Somme.
Aggravation of the feud between Walloons and Flemings may lead
to secession. The Flemish provinces might then cast their political lot
with the Dutch, with whom their intercourse has been marked by a
degree of friendliness which has never characterized their relations
with other neighbors. This extreme course might not unreasonably
be adopted as a measure of self-preservation.[20] The languages
spoken in Holland and Flanders are practically identical. Religious
differences alone have stood in the way of political fusion in the
past. Flemish princes, swayed by religious scruples, had refused to
side with the Protestant communities whose political connection had
been established by the Union of Utrecht in 1597. The menace of
absorption by Germany may yet drive the Flemings to union with
their close kinsmen of the lowlands on the north. Walloons would
then naturally revert to French allegiance. The coincidence of
political and linguistic boundaries in the westernmost section of
central Europe would then become an accomplished fact.
The language of the Duchy of Luxemburg is a Low German dialect
in which a strong proportion of Walloon French words is found.
French is taught in schools and is the language of the educated
classes. It is also used in tribunals, and in many places as the official
language of governing and administrative bodies. The use of French
is largely due to intimate intellectual ties which bind Luxemburgers
and Frenchmen. It is estimated that at least 30,000 natives of the
Grand Duchy, or about one-eighth of its population, emigrate to
France for business reasons. Many marry French women. Maternal
influences prevail with the children born of these unions with the
result that, upon returning to their native land, the families bring
French speech along.
But French as a commercial language is on the wane throughout
the Grand Duchy. German has been replacing it gradually since
1870. This is one of the results of the small state’s admission into
the ring of German customs. Prior to that period business was
transacted mainly in the French dialect of Lorraine. The spread of
German is furthermore the result of a systematically conducted
propaganda carried on with well-sustained determination. German
“school associations” and “Volksvereine,” established in every city of
importance, help to spread German speech and thought. Lectures of
the type entitled “The beauty of Schiller’s and Goethe’s speech” are
delivered by orators who are in reality skilled pioneers of empire
engaged in the work of reclaiming populations to Germanism. The
efficiency of their methods is proved by the results they have
obtained. Out of a population of about 21,000 inhabitants, hardly
4,000 natives of Luxemburg speak French exclusively, while of the
six or seven papers published in the capital, two alone are issued in
French.
This closing of the German grip over the land stimulated the
growth of national feeling among the inhabitants. They were
reminded by their leaders that, from having formerly been one of
the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands, the duchy acquired the
status of a sovereign state in 1890, on the accession of Queen
Wilhelmina to the throne. Henceforth the maintenance of
Luxemburg’s independence rests on the European powers’
observance of the pledges by which they guaranteed national
freedom for this little state.[21] The natives are free from the burden
of onerous taxation imposed on inhabitants of the neighboring
powerful countries. Peaceful development of their commerce and
industry is thus facilitated. Their land is richly endowed by nature.
The wine produced in the Moselle valley and the extensive deposits
of high grade iron ore found around Etsch make the community one
of the most prosperous on the European continent.
 Nevertheless the country seemed predestined by nature itself to
form a part of Germany. The broken surface of the Ardenne hilly
region and the extension of the plateau of Lorraine are drained by
the Sauer and Moselle into German territory. The life of the
inhabitants of the entire state is influenced by this easterly drift and
tends yearly to greater dispersal in the same direction. This is the
danger which prompts them to cling to their independence with
patriotic tenacity. Their feelings are reflected in their national hymn,
which begins with the words “Mir welle bleiwe wat mer sin” (We
wish to remain what we are). These are the words of the tune
rendered daily at noon by the chimes of the Cathedral of
Luxemburg.
Some fifty miles north of Luxemburg, and at the point of contact
of the French, German and Dutch languages, lies the neutral
territory of Moresnet, barely three and a quarter square miles in
area. This forgotten bit of independent land is claimed by both
Prussia and Belgium on account of the exceedingly valuable zinc
deposits which it contains. It has a population of some 3,000
inhabitants who, alone among Europeans, enjoy the inestimable
privilege of not paying taxes to any government. A Burgomaster,
selected alternately from among Prussian and Belgian subjects, rules
this diminutive state in conjunction with a Communal Council.
The survival of such a relic of medieval political disorders was due
to the impossibility of making a settlement between the two
claimants of its territory. In the fifteenth century its mines were the
property of the Dukes of Limburg, who had leased them to Philip the
Good, Duke of Burgundy. Shortly after the French Revolution, they
were declared national property by the French Republic and were
operated by the government.[22] With the fall of Napoleon, the
estate passed under the management of both Prussia and Holland.
After the Belgian revolution of 1830, however, the entire property
became part of Belgium’s share. A demand for rents in arrears from
the lessee by Prussia, although recognized as valid by the courts of
Liége, was not approved by the new Belgian state and the only
compromise that could be reached was a declaration of the
neutrality of the territory.
The Belgian question as well as the related Luxemburg and
Moresnet problems, the latter being of slight significance, present
themselves today as economic settlements no less than political
adjustments. The inner reason which had led German hope to dwell
on the annexation of Belgium is the knowledge that such an addition
in territory would convert Germany into the dominating industrial
nation of Europe. This position of superiority would be firmly
established if, in addition, the French basins of Longwy and Briey
could be turned into Reichslands, as had been done with Alsace-
Lorraine in 1870. Fortunately for Europe, the developments of the
armed contest begun in 1914 proved that the threat of this
economic vassalage is no longer to be feared. Incidentally it is worth
remembering that its realization would obviously have been followed
by the loss of Holland’s independence.
Belgium’s political independence is therefore a necessity for the
fine adjustment of the balance of European industrial life. And there
are quarters where such economic considerations carry greater
weight than national sentiments. The main point to be made,
however, is that Belgian nationality is entitled to survival, whether it
be examined from a material or a moral standpoint. Changes, if any,
of its frontiers are indicated in the east, where Malmedy and its
environs in Rhenish Prussia constitute a domain of French language.
The exchange of this territory for districts of German speech in
Belgian Luxemburg and the strategic reinforcement of this eastern
frontier, as a safeguard against future aggression, are desirable for
Belgians as well as for Germans.
 TABLE I
French- and Flemish-Speaking Inhabitants of Belgium
Census of December 31, 1910
Speaking
Provinces Number of French- Flemish- French and
inhabitants speaking speaking Flemish
Antwerp 968,677 12,289 762,414 113,606
Brabant 1,469,677 382,947 603,507 381,997
E. Flanders 1,120,335 9,311 934,143 116,889
W. Flanders 874,135 31,825 669,081 123,938
Hainaut 1,232,867 1,113,738 17,283 49,575
Liége 888,341 748,504 14,726 50,068
Limbourg 275,691 9,123 218,622 29,386
Luxemburg 231,215 183,218 153 1,393
Namur 362,846 342,379 733 4,436
———— ———— ———— ———
Totals 7,423,784 2,833,334 3,220,662 871,288

This table shows French predominance for the entire country. The
arrangement given immediately below brings out this fact more
clearly.

Inhabitants speaking French only 2,833,334

“ “ French and Flemish 871,288
“ “ French and German 74,993
“ “ French, German and Flemish 52,547
“ “ German only 31,415
“ “ German and Flemish 8,652
“ “ Flemish only 3,220,662
“ “ None[23] of the three languages 330,893
————
7,423,784
 FOOTNOTES:
[7] The importance of the treaty of Verdun of this date with
regard to the conflict between the French and the German
languages is pointed out in the next chapter.
[8] G. Kurth: La frontière linguistique en Belgique et dans le nord
de la France, Mém. couronnés, Acad. R. Sci. Let. et Beaux-Arts de
Belg., XLVIII, Vol. 1, 1895, Vol. 2, 1898, Brussels.
[9] Cf. Map, “Ausbreitung der Romanischen Sprachen in Europa,”
1:8,000,000, in Gröber: Grundriss der Romanischen Philologie,
Trübner, Strassburg, 1904-1906.
[10] The Belgae of Caesar are probably represented by the
Teutonic populations of northern France—Flanders and Batavia—
rather than by the Walloon. They are a Germanic tribe who made
their appearance in Belgium about the third century, B.C.
[11] G. Touchard: Les langues parlées en Belgique, Le Mouv.
Géogr., May 11, 1913, pp. 226-229.
[12] N. Warker: Die deutsche Orts- und Gewässernamen der
Belgischen Provinz Luxemburg, Deutsche Erde, Vol. 8, 1909, pp.
99, 139.
[13] Statistique de la Belgique, Recensement Général de 1910,
Vol. 2, 1912, Vol. 3, 1913, Brussels.
[14] G. Kurth: op. cit. Kurth’s work is based partly on place
names. See also L. De Backer: La langue flamande en France,
Samyn, Ghent, 1893.
[15] Le flamand et le français dans le nord de la France, 2me
Congrès international pour l’extension et la culture de la langue
française, Weissenbruch, Brussels, 1908.
[16] Le flamand dans le nord de la France, Ann. de Géogr., Vol.
20, Dec. 15, 1909, pp. 374-375.
[17] P. Reclus: Les progrès du Français dans l’agglomération
Bruxelloise, La Géogr., Vol. 28, No. 5, Nov. 15, 1913, pp. 308-318.
[18] M. Wilmotte: Le Wallon, histoire, littérature des origines à la
fin du XVIIe siècle, Rosez, Brussels, 1893. J. Demarteau: Le
Wallon, son histoire et sa littérature, Liége, 1889.
[19] J. Demarteau: op. cit., p. 134.
[20] Germany’s violation of Belgian neutrality in 1914 has been
followed by systematic endeavors to induce Flemings to favor
annexation of their land to Germany on the plea of ancestral
kinship.
[21] Luxemburg’s neutrality was guaranteed by the treaty of
London, May 11, 1867, to which Britain, Austria, Prussia, France,
Belgium, Holland, Italy and Russia were signatories.
[22] The Neutral Territory of Moresnet, Riverside Press,
Cambridge, 1882, p. 14.
[23] Children under two and foreigners are included under this
heading.
 CHAPTER III

THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY IN ALSACE-

LORRAINE AND SWITZERLAND
With the exception of a few districts in Alsace-Lorraine, the
political boundary between France and Germany is also the linguistic
line between French and German languages. This condition is a
result of the modifications which French frontiers have undergone
since the treaty of Utrecht in 1714. Unfortunately the Napoleonic
period and its disorderly train of political disturbances brought about
an unnatural extension of the northern and eastern lines. France
departed for a time from the self-appointed task of attracting
French-speaking provinces to itself. Between 1792 and 1814 almost
all of the territory of Belgium and Holland was annexed and the
eastern frontier extended to the Rhine. Teutonic peoples in Holland,
Flanders, Rhenish Prussia and the western sections of Hesse and
Baden passed under French control. But their subjection to
Napoleon’s artificial empire was of relatively short duration. The
German-speaking people in 1813 united in a great effort to drive the
French across the Rhine. They were merely repeating the feat of
their ancestors who, at an interval of eighteen centuries, had
defeated the Latin-speaking invaders of their country led by Varus.
Success in both movements was largely the result of the feeling of
kinship based on language. In 9 A.D. the Romans were forced back to
the Rhine from the line they occupied on the Weser. The treaty of
Vienna restored French boundaries to the lines existing in 1790.
French territory was once more confined to the normal boundaries
which inclose members of the French-speaking family. A natural
frontier thus became determined for the country. The union of
Frenchmen into a compact political body was shattered, however, by
the treaty of Frankfort in 1871, when France was obliged to cede the
provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany.
The part to be played by the province of Lorraine in the history of
Franco-German relations was laid out by nature itself. The province
had always been a wide pathway connecting highly attractive
regions of settlement. It lies midway between the fertile plains of the
Rhine and the hospitable Paris basin. It is also placed squarely in the
center of the natural route leading from Flanders to Burgundy.
Physically the region was part of France; its inhabitants have
therefore always been Frenchmen, but the lack of a natural barrier
on the east provided a constantly open door for Teutonic invasion. In
particular, the Moselle valley has always facilitated access into
Lorraine. The province was thus a borderland disputed first by two
adjoining peoples and, subsequently, by two neighboring nations.
As a duchy, Lorraine had attained a state of semi-independence in
the tenth century. It then included the three bishoprics of Metz, Toul
and Verdun. From the eleventh to the eighteenth century, the house
of Lorraine furthermore exerted sovereign power over Nancy and
Lunéville. The loosening of the ties of vassalage which united it to
the German Empire grew as centuries passed.
This long period of conflict was necessarily accompanied by
modifications of linguistic boundaries. Glancing back to the end of
the Middle Ages, a slight westerly advance of the area of German
speech may be ascertained for the period between the tenth and
sixteenth centuries.[24] From that time on, however, the regional
gain of French has been in excess of previous German advances.
Toponymic data afford valuable clues to early distribution of
languages in the region. Occurrences of the suffix “ange” which is
the Frenchified form of the German “ingen,” in names lying west of
the present line, show the extent of territory reclaimed by the
French language.[25]
The linguistic boundary in Lorraine assumes a general northwest-
southeast direction as it winds onward according to the
predominance of German and French. About 65 per cent of the area
of Lorraine, at present under German rule, contains a French-
speaking majority.[26] From Deutsche-Oth, the line crosses the
Moselle south of Diedenhofen and extends towards Bolchen and
Morhange. The entire lake district farther south is in French-speaking
territory. About two miles southwest of Sarrebourg the line traverses
the Saar. The Lorraine boundary is attained close to the headwaters
of the same river. A German enclave occurring at Metz is the only
break in the unity of the area of the French language. A large
frontier garrison and a host of civilian officials account for the
numerical superiority of German in this provincial capital.
The fluctuations of French in Lorraine since the eleventh century
have been studied with great minuteness by Witte.[27] Basing
himself on the text of documents examined in the archives of
Strassburg, Metz, Nancy and Bar-le-Duc this scholar succeeded in
plotting the linguistic divide for the years 1000 and 1500. To these
two lines he added the present language boundary as determined
from his own field observations. His method consisted in traveling
from village to village, usually on foot, and ascertaining personally
the predominance of French and German in each locality he visited.
Between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries changes along this
linguistic boundary appear to have been unimportant. The five
intervening centuries are characterized by a slight westerly advance
of German. From the sixteenth century to our time, however, the
easterly spread of French has been considerable. This change is
particularly noticeable in southern Lorraine, as if to show that the
gap between the heights of the Moselle and the northern Middle
Vosges had provided an outlet for the overflow of the language on
German soil.
Compared with Lorraine, Alsace has the advantage of greater
definiteness as a geographical unit. It is the region of the valley of
the Ill which ends at the wall of the Vosges Mountains on the west.
Its easterly extension attains the banks of the Rhine. This elongated
plain appears throughout history as a corridor through which races
of men marched and countermarched. The Alpine race provided it
with early inhabitants. Barbarians of northern lineage also swarmed
into its fields. Romans subjugated the land in the course of imperial
colonization. The province subsequently passed under Germanic and
Frankish sway.
The entry of Alsace into linguistic history may be reckoned from
the year 842, when the celebrated oaths of Strassburg were
exchanged in Romance and Teutonic languages by Louis the German
and Charles the Bald, respectively. This solemn function was a
precautionary measure taken by the two brothers to safeguard their
territory against the coveting of their senior, Lothaire, to whom
Charlemagne had bequeathed the area which, for a time, was
known as Lotharii Regnum, and which comprised modern Lorraine,
Alsace, Burgundy, Provence and a portion of Italy. The main point of
interest in the territorial division which marked the passing of
Charlemagne, lies in the fact that the future division of central
Europe into nations of French, German and Italian speech was
outlined at this period. Strassburg, the chief city of the borderland
between areas of French and German speech, was a bilingual center
at this early date. The versions of the oaths taken on February 18,
842, by the royal brothers, as handed down by Nithard,
Charlemagne’s grandson and a contemporary historian, show a
formative stage in French and German. The document has been
aptly called the birth certificate of French. Louis the German spoke
the following words in the lingua romana, which was then the
speech of Romanized Gaul:

Pro Deo amur et pro christian poblo et nostro commun

salvament, dist di in avant, in duant Deus savir et podir me
dunat, si salvarai io cist meon fradre Karlo, et in adjudha, et
in cadhuna cosa, si cum on, per dreit, son fradre salvar dist,
in o quid il mi altresi fazet; et ab Ludher nul plaid numquam
prindrai qui, meon vol, cist meon fradre Karlo in damno sit.
[28]
 Charles the Bald used the lingua teudisca as follows:

In Godes minna ind in thes christianes folches ind unser

bedhero gealtnissi, fon thesemo dage frammordes, so fram so
mir Got gewizci indi madh furgibit, so haldih tesan minan
bruodher, soso man mit rehtu sinan bruodher scal, in thiu,
thaz er mig sosoma duo; indi mit Ludheren in non-heiniu
thing ne gegango the minan willon imo ce scadhen werhen.

Ever since this event Alsace has occupied the European historical
stage as a bone of contention between German-speaking peoples
and their rivals of French speech. A year had hardly elapsed after
this exchange of pledges, when the division of the Frankish Empire
between the grandsons of Charles the Great was formally settled by
the treaty of Verdun. Lothaire, the eldest brother, was awarded
Alsace and Lorraine. From this time on, Alsace became a part of the
lands of German speech which form a compact block in central
Europe. In 1469, however, Sigismund of Austria mortgaged his land
holdings in Upper Alsace to Charles of Burgundy who thereby
assumed jurisdiction over the districts affected by the mortgage. The
treaty of St. Omer which contains the terms of this transaction
paved the way for subsequent French intervention in both Alsace
and Lorraine. Accordingly, a few years later, by the treaty of Nancy
(1473), Charles of Burgundy was recognized by René II of Lorraine
as the “protector” of Lorraine.
It was only in the seventeenth century, however, that France
obtained a definite foothold in Alsace and Lorraine. In 1648, the
country won by treaty settlement her long contested rights in Alsace.
The treaties of Nimwegen (1679) and Ryswick (1697) confirmed
Louis XIV in his possession of the major portion of Alsace. By that
time French influence had acquired a paramount share in both of the
border provinces. Lorraine, however, was not formally ceded to
France until the treaty of Vienna was signed in 1738. French
sovereignty over Alsace was confirmed again by the treaty of
Lunéville, in 1801, and by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. It was to
last until 1871. In that year Alsace and Lorraine became part of the
newly constituted German Empire, the cession being determined by
Arts. I to IV of the treaty of Frankfort.
The preceding paragraphs show that the earliest form of French
and German nationality assumed shape immediately after the treaty
of Verdun and at about the time when the language spoken in these
countries began to present similarity to the forms used at present. In
the partition of Charlemagne’s empire only two of the three divisions
were to survive. The western evolved finally into modern France.
The easternmost became Germany. Lying between the two,
Lothringia naturally became the coveted morsel which crumbled to
pieces in the struggle waged for its possession.
A highway of migration cannot be the abode of a pure race. Its
inhabitants necessarily represent the successive human groups by
which it has been overrun.[29] The Alsatian of the present day is,
accordingly, a product of racial mingling. But the blending has
conferred distinctiveness, and Alsatians, claiming a nationality of
their own, find valid arguments in racial antecedents no less than in
geographical habitation. The uniform appearance of the Alsatian
region strikes the traveler at every point of the fertile Ill valley,
where the soil is colored by a reddish tinge which contrasts strongly
with the greens and grays of surrounding regions. By race also the
Alsatian represents a distinct group in which the basal Alpine strain
has been permeated by strong admixtures of Nordic blood. The
confusion of dark and fair types represent the two elements in the
population. In a broader sense the Alsatians are identical with the
Swiss population to the south and the Lorrains and Walloons to the
north—in fact, they are related to the peoples of all the districts
which once constituted the Middle Kingdom of Burgundy.
Although sharply defined by nature, Alsace never acquired
independence. Its situation between the areas peopled by two
powerful continental races was fatal to such a development. But the
influence of its physical setting always prevailed, for, despite its
political union with Frenchmen or Germans, the region has always
been recognized as an administrative unit defined by the surface
features which mark it off from surrounding regions. The influence
of topographic agencies has even been felt within the province. The
separation of Lower from Higher Alsace originated in a natural
boundary, formed by a marshy and forest-clad zone extending from
the Tännchal and Hochkönigsberg mountains to the point of nearest
convergence between the Rhine and the Vosges. This inhospitable
tract first separated the two Celtic tribes known as the Sequani and
the Mediomatrici. Later, it afforded a convenient demarcation for the
Roman provinces of Maxima Sequanorum and Tractus
Mediomatricorum. The two archbishoprics of Besançon and
Mayence, both of Middle-Age fame, were similarly divided. The coins
of Basel and of Strassburg point to the subsistence of this line during
the Renaissance, when two distinct territories of economic
importance extended over the region. In the administrative France of
modern days, the departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin again
reveal adherence to the dividing line provided originally by nature.
Finally after the German annexation of 1871 the “districts”
constituted under German authority, with Colmar and Strassburg as
their chief towns, conformed once more with the historical line of
division.
The Vosges[30] uplift has been until recent times the means of
barring intercourse between the plains facing its eastern and
western slope. The chain has prevented communication on account
of the height of its passes, its thickly forested slopes and the sterility
of its soil. The influence of these mountains on European history
deserves contrast with that of the Alps where nature’s provision of
passes and defiles has at all times facilitated land travel in and out of
the Italian peninsula. Primitive wandering tribes found but scant
inducement to settle in the mountainous area of the Vosges. Pastoral
Celts settled in its environing plains long before they attempted to
occupy the rocky mass itself. The Teutonic tribes which followed the
Celts likewise found little to attract them to the Vosges, and
generally migrated southward around its northern and southern
extremity, the former route being that of the Franks while the Goths,
Burgundians and Alemanni invaded France through the Belfort gap.
Alsace was a province of German speech throughout the Middle
Ages as well as after Louis XIV’s conquest of the land. French took a
solid foothold mainly after the revolution and during the nineteenth
century. An enlightened policy of tolerance towards Alsatian
institutions cemented strong ties of friendship between the
inhabitants and their French rulers. Alsatian leanings towards France
were regarded with suspicion by the victors of 1870, who proceeded
to pass prohibitory laws regarding the use of French in primary
schools, churches and law courts. These measures of Germanization
were attended by a notable emigration to France. In 1871 there
were 1,517,494 inhabitants in Alsace-Lorraine. The number had
decreased to 1,499,020 in 1875 in spite of 52.12 per cent excess of
births over deaths.
Nancy, by its situation, was destined to welcome Alsatians who
had decided to remain faithful to France. The number of immigrants
to this city after the Franco-Prussian war was estimated at 15,000.
[31] Pressing need of workingmen in the city’s growing industrial
plants intensified this movement. Alsatian dialects were the only
languages heard in entire sections of the urban area. Peopled by
about 50,000 inhabitants in 1866, Nancy’s population jumped to
66,303 in 1876. Metz, on the other hand, with a population of
54,820 inhabitants in 1866, could not boast of more than 45,675 in
1875. The census taken in 1910 raised this figure to 68,598 by the
addition of the garrison maintained at this point. Altogether it was
estimated that, in 1910, French was spoken by 204,262 inhabitants
of Alsace-Lorraine, out of a total population of 1,814,564.[32]
The present line of linguistic demarcation in Alsace-Lorraine rarely
coincides with the political boundary. Conformity between the two
lines is observable only in stretches of their southernmost extension.
East and southeast of Belfort, however, two well-defined areas of
French speech spread into German territory at Courtavon and
Montreux. In the elevated southern section of the Vosges, the line
runs from peak to peak with a general tendency to sway east of the
crest line and to reveal conspicuous deflections in certain high
valleys of the eastern slope. Its irregularity with respect to
topography may be regarded as an indication of the fluctuations of
protohistoric colonization.
From Bären Kopf to about 10 miles beyond Schlucht Pass, the
mountainous divide and the linguistic line coincide. Farther north,
however, French prevails in many of the upper valleys of the Alsatian
slope. This is true of the higher sections of the Weiss basin, as well
as of the upper reaches of the Bruche. At a short distance south of
the sources of the Liepvre, parts of the valley of Markirch (Sainte-
Marie-aux-Mines) are likewise French. Here, however, the influx of
German miners, who founded settlements as far back as the
seventeenth century, converted the district into an area linguistically
reclaimed by Germans.
The linguistic boundary in the valley of the Bruche corresponds to
the dividing line between houses of the Frank-Alemannic style and
those of the purely Alemannic.[33] Villages of the Frank-Lorrainer
style, in which narrow façades, flat roofs and close lining-up of
houses are observable, belong to the period of French influence
which followed the Thirty Years’ war and should not be confused
with the former types. In Lorraine the houses are built with their
longest sides parallel to the street. The entrance leads into the
kitchen; rooms occupy the left wing of the building, the right
providing stable space. In some respects this structure recalls the
Saxon houses met east of the Elbe valley. The characteristic feature
of the Lorraine dwelling, however, is found in the construction of the
entrance on the long side, whereas in the German type of house it
lies under a gable on the short side. As a rule the Alemannic type of
house prevails in the mountainous sections and attains the valleys of
the Meurthe. In the Vosges, Black Forest and Swabia these dwellings
are distinguishable by their characteristic inclusion of all outhouses
and barns under a single roof. In the densely peopled valley of the
Bruche the most important settlements rest on the alluvial terraces
of its affluents. In the upper valley the villages are scattered on
rocky amphitheaters, and here the Celtic type of settlement is
oftener met.
Witte’s studies show that, in Alsace,[34] the delimitation of the
Germanic and Romanic domain is somewhat more complicated than
in Lorraine. Valuable clues are generally afforded by toponymic data.
The Alemanni are responsible for the suffix “heim.” Towns and
villages with names bearing this suffix are restricted to the plain.
The dividing line extends on the west to the sub-Vosgian foreland
and attains the forest of the Haguenau on the north. This last
section corresponds to the beginning of an area of Frankish
colonization having its center at Weissenburg. The suffix “ingen,”
which occurs in place names of southern Alsace, is likewise
Alemannic. It is supposed to correspond, however, to a later period
of settlement. The ending “weiler” accompanies the names of
villages found on the heights.
These data led Witte to assume that the Celto-Roman natives of
the plains were thrust back towards the mountains by the Alemannic
invasion proceeding from the east. The designation “weiler,” which is
also spelled “weyer,” “weyr” and “wir,” indicates the mountain sites to
which the population of the plain was repelled by the Germanic flow.
The Vosges mountains have thus been a place of refuge against
Germanic aggression. Witte’s researches point to the probable
peopling of the Alsatian slopes of the Vosges by tribes speaking a
Romanic language during the invasions of Teutonic barbarians. The
so-called Welsh element appears to be a Celto-Roman remnant of
the population of the locality.[35]
The character of Alsace-Lorraine as a connecting region between
two great European nations is shown also by demographic studies.
[36] Life in the provinces is accompanied by conditions which prevail
in Germany or France. The excess of births over deaths, which
maintains itself on an average at about 10 per 1,000, is lower than
in any other part of the German Empire. The rate of birth has
decreased from 36 to 28 per 1,000 in spite of an increase in the
population. The tendency of the inhabitants to emigrate is evinced
by the large number of uninhabited houses. The decrease in the
native population is largely due to the desire of many of the
inhabitants to emigrate to French soil. In 1875 the proportion of
native-born inhabitants amounted to 93 per cent of the total
population. In 1905 it did not exceed 81 per cent. The strictly
German element had grown from 38,000 in 1875 to 176,000 in
1905. Fully 90 per cent of these are native-born Prussians. Among
them the teaching of French to children has increased. Molsheim, in
Lower Alsace, and Ribeauvillé, in Upper Alsace, are centers for the
study of French. In recent years German immigrants have become
the preponderant element of the province.
Two methods of indicating the presence of a French element in
Alsace-Lorraine are given in the accompanying map (Pl. II) of this
region. The method of showing percentages according to
administrative districts[37] has been contrasted with the plan of
representing the actual extension of French predominance.[38] In
one respect the map is illuminating. It shows the concordance of
French and German authorities regarding the German character of
the language spoken in Alsace, as well as the French nature of a
substantial portion of Lorraine. The Rhine valley, a natural region,
appears throughout as an area of German speech. The startling
preference of Alsatians for French nationality cannot therefore be
substantiated by geographical evidence. It suggests the persistent
influence of the human will swayed by feelings of justice and moral
affinity rather than by material considerations.
To primitive societies, a river as large as the Rhine provided
almost as impassable a frontier as the sea itself. It had the
advantage of being defined by nature. The boundary was actually
marked on the ground. As frontiers of the Roman Empire, the Rhine
and the Danube proved their practical value by the long period
during which they marked the extent of imperial or republican
domain. The history of oversea colonization indicates the partiality of
colonial powers for rivers as boundaries. It is likely that in the very
early period of man’s habitation of the earth, the tribes settled on
either side of watercourses had little or no intercourse. As they
advanced in civilization relations were developed. The divisive
influence of running waters was therefore exerted most strongly at
the dawn of human history. Later the river may become a link and
finally may attain the stage when it is a rallying line for the activity
and thought of the inhabitants of its entire valley.
The American Geographical Society of New York
Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe, 1917, Pl. II

View larger image here

THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY IN ALSACE-LORRAINE

 The Gallo-Teutonic line of the Rhine was the scene of many a
struggle during the reign of Clovis. In the days of Charlemagne the
dwellers on the right bank of the Rhine were the “gens atroces et
féroces” of French chroniclers. They represented northern
barbarians, the foes of Christianity and of the civilization which
Rome had given to the world. Before becoming a German river the
Rhine flowed in a valley peopled by inhabitants of Celtic speech. The
name it bears is of Celtic origin. When men of Teutonic speech
began to press westward, the river supplied a natural moat which,
for a long period, had formed part of the system of defense devised
by the earlier inhabitants of the land. The strength of the position is
attested by the slowness of Germanic infiltration on the left bank of
the river. To this day the valley province owes more to France in
thought and ideals than to any other country. The Alsatian
temperament has much of that mental sunshine which Mirabeau
calls the “fond gaillard.” This is assuredly not derived from Germany.
His wit is of the true Gallic type—mocking, and tending to the
Rabelaisian; its geniality is reserved for France and French
institutions, its caustic side for Germany and Germans. It could
never have proceeded from the ponderous Teutonic mentality.
Alsatians are French in spirit because they know how to laugh well,
to laugh as civilized men with the cheer that brightens the good and
the irony that draws out in full relief the ugliness of evil.
The spread of the French language in Alsace after the conquest of
Strassburg by the soldiers of Louis XIV was slow. The French
governors of the province never compelled the Alsatians to study
their language. Up to the time of the French Revolution, French
served as the medium of intercourse in official circles and among the
nobility. The mass of the people, however, retained their vernacular.
Freedom, granted by the French civil administration, was equally
maintained by the official representatives of French ecclesiastical
authority. Religious tolerance in Alsace was felt notably at the time of
the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the province being probably
the only one in which Protestant Frenchmen were unmolested. Moral
ties with France were thus cemented by the extremely liberal
character of French rule.
The French Revolution was enthusiastically welcomed by the
democratically inclined Alsatians. This event in fact consolidated
Alsace’s union with France. French military annals of the period
contain a high proportion of Alsatian names. A community of ideas
and interests had come into being. The study of French was taken
up with renewed enthusiasm in Alsace because the language was
the agency by which the new spirit of the time was propagated. It
became the medium of communication among thinkers. The
revolution of 1848 accentuated this tendency. By that time every
Alsatian who could boast of any schooling knew French. This
linguistic conquest of Alsace was the result of sympathy with French
thought and ideals.
The German method of imposing the rival tongue was distinctly
different. All the brutality which attends misconceptions of efficiency
among petty officials was given free rein in the process of replacing
French by German. A stroke of the pen on April 14, 1871,
suppressed teaching of French in the primary schools of the annexed
territory. In other educational establishments the study of the
language was relegated to the position of minor courses. It is worth
mentioning that Alsace and Lorraine are the only territorial units of
the German Empire in which the study of French has met opposition
on the part of the government. The interest shown for the Romance
language elsewhere in the Kaiser’s land contrasts with the efforts
made to root it out of Alsatian soil.
The unrelenting activity of the Prussian officials stationed in
Alsace-Lorraine has borne fruit, for the use of French by the
inhabitants is on the wane. This is partly due, however, to the
emigration of a large number of native-born Alsatians and the swarm
of settlers brought from other sections of Germany. In one respect
the results of the Germanizing propaganda have differed from
expectations. They have tended to foster the development of
Alsatian dialects as well as the spirit of nationality among the people.
Alsatians preferred to become proficient in their own tongue rather
than in German. At the same time, if Alsace is to be German, they
are united in the desire to see their native province form part of the
Empire on a footing similar to that of other German states. They
apprehend eventual absorption by Prussia as much as the
prolongation of the present “Reichsland” status of their native land.
The European war brought its train of trials to Alsatians no less
than to other European peoples. French papers contain the
complaints of natives of Alsace and Lorraine serving in German
regiments to the effect that their officers exposed them to the worst
dangers of war with undue harshness. It is not unlikely that at the
cessation of hostilities the number of native-born Alsatians will have
dwindled to insignificant proportion. A plebiscite on the fate of the
province, taken then, might help German designs. But since a
revision of the Franco-German boundary seems inevitable, a
preliminary solution might be found in the abrogation of the treaty of
Frankfort. The final settlement of the problem will be equitable only
when the desires of native-born Alsatians shall have been taken into
consideration.
Beyond Alsace, French and German languages meet along a line
which extends across western Swiss territory to the Italian frontier.
[39] Its present course has been maintained since the fifteenth

century.[40] Beginning at Charmoille, north of the Bernese Jura, the

linguistic frontier strikes east towards Montsevilier,[41] after which it
makes a sharp turn to the southwest as it follows the strike of the
Jura mountains. In this region the historical division between
Teutonic and Latin civilization occurs in the valley of Delémont
through which the Sorne flows. Teutonic invaders never succeeded
in penetrating beyond the Vorburg barrier. East of the Jura, the line
passes through Bienne, Douane and Gléresse. At Neuveville the
valley is French. The line follows thence the course of the Thièle.
With the exception of its northeastern shore all Lake Neuchâtel is
surrounded by French-speaking communities. The parting next
coincides with the line of the Broye river and extends across the
waters of lake Morat. The western and southern shores of the lake
are likewise French. It then skirts the banks of the Sarine until it
reaches Fribourg, which it cuts into two portions. A strenuous
struggle for linguistic supremacy is maintained at this urban edge of
French-speaking territory. Inside the city’s line, German is spoken
principally in the quarters tenanted by the laboring classes. With the
middle classes both language and tradition are largely French.
In the twelfth century Fribourg had been turned into a fortified
outpost of German power by the Dukes of Zähringen.[42] The city’s
position between the Alps and the Jura favored its selection for this
aggressive purpose. German language flourished under the shadow
of its castles and probably would have taken deeper root among its
citizens but for one fact. At the time of the Reformation, the
Fribourgers decided to stand with the Roman Church. This decision
converted the city into a haven to which the Catholic clergy of
French-speaking Switzerland repaired; and the Bishopric of Lausanne
was transferred to Fribourg, where it became the headquarters of
active French propaganda.
 Fig. 15—The shady arcades and sunny streets of Lugano in the Swiss area
of Italian languages recall the typical aspects of Italian cities.
 Fig. 16—The basin of Lake Geneva is an ancient domain of French language
in Switzerland.
 Fig. 17—Basel in German Switzerland recalls German cities. The
Marketplace and the Government House (on left) are seen in this view.

It should not be taken for granted from what has been said that
the cause of French in Switzerland is related to Catholicism. The
case of Fribourg is an isolated one. At Bienne, another of the cities
on the linguistic divide, the growth of French has an entirely
different origin. This city is the center of an important watch-making
district. The growth of its native industry favored rapid increase in its
population. But the new citizens were drawn principally from the
mountainous region of which Bienne is the outlet. The French-
speaking highlanders swelled the ranks of the city’s French
contingent to such an extent that, from numbering one-fourth of the
population in 1888, it had grown to one-third in 1900. The German-
speaking farmers of the plains surrounding Bienne, however, were
never attracted by the prospect of factory work. At present Bienne’s
population is believed to be equally divided between the two
tongues.
 Fig. 18—The boundary between French and German in Switzerland. Scale,
1:1,435,000.

From Fribourg the line takes a straight course to the Oldenhorn.

Here it elbows eastward to Wildstrubel and attains the Valais
country. In the upper valley of the Rhone, the line becomes well
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