Alsace-Lorraine Since 1870 #225269

The question of Alsace-Lorraine, one of the chief causes of the present war, is today one of the most important obstacles to peace. It is by no means the only one, however, as many German publicists, desirous of throwing upon France the burden of forcing a continuation of hostilities, would have us believe. Germany will cling to Alsace-Lorraine to the last. The present Kaiser said in 1888: "It is my opinion... that we would rather leave our eighteen army corps and our forty-two million inhabitants dead upon the field of battle than give up a single stone of the land conquered by my father and Prince Frederick Charles." From this pronouncement of 1888 to the famous "Never!" of Von Kuhlman, uttered a few months ago, German sentiment has never wavered: Alsace and Lorraine form the Reichsland, the Land of the Empire, and such they must remain. Yet, if the tide of battle turns, and if it seems to Germany unlikely that she will be allowed to hold the conquered provinces, she may be willing to renounce her claim to what she considers indisputably hers, provided she be given compensatory advantages elsewhere. Her right to hold Alsace-Lorraine or to bargain with the Allies on the basis of her present possession must be carefully weighed.