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- This article is about the historical duchy and province of Lorraine. For the modern-day administrative région of Lorraine, see Lorraine (région).
Lorraine (French: Lorraine; German: Lothringen) is a historical area in present-day northeast France. The area is famous as the place where quiche lorraine originated. Some of the main cities are Metz, Nancy and Verdun.
History
Lorraine was originally an independent kingdom. It was created in 843, when the Carolingian empire was divided between the three sons of Louis the Pious. Named after the new ruler, Holy Roman Emperor Lothar, the area and other territories controlled by Lothar became known as Lotharingia. In France, this became known as Lorraine, while in Germany, it was eventually known as Lothringen. Lorraine is a frenchified version of the German title Lotharingen. In the Alemannic, the language once spoken in Lorraine, the -ingen suffix signified a property; thus, in a figurative sense, "Lotharingen" can be translated as "Land belonging to Lothar".
With the loss of the imperial title and the waning of Carolingian influence, the kingdom lost territories and came under the rule of a duke, thereby reducing the former kingdom to a duchy. See Duchy of Lorraine for dynastic details. Between 1733 and 1766 it was ruled by Stanislaus I of Poland. Lorraine became part of France in 1766 and was reorganized by the French government.
Lorraine, along with Alsace, has long been contested territory between France and Germany. Until the 16th and 17th centuries, the area was predominantly populated by Germans. After being annexed by Louis XIV, they opposed efforts to have the French language and customs imposed upon them, a process which Stanislaus I effectively ended during his reign but which was resumed afterwards. A part of Lorraine, along with Alsace, was united with Germany after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 causing a small number of French people to emigrate into France. Under Bismarck's German Empire Alsace-Lorraine had (unlike other German states that were monarchies or free cities) virtually no autonomy and was ruled by a governor appointed by the Reichskanzler. The use of the French language was discouraged. In 1911, some degree of autonomy was granted
This part of Lorraine remained a part of Germany after the end of World War I, when the Kaiser abdicted and the Republic of Alsace-Lorraine delared itself independent, with support of the USA. France occupied the area after a few days and annexed it. Policies forbidding the use of German and requiring that of French were then begun.
The region was annexed by Germany in 1940 during World War II. Lorraine was combined with the Saarland, and Alsace with Baden. The occupation, while putting a halt to the perceived anti-Germanic oppression, subjected the region to the Nazi dictatorship, which was loathed by the majority of the people, including the ethnic Germans. The war-torn area was given again to France in November 1944 after a victorious campaign by General Patton and his army. Because of the fighting in the area, Lorraine is home to the largest American cemetery in France.
Culture
Most of Lorraine is widely considered 'French', hence Bismarck only annexed about a third of today's Lorraine to the German Empire following the Franco-Prussian War. The disputed third, known as Moselle, had a culture not easily classifiable as either French or German possessing both French and German dialects. Like much of the Balkans and Eastern Europe much of Lorraine was a patchwork of ethnicities and dialects, sometimes not even mutually compatible with either French or German.
Despite the French government 'single language' policy, the local German dialect still survives, called Frankish. This is a different German dialect from the neighbouring Alsatian language, with which it is often confused. Both dialects are called Alsacien in French, and neither have any form of official recognition.
Like most of France's regional languages (such as Breton, Provençal and Alsatian) Frankish was largely replaced by French with the advent of mandatory public schooling in the 19th and 20th centuries.
See also
Further reading
Publications in English
- Linda Herrick & Wendy Uncapher, Alsace-Lorraine Atlantic Bridge to Germany, Origins, Janesville, WI, 2003.
External links
Lorraine | Former provinces of France
Lorraine | Lothringen | Lorena | Loreno | Lorraine | 로렌느 | לוריין | Lorena (Francia) | ლორენი | Loutrengen | Lotharingia | Lorraine | Lotharingen | ロレーヌ地域圏 | Lotaryngia | Lorena (França) | Lorena | Герцогство Лотарингия | Lothringen | Lorraine
"Lorraine (province)"