Alsace-Lorraine (Ger. Elsass-Lothringen), since its cession by France in 1871, is a state or 'imperial territory' (Reichsland) of the German empire. A naturally rich and historically interesting region, with fertile soil and active industries, it occupies the extreme SW. corner of Germany, and is bounded west by France, east by Baden, and south by Switzerland. Its utmost length from north to south is 123 miles; its breadth varies between 22 and 105 miles; and its area is 5580 sq. m., of which 1353 belong to Upper Alsace (in the south), 1844 to Lower Alsace (NE.), and 2383 to Lorraine (NW.). Pop. (1871) 1,549,738; (1885) 1,564,354, of whom 1,368,711 were natives of Alsace-Lorraine, and 151,755 Germans from other parts of the empire. In 1880-85, 49,254 natives emigrated to France, their place being taken by 36,958 German immigrants. In 1890 the population was 1,603,506, of whom 76 per cent. were Catholics, and more than 80 per cent. spoke German—mainly the vernacular Alsatian, a dialect of Alemannian. Upper Alsace had 471,609 inhabitants, Lower Alsace 621,505, and Lorraine 510,392. The French-speaking population is mainly in the larger towns and in Lorraine. The Rhine flows 115 miles north-by-eastward along all the eastern boundary, and receives, below Strasbourg, the Ill from Alsace, 127 miles long. Other rivers are the Moselle, flowing through Lorraine past Metz, and its affluent the Saar. Along the Rhine is a strip of level country, 9 to 17 miles broad, and declining from 800 to 450 feet above sea-level. Westward of this rise the Vosges Mountains, culminating at a height of 4677 feet; whilst Lorraine, rather hilly than mountainous, rarely attains 1300 feet. About 48.5 per cent. of the entire area is arable, 11.6 meadow and pasture, and 30.3 under wood. Alsace-Lorraine produces much wine, grain, and tobacco; it is rich in mines, iron and coal; and manufactures iron, cotton, wool, silks, chemicals, glass, and paper. It contains the important cities of Strasbourg, Mühlhausen, Metz, and Colmar. As a French province, Alsace was divided into the departments of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin. Lorraine fell into the departments of Meuse, Moselle, Meurthe, and Vosges (parts of all which still remain French). The lieutenant-governor (statthalter), representing the imperial government, resides at Strasburg, and is assisted by a ministry of five departments, and a council of state.
In Cæsar's time Alsace-Lorraine was occupied by Celtic tribes, and formed part of ancient Gaul; but during the decline of the empire, the Alemanni and other tribes from beyond the Rhine occupied and largely Germanised it. From the 10th century it formed part of the German empire, under various sovereign dukes and princes, latterly of the House of Hapsburg; till a part of it was ceded to France at the peace of Westphalia (1648), and the rest fell a prey to the aggressions of Louis XIV., who seized Strasburg (1681) by surprise in time of peace. By the peace of Ryswick (1697), the cession of the whole was ratified. Thus—as the Germans used to complain—was this fine land, with one of the noblest branches of the race, alienated from the German people, and the command of the German Rhine disgracefully surrendered to the enemy in the time of misfortune. German never ceased to be the chief language of the people, and all newspapers were, during the whole period of the French possession, printed in both languages. In 1814-15 Russia would not hear of the restitution of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany; and it was not till 1871, after the Franco-German war, that Alsace and German Lorraine were, by the treaty of Frankfort, incorporated in the new German empire. The great mass of the population were strongly against the change, and 160,000 elected to be French, though only 50,000 went into actual exile, refusing to become German subjects. For, at least since the era of the Revolution, Alsace in sentiment was wholly French. To France she gave the bravest of her sons—Kellermann, Kléber, and many another hero. Strasburg first heard the Marseillaise; and MM. Erckmann-Chatrian, Lorrainers both, have faithfully represented their countrymen's love of La Patrie in the days of the second as of the first Napoleon. France, too, is always thinking of her loss, eager some day to repair it; and the imperial territory, for ages the borderland and battlefield of two great powers, remains a perpetual cause of strained relations between France and Germany. Of late it is claimed by the Germans that, through the emigration of the irreconcilables and the immigration of German settlers, the tendency of the older natives to accept the inevitable, and the rising up of a new generation to whom the French connection is a tradition, the situation has slowly but steadily changed in favour of Germany and the existing firm but fair administration. The irritating passport system, a special grievance not in force elsewhere in Germany, was withdrawn in 1893. See French works on the country and its people by Grad (1889) and Matthis (1890), on its folklore by Gaidoz and Sebillot (1883), and on its songs by Weckerlin (1883). For the history of Lorraine, see LORRAINE.