Alsatian

Historical situation

Until 1648 Alsace formed part of the Holy Roman Empire and the German language was used for all purposes. There were, however, two other major differences from the earlier history of France: during the late Middle Ages, as a direct consequence of their trading role, the Alsace towns acquired rather more independence from the feudal past, and hence control of their own destiny, than was the norm elsewhere; and in the sixteenth century Protestantism became widespread, as indeed it did in many of the German regions. The Thirty Years War brought about a transfer of the region to the French kingdom: after a disastrous and cruel occupation by Swedish troops, the Alsace towns appealed to France and the Treaty of Westphalia brought them under French protection in 1648. The Treaty was vague and diplomatic, but Alsace thought it had retained its economic privileges and its Protestant religion, and had neither given itself completely to France nor been wrenched away from a weakened empire by a rapacious France.

After France took control of most of Alsace in 1648, of Lorraine finally in 1766, and of the Strasbourg area in 1781, the region became part of France and was slowly assimilated into the French administrative system, a process in which the Intendants, representing the King's justice and his tax and financial control, played a strong role, and in which the Roman Catholic Church was supported in its attempts to regain power and influence.