{"id":467,"date":"2020-05-02T00:01:59","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T22:01:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eurominority.eu\/?page_id=467"},"modified":"2020-05-16T23:12:18","modified_gmt":"2020-05-16T21:12:18","slug":"alsace-en","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.eurominority.eu\/index.php\/en\/alsace-en\/","title":{"rendered":"Alsace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alsace, land of the Alamanni<\/h2>
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Alsace is a former geographical reality, but its political unity is relatively recent. Since the 19th century, Alsace has been trying to assert its identity between two great powers \u2013 France and Germany \u2013 who covet the territory for its wealth. <\/p>

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The Alsatian flag carries the name of Rot un Wiss<\/em> (red and white). These colours are present in the coat of arms of cities and Alsatian families. The Rot un Wiss<\/em> appeared towards 1872, to affirm the Alsatian identity, with regards to the German authorities and then the French. It was made official by the Alsace-Lorraine parliament in 1912. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

The\nAlsace people arose slowly during the Middle Ages. In this century, Alsace was\nprimarily a geographical and cultural reality and non-political because its\nterritory was divided up into fiefs under the authority of the Holy Roman\nEmpire. The Franco-Germanic Wars (1870\u20131, 1914\u201318 and 1939\u201345) placed Alsace\nbetween the two great powers. Alsace became a political reality after its\nannexation to the German Empire in 1871 and in 1911 it acquired autonomous\nstatus. After 1918, Alsace led a staunch fight against the central French state\nto maintain its characteristics. In this century, two-thirds of the Alsace\ndeputies were autonomist. Unfortunately, after the Second World War, in\ncultivating the amalgam \u201cAlsace = Nazi\u201d, the French state accelerated its\npolicy of assimilation. <\/p>

The\nAlsatian people are a Germanic people, who could be considered southern\nGermans.<\/p>

Today, Alsace\nis once more a rich region, benefitting from locally specific law and a German\ndialect that still persists. However, these elements are threatened by the\nJacobean character of the French state, which isolates it from the Rhine area.\nThe Alsatian people work hard to make their demands heard even if German is\ntaught nowadays in the schools. Moderate separatist movements have begun to\nemerge, raising awareness of the specificity of Alsatian culture and promoting\ninterest in preserving it.<\/p>

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Identity card<\/h3>
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Name <\/em><\/td> Elsass <\/strong>| German <\/em>
Alsace <\/em><\/strong>| French<\/em><\/td><\/tr>
Population <\/em><\/td> 1,895,811 inhab.<\/strong> (2020)<\/td><\/tr>
Area<\/em><\/td> 8,280 km\u00b2<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Languages <\/em><\/td> Els\u00e4ssisch <\/strong>| Alsatian <\/em>(Germanic and Franconian variant of German, used as a written standard) (without official status)
Fran\u00e7ais <\/em><\/strong> | German<\/em>(official) <\/td><\/tr>
Number of native speakers<\/em><\/td> 800,000<\/strong> | Alsatian<\/em> (2014)<\/td><\/tr>
State of guardianship<\/em><\/td> France<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Official status<\/em><\/td> European Collectivity<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Capital <\/em><\/td> Strossburi <\/strong>| Alsatien<\/em>
Stra\u00dfburg <\/strong>| German <\/em>
(Strasbourg) <\/td><\/tr>
Historic religion<\/em><\/td> Roman Catholic and Protestant, Jewish<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Flag<\/em><\/td> Rot un Wiss<\/strong> | Alsatian<\/em>
Rot und Wei\u00df<\/em><\/strong> | German <\/em>
(Red and White) <\/td><\/tr>
Anthem<\/em><\/td> Els\u00e4ssisches Fahnenlied<\/strong> | German <\/em>
(Song of the Alsatian Flag) <\/td><\/tr>
Motto<\/em><\/td> None <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>
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Timeline <\/h3>
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