Socialism and National Identity in Alsace from Reichsland to République,1890-1921

Abstract

This article traces the evolution of socialism in Alsace through an analysis of socialist attitudes towards the nation and region. After Alsace’s annexation into Prussia in 1871, socialism in the province developed under the auspices of the German social democracy. This did a great deal to integrate Alsatian workers into a wider national political culture, while local militants retained the symbols and language of the French revolutionary tradition. Such flexibility eased the transition from German to French rule when the province was returned to France after the First World War. However, this flexibility also masked a range of contradictions in the socialist analysis. These contradictions meant that during the later years of annexation, during the War and the Revolution of 1918, the Alsatian socialist idea of the nation was still being shaped and contested. At the Tours Congress, the party’s militants explicitly stated their attitudes towards Alsace, France and Germany, yet the tensions resulting from their dual heritage were never satisfactorily resolved. The result was the clash of expectations, and of political cultures, which characterizes French governmental attempts to reintegrate its lost provinces. The discussion here addresses the evolution, articulation and application of Alsatian socialist attitudes towards nation and region as their province was transferred from German Reichsland to French République.