The Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe. Leon Dominian
on the long side, whereas in the German type of house it lies under a gable on the short side. As a rule the Alemannic type of house prevails in the mountainous sections and attains the valleys of the Meurthe. In the Vosges, Black Forest and Swabia these dwellings are distinguishable by their characteristic inclusion of all outhouses and barns under a single roof. In the densely peopled valley of the Bruche the most important settlements rest on the alluvial terraces of its affluents. In the upper valley the villages are scattered on rocky amphitheaters, and here the Celtic type of settlement is oftener met.
Witte’s studies show that, in Alsace,[34] the delimitation of the Germanic and Romanic domain is somewhat more complicated than in Lorraine. Valuable clues are generally afforded by toponymic data. The Alemanni are responsible for the suffix “heim.” Towns and villages with names bearing this suffix are restricted to the plain. The dividing line extends on the west to the sub-Vosgian foreland and attains the forest of the Haguenau on the north. This last section corresponds to the beginning of an area of Frankish colonization having its center at Weissenburg. The suffix “ingen,” which occurs in place names of southern Alsace, is likewise Alemannic. It is supposed to correspond, however, to a later period of settlement. The ending “weiler” accompanies the names of villages found on the heights.
These data led Witte to assume that the Celto-Roman natives of the plains were thrust back towards the mountains by the Alemannic invasion proceeding from the east. The designation “weiler,” which is also spelled “weyer,” “weyr” and “wir,” indicates the mountain sites to which the population of the plain was repelled by the Germanic flow. The Vosges mountains have thus been a place of refuge against Germanic aggression. Witte’s researches point to the probable peopling of the Alsatian slopes of the Vosges by tribes speaking a Romanic language during the invasions of Teutonic barbarians. The so-called Welsh element appears to be a Celto-Roman remnant of the population of the locality.[35]
The character of Alsace-Lorraine as a connecting region between two great European nations is shown also by demographic studies.[36] Life in the provinces is accompanied by conditions which prevail in Germany or France. The excess of births over deaths, which maintains itself on an average at about 10 per 1,000, is lower than in any other part of the German Empire. The rate of birth has decreased from 36 to 28 per 1,000 in spite of an increase in the population. The tendency of the inhabitants to emigrate is evinced by the large number of uninhabited houses. The decrease in the native population is largely due to the desire of many of the inhabitants to emigrate to French soil. In 1875 the proportion of native-born inhabitants amounted to 93 per cent of the total population. In 1905 it did not exceed 81 per cent. The strictly German element had grown from 38,000 in 1875 to 176,000 in 1905. Fully 90 per cent of these are native-born Prussians. Among them the teaching of French to children has increased. Molsheim, in Lower Alsace, and Ribeauvillé, in Upper Alsace, are centers for the study of French. In recent years German immigrants have become the preponderant element of the province.
Two methods of indicating the presence of a French element in Alsace-Lorraine are given in the accompanying map (Pl. II) of this region. The method of showing percentages according to administrative districts[37] has been contrasted with the plan of representing the actual extension of French predominance.[38] In one respect the map is illuminating. It shows the concordance of French and German authorities regarding the German character of the language spoken in Alsace, as well as the French nature of a substantial portion of Lorraine. The Rhine valley, a natural region, appears throughout as an area of German speech. The startling preference of Alsatians for French nationality cannot therefore be substantiated by geographical evidence. It suggests the persistent influence of the human will swayed by feelings of justice and moral affinity rather than by material considerations.
To primitive societies, a river as large as the Rhine provided almost as impassable a frontier as the sea itself. It had the advantage of being defined by nature. The boundary was actually marked on the ground. As frontiers of the Roman Empire, the Rhine and the Danube proved their practical value by the long period during which they marked the extent of imperial or republican domain. The history of oversea colonization indicates the partiality of colonial powers for rivers as boundaries. It is likely that in the very early period of man’s habitation of the earth, the tribes settled on either side of watercourses had little or no intercourse. As they advanced in civilization relations were developed. The divisive influence of running waters was therefore exerted most strongly at the dawn of human history. Later the river may become a link and finally may attain the stage when it is a rallying line for the activity and thought of the inhabitants of its entire valley.
The American Geographical Society of New York
Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe, 1917, Pl. II
THE FRANCO-GERMAN LINGUISTIC BOUNDARY IN ALSACE-LORRAINE
The Gallo-Teutonic line of the Rhine was the scene of many a struggle during the reign of Clovis. In the days of Charlemagne the dwellers on the right bank of the Rhine were the “gens atroces et féroces” of French chroniclers. They represented northern barbarians, the foes of Christianity and of the civilization which Rome had given to the world. Before becoming a German river the Rhine flowed in a valley peopled by inhabitants of Celtic speech. The name it bears is of Celtic origin. When men of Teutonic speech began to press westward, the river supplied a natural moat which, for a long period, had formed part of the system of defense devised by the earlier inhabitants of the land. The strength of the position is attested by the slowness of Germanic infiltration on the left bank of the river. To this day the valley province owes more to France in thought and ideals than to any other country. The Alsatian temperament has much of that mental sunshine which Mirabeau calls the “fond gaillard.” This is assuredly not derived from Germany. His wit is of the true Gallic type—mocking, and tending to the Rabelaisian; its geniality is reserved for France and French institutions, its caustic side for Germany and Germans. It could never have proceeded from the ponderous Teutonic mentality. Alsatians are French in spirit because they know how to laugh well, to laugh as civilized men with the cheer that brightens the good and the irony that draws out in full relief the ugliness of evil.
The spread of the French language in Alsace after the conquest of Strassburg by the soldiers of Louis XIV was slow. The French governors of the province never compelled the Alsatians to study their language. Up to the time of the French Revolution, French served as the medium of intercourse in official circles and among the nobility. The mass of the people, however, retained their vernacular. Freedom, granted by the French civil administration, was equally maintained by the official representatives of French ecclesiastical authority. Religious tolerance in Alsace was felt notably at the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the province being probably the only one in which Protestant Frenchmen were unmolested. Moral ties with France were thus cemented by the extremely liberal character of French rule.
The French Revolution was enthusiastically welcomed by the democratically inclined Alsatians. This event in fact consolidated Alsace’s union with France. French military annals of the period contain a high proportion of Alsatian names. A community of ideas and interests had come into being. The study of French was taken up with renewed enthusiasm in Alsace because the language was the agency by which the new spirit of the time was propagated. It became the medium of communication among thinkers. The revolution of 1848 accentuated this tendency. By that time every Alsatian who could boast of any schooling knew French. This linguistic conquest of Alsace was the result of sympathy with French thought and ideals.
The German method of imposing