The Occupation of the Rhineland from 1 December 1918 until 30 June 1930 was a consequence of the
collapse of the Imperial German Army in 1918, after which
Germany's provisional government was obliged to agree to the terms of the
1918 armistice. This included accepting that the troops of the victorious powers
occupied
' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...
the
left bank of the Rhine and four right bank "
bridgeheads" with a radius around
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
,
Koblenz
Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its nam ...
,
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
and a radius around
Kehl
Kehl (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Kaal) is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. It is on the river Rhine, directly opposite the French city of Strasbourg, with which it shares some municipal servicesfor exa ...
. Furthermore, the left bank of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
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, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
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and a strip east of the Rhine was declared a
demilitarized zone. The
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...
repeated these provisions, but limited the presence of the foreign troops to fifteen years after the signing of the treaty (until 1934).
The purpose of the occupation was on the one hand to give
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
security against a renewed German attack, and on the other to serve as a guarantee for
reparations obligations. After this was apparently achieved with the
Young Plan, the occupation of the Rhineland was prematurely ended on 30 June 1930. The administration of occupied Rhineland was under the jurisdiction of the
Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission with its seat at the Upper Presidium of the
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...
in Koblenz.
Periods
* Armistice of Compiégne (11 November 1918 – 13 December 1918)
* First prolongation of the armistice (13 December 1918 – 16 January 1919)
* Second prolongation of the armistice (16 January 1919 – 16 February 1919)
* Third prolongation of the armistice (16 February 1919 – 10 January 1920)
* 28 June 1919: Signing of the Treaty of Versailles and the Rhineland Agreement
* 10 January 1920: Treaty of Versailles and Rhineland Agreement come into force; Foundation of the
Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission
* 11 January 1923:
Occupation of the Ruhr
* 1926: Withdrawal from the Northern Zone around Cologne
* 1929: Withdrawal from the Central Zone around Koblenz
* 1930: Withdrawal from the Southern Zone around Mainz, resulting in the end of the occupation
* 1936:
Remilitarization of the Rhineland
The remilitarization of the Rhineland () began on 7 March 1936, when German military forces entered the Rhineland, which directly contravened the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties. Neither France nor Britain was prepared for a milit ...
by German troops under Hitler, on March 7.
Occupying forces
American Forces (1918–1923)
The
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
occupied the central area of the Rhineland along the
Mosel river
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
and the
Koblenz
Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its nam ...
bridgehead. General
John J. Pershing, commander of the
American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.), created the
Third US Army for this purpose, giving the command to Major General
Joseph T. Dickman. In early 1919, the Third Army comprised some 250,000 men. The Americans opened their headquarters in a Prussian government building by the Rhine in Koblenz. In those days, the
US flag
The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...
flew over
Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. In July 1919, the Third Army was disbanded and replaced by the
American Forces in Germany
The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf ...
(AFG) under the command of Major General
Henry Tureman Allen. After a constant troop withdrawal, the AFG comprised some 20,000 men in a reduced territory in late 1919. Compared to the French occupation zone, the Americans got along with the German population much better, including a number of love affairs. General Allen even took part in saving Ehrenbreitstein Fortress from destruction by the Allied forces in 1922. After more than four years of occupation, On January 9, 1923, under the
Warren G. Harding administration, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution withdrawing the Americans from Germany. General Allen got the telegram on January 10. Finally, the last Americans left their headquarters in Koblenz in January 1923. The flag was lowered at Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, the American headquarters, on January 24. On January 27 American General Allen officially handed over control to the French. On February 3, the United States withdrew General Allen as its observer from the
Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission. Two weeks later the Americans physically left the Rhineland. The American occupation zone was consequently handed over to the French, who from that moment on controlled the major portion of the occupied Rhineland.
Belgian forces
This consisted of 20,000 soldiers (five divisions) with its headquarters at
Aachen
Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th ...
, and with its troops stationed in
Krefeld
Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, ...
. They were commanded by
Armand Huyghé
Armand Christophe Huyghé (11 July 1871 – 2 March 1944), later knighted Armand Huyghé de Mahenge, was a Belgian career soldier. He is best known for his service in the Belgian Congo during World War I, where he succeeded Charles Tombeur as ...
.
British Army of the Rhine
The
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...
entered German territory on 3 December 1918. The
British Army of the Rhine was established as the occupying force in March 1919. Based at
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
, they published ''
The Cologne Post''.
French Army of the Rhine
The French
Eighth and
Tenth armies originally constituted the French forces involved in the occupation. The Eighth Army was commanded by General
Augustin Gérard
Augustin Gérard (2 November 1857 – 2 November 1926) was a French général de division and Grand Master of the Grand Orient de France (1921–22).
Life
His first important assignment was Chief of Staff of general Joseph Gallieni in Madagascar ...
and occupied
the Palatinate
The Palatinate (german: Pfalz; Palatine German: ''Palz'') is a region of Germany. In the Middle Ages it was known as the Rhenish Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz'') and Lower Palatinate (''Unterpfalz''), which strictly speaking designated only the we ...
. The Tenth Army was commanded by General
Charles Mangin and was responsible for the rest of the French zone from its headquarters in
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
.
On 21 October 1919, they were combined to form the French Army of the Rhine.
In 1919, the Italian
"Alpi" Brigade was also used by the French in occupation duties in the far south of the zone. France also stationed between 25,000 and 40,000
French colonial soldiers in the Rhineland. Some German women married African soldiers from the occupying forces, while others had children by them out of
wedlock (hence the disparaging label "
Rhineland Bastards
Rhineland Bastard (german: Rheinlandbastard) was a derogatory term used in Nazi Germany to describe Afro-Germans, believed fathered by French Army personnel of African descent who were stationed in the Rhineland during its occupation by France ...
") and were considered by right-wing Germans to constitute a public disgrace. General
Henry Tureman Allen reported to
US Secretary of State
The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
Bainbridge Colby
Bainbridge Colby (December 22, 1869 – April 11, 1950) was an American politician and attorney who was a co-founder of the United States Progressive Party and Woodrow Wilson's last Secretary of State. Colby was a Republican until he helped co-f ...
that from the start of the occupation until June 1920 there were 66 cases of formal accusations against colored colonial troops, out of which there were 28 convictions, and admits there were many more unreported cases.
Despite these occasional cases, "the wholesale atrocities by French negro Colonial troops alleged in the German press, such as the alleged abductions, followed by rape, mutilation, murder and concealment of the bodies of the victims are false and intended as political propaganda".
French occupation of Frankfurt occurred from 6 April to 17 May 1920. On the second day nine civilians were shot by Moroccan troops in an incident outside the
Hauptwache. This incident was used to launch a racist campaign against the French use of
colonial troops, linking the incident with allegations of wide spread assaults by
Black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
soldiers in the French occupation army on local women
including accusations of systemic
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
and other atrocities targeting the German civilian population and attributed mainly to
Senegalese Tirailleurs. The events resulted in a widespread campaign by the German
right-wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...
press, which dubbed them as "
The Black Shame" (''Die schwarze Schande'' or ''Die schwarze Schmach'') and depicted them as a form of French humiliation of the German nation.
In 1923, in response to German failure to pay reparations under the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...
, France and Belgium
occupied the industrial Ruhr area of Germany, most of which lies across the river on the east bank of the Rhine, until 1925. Many Germans were killed during civil disobedience protests. e.g. against dismissal of German officials.
Siamese Expeditionary Forces
The
Siamese Expeditionary Forces
The Siamese Expeditionary Force ( th, กองทหารอาสาสยาม) (also known as Siamese Volunteer Corps) consisted of the Royal Siamese Army sent to Europe under the command of Major General Phraya Pichai Charnyarit in 1917 to ...
also participated in the occupation until 1919 with their troops being stationed in
Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Neustadt an der Weinstraße (, formerly known as ; lb, Neustadt op der Wäistrooss ; pfl, Naischdadt) is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,300 inhabitants , it is the largest town called ''Neustadt''.
Geography
Location
T ...
, located in the French area.
See also
*
Free State Bottleneck
The Free State of Bottleneck (german: Freistaat Flaschenhals) was a short-lived quasi-state that existed from 10 January 1919 until 25 February 1923. It was formed out of part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau as a consequence of the occu ...
*
Rhenish Republic
The Rhenish Republic (german: Rheinische Republik) was proclaimed at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) in October 1923 during the occupation of the Ruhr by troops from France and Belgium (January 19231925) and subjected itself to French protectorate. I ...
*
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
*
Rhineland Bastard
References
*
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
The French Occupation of the Rhineland, 1918–1930Map of Europe during the Occupation of the Rhineland at omniatlas.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhineland, Occupation Of The
20th century in international relations
Aftermath of World War I in France
Aftermath of World War I in Germany
American military occupations
Belgian military occupations
British military occupations
Foreign relations of the Weimar Republic
French military occupations
History of the Rhineland
1920s in Germany
Military history of Germany
1920s in France
Demilitarized zones
1930 disestablishments in Germany