L'occupation allemande de la France (1870-1873)

Under the terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt which brought the Franco-Prussian War to a close, the newly united Germany occupied nineteen French departments, an occupation which lasted until the payment of reparations was completed over two years later in September 1873. Having received negligible scholarly attention, this article examines this occupation, the relationships between the occupying army and its administration with the French administration (nationally and locally) and the local population. It covers the treaty obligations, and presents and analyses numerous specific examples both of conflict between locals and the occupiers, and of cooperation between the two groups, where quite good working relationships were established. This article shows that the new Republican regime's attempts to assert its authority and to facilitate interactions with the occupying army lead to various pragmatic and cooperative arrangements with the occupying forces. These cooperative arrangements, in the context of a military defeat which precipitated a change of political regime, may even be seen as foreshadowing some aspects of France's occupation during the Second World War.